SYPHOUS Blog

Definition of Syphous February 13, 2010

Syphous is a word coined by Canadian author J. R. Schaefer in 2006. As he explains it, there are two elements in the word Syphous–“syph” and “ous.” “Syph” is related to siphon, meaning “to extract” , and paralleling this is another word, cipher, meaning “to encode”; therefore, the root part of the word Syphous means “to extract the code or see the hidden meaning.” This correlates to Schaefer’s key philosophy that there are multiple levels of understanding in all knowledge, and the process of unlocking meaning formulates wisdom. The suffix of the word Syphous, “ous”, was chosen because of its correlation to the chemical suffix used when forming a compound element. Schaefer, despite giving his meaning of the word, urges personal interpretation, saying, “The true understanding of Syphous innately can not be described by words, for its purpose is to symbolize the experience of seeking understanding beyond definition.”

“In the course of seeking wisdom, exercising discernment is fundamental to progress,” says Rachele Levante, Schaefer’s editor, who explains that this concept is also reflected in the word Syphous: syph correlates to the Old English sife meaning “sift”, a word used allegorically by many masters (i.e. sifting wheat from the chaff), referring to separating and retaining that which is valuable and good, and ous is a Latin suffix meaning “quality/state of being”.