Etymology, Latin, Proto-Indo-European Emmett Stone Etymology, Latin, Proto-Indo-European Emmett Stone

2337: get, nascent, and a word family of birth May 12, 2021

The words 'beget' and 'nascent' both relate to birth (as of course do a great many other words) but these can be proven to be related by a common root. The word 'get' is related to a root *ghend- meaning 'to take; to grab; to hold' is also related to *ǵenh₁- and *gene- both meaning 'to give birth' or 'produce' leading to the Latin gnāscor (hence 'nascent') and 'get' along with 'generate' and all its derivatives, also 'gene', 'genealogy', 'pregnant', ‘beget‘, 'kind', 'naive', 'indigenous', 'gonad', and so many more.

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2330: prehensile & get (*ghend-) May 5, 2021

The word 'prehensile' is from the Latin 'prehēnsus' (ultimately from prehendō) meaning 'to grab' denotes something with gripping capabilities such as in the phrase 'prehensile tail'. It is also from the same root that we get 'apprehend' and 'apprehensive' the latter of which lost its physical meaning and now is used only in the mental sense. Further back though, the root *ghend- has led to all sorts of words, including but not limited to these just in English: get; guess; depredation; and enterprize. Moreover, some less obvious ones include: comprehensive; comprise; and reprehend.

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