A Pleasant Connection

Somewhere in the back of my mind I remember watching a late-night television show about new businesses, and I learned about a store in Hong Kong called AMO ENO. This wine store's name means "I love wine," and it yields another classical frisson besides its name from a Latin verb and a Greek combining form. The Latin verb is amō, amāre, amāvī, amātum "I love," and the Greek combining form is oino-, which changed to oeno-, which was shortened to eno- and means "wine." The Latin noun is spelled vīnum, "wine." Using all Greek forms a wine lover is an oenophile, sometimes spelled enophile. When you look at the web address (www.amoeno.com), you will also see a form of a Latin adjective amoenus, a, um, "pleasant." The name of a town in Dutchess County, New York takes its name from this Latin adjective; Amenia, New York, is indeed a pleasant place.