In a world where we are constantly reminded of the passing of the giants of our childhoods, it was with enormous relief that I learned the rumor of the demise of my best elementary school teacher was false.

Sister Mary Reynold taught me in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades at St. Anthony's Catholic School. I was blessed with three full years of her teaching at a crucial time in life. Her praises and rebukes alike still live with me, and both have made me a better person. But if there's any one thing she taught me, it's the place of etymology in an understanding of our language.

She had a double major in mathematics and Latin, I learned many years later. The math never really took hold of me, but her deep know-ledge of Latin left a lasting imprint on my mind. From 1964 through 1967, she introduced hundreds of words a year to her students. She spontaneously and habitually gave the Latin sources of words. I came to understand that English words have histories. And I always have loved histories.

The great thing about etymologies is they often lead us to root words, and thus to a whole bundle of words. That whole bundle, in turn, connects with words not immediately apparent, extending the reach, depth and precision of vocabulary.

I learned, for example, that "impediment" comes directly from the Latin "impedimenta" which was the portable baggage that Caesar and other Roman generals had to carry around behind the armies. Things such as tents, cooking pots, food, tools and medical supplies were necessities, but they slowed the marching troops. The "ped" means "foot" and is reflected in such words as "biped," "pedestrian," "pedestal" and "expedite."

Later, I would learn the "ped" root goes even deeper than Latin, back to Indo-European, the mother lode for our native language. Through the years I would learn more about the Anglo-Saxon roots; and with some familiarity with Latin roots, I would find the thousands of French words in English easier to remember, and foreign words easier to translate, all because of the word histories my teacher presented so many years ago.

History appeals to me because it is a series of stories. I read more histories than novels, and always have. Reality is at least as interesting as fiction, and it's, well, true. And that truth means other facts come to cohere in fascinating ways. In college I learned the standard railway gauge in America was based on the distance between wagon ruts in England. (Ruts can become impediments in the rain, but in dry weather are a great resource, as any contemporary mountain biker can attest.) Those same-size ruts were in turn based on the standard size of Roman wagons that hauled impedimenta.

Having a sense of etymology also really helps in picking up cognates. For example, I've asked bright high school students through the years if they know the words "verdant" or "verdure." About 2 or 3 percent of my most advanced kids can define the words. Then I tell them it's a cognate with a word any 3-year-old child in a Spanish-speaking household would know. I see some of them light up, and they realize the word I'm talking about is "verde," meaning "green." Then they see that "verdant" means "green, as with vegetation," and "verdure" means "greenery."

Sister Mary Reynold taught me more things than I can convey or repay. She was without doubt the most influential teacher I ever had. I am delighted she is alive and well.

Frank Thomas Pool is a poet and English teacher working in Austin. He grew up on Maple Street in South Longview and graduated from Longview High School. E-mail: FrankT.Pool@gmail.com