Questions tagged [etymology]
Questions about tracing out and describing the elements of an individual word, as well as the historical changes in form and sense which that word has experienced over its history. Please use the 'phrase-origin' tag for phrase/expression origins.
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How did "phenomenal" come to mean "extraordinary"?
Phenomenal nowadays is primarily used in common discourse to mean extraordinary, although it has a now-rarer secondary meaning which I suspect was originally its primary meaning:
a. known through the ...
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Etymologically, how did 'outrage' get 're-analyzed'?
Wiktionary:
From... Old French... oultrage (“excess”)... derived from Latin ultrā (“beyond”). Later reanalysed as out- + rage, whence the contemporary pronunciation, though neither of these is ...
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Easier said than done vs. Easier to say than do
As a speaker of English as a second language, I've long been curious to know why English speakers would choose to say "Easier said than done" over "Easier to say than do".
Why ...
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Is there a term for a button or feature that does not actually do anything, other than giving the user a sense of control?
I was wondering if there was a one-word term for this. I suppose a classic example might be the "Door Close" button on an elevator. Essentially, a working feature that apparently does ...
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Is there such a thing as a new adage?
I was brought up to understand that a proverb that is described as an adage is, by virtue of its longevity, old. Take, for exapmle, the Old Testament book of Proverbs, some of which date back ...
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Why is "sepulcher" pronounced the way it is?
Since I first read it, I always pronounced the word "sepulcher" as /səˈpal.tʃə/, but recently I learned that the correct pronunciation is /ˈsɛ.pəl.kə/, or slight variations thereof. Now, ...
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Would not 'armistice' be a better word to use than 'pause' in present discussions of 'ceasefire'?
In the current situation, there are calls for a 'ceasefire' and calls for a 'pause'.
Humanitarian pauses and ceasefires – what are the differences?
Chatham House org
But there exists a better word ...
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"Out of sight" to refer to something that is very good — could it be based on German?
There is a word in German, ausgezeichnet which vaguely sounds like the English phrase "out of sight" but that is usually translated as "excellent". I could see some non-German ...
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What is the origin of the verb 'foxed' in reference to book condition?
I ordered a book online, unseen, and the invoice told me the book, or at least its pages, were 'foxed'. I had never come across the expression, did not know the word could be a verb and discovered :
...
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When did the word 'palatable' start being used for not-related-to-food things?
I'm trying to trace back the etymology of 'palatable', but what I'm really looking for is the process of semantic expression over time. When did the word begin to be used to speak of things unrelated ...
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How did the word clerical come to mean office work?
A cleric is a member of the clergy; a religious leader. How did the term clerical come to mean recordkeeping in an office, unrelated to religious activity?
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Origin of the phrase "Float The Idea"
I've been web searching to try and figure out the origin of the phrase "float the idea" and I can't seem to find anything. My guess is that it probably is an allusion to ship building where ...
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On the origins of the use of "key" or "clavis" to refer to the keys of an organ
I'm in the middle of some research on the origins of the word "keyboard" to refer to the thing we all type on to communicate online these days. There's a clear genealogy backwards from the ...
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Etymology of "hen" as a term of endearment in Scottish
I just stumbled across this older video of a girl trying to "talk" to Alexa (the voice assistant). She says "I am trying to talk to you, hen". Now, I am not a native English ...
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What is the recent etymology of the American expression "mosey''?
The two Spanish prevailing explanations that get repeated are the Spanish vamos and the British dialectical mose about. These explanations are at least two decades old and predate the internet ...
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Why is Reuben spelled with an "eu"?
Reuben is most commonly spelled as such in English and in English only. The digraph "eu" as far as I know never represents /uː/ in English nor in any other language, and surely not in any ...
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Why is a conservatory called that? [closed]
Conservatory is defined as greenhouse, glass house, or hothouse. Where does this meaning come from?
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If the English word "obliterate" really comes from Latin "oblitteratus" (erased, forgotten), why is there no double t in the English word? [closed]
The English word "obliterate" allegedly comes from Latin "oblitteratus" (erased, forgotten), itself from "ob-" (against) and "littera" (letter of the alphabet). ...
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1920s postcard joke meaning? Cut some ice
Can anyone explain the meaning of this 1920’s postcard?
The text reads:
“I should worry like the iceman and cut some ice.”
Next to this is a cartoon of a little boy with an axe chopping a large block ...
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When did “word” become a synonym of “promise” for the first time?
We know that the word word can sometimes be a synonym for promise, as in:
You have my word.
to mean:
You have my promise.
And I haven’t seen any other sentence structures that word is used to mean ...
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Are 'biggity' and 'briggity' kin?
(Motivated by the question How common is "biggety" in Southern and Midland US?)
The DARE entry for briggity has the following (edited):
briggity: (also brickaty, brickety, brigaty, ...
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Why did "pigeon" replace the native word "culver"?
Pigeon is a borrowing from Anglo-Norman where the etymons are French pigon, pigeon. The earliest citation is found in Middle English, from 1375 per OED:
1375
Thomas Blont..hath indowed Dame Isabell.....
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Did similar-sounding words like wet/weight/wait come to existence before the invention of writing? [closed]
I am not an expert in languages and this is my first question here...
To my understanding, most of the languages were spoken before writing was discovered/evolved. What would cause a language to have ...
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Why does English use the French "sans" for sans serif?
Is it because France had impactful printers and typecutters like the Garamonds and Jensons in the Renaissance?
Or is it about being elegant and “Frenchified” when talking about something as peculiar ...
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What is the origin of the Australian slang “pommers” to refer to English people? [duplicate]
What is the origin of the Australian slang “pommers” to refer to English people?
(I’m uncertain as to the spelling)
Why is this the term that is used?
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Meaning of "she has hern" in Faulkner's 'As I Lay Dying' [duplicate]
I am reading "As I Lay Dying" and have usually been able to look up the meaning behind the choice of words that Faulkner uses. However, I am unable to find a satisfactory definition of the ...
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When did 'ut'/'uþ' from Old English and Middle English become 'out'?
When was the transition of the word form 'ut'/'uþ' to 'out'?
I'd like to know about the frequency or first attestations.
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Why does Anglican refer to the religious sect rather than any other aspects of “Englishness”?
It seems intuitively to mean “roughly English in style or form” in the sense of how Georgian or Edwardian means “evocative of the style prevalent in the era of [those respective monarchs]”.
Why does ...
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Words for the two "directions" of the meanings words gain or lose over time
Maybe this belongs on "Linguistics" but since it's about an English word, I suppose they'd only send me here.
Over time, some words gather more and more meanings to themselves. Ironically, ...
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Who coined the phrase "play the hand one is dealt"?
The cartoon character Snoopy in Peanuts by Charles Schulz said the phrase (a source):
"You play with the cards you're dealt…"
The variations of the phrase include, as far as I know:
play ...
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How'd Latin sum-mŏnĕo ("to remind privately") become modern English summon (authoritatively/publicly call up)? [closed]
This seems like an odd transition, from a private warning to a public and authoritative request. Does anyone have information on how and when that private-to-public transition happened? I've checked ...
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What is the etymology of "split horizon" in computer networking?
In computer networking, there are two concepts which have the phrase "split horizon" in their names:
Split horizon route advertisement: if a device learned about a change in network ...
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Etymology and meaning of the word "stretch" in sentences like "We should eat before the final stretch"
What is the origin of stretch as it is used in the following sentence?
We should eat before the final stretch.
In this context, final stretch is used to mean 'last segment', or 'the effort needed ...
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Do etymologists refer to when a word was first written, rather than when it was first used (spoken)?
I've never thought about the definition of when a word was invented. I've just joined Stack Exchange and am wondering how etymologists define first use.
etymnonline dot com has
image (n.)
c. 1200
...
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What is the etymology of the legal term "squatting" as in occupying unowned property?
Does it have connection to the physical act of squatting or is it coincidental? After all, people that occupy a property, may just lie or stand in there, instead of squatting. So this does not seem to ...
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How did the word 'being' evolve into different parts of speech (noun, adjective, conjuction, participle)?
I'm trying to understand the different meanings of the word being.
Merriam-Webster:
being (noun)
1 a: the quality or state of having existence
b (1): something that is conceivable and hence capable ...
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Is there an etymological reason some "question words" mirror the spelling of "answer words" (When/then, where/there, ...)?
There are a few "question words" that mirror their answer words-
When/Then
Where/There
What/That
Who/Thou (might be stretching it here..)
Do these words have origins where this makes sense,...
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Origin of the word "blackbirding" for a type of slave trade
I read about blackbirding on Wikipedia and tried to figure out why it is called blackbirding. I could not find anything in that article about its etymology, just this simple introduction:
The owners, ...
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What does "Sandbagging" (or sometimes sandboxing) mean as an expression in startup or sales and where is it coming from?
I have heard one meaning of it in the context of a personal goal is to set a too-easy goal (i.e., that you know you can easily achieve). I also heard it is coming from golf. Can someone shed more ...
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Why did the /ʌ/ or /ʊ/ vowel in the Latin fundāre become the /aʊ/ of foundation?
Foundation has its origins in the Latin:
OED
fundātiōn-em. < Latin fundātiōn-em, noun of action < fundāre
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How did the verb "take" come to mean "to undertake and make, do, or perform"?
One of the senses of the verb take is:
to undertake and make, do, or perform.
take a walk
take aim
take legal action
take a test
take a look
[sense 17a, Merriam-Webster]
It is an idiomatic usage. ...
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From where comes the connotation of descent in "downtown"? [duplicate]
In English, when speaking about going to the center of the town, it's a matter of going to the "downtown" so, my question is about the origins of the connotation of some "descent" (...
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What is the origin of the phrase "toothless wonder" and what's the meaning of this?
Google says just that "toothless wonder" is an individual in the public who is lacking a single front tooth. Well, that's logical. But what's the purpose of word "wonder" then?
If ...
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What exactly is the meaning of the word "Feddy" here?
I've been playing a game and after completing a mission, one character ask to another the following:
How you doing on the feddy?
From the context, I assume that it's somehow related to money, but I'...
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How did "possess" come to have a Z sound for its first double-S?
Simple question. How did the English word "possess" come to have a voiced "Z" sound for the first double-S?
Are there any other words that have this? Doesn't double-S consistently ...
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Snatch block etymology
Why is the word snatch used in the term snatch block?
snatch block — a fairlead having the form of a block that can be
opened to receive the bight of a rope at any point along its length.
fairlead — ...
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What's up with the syntax of "more fool me"?
In UK English, the idiom "more fool me" means something like "and I'm a fool for doing so".
But how might you try to understand the underlying syntax? Is "fool" an ...
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Pronunciation of naïve? [duplicate]
"Naïve" is confusing to me, the standard UK pronunciation (I don't know IPA, sorry) is "nigh-eve" (nigh like thigh; eve like Steve).
It seems like the spelling would be naiïve if ...
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If 'committed' and 'commitment' are the proper spellings WHY doesn't 'debit'/'debited' follow the same rule? [duplicate]
If 'committed' and 'commitment' follow the rule that a word ending in 't' is doubled when followed by a vowel, WHY doesn't 'debit' follow the same rule? (debited, debtor)
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Why is it "the Passion of Christ" and not "the Passions of Christ"?
I see that Google gives much more hits for The Passion of Christ (singular) than for the plural Passions, which in part is due to the movie of Mel Gibson with the same title.
I also see that ...
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