 Last week’s post covered a steaming heap of unlikely words that shared a common root meaning to speak. In an attempt for balance, I took a look at the etymologies of silence & quiet for this week’s post, but came away uninspired. The word mute is another matter.
Mute made its way into English in the 1300s through Old French & Latin from Greek. Initially, mute meant pretty much what it mostly means today – silent. By the 1570s mute picked up the meaning stage actor engaging in pantomime. By 1811 a mute could be applied to a stringed instrument & by 1841 a mute could be used on horns. The Greek source for mute was myein, to be shut, & myein has some intriguing progeny. One branch of the myein tree grew like this: It started way back in Greek as myein, to be shut. Next, it became mystes, one who has been initiated (possibly referring to having been previously shut out). From there it became mysteria, a secret rite or doctrine. Next, it grew to be mysterium, secret worship or secret thing. And from there it became mistere, secret or hidden meaning. Then (in the early 1300s) it became mystery, meaning religious truth via divine revelation. These days most dictionaries offer about a dozen meanings for mystery, generally starting off with something like an event that baffles or eludes the understanding. Another mysterious branch of the myein tree grew in this fashion: Of course, we start with myein, to be shut. Next comes myops, which literally meant close the eyes, but came to mean near-sighted. By 1727, we have the word myopia. Mute is often confused with a word that started out as a Proto-Germanic word meaning assembly or council (ga-motan) It next moved into Old English as gemot, meaning meeting. One must assume Old English meetings were contentious, as the next Old English word on this tree was moot, to debate. By the 1530s, moot picked up the adjectival meaning debatable or discussion of a hypothetical law case. So from that old Greek word myein we ended up with mute, myopia & mystery, but not moot. I’m hoping you’ve got something to say about all this. If so, just click on the word “comments” below & enter your comment. Big thanks to this week’s sources: Etymonline, Wordnik, Collins Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, & the OED.
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 Take a look at the following words and ask yourself how they might possibly share a common root:
fairy prophet fame ban infant confess fable beckon affable nefarious I must admit, given this list, I wouldn’t have a clue. The common root here is the Proto-Indo-European word bha-, to speak. The word ban showed up in Old English about the same time Old English showed up. Ban came to us through Old High German from a Proto-Germanic word meaning banish, expel or curse (all actions which must be spoken). Like the rest of the words on this list, it seems to have started with bha-, to speak. Beckon showed up in Old English about the same time through a West Saxon & possibly Old High German word meaning to make a mute sign or to speak without words. Prophet appeared in English in the late 1100s through Latin from a Greek word meaning one who speaks for the gods. Fairy showed up in English in 1300, through a Latin word meaning that which is fated, & of course, for anyone to know something is fated, it must first be spoken of. Fame showed up in the early 1200s through Old French from a Latin word meaning talk, rumor, report, good reputation. Affable – came from Old French through a Latin word meaning one who can be easily spoken to. It appeared in English in the 1400s. Infant appeared in English in the 1300s from a Latin word meaning unable to speak (the in- meaning not & the fant meaning speak). Confess came from Old French from a Vulgar Latin word meaning speak together or admit. Like infant, it arrived in the 1300s. Fable also showed up in the 1300s through Old French from a Latin word meaning spoken narrative. Nefarious appeared in English in the 1600s from a Latin word meaning wicked crime. In this case, the ne- negates the root fari-, which meant divinely spoken, which suggests that a crime is an activity a higher power has forbidden. All from a little old word (actually, a little VERY old word) meaning speak. I’m hoping you might click on the word “comments” below & let me know where your brain went when asked the initial question in this post. Big thanks to this week’s sources: Etymonline, Wordnik, Collins Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, & the OED.  This week I found myself thinking over Mary Penney’s fabulous middle grade novel, Eleven and Holding. For more than one reason, it got me thinking about benevolence. It wouldn’t be fair to say the book is about benevolence, but it features some secondary characters whose benevolence truly shines.
As does the author’s. Mary is one of those quiet people out in the world doing good things. She doesn’t need people to know she’s doing good, she just does it. Mary would like to grow up to be a philanthropist (insert laughter from anyone with intimate knowledge of a children’s author’s earnings here). She makes the point that if one has goals, one needs to practice. And how does an up-and-coming philanthropist with a small income practice? By giving in small bits. So Mary gives. In everyday little ways, in offering conference scholarships to authors, in helping veterans, in sprinkling kindness here & there, & in writing books that offer hope & bring smiles to kids’ faces. Mary is a poster-child for benevolence, a word which appeared in English in 1400, through Old French from the Latin word benevolentia. The bene- part of the word means good or well, while the –volentia means to wish. A person who is benevolent is spending his/her time & thoughts wishing others well. If you’ve been watching or reading a lot of news these days, you could probably use a reminder that benevolence happens. You’d probably benefit from spending time with good people wishing others well, perhaps giving in small bits. If so, you might want to read Mary Penney’s middle grade novel, Eleven and Holding (HarperCollins, 2016). And if you’ve got a bit of time, how about clicking on comments below & recounting a benevolent act you recently encountered? Big thanks to this week’s sources: Etymonline, Wordnik, Collins Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, & the OED.  It's pretty darn toasty in many places this summer, so I'm hoping this post can counteract the heat with a bit of chilling .
The word chill came from the Old English word ciele, which meant cold, coolness, frost, or to freeze. Ciele’s source was the Proto-Indo-European word gel-, which gave birth to heaps of modern English words. Given what liquids do when they cool down, it’s not much of a stretch to see how a word meaning to freeze could be the parent of gel, gelatin & Jello. Gelatin, meaning a clear, jelly-like substance, appeared in 1713 after spending a couple of centuries in France as gélatine. Gel, an abbreviated form of gelatin showed up in English in 1899, meaning a semi-solid substance. Jelly’s parent-word also spent some time in France (as gelee) before moving across the channel to, well, jell into the word we know. And in 1900 the Genesee Pure Food Company started selling a product called Jello. A Latin step-child of gel- also made its way into France, then to England in 1650 as glacial. And by 1744 the noun glacier was born. And what happened to gel- on its way through German and Old English? It became both cool & cold. Because water expands upon freezing, gel- is the parent-word for the Old German word gelb-, to swell, & because a cow swells prior to giving birth, gelb- is the parent-word of calf. So calving of a glacier = Cold of a cold? Frost of a frost? Gel of the Jello? Inquiring minds... As much of the nation is swept up in a heat wave, I’m hoping most of you are getting the occasional chance to chill. I also hope you’ll find a minute to comment on all this chilling in the comments section. Big thanks to this week’s sources: Etymonline, Wordnik, Collins Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, & the OED.  The idiom start from scratch first appeared in 1918. Though we use the idiom today to refer to food preparation or a rags-to-riches life, start from scratch came from the world of sport. In a race, a starting line was scratched into the soil. A competitor starting the race with no handicap started on that line, from scratch.
Another scratch “we” started with is gerbh-, a Proto-Indo-European root meaning to claw or scratch. Back in the day, gerbh- was employed when people wrote or drew by scratching on clay tablets. Eventually, this gave birth to the Greek word graphein, to write. We see graphein today in tons of words: graph, photograph, biography, graffiti, & on & on. After a century or three, we graduated from scratching things into clay to writing or drawing using the graphite in pencils. And then there is digit And artful scratching (originally on those same clay tablets) gave us the word carve. Gerbh- was also applied to the walking motion of some crustaceans, giving us crawdad, crab, & crayfish. Their method of locomotion, to claw one’s way, became the word crawl. And the word scrawl, to write untidily, may have also come from that idea of scratching provided by gerbh-. Even telegram, monogram & hologram can be traced back to this idea of scratching & the root gerbh-. And because folks creating rules & such had to scratch them out in writing, we have grammar. Even more unlikely, because magical spells had to be written out, even the word glamour comes from this root. In the history of language, there’s a lot of scratching going on. I’m hoping you might comment on it all in the comments section. Big thanks to this week’s sources: Etymonline, Wordnik, Collins Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, & the OED.  In last week’s post we looked at words like shenanigans, meaning up to no good. In honor of Tom, who regularly comments on Wordmonger, this week’s words chronicle shenanigans of a kinder & goofier nature.
The word tomfoolery, meaning foolish trifling, appeared in English in 1812. It came from the 1640s noun tom-fool, which meant a buffoon or clown. Since the 1580s, English speakers have been using the word frolic, originally meaning making merry. The verb frolic came from an older adjective meaning joyous or full of mirth. It comes from a Proto-Indo-European word meaning to hop. Also in the 1580s the noun horseplay was born, meaning overly rough play. The term doesn’t actually refer to creatures of the equine variety, but refers instead to a secondary meaning of horse (strong or coarse). Horseplay gave birth to a related term in 1793, horsing (to play excessive jokes on), and another, horsing around (to join in boisterous play), in 1928. In the 1590s the verb caper was born. It originally meant a playful leap or jump. By 1600, one could cut capers, or dance in a frolicsome manner. Caper added the meaning prank in 1840 & the meaning crime in 1926. It appears caper came to English from the Italian word capriolare, to jump in the air. Another way to say prank or caper is the American-born noun, dido. It generally appears in the idiom to cut didoes. In 1709 the verb romp, meaning to play, sport or frolic appeared. By 1734 the noun romp showed up, meaning piece of lively play. In 1909 romp transformed to a word meaning small children’s overalls – rompers. And those readers of a particular age will recall the children’s TV show, Romper Room, which first aired in 1953. I’m hoping you’ve got something to say in the comments section about this etymological romp. Big thanks to this week’s sources: Etymonline, Wordnik, Collins Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, & the OED.  We English speakers have lots of ways to suggest someone is up to no good. This week we’ll cover a few of them.
A nefarious (or in some cases fun-loving) individual might engage in shenanigans. This word showed up in 1855 in California. Though my ear tells me shenanigans is likely a slur against the Irish (like so many other words), most etymologists disagree. Though nobody’s really certain, shenanigans appears to have come from a Spanish word, charranada, which means trick or deceit. A small dissenting group of etymologists suggest shenanigans may have come from a German word, schenigelei, a word referring to the peddler’s craft. And an even smaller group of much-maligned etymologists suggest the word may have come from the Irish word for fox, sionnach. Hmm. Another word referring to a rogue’s deeds or actions is knavery, a noun that appeared in the 1580s based on the much older word knave. Knave’s root, from Old English, is the noun cnafa, originally meaning a boy or male servant. By 1200, though, knave/cnafa picked up the negative connotation, rogue or rascal. The word knavery was born of that connotation. An 1841 word that originally meant trickery is hanky-panky. Though it’s not quite nailed down, it’s likely hanky-panky evolved from hoky-poky, which evolved from hocus-pocus. And a century after hanky-panky was first put to paper, about 1939, hanky-panky picked up the meaning sexual dalliance. Knavery, shenanigans & hanky-panky can also be referred to with the somewhat less loaded word, antics, which came to English in 1520 & meant grotesque or comical gesture. Its root is the word antico, which originally referred to ancient, unearthed Roman murals, seen to be strange & bizarre, thus labeled antico, a word which has since morphed to mean antique. The 1809 verb skylark means to frolic or play. The word skylarking was originally used to refer to the antics of exuberant sailors playing in the rigging. And the idiom monkey business was born in 1883 to refer to questionable shenanigans. Monkey business may reflect the word monkey’s history, as monkey came through Old French from the Arabic word maimun, which meant both monkey & auspicious; the sighting of an ape was perceived to be unlucky – almost as unlucky as being the victim of monkey business. So, good readers, what do you have to say about these etymological shenanigans? Big thanks to this week’s sources: Etymonline, Wordnik, Collins Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, & the OED.  Jet (as in a jet of water) showed up in English in the 1690s. It came through French from the Latin word iacere, which meant to throw. It doesn’t take much creativity to imagine how a word meaning to throw would end up referring to:
a stream of water (1690), a spout or nozzle for emitting fuel (1825), jet propulsion (1855 – no joke – at that point we were propelling things with jets of water), or fuel-driven jet propulsion (1945). What fascinates me are all the other words that came from iacere. jetty – early 1400s – rocks or land thrown into the sea jetsam – 1560s – initially the act of throwing something overboard, soon to morph into the items thrown overboard jettison – 1848 – to throw overboard trajectory – 1690s – the path of something thrown adjective – late 1300s – from ad-iacere, meaning to throw near adjacent – late 1400s – also from ad-iacere, meaning to throw near jut – mid 1400s – throw in the way eject – mid 1400s – to throw out joist – early 1300s – lumber thrown down on which a floor can be built interjection – early 1400s – a word thrown into a conversation conjecture – late 1300s – a possibility one throws into an argument As you consider the next list of words, imagine how they might have something to do with the Latin root iacere, to throw, then click on comments below & offer your explanation of the connection. subject object project reject abject inject deject, & jete Big thanks to this week’s sources: Etymonline, Wordnik, Collins Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, & the OED.  For the last few years I've had the incredible good fortune to attend a writing retreat with children’s writing guru & editing luminary, Patricia Lee Gauch, retired editorial director of Philomel (Penguin). Patti wrote some remarkable children’s books & is a passionate editor & teacher. A handful of the many authors whose award-winning books she edited are TA Barron, Jane Yolen, Judith St. George, Eric Carle, Patricia Polacco, Kathryn Erskine, Andrew Clements, Virginia Hamilton, & Brian Jacques.
While discussing making a scene come alive, Patti notes that many editors tend to ask authors for detail, but the word detail has never resonated for her. Instead, she sometimes asks for more specifics. Her default term though -- the word that really latches onto what she’s looking for in a scene that needs to come alive -- is texture. Interesting. The modern word detail, meaning a small, subordinate piece, came to English about 1600 from a French noun that originally meant cut into pieces. Her second choice, the noun specifics, arrived in English about that same time from Latin through French. The original Latin word meant kind or sort, & is also the parent word for the word species. Patti's preferred word, texture, made its way into English two centuries earlier from Latin through Middle French. It’s related to the word textile & comes from a verb that meant to weave or fabricate. In her efforts to help an author craft a book, an editor is doing all she can to help the author weave the disparate strands of character, story, setting & tension into something whole, something complete. Nobody wants a story to be sorted or cut into pieces. Maybe it's no surprise that a gifted, longstanding editor doesn't find the words detail or specifics satisfying, but relishes the word texture. Does Patti’s word choice when it comes to editorial advice reflect a sixth sense regarding the history of these words? Can a word’s origins follow it from language to language & culture to culture, through centuries of change? Readers, writers, what are your thoughts on this? Please chime in by clicking on comments below. Big thanks to this week’s sources: Etymonline, Wordnik, Collins Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, & the OED. Photo by Megan Frances Abrahams.  Last week’s post featuring some thoughts from a favorite author luminary led me to this week’s post. I’ll get back to etymologies and such next week, but for now, I hope you’ll have a good time with the ever-prolific & fascinating Ray Bradbury.
Born in 1929 & leaving this universe we know in 2012, author of 500 works, Ray Bradbury won the Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, the National Medal of Arts, & the National Book Foundation Medal, & tons more. Known best as a science fiction novelist & short story author whose stories always valued character above technology, Bradbury also wrote TV scripts, poems, plays, & screenplays. Here is a tiny sampling of his thoughts: “We are an impossibility in an impossible universe.” “You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.” “We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” & “Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a landmine. The landmine is me. After the explosion I spend the rest of the day putting the pieces together.” I’m hoping some of you might choose a quote from above & have something to say about it in the comments section. Big thanks to this week’s sources: RayBradbury.com, SearchQuotes, BrainyQuote, & Quotes.net - photo from FamousAuthors.org |
I write for teens, narrate audio books, bake bread, play music, and ponder the wonder of words in a foggy little town on California's central coast.
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