689: protocol, colloid, and cholera Oct 27, 2016

As has been illustrated on this blog a number of times, words don't need to have similar meanings, or altogether similar appearances to be related. A protocol may not seem similar a glue, and it wouldn't really have either at any point as an English work, first denoting a record of legal agreement. The word comes ultimately from the Greek, 'prōtokollon' meaning, ‘first page’ from the parts, 'prōtos' which means ‘first’ and can be found in a great many other words such as 'prototype', and 'kolla' which means ‘glue’. The other sense of 'protocol' derives from French, 'protocole', which was etiquette intended for the French head of state, which was later adopted into English in the 19th century. A colloid, though it does not have any politico-legal meaning, is a substance that has qualities of both liquids or solids, originally coming from the Greek—you guessed it—'kolla' and, '-oid' which as a suffix means 'resembling'. Additionally, although 'choler' and 'cholera' come from 'khole' meaning 'bile, its main structural protein, 'collagen', comes from 'kolla' as well.