Honor

     The word honor has always carried a certain weight and significance to me. What makes it intriguing is the wide range of implications and angles which the word has sustained throughout history. From medieval time periods and Anglo-Saxon writings, we have a meaning related heavily to war, valor, and dying for one's country. Today, in a world of more modern warfare and mindset--knights and kingship being obsolete in the United States--we may have lost some substance of the word. While it may still connect to bringing honor to your family in some culture, most people have lost the yearning of dying for one's country purely out of a desire to gain honor in his or her name. I am curious to learn the origins of this word, whether it is masculine or feminine, how it came to be prominent in the English language, and how the word itself came to convey such weight in earlier times.