Is the English adjective "whole" genealogically related in any way to the adjective "holos", which means "whole" in Koine (and possibly other varieties of Greek; I'm not sure), and has a similar pronunciation? If so, how are they related?
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@z7sg, Why did you delete your post? I couldn't even upvote it!– ThursagenCommented Jun 4, 2011 at 1:36
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@Third Idiot I leapt to the completely opposite and wrong conclusion!– z7sg ѪCommented Jun 4, 2011 at 1:40
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Ah, well, you've corrected it, and its equally great -- in the opposite direction.– ThursagenCommented Jun 4, 2011 at 1:48
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1 Answer
They sound very similar but are actually unrelated.
The Proto-Indo-European root of whole is *koilas. From etymonline:
whole (adj.)
O.E. hal "entire, unhurt, healthy," from P.Gmc. *khailaz "undamaged" (cf. O.S. hel, O.N. heill, O.Fris. hal, M.Du. hiel, Du. heel, O.H.G., Ger. heil "salvation, welfare"), from PIE *koilas (cf. O.S.C. celu "whole, complete;" see health). The spelling with wh- developed early 15c.
Greek holos is related to English safe and several other words, including Catholic.
safe (adj.)
late 13c., "uninjured, unharmed," from O.Fr. sauf, from L. salvus "uninjured, healthy, safe," related to salus "good health," saluber "healthful," all from PIE *solwos from base *sol- "whole" (cf. L. solidus "solid," Skt. sarvah "uninjured, intact, whole," Avestan haurva- "uninjured, intact," O.Pers. haruva-, Gk. holos "whole"). Meaning "not exposed to danger" is attested from late 14c.; of actions, etc., "free from risk," first recorded 1580s. Safe-conduct (late 13c.) is from O.Fr. sauf-conduit (13c.).
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+1 for the great answer. I wish I could also give you another +1 for the link to etymonline.com ! Commented Jun 4, 2011 at 1:29
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Um, not great I messed um completely. Fixed now. :) Etymonline is the greatest...– z7sg ѪCommented Jun 4, 2011 at 1:39
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I'd like to link my answer in this question, since it's related: Meaning of "hail to the king".– AlenannoCommented Jun 4, 2011 at 10:44