Category: Etymology of the Day
-
Kid: Etymology of the day
Kid, likely borrowed from Old Norse, named a “young goat” (1200s) long before it did “child.” Kid as “child” was a slang term in late 1500s, familiar, though informal, by the late 1800s. m ∫ r ∫
-
Nuance: Etymology of the day
The word nuance, first attested in the 1780s, comes from the French for “shade of color,” which in turn goes back to the Latin nubes, “cloud, mist, vapor.” m ∫ r ∫
-
Launch: Etymology of the Day
Via French lancher/lancier, launch ultimately comes from the Latin lancea, a “light spear,” which is also the source of lance (except we’re not using spears anymore…). The verb, first attested in the early 1400s, shifted from “hurl” to “send off,” hence boats and, much more scarily, missiles. m ∫ r ∫
-
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 ∫
Mashed Radish 