the word ouroboros

Ever wonder where the word ouroboros comes from and how history shows the use of this word ?

Why would anyone use a serpent swallowing it's tail as a symbol of some ideology. The ouroboros is sometimes depicted in art as a snake or dragon.

Ouro - To find the origin of the word ouro we have to travel back in time to 753 BC when the legendary battles of the brother's Romulus and Remus are fought out. Romulus defeats Remus and goes on to build a city called Rome. Small cells of populations are already speaking in Latin and the new language will become a competitor to major languages such as Hebrew and Greek. It isn't until 200 BC or there abouts that major literary works are written in Latin. Rome is defeating the Greek empire and Cleopatra will be coming into power in Egypt a century and a half later. With the reign of Cleopatra comes the legend of the alchemist who was hired to find the secret of turning lead into gold.

Gold in Latin is Ouro. This could lead to another story about the moidore which is a Portuguese gold coin minted in the 18th century AD. The story might begin something like, " As the Portuguese might say, "The moeda d'ouro is our coin of gold." Where moeda is a Portuguese version of the Latin moneta (money) and ouro is from the latin "aurum"....but that's another story better left for another time.

Boros - mewah, mencurahi, curai, kendor, goyah, melepas, bebas, lepas, wasteful, lavish, loose, improvident.

Information on the term boros is hard to find. But I did find all of these words that are used in Indonesia to mean approximately the same as boros. (source - eudict.com). In a country such has Indonesia where no less than 600 languages are spoken there are no doubt several other words that could describes something loose and lavish. Interestingly enough I found that Los Boros is a place in Latin America where a mining company named Latin American Minerals Inc. and "the corporation" mine for mineral powders such as lithium and potash in places like the Salt Lakes of Cauchari and Olaroz. Certainly just a coincidence of investigating words but still adds fuel to the mystery of what Cleapatra and the alchemist were up to. The word Boros is also a variation of Burroughs but this association comes form the use of Burroughs in English speaking countries where it is used to describe residential areas.

So we have an understanding of the word Ouroboros.

Why do I bother ?

Well words are precious and the internet is such a free speech zone in countries were freedom of expression is still respected that words can be sold as almost anything.

For example this blog called Random Knowledge states that the word Ouroboros means " a tail swallowing serpent".

I dare to differ in my opinion of the true meaning of the word. The symbol of a tail swallowing serpent to represent the true ideology or concept behind the word itself likely came much later in the historic timeline.

Just my opinion however.