Zenith, peak, culmination, apex, pinnacle — these are all considered synonyms for “apogee,” and they are all words that are very familiar to me, but I don’t see “apogee” used very frequently. I do, however, see its Spanish cognate used.

apogee — the farthest or highest point; in space usage, it refers to the point in the orbit of an object (such as a satellite) orbiting the earth that is at the greatest distance from the center of the earth

apogeo — the Spanish cognate of the same meaning/s

This word came to English and to Spanish by way of French which took it from New Latin which got its word from a Greek one. The other Romance languages all have cognates, too.

The “apogean” tides are tides of reduced range that occur when the moon is at its “apogee” and, thus, has less gravitational pull to affect tidal movement. These tides translate to “mareas de apogeo” in Spanish.

The adjective, “apogean,” can also be “apogaeic” or “apogaic.” “Apogean” is more common, though.

I’ve written 225 of these “Cognate Cognizance” posts. Have I hit the “apogee” of my success with this publication? Perhaps. I haven’t gained any subscribers for a while now, but I enjoy sharing some lexical wisdom with those that I have each month and/or week.

I need some feedback, though. With all the posts that I’ve written here, I have more than enough to compile (after some substantial editing) the information into a book. As a reader of this publication, do you think what I share here is something that people would like to have available in book format? I think it would be most useful to people teaching Spanish to English speakers or to anyone who simply wants to strengthen her own lexicon. Do you agree with me? Who do you think would benefit from these posts in book format, if anyone?

Please share a comment — don’t be shy. I sincerely want to hear from you to know what you’ve gained from being a subscriber. Thank you.

Until next time. Thank you for subscribing. Take a moment to revisit some of my first posts if you weren’t with me from the start. Here are links to a couple: Sonorous and Lacrimal

Tammy Marshall

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