And so, from Merriam Webster:
DAUNTLESS: fearless, undaunted.
Undaunted: courageously resolute, especially in the face of danger or difficulty; not discouraged.
It’s those two definitions (fearless, and undaunted) that I found so fascinating. Being fearless and being undaunted are two different things. And the characters in DIVERGENT struggle with that distinction.
And from dictionary.com:
ABNEGATION: 1. to refuse or deny oneself (some rights, conveniences, etc.); reject; renounce.
2. to relinquish; give up
I like the verbs in that one: refuse, deny, reject, renounce–active forms of stripping things from your life. As opposed to relinquish, give up– more passive.
ERUDITE: characterized by great knowledge; learned or scholarly
The word “erudite” focuses on knowledge rather than intelligence– intelligence being something you’re born with, and can’t necessarily control, and knowledge being something that you acquire. I find that interesting, given what I know about Erudite.
CANDOR: 1. the state or quality of being frank, open, and sincere in speech or expression; candidness.
2. freedom from bias; fairness; impartiality.
That definition definitely helped me flesh out Candor more, particularly in the second book. The faction is not just trying to develop honesty– they’re also trying to develop impartiality.
AMITY: 1. friendship; peaceful harmony.
2. mutual understanding and a peaceful relationship, especially between nations; peace; accord.
3. cordiality
It’s not just about banjos and apple-picking. It’s about cultivating strong relationships and trying to understand each other. Oh, Amity.
Also, it’s not a faction, but for fun:
DIVERGENT: 1. diverging; differing; deviating.
2. pertaining to or causing divergence.
3. (of a mathematical expression) having no finite limits
Diverge: 1. to move, lie, or extend in different directions from a common point; branch off.
2. to differ in opinion, character, form, etc.; deviate.
3. Mathematics . (of a sequence, series, etc.) to have no unique limit; to have infinity as a limit.
4. to turn aside or deviate, as from a path, practice, or plan.
And:
FACTION: 1. a group or clique within a larger group, party, government, organization, or the like.
2. party strife and intrigue; dissension.
I’m just going to leave that one alone.
