the.com/overcome
Not the absence of struggle, but the moment struggle blinks first.
means To successfully defeat, master, or get past an obstacle, opponent, or overwhelming feeling.
from A straightforward Old English compound: 'ofer' (over) plus 'cuman' (to come) — literally to 'come over' something, the way a victor comes over a fallen foe or a wave comes over a wall. 'Cuman' is the same ancient root that gives us 'come,' so the image is bodily and old: you arrive on top of the thing that opposed you. The figurative sense of being overwhelmed by emotion ('overcome with grief') is a later softening of that same conquering motion.
- root
- From Old English meaning to come over or upon
- smoke meaning
- Once meant overwhelmed by fumes, not feelings
- anthem
- We Shall Overcome powered the civil rights movement
- verb tense
- Same word for past and present, fittingly
jesse owens 1936 olympics — german jewish runner won 4 gold medals in berlin despite nazi ideology
nelson mandela apartheid — south african president freed after 27 years imprisonment, dismantled segregation
helen keller deaf blind — american educator learned to read, write, and speak despite profound disabilities