Tuesday Etymology Lesson: train
Those of us who ride the MBTA will be amused to know that the word train originally meant, “delay” or, “a drawing out,” and also, “procession,” From Old French, trainer “to pull, drag, draw,” from Vulgar Latin *traginare. It began to be used to describe a locomotive in the 1800s.
Wednesday Etymology Lesson: connection
Today’s word is one of the things that is most important to me in life. From Latin, com- meaning “together” and nectere or necto/nexus meaning both, “I bind” and also, “that which binds or ties together.”
In a way, the word connection is a like a little magic spell, willing things together. This word is very old and so is the force it represents. The very atoms that make up our bodies are bound together by electromagnetism. Everything is connected, and so are we.
Monday Etymology Lesson: funicular
One of my favorite words and modes of transportation! Funicular comes from the Latin funis meaning “cord or rope.” Funiculars are a type of cable car which go up inclines and use some of the weight of the descending car to hoist up the ascending car.
Pittsburgh has not one, but two funiculars, one of which was built in 1870, and is the oldest continuously operating funicular in the USA! These funiculars are oriented in such a way that the car itself stays level even with the incline. Another reason why Pittsburgh is one of my favorite places. Pittsburgh, hell of a town!
Wednesday Etymology Lesson: family
This one was suggested by my sister Abigail and is holiday appropriate.
Family is our word today. The word comes from the Latin famula, and is related to the word familiar. It was originally used to describe all of the members of a household, and in particular, the servants in the household, and wasn’t used to describe actual blood relatives until the mid 1500s in England. The Latin word for “family,” as we use it in English, was domus. You’ll recognize the words domestic and domicile coming from domus. Previous to using family, English-speaking people referred to their close blood relatives in Old English as hiwscipe, a word now forgotten. I’m thankful that tomorrow I will get to see many of my hiwscipe and feast with them for American Thanksgiving.
Tuesday Etymology Lesson: justice
Today’s word is brought to you by the tragic events in Ferguson. Today’s word is justice. It comes from a very old Latin word ius which means “the law,” and informed many words like justice and righteousness.
While researching this etymology I came upon this old Latin quote which seems appropriate for the day: Jus summum saepe summa est malitia, which translates as, “The highest law is often the greatest roguery.”
Friday Morning Etymology Lesson: defenestrate
Today’s word comes from my friend Nemo, who says this is his favorite word. Defenestrate means “ejection from a window” and is our word for Friday because who among us hasn’t wished to throw a coworker or two out the window by the time Friday rolls around? The word comes from the Latin word fenestra meaning “window.” This is an exciting word, not just because its meaning brings to mind tossing unsavory objects out of windows, but because it is one of a few words that was created because of a real-life incident! Two incidents, in fact. Apparently back in the Middle Ages (and beyond), the people of Prague were quite fond of throwing their officials out of windows. These two incidents came to be known as the Defenestrations of Prague (in 1419 and again in 1618) precipitating the Hussite War & Thirty Years War, respectively. Of course the people of Prague weren’t the first, or unfortunately the last, to throw people out of windows, but the description of the events of 1618 mark the first time defenestration was used officially.
Note: As I type this I am watching a man hanging off the side of a building cleaning its windows. Coincidence? I think not!
To make up for today’s earlier word, here is a less gross one, suggested by my friend Noelle Boc: tutu
The etymology of tutu is a bit naughty to be honest. Tutu actually comes to us from the latin culus meaning, [clears throat] “backside or undercarriage.” It was shortened to cucu and then changed again to tutu by the flirty French. How did this word come to mean a fluffy skirt that ballerinas wear? Well, in the traditional theaters back in the 1700s & 1800s, ordinary citizens stood in an area called “the pit,” located below stage level. The elite sat in the balconies gazing down on the action. Dancers back then were really pushing the envelope on how much leg they could show. Not with the intent to be naughty, but because they worked so hard on fancy leg and footwork and wanted to show it off. Underwear, as we know it to be, wasn’t invented until the late 1800’s. Everyone wore pantaloons and long knickers back then, which would disturb the line of the leg, so dancers didn’t bother with underwear. Thus, the mob in the pit had quite the view of the undercarriage of the dancers, otherwise known as the tutu area, whilst the genteel folk upstairs did not. I’m sure you can imagine the chaos this would create.
In order to disguise the tutu area, costume makers created a sort of multi-layered drooping dress with frills that were joined across the bottom and over time the special dress took on the commoners name for the area it was meant to cover. Voilà: Tutu! Très risqué!
Thursday Etymology Lesson: pus
Brought to you from the mind of my pal Joe Fallon, I had to choose this word today as I am at the hospital (nothing serious). Today’s word is pus! You know, that white stuff inside of zits. This word comes to us from the late 14c., from Latin pus “matter from a sore.” Pus is related to puter meaning, “rotten” which you may recognize from the word putrid. Puter is an old word that comes from the Sanskrit words puyati meaning, “rots, stinks,” and putih meaning, “stinking, foul.” Also from the Greek puon “discharge from a sore,” and pythein “to cause to rot.” Eeeeeew.
Moist Monday Etymology Lesson: moist
Today’s word is much despised by many, and aptly describes today’s soggy state, yes my friends, it is time to learn all about the etymology of MOIST.
For those who hate the word, you have the French to blame for moiste, a word derived from Old French, meaning “damp, wet, or soaked.” Some linguists think its Latin root is musteum, meaning “fresh, green, or new.” While others think it stems from the Latin mucidus, which means “slimy, moldy, or musty.”
Enjoy your Moist Monday, friends!
Monday Etymology Lesson: autumn
The word autumn comes from the ancient Etruscan root: autu- which was borrowed into Latin to become autumnus and means “the ending of the year.” Prior to the 16th century, harvest was the most commonly used word for this season, but as people moved from farms to cities, we needed a less agriculturally relevant term, so autumn was borrowed from the French, who had since evolved the word from the Latin autumnus to autompne or automne. Fall is really only used in North America in modern times, and is a Germanic word, likely borrowed from Old Norse.
Enjoy the day! Autumnus!
Word Nerd 