Memory Tricks: Minatory

by Jen Dziura May 25, 2011

Minatory means “menacing or threatening.” Bullies are minatory. An approaching tornado could be minatory. You know what else is minatory? The Minotaur!

Abridged from Wikipedia:

In Greek mythology, the Minotaur, as the Greeks imagined him, was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, “part man and part bull”. He dwelt at the center of the Cretan Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction built to hold the Minotaur. The Minotaur was eventually killed by the Athenian hero Theseus.

It turns out that minatory and Minotaur don’t actually share a common root (minatory shares a root with menace and Minotaur comes from Minos, king of Crete, and tauros, “bull.”)

But, if it helps us remember that minatory means threatening, then I think it’s a pretty helpful association. I mean, look at this: