Word of the Day: ADEPT
Adroit or accomplished
adept (adj) - highly skilled; expert; proficient [ad-ept or uh-dept]
BREAKDOWN: AD- (to) + EPT- (fit, suitable)
an adept is someone who is fully skilled or proficient in something
“Humans are pattern-seeking story-telling animals, and we are quite adept at telling stories about patterns, whether they exist or not.” —Michael Shermer
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The EPT- root is sneakily productive. Apt, inept, adept — all built on this Latin 'aptus' meaning 'fitted' or 'suited.' What gets me is the AD- prefix doing double duty here: it intensifies the 'fittedness' so an adept isn't just suitable but *fitted toward* mastery.
Also love that historically, 'adept' had an alchemical meaning — the adepti were those who had 'attained' the secrets of the philosopher's stone. The word carried this sense of having arrived at hidden knowledge through practice. That mystical overtone has mostly faded, but the idea of skill as something you grow into rather than possess innately is still baked into the etymology.
The Shermer quote is a perfect pairing. Pattern-seeking as a species-level adeptness — we're fitted for it whether we want to be or not.