Month: August 2017
-
10 Catty Etymologies for International Cat Day
From German hangovers to Iraqi silks, the English language loves its cats.
-
Spurious: Etymology of the Day
Spurious, now meaning “false,” originally described children born out of wedlock—or, more crudely, bastards. It comes from the Latin spurius, an “illegitimate child,” itself possibly of Etruscan origin. The ancient Romans also commonly used Spurius as a given name for such offspring. m ∫ r ∫
-
Etymology of the day: drastic
In the late 1600s, drastic originally referred to medicine that vigorously acted on the bowels. It comes from the Greek drastikos, “effective,” whose root verb dran, “to do or act,” also gives us the word drama. m ∫ r ∫
-
Etymology of the day: neighbor
Neighbor comes from the Old English neahgebur, meaning “near-dweller.” The first part, neah, means and gives us “nigh.” Its modern replacement, near, is the comparative form (faster < fast) of neah, and literally means “more nigh.” The second part, gebur, is “dweller.” m ∫ r ∫
Mashed Radish 