Interesting Words

As I was going through the meanings of certain words I found that there were few words which really had interesting origin.

bowdlerize:- In 1818 Dr. Thomas Bowdler , an English editor , published The Family Shakespeare, an edition in which"those words and expressions are omitted which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family."To bowdlerize, therefore , means to expurgate a book by leaving out or changing words and passages considered (by the editor) indelicate or offensive. An extended meaning of to bowdlerize is to render weak by omitting forceful parts.

draconian:- As far as I can remember I came across this word while read The Da Vinci Code.
Draconian devil. In about 621 B.C Draco (or Dracon) compiled the first written code of laws in ancient Athens. Death was the punishment he assigned to almost all crimes, even petty ones, so that the saying arose that his laws were written in blood, not in ink. Hence draconian means very rigorous and severe.
Synonyms: cruel, drastic, harsh, immitigable, rigid, stern, stringent

fabian:- Quintus Fabius Maximus, appointed dictator in 217 B.C to lead the Roman army against Hannibal, decided that cautious delaying tactics would be more successful than engaging the enemy in pitched battles. He therefore harassed Hannibal's army, cut off its supplies, and raided its lines. Fabius earned the appellation of Cunctator, or ,"The delayer"; today , such a policy, in any field , is described as Fabian . In politics ,Fabianism means gradualism, a slow step by step evolutionary change.

maverick:- Samuel A. Maverick was a Texan rancher of the 1840's who did not bother to brand his calves. At first the word maverick was applied only to unbranded calves, but later, since such animals were different from ordinary run of animals, the meaning of maverick was extended to apply to anybody who does not follow the common herd. A person of independent turn of mind, an individualist who does not conform , an unpredictable politician who does not always follow the dictates of his party may be termed as maverick. The word is also used as an adjective.
Synonyms for the adjective: recalcitrant, refactory, unorthodox.