2249: villain & villa Feb 10, 2021

The word 'villain' has been made popular especially in fiction, but as often happens with fiction, the truth—or in this case etymology—is made more exciting. The word in entered Middle English through the French 'vilein' from the same root as 'villa', the initial sense meaning 'rustic'. More specifically, the noun referred to a farmhand or peasant, but with that came negative connotations of being boorish, clownish, or even scoundrelly. Indeed, not only did this quite pejorative sense develop in English, but also in the Modern French 'vilain'.

2250: test Feb 11, 2021

While there are a number of words surprisingly related to 'testify' or 'testimony', 'test' is not one of them. This word actually for much of history both in English and the original Latin referred to a potsherd, or another small piece of pottery. The sense which it currently holds of an examination is relatively modern, deriving from the notion of checking molten metal in a mold, which eventually superseded the original sense of the word.

2248: scythe & sickle Feb 9, 2021

'Scythe' and 'sickle' are related semantically, but the etymological connection more distant than one might expect. The word 'sickle' in Old English was 'sicol' or 'siċel' while 'scythe' from the Old English 'sīþe; sīðe', though granted both are thought to come from the Proto-Indo-European '*sek-' meaning 'cut', and which would also relate both of these word to 'saw' (as in the tool). Indeed, the fact these are two separate words is not exclusive to English among Germanic languages, but many make no distinction. The -c- of 'scythe' came in with a perceived connection to 'scissor', but these words aren't related.

2247: testis & testifying Feb 8, 2021

There are a lot of etymologies related to genitalia, such as 'avocado', the word 'testis' (of which 'testicle is merely a diminutive) has perhaps a surprising origin. Ultimately it comes from a Latin word meaning 'witness', related to 'testimony; testament' and ultimately the word 'three' from *tréyes (three) as in a third party observer. The witness in this case is as a proof of one's virility. Lest this be considered an isolated example in history, consider also the translation of the Greek synonym derives from a word meaning 'one who is present'.

2246: ham & hambone Feb 7, 2021

Ham has been strongly associated with the theatre since the late 19th century. A couple of different phrases popular at the time such as 'ham-handed' (clumsy) and 'hamfatter' (low quality) were used generically, but these became connected with low-caliber actors and performances, especially with regard to minstrel shows. This led to the sense of 'ham' or 'hammy' today as 'overacting' or just generally exaggerated, also found in the phrase 'going ham (on...)'. While this would often connote anything done in an amateur way, the term 'hambone' meaning 'inferior actor' is a remnant of this, and is still associated as a description of often exaggerated aspects of black culture.

2245: sneeze Feb 6, 2021

There is an Proto-Indo-European root *snu- that has led to a number of semantically related words including just in English ‘nose’, ‘snot’, and ‘snout’. In that, ‘sneeze’ should not be included, though its association would be obvious on first glance. Consider that the word in Middle English was ‘fnese’ from the earlier Old English ‘fnēosan’, related to a number of other Germanic words like the Dutch ‘fniezen’. Many sources will say this change over time is due to a misprint, but people don’t often cause change of common words in their own language for this sort of thing, and the change is historically attested from [f] to [s] in other words too, including ‘snore’ with all word-initial [fn] falling out of use by the 15th century. That said, once [fn] had been lost, it could certainly have been influenced both by other semantically related word (even if not etymologically related) and indeed spelling.

2244: turban and tulip Feb 5, 2021

The words 'turban' and 'tulip are related, loaned to European languages through Ottoman Turkish دلبند‎ (tülbent), but initially the word was from Persian دلبند‎ (dolband). These two English words are clearly related in shape‚ hence the original meaning in Persian, but not so clearly in phonology. In Italian, the word for 'tulip' in 'tulipano' retaining the '-an' ending, but this was dropped in Germanic languages, being very similar to some of the most common suffixes. Likewise, it isn't exactly clear what caused the change of -l- to -r- in 'turban', but it likely happened in a even before it was borrowed into any Romance language.

2243: lobster, locusts, and spider Feb 4, 2021

Although they do have many legs, exoskeletons, antennae etc., lobsters are not insects. That said, there is believed to be a close etymological connection between that word and 'locust' insofar as it is thought to be a corruption of the Latin 'locusta' meaning both things. It also has an Old English suffix '-estre'—as with 'spinster' and 'gangster'—making this originally feminine. Others have connected this with the Old English lobbe/loppe meaning 'spider' along with the same suffix above. It's possible that both explanations are partly true, with the word 'lobbe' influencing by the current -B- in 'lobster' exists.

2242: halva Feb 3, 2021

The sesame dessert, halva, is spelled in hebrew as חלווה—featuring a somewhat unusual digraph וו—but also חלוה and even חלבה can be found. The latter form is considered a misspelling, but it's not totally random; the Hebrew word for milk is חלב‎ (kholov), though halva contains no milk. Indeed, the two have nothing to do with each other, with the dessert named from the Arabic حلوى (khalwa) meaning 'sweet; candy'.

2241: טבע: Nature, Coins, and Drowning Feb 2, 2020

In Semitic languages, there is a connection between nature and money, or specifically coins. In Aramaic for instance, טבע as a root can mean both 'nature' and 'coins' in the sense of 'impressed stamp'. Indeed, it might be said that the ultimate sense is 'press down' and 'set characteristic' since this root also can mean 'sink' or 'drown'. These senses are held in Hebrew טבע and Arabic Arabic طَبْع‎ (tab). Consider too that in English, 'nature' has a physical aspect to it, but can also describe something innate character.

2240: The Transformation of 'Hide' pt. 2 Feb 1, 2021

Previously, it was discussed how 'hide' (verb) has a vast array of related words; many closer related than 'hide' as a noun. These may seem surprising on the surface, like 'sky' and 'shoe', but also consider that 'hide' has changed a lot over time too. Take for instance that the verb used to be weak, which is to say it would have conjugated like

hide-hided-hided rather than

hide-hid-hidden

In general, the tendency is to expect that as time goes on, the creation and productivity of these so-called strong verbs—verbs that indicate tense with changing the internal vowel—to decline.

2239: hide (v); hide (n); sky; shoes; and obscure—How Are These Related? Jan 31, 2021

Although there is somewhat of a connection between 'hide' as a noun and as a verb, the verbal meaning might be just as if not more closely related to words including: hut, house, shoe, and even 'sky' and 'hose'. The obvious connection between 'hide' (i.e. skin') and 'hide' as a verb is the idea of concealment, but these words diverged before Old English, and the connection is prehistoric. Some of the words listed above like 'shoe' and house' also have that semantic relation, and all the more so with 'hut' there is a phonetic one, but not all of them. In the case of 'sky', the original meaning of this word in Old Norse was 'cloud', and is related to other words like the Old English 'scūa' (shadow) and Latin obscūrus (dark; shadowed), again in the sense of covering. In the case of 'hose', both with reference to water and women's legwear, this also had the general sense of 'covering' etymologically, and is related to words that now have a vast array of meaning, from trousers (German 'Hose') and intestines (Russian кишка [kishka]).

2238: edify vs. edifice—Has the Religious/Structural Connotation Always Existed? Jan 30, 2021

Today, an edifice only refers to a building while 'edify' (and 'edification') relates to moral instruction. This apparent disparity comes from Late Latin when the meaning shifted from building something physically to building up a person morally.

Interestingly, though probably not directly relevant, the Latin root 'aedis' comes from '*aits', from the Proto-Indo-European *h₂eydʰ- (to ignite; fire)—also associated with the Ancient Greek: αἴθω (aíthō), the root of 'ether'. 'Aedis' had religious connotations (as in 'temple') but also secular ones, denoting general rooms.

2237: Maltese Jan 29, 2021

The Maltese language is a perhaps more exceptional at first glance than it looks. There are a few things about it that shine through even on the surface, such as how it is the only Semitic language with Latin alphabet (though with extra letters like Ħ ħ), the only Semitic language of the EU, and that it has considerable Italian and English influence, despite being descended from Sicilian Arabic. Indeed, not only does a sizable portion of the vocabulary take from Italian, but also certain aspects of its grammar, partly because of its lack of connection to Arabic through Islam. It is also more closely recognizable to a speaker of Tunisian Arabic than would be the case the other way around, but this sort of asymmetry is not really so rare around the world.

2236: Why Tu BShvat is called 'Tu' Jan 28, 2021

The Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shvat—which just ended if you read this at the time of publication—is named for the date: the 15th of the month of Shvat (שבט‎). 'Tu' (ט״ו) is not a number however though it is seen here and also in the holiday Tu B’Av. Indeed, Hebrew uses a quasi-decimalized numerical system for writing numbers based off the order of the alphabet, as with Greek numerals, but while numbers from ten (י), eleven (יא or 10+1), twelve (יב or 10+2) etc. just go in order that way with addition, 15 and 16 are represented ט״ו‎‎ (9 + 6) and ט״ז‎‎ (9 + 7) as to avoid writing out one of the spellings for a name of Gd. It just so happens טו would be pronounced 'tu', but in normal speech the word would be חמש-עשרה (chamesh-esre).

2235: Etymology for Clocks around the World Jan 27, 2021

The word ‘clock’ is derived from the sense of a bell, but other languages have even stranger origins for their words for ‘clock’ including ‘water thief’. In Old English, the word was dægmæl or literally ‘day measure’, from ‘mæl’ meaning ‘measure’ or ‘mark’ still retained in ‘piecemeal’ and of course the idea of a meal, eaten at regular times throughout the day. The Latin word is ‘horologium’, originally from Greek ὡρολόγιον (hōrológion) meaning ‘hour-count’, but the Greeks themselves used a term κλεψύδρα (klepsydra) literally meaning ‘water-thief’. Today that word refers specifically to an hourglass or water-clock.

2234: clock and cloak Jan 26, 2021

The words 'cloak' and 'clock' are related, but as little as as those two have to do with each other on the surface, they also might not seem to do much with the common root. They both come from the Medieval Latin 'clocca' which actually meant 'bell', though this is thought to be originally Celtic. That word itself it thought to be onomatopoeic, and related to other words meaning 'laugh'. The cloak was called such not for the function or sound of course, but for having a generally bell-like shape. More on clocks in the next post. ב״ה

2233: fawn & fawn Jan 25, 2021

Little fawns may be cute, but the verb 'fawn' and the noun aren't related. Indeed, the nominal form, such as to denote a young deer is closer related to the word 'fetus' than to the verbal form 'fawn'. While now 'fawn' and 'fetus' look to only share one, initial sound ([f]), looking to the Vulgar Latin *fetonem it should clarify things. This evolved into the Old French 'faon' from the Latin fētus (offspring) understood to come ultimately from a root meaning 'suckle', and referred to any young creature as late as the 17th century. 'Fawn' as a verb on the other hand is closer related to 'fain', originally in the sense of 'rejoice'. Those two words have both shifted meaning somewhat, with 'fawn' coming to mean 'exaggerated flattery; swooning', and 'fain' meaning 'happy, relative to the circumstance'.

2232: Nacirema Jan 24, 2021

'Nacirema' is a term used in sociology as a way to describe American or otherwise broadly Western behaviors in a way one might do for other cultures in a somewhat voyeuristic manner. The term was coined in 1956 as a reverse of the spelling of 'American' and was first used in the article "Body Ritual among the Nacirema" as a satirical piece describing mid-50's grooming, pharmaceuticals and basic aspects of history in the way some might describe foreign, tribal cultures. Though initially just published as a one-time event in American Anthropologist, several other papers by other authors came to use this term for similar effect.

2231: petticoat, cotillion, and cotte Jan 23, 2021

As mentioned, the word 'coat' comes from the French 'cotte', but this is not the only word derived from it in English. Now obsolete in French opting for 'manteau', it is really only found in the phrase cotte de mailles (chainmail). That said, it also gave rise, somewhat unsurprisingly, to 'petticoat' (though now this describes a type of skirt, it was once an undercoat, but also to 'cotillion', a type of dance. Cotillion, which once had the same meaning as 'petticoat' i.e. 'small coat', now has the sense of referring to any formal dance-event, but in the 17th century referred to a specific dance in which one would raise her dress enough to display the petticoat.