Word origins

[Mapache]

edit: and Mars is the god of war! War is harmful.

Martial Arts.

Martyr ?

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Martial Arts.

Martyr ?

Martial Arts = Harmful Arts

Martyr = One who has been harmed (well now we know where the 'mar' part came from, but not the 'tyr' part, hmmm)

 

[Aphex_Twin]

From www.dictionary.com

Martyr etymology:

[Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Late Greek martur, from Greek martus, martur-, witness]

The innitial meaning could be "witness of God"

 

[Bozo Erectus]

martyr

n 1: one who suffers for the sake of principle [syn: sufferer] 2: one who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty for refusing to renounce their religion

Aphex, looks like Greek, being an Indo European language, used the infamous 'mar' in this context because a person who suffers due to his beliefs has been harmed because of them.

 

[Cimbri]

And in "nightmare" the element "mare" signifies a kind of female demon. The Swedish form is mara, which suggests it should be mare in Danish - anyone know if there's a such word?

Yup. 'Mareridt' - 'Nightmare'

 

[Aphex_Twin]

I'm doing a medical Romanian-English translation right now. How many of you can tell, out of the top of your head what the word parenchymatous means?

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Romanian has Latin origins doesnt it? Hmmmm....In loco parentis...parents...matous...matar(in Spanish meaning to kill)...

parenchymatous = parent killing???

edit: in Spanish, pare means wall. So...wall killing? Breaking? I got it, breaking down the walls!

 

[Aphex_Twin]

The word is actually English and is as I said, a medical term, meaning "characteristic tissue or a certain organ". But don't get me started on duodenojejunostomy

 

[Bozo Erectus]

duodenojejunostomy

Im not even going to go near this one

 

[Mise]

I think many words, such as war or water or foot were developed by the British natives themselves, as words crucial to early development, and not bastardised from other languages. I may be wrong though, since most small words tend to originate from the Vikings, and most big words from Latin or Greek.

 

[classical_hero]

Catasrophe means overthrow ore overturn in Greek. Katasrophe in Greek. From "Kata" meaning "over" and strephein which means "turn" or "throw", which is the root of the part of strophe. The prefix "kata" in Greek can mean many things depending upon the usage. Here's another "Kata" or "Cata".
Cataclysm meaning flood. Kataclysmus in Greek. Kata = down, kylzein = wash. I.E. a wash down or a flood.
Catalogue means a list. This is an old french word borrowed from the Latin word Catalogus, which means "a list'. Or Katalogos in Greek. Kata = completely, legein = to count. Here's a word that is familiar with.
Catapult means to hurl down. Katapeltes in Greek. Kata = down, pallein = to hurl.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Interesting Classical, I guess then a 'Cataphract' is a mounted spear thrower?

 

[Tomoyo]

Apostrophe means to turn up. (I was under the impression that legein means to write)

"Cataphract", well, that wasn't in my dictionary, but I guess it throws spears downwards?

 

[kryszcztov]

Very interesting thread ! Keep it up !

It's amazing to see that it's mainly vowels that were changed over the centuries (though consonants change a lot too), maybe that has to do with writing being the affair of consonants first during the Ancient Times ? Or maybe it's a matter of pronounciation ?

Let's be egocentric first. My name comes from Greek (which I'm proud of), it means "he who carries the Christ", though I've never really searched for it. Basically the Saint helped little Jesus to cross a river.

Now we all know English partly comes from Latin through Norman invasion. Latin words were used to describe the noble form of things, while Germanic words were used for common sense. There are many examples, though I forgot most of them. But did you know that the "love" in "fifteen-love" in tennis came from the French "l'oeuf" (the O and the E are twin letters in fact), which means "the egg" ? It looks like it has to do with the shape of an egg.

Lastly, do you know a great place for ethymology, and preferably a multilanguage site, as I'm more interested in the origins of French words, and also interested in languages of the Ancient Times ?

 

[Tomoyo]

Some names:

Spencer: Merchant (Like Dispenser)
Cecily: Blind, after the Roman family Cecilius, who apparantly had quite a few blind people.
Kimberly: I think it's the name of a marsh in Linclonshire.

 

[MSTK]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned
http://www.etymonline.com

It's probably the biggest free etymology compilation on the internet.

A neat fact that I take in is that the words "Pen" and "Pencil" come from completely different roots - one meaning "feather" and the other meaning "art brush"...

I use etymology for many of my names. For example, "General Styrtan Werran" is the one who starts the confusion/war in my Civ Story.

 

[Tycho Brahe]

Mare is turning out to be a very interesting word.

Latin- Sea

English- female horse

Slavic- a death goddess

Indo European- Harm

Maybe way back in prehistory, the 'Indo Europeans' saw both horses and the sea as dangerous things...Hmm, fascinating Captain.

Don't forget Marla_Singer

 

[Masquerouge]

Well:
* I can't prove it but 'heresy' and 'here say' are most likely cousins.

That doesn't work, since it's a greek word... Plus it's Hérésie in French, too, but for us Here say has no meaning

The French word for work, "Travail", comes from the Latin "Tripalium", a torture instrument.

I think many words, such as war or water or foot were developed by the British natives themselves, as words crucial to early development, and not bastardised from other languages. I may be wrong though, since most small words tend to originate from the Vikings, and most big words from Latin or Greek.

Clearly not, since the german equivalent for water and foot are Wasser and Fuss and war is also related to the French guerre. Often, the g french sound (as in Gap) has a W equivalent in english. Guerre -> war, Guillaume -> William

So these words most likely originate from an anglo-saxon background, and were imported by William the Conqueror, I'd guess.

 

[Tycho Brahe]

...
So these words most likely originate from an anglo-saxon background, and were imported by William the Conqueror, I'd guess.

William the Conqueror was not anglo-saxon? There were plenty of anglo saxons in England before he arrived....

 

[Mapache]

William the Conqueror was not anglo-saxon

Guillaume le Conquereur conquered(!) England and introduced beef and pork and maybe sauce to the English.