STUDY OF THE ORIGIN OF WORDS

STUDY OF THE ORIGIN OF WORDS (Etymology)

Etymology is the study of the roots and the history of words; and how their from and meaning have changed over time.

What follows is list of some curious word origins. Some of these are English, but some are French and German words from which we get some English words.

Addict

Slaves given to Roman soldiers to reward them for performance in battle were known as addicts. Eventually, a person who was a slave to anything became known as an addict.

Algebra

This term, which means "the science of equations" in English--and which conjures up fear in the hearts of most fifth and sixth graders--comes from the title of one of al-Khowarizmi's (see "algorithm") treatises, "Hisab AL-JAHR w'almuqaBAlah" [emphasis added], which means, "Science of Transposition and Cancellation.

Assassin

From the old Arabic word "hashshshin," which meant, "someone who is addicted to hash," that is, marijuana. Originally refered to a group of warriors who would smoke up before battle.

 Biscuit 

  From the mediaeval French 'Bis + cuit' meaning 'cooked twice'

 Cab (as in, Taxicab)

Old Italian term for goat (cabra in Spanish). The first carriages "for public hire" bounced so much that they reminded people of goats romping on a hillside

Calculate

Comes from calculus, the Latin word for pebble. In Ancient Rome, as in Ancient Greece, pebbles were used in the abacus or counting frame in order to carry out basic arithmetic computations. 

 Cell

Originally meant a monk's living space. It was Robert Hooke, who invented the first microscope. His first specimen was a piece of cork, which was made up of many small rectangular sub-parts. To him, the small rectangles were like the small room monks lived in, known as cells. Thus, he called these discovered & so the Turks had to give up and leave someone who "turns his tail and runs."

Deer

From the Old English "deor," meaning "animal."

  Denim

The tough cloth used in jeans was originally made in Nimes, France, as well as Genoa, Italy (see jeans). It was called Serge di Nimes--later shortened to di Nimes, which became denim.

Dexterity

From the Latin "dexter," for "right" (in the sense of right-left).

Elite

From the Latin elire, meaning "to choose," from which we also get the modern Spanish word meaning the same, elegir.

Jeans

Genoa--called "Gene" by sixteenth-century Europeans--was the first city to make denim cloth (see Denim) used for jeans. The pants were named after the city.

Mastress

From the French "Maîtresse," which originally meant "bride."

Money

From the Latin word "moneta" which originally meaning, "warning."