2972: Misguided Etymologies in English Feb 9, 2025

During the 15th and 16th centuries, Renaissance scholars in Britain sought to elevate English by aligning its spelling with Latin and Greek, often leading to "etymological respelling." This effort resulted in the insertion of in words pronounced with a /k/ sound, based on mistaken classical associations. For example, ache comes from Old English āce, rooted in Proto-Germanic akan (to suffer pain), but was respelled to mirror the Greek achos (ἀχος) despite no real connection.  Even words like anchor and monarch reflect inconsistent applications of this trend, with anchor overcorrected from Latin anchora and monarch more accurately reflecting its Greek origin.This trend left a lasting impact on English orthography, embedding anomalies that persist today. While words like school genuinely reflect Greek roots, their spelling influenced the tendency to apply elsewhere, creating inconsistencies. The in words such as ache and sepulcher is not a testament to Greek origins but rather a relic of Renaissance scholars’ attempts to imbue English with classical prestige, often prioritising status over linguistic accuracy.