Differently, subtly

Strata is an English word that shows how meanings change over the years.  Romans used the word (in Latin, of course) to mean blankets or materials to cover yourself with when sleeping.  Both the derivative Spanish word and English word changed the idea of blanket somewhere around the year 1600 into a layer of something - skin, plant life, and below the surface of the earth. However, the derivative language French multiplied the meaning of the word.  Latin was still in ecclesiastical use in the 1600s in France, Spain, and England, so it was still being used dynamically as a language.

Over time, words become unstable and begin to change. So, strata, meaning blanket, lost the semantic domain of keeping something or someone warm as a cover.  In France it came to  mean a coating on an object and some place soft to lay a baby.  In England and Spain strata was left with merely the size and shape of a blanket, but not its function, which allowed people to use it as a layer of something.  And, where do you find layers of things?  Why, yes, in your body, on the ground, and under the ground.

I had an interesting conversation with my mother not long ago.  She was noting some of the great changes that had taken place in my life.  While she was lamenting them as unnecessary, I was allowing for the changes as a dynamic part of growth in my life.  To me, words like strata have a lot in common with humans as they become older.  Both are allowed to take on a life of their own by adapting to the world around them.  Sometimes they add more to themselves, sometimes they shed their original essence, but rarely do they stay the same. Maybe there were those who lamented the change in the word strata.  But, I rather think the change happened subtly and gradually - without note - and differently, depending on the language.  While there is merit to consistency in life, some values mature and become altered with that maturity.