1409: brute and brutus Oct 20, 2018

Sometimes Classical history seeps into popular culture, as was and still is the case with the line "et tu Brute?" ("and you Brutus?") in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. However, it was not due to this assassination that Marcus Junius Brutus got a name with the same root as 'brute' and 'brutal'. Indeed, this word was in use for millennia before, and exists in many other languages. In Latin, the word 'brutus' doesn't mean 'violent' however, and instead means 'dumb'; Brutus got his name because he purposely acted foolish to survive in the court of Tarquin. It was for this sort of association between idiots and violence that the meaning switched however. There will be more about the etymology of this word tomorrow.

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