2674: Meadow and Mow: How Spring & Sweetness are Related
The word 'mead' as in fermented honey, and a 'meadow' are related. There is an older form of meadow as 'mead' too such as in the Middle English poem "Sumer is Icumen in" that has the line
Groweþ sed (grows seed)
and bloweþ med (and the meadow blooms)
As it happens, both of those words ultimately are from the same root, but there are other words too like the Russian word for 'bear', медведь (medved), the word 'mow' in English, as well as the German 'Matte' (pasture) and Latin 'metere' (to harvest). The root in Proto-Indo-European related to growth, blossoming, and eventually sweetness. Many languages, especially of the ancient world, had related words meaning 'sweet wine', and eventually that came to mean 'drunk'. Even the name 'Maeve' comes from the same root as 'mead', from the Middle Irish 'medb' from the root meaning 'sweet' but in this case it means literally 'intoxicating'.
2647: Nubō as a (Generally) Female Verb Mar 17, 2022
The word 'nuptial' comes from a verb in Latin that denotes wedding but specifically refers to a woman taking a husband. For instance, the each spouse would use different verbs to describe the wedding, such as:
A woman saying "virō nūbō" (I marry a man)
A man would say "dūcō uxōrem" (I marry a woman), though typically 'dūcere' means 'to lead', and 'nubō' can also be related to veiling, as a woman would do at a wedding.
This dichotomy maybe influenced its descendants like 'nubile' to also be specifically feminine.
2635: 'Medicine' in Ojibwe Mar 5, 2022
There are a number of phrases from Native American sources such as Ojibwe and Cree, that use 'medicine' in a way it isn't seen much otherwise to mean 'magic'. Phrases like
Medicine lodge (also known as 'sweat lodge')
Medicine dance
Medicine bag
Medicine wheel
all use this to name a few examples, and there are even a number of place-names that take from these. This is not only because of more old-fashioned views of medicine, but that the Ojibwe word in all of these examples is 'mashkiki' can mean 'medicine' but also 'grass; herbs' and 'drug' not only here but in many Algonquian languages.
2633: engage & wed Mar 3, 2022
Thematically an engagement is related to a wedding, one following the other, but the words are linked as well. The word 'wed' from Old English 'weddian' meant 'to pledge', and in many other Germanic languages it denotes betting. It's from the same root as 'wage' which can mean 'pledge' in the sense of commiting to an obligation (to wage war; worker's wages) or committing to a bet (a.k.a. 'wager'). Often a W and G will morphe one to the other, and in Romance languages where 'gage' or more popularly 'engage' were adopted into English from that same root too.
2632: free & friend Mar 2, 2022
Though it's doubtful anyone in the free-love movement would have been aware of it, the word 'free' used to convey a meaning of love. The Old English for 'free' (frēo) is from the Proto-Germanic *frijaz which meant both 'beloved' but also 'unbound', as in literally not enslaved. This is related to 'friend' as well, & in many languages like German, the word for 'friend' and 'lover' are the same one, here 'Freund'.
2626: stout (beer) Feb 23, 2022
The beer called 'stout' bears its name because it is a strong, dark beer. If the term had come out today instead of in the 17th century, it may well have just been called 'a strong'. The root in other Germanic languages means 'proud', like the German 'Stolz', but the definition is different in English due to the euphemistic meaning that replaced the sense of 'proud; haughty' with 'fat' in the Middle Ages, and again in the 14th century with 'strong-bodied'.
2622: Archipelago & the Aegean Sea Feb 18, 2022
The word 'archipelago' came to English from Greek originally as a proper noun, but even now in Greek it isn't used that way. The word ἀρχιπέλαγος (archepelagos) in Ancient Greek referred to the Aegean Sea, and later denoted the islands within it. The word means 'chief sea', and even though it is ancient, it is less mythical in its source than the current name for the sea. The name, also in Latin 'Archipelago', was still popularly in use around parts of Europe until the modern era.
2620 dungeon Feb 16, 2022
In the popular conception, dungeons are in the basement area, but in medieval times they would have been the top level of a tower. In fact, these were designed to be secure not because they were prisons per se, but as castle keeps, which is how the word meant in Middle English. This is still the case in the less well-known word 'donjon', likely based on the Latin 'dominus' meaning 'master' as it was the lord's tower most of the time; castles, ultimately, were homes.
2619: Greek Name for Mars Feb 15, 2022
English has lots of words with 'pyro-' like 'pyromaniac' from the Greek word for 'fire', but their word for the planet Mars, Pyroeis, which literally 'the fiery' we did not go with. Instead, we took took the Roman name 'Mars', a deity of war, because its red color was associated with blood. The Greek name was for the same reason, though it went in another direction.
2618: Gargoyles vs Grotesques Feb 14, 2022
People will often be confused between the differences of gargoyles and grotesques. A gargoyle is only a type of grotesque, and is a statue for the specific purpose of moving drain water away from walls. Without a statue, such a device would just be a spout. Without the function of moving water, the statues are known as 'grotesques'. These statues, which often depict monsters, take their name from the Latin 'grotto', which is a type of painting style notable for its obscene imagery, painted in caves or in private homes usually. 'Gargoyle' instead comes from the French 'gargouille' (throat) because it moved water as a pipe, and is related to 'gargle'.
2615: Why No W- in 'Holistic'? Feb 11, 2022
Though there is a version 'wholism', far and away the more common and more standard spelling is 'holism', without the W-. Still, when referencing wholeness, as it were, so it might cause someone to wonder why this differentiation around W- was made. This is due to the fact that the term was coined in 1926 attempting to resemble Greek more closely, from ὅλος (holos) meaning 'whole'. That said, the W- is only from a dialect-form from the 15th century, and in Old English the word was hāl without the W-, so really the question could be asked the other way around.
2608: Crib (Building) Feb 4, 2022
'Crib' usually refers to a baby's bed, especially one with slatted walls, but as MTV would immortalize, it can also refer to someone's house or crime den. In fact, the criminal sense is older than that of regular domesticity, and seems to have originated with the sense of a basket or pouch for keeping stored, stolen items, and then denoted the hideout. Certainly, other senses of this word relate to storage, like 'corn crib' or in Australia that this can refer to a lunchbox. Further, the sense of 'crib' as 'cheating', like 'crib sheet' probably comes from this.
2603: Utility of Yea and Nay: 2- & 4-Form Systems Jan 30, 2022
Latin had a somewhat complicated way to answer questions, but English's manner used to be more thorough as well. English is now a 2 form system meaning that is has one affirmative 'yes' and a negative 'no'. It used to be a 4 form system with 'yea' and 'nay' as well. The difference is that 'yea' and 'nay' answer questions that were stated affirmatively (a.k.a. positively), while 'yes' and 'no' were for questions stated negatively
For example:
Did he go?
Yes, he went
Did he not go?
Nay, he did not go
Eventually, these were lost and are now considered to be dated, without common understanding in the difference of the usage.
2599: cobbler vs cordwainer Jan 26, 2022
Despite the misconception, a cobbler is not the traditional term for a shoe-maker, but a shoe-fixer. The shoe-maker was actually referred to as a 'cordwainer'. Indeed, the fact that the shoes were, as it were, cobbled together, is why this name denotes the repair. This was considered less serious work, and did not only relate to shoes once, but to anything hastily crafted. That said, the origins of 'cobble' itself aren't entirely clear.
2598: Urchin & Hedgehog Jan 25, 2022
Sea urchins use an old word which by itself, would be obsolete. Likely, the word 'urchin' by itself would sooner conjure up images of poor Victorian children before it would a hedgehog, but that is what this once meant. The word is from the Old French dialect form 'irechon' from Latin 'ericius'. This led to Middle English 'yrchoun'. The spikes of a sea urchin give it this name, but hedgehogs have provided the name for military formations involving circles of outward facing spears just as well. It is unclear where the Victorian slang is from.
2578: freelance Jan 4, 2022
'Freelance' now refers to work done across several companies by a person, rather than a fixed position. That said, people nowadays would almost never have any connection to lances, but the original sense denoted mercenaries, who presumably would have. That said, this was not from a medieval word, but is from around the 19th century at least, with many ascribing it to author Sir Walter Scott. The more general sense was taken on soon after.
2572: milk Dec 28, 2021
The English words 'milk' and 'lactose' obviously have related meanings, but moreover they share a common root. There is a clear set of relationships across Germanic languages for milky words like Milch (German), melk (Dutch/Afrikaans), as well as in Slavic languages молоко (moloko) in Russian, or mleko/mlijeko (Serbo-Croatian/Slovenian). Conversely, across Romance languages this is less clearly related with French 'lait', Spanish 'leche', and Italian 'latte' to the Ancient Greek γάλακτος (gálaktos) from γάλα (gála), but each of these comes from the same Proto-Indo-European root.
2570: Empathy: A False Friend Dec 26, 2021
English has two words, 'empathy' and 'sympathy', that clearly share a root and have similar meaning. The Greek '-πάθεια' ending means 'suffering'—in this case describing one's ability to understand another's pain—but in Greek εμπάθεια (empátheia) means 'malice'. A more literal translation of the Greek, though lacking the necessary negative connotation, could be 'passion', but would not be a desired quality. The reason behind this apparent division is that the English version was chosen as a deliberate if imperfect attempt to translate the German 'Einfühlung', rather than being trying to capture the Greek meaning.
2567: fiance & betrothed Dec 23, 2021
Of descriptive titles for a person who is engaged, the most common include 'fiancé(e)' and 'betrothed'. Both of these, in fact have the same etymological basis even though they are from different languages. 'Fiancé(e)' is from French, though originally the root is with the Latin 'fidere' (related to 'fides') meaning 'to trust', or as a noun 'truth'. This is the same root as the English 'fidelity' as well as 'fealty' and 'fiat', which also connect the idea of 'trust' to agreements. 'Betroth' (or indeed 'troth') is from an old and now out-of-use form of 'truth', with 'troth' also having another sense of 'agreement' or 'pledge'. Unlike 'betroth/ed', English did not also take the verbal form of 'fiancé(e)' from French, which is 'fiancer', and so must use another word 'engaged'.
2550: Attorney Dec 6, 2021
These days, an 'attorney' refers to someone who acts on another's behalf in a legal or business setting. Though the word can stand on its own, outside of legal contexts, it only realistically exists in fixed phrases like 'attorney-in-fact'. Neither of those words on their own have the generic sense of 'agent' or 'deed' respectively, except as a holdover in this phrase. Even the word 'attorney' is a bit strange, with double T's which didn't exist in Latin or Old French 'atorné', and was added later as a misunderstanding.