Etymology of "Occlumency" and "Legilimency" (Was: Names wordplay)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 160761

Carrie wrote:
>   Did anyone notice that Occlumency  could be A clue men see?

Carol responds:
I don't think the term "Occlumency" is a pun. I think we need to look
at the Latin or pseudo-Latin etymology here, as we do for the spells.
As I posted some time ago, the terms "Occlumens" and "Legilimens"
relate to "mind" and mindreading or its opposite. To quote my earlier
post:

> >("Mens" is Latin for "mind." "Occlu-" apparently means "closed."
Cf. "occludere," to close.) Ditto for "Legilimens," which is "mens"
("mind") plus "legili-," apparently JKR's adaptation of "legilbilis,"
"capable of being read or deciphered," from "legere," to read." < <

The "-mens" ending refers to the practitioner; the "-cy" ending, which
is used for English abstract nouns derived from Latin or Greek roots,
relates to the art or science that person practices.

Snape's remark to Harry that only Muggles think it possible to read a
mind like a book is interesting in view of this etymology, which Snape
(who creates his own spells with Latin-based names) must understand. I
suppose that a Legilimens can "read" the thoughts, memories, and
emotions that rise to the conscious level at a given moment unless
he's "blocked" by Occlumency, but he can't simply enter a person's
mind and wander through it as if it were a maze with innumerable
passageways to be explored at leisure like pages of a book.

At any rate, I think the place to start with any non-English name or
term in the HP books is etymology. It's possible that there are some
multilingual puns, but I don't think so in this instance. Most of the
puns, IMO, relate to English words and names and are rather easily
grasped by young readers when the books are read aloud (like Diagon
Alley/diagonally and Grimmauld Place/grim old place). Legilimency and
Occlumency are more serious matters and have names to which JKR has,
IMO, devoted some fairly serious thought.

Carol, noting that JKR's invented etymologies, like her puns, are a
form of wordplay but perhaps rather more serious, whether we're
dealing with Occlumency or Sectumsempra