Equine Etymologies

A few months ago I looked at the origins behind the names of the various parts of a suit of armour. Since then it has always been my intention to look at, to me, quite baffling names given to the various parts of the horse andcfinally here it is beginning with the noble steed itself.

Horse is a Germanic word, where all its languages are little different from the Proto-Germanic root of hursa. This in turn is derived from Proto-Indo-European kurs meaning 'run', a very apt description of a horse. Note the Greek term 'equine' has taken different route, coming through the Greek and ultimately Proto-Indo-European ekwa or 'horse'.

Stallion came to English from the French where around the end of the twelfth century staloun described 'a male horse used for breeding'. It shares an origin with Old High German stal meaning both 'stable' and 'stall' and where breeding stock would be kept.

Mare is another Germanic word, this from the Proto-Germanic root markhjon originally meaning simply 'horse'.

Foal once again has a Proto-Germanic root. Here fulon ultimately comes from Proto-Indo-European pulo meaning simply 'young of an animal'.

Cannon is the large bone, once simply the middle toe of the earliest horse known as Eohippus, fused to give the creature added height. Undoubtedly this name comes from its resemblance to the tapering barrel of a cannon, itself ultimately meaning simply 'tube'.

Coronet is the upper, almost circular part of the hoof and thus is almost identical to that worn on the head and thus took the name.

Croup is the name given to the topmost part of the hindquarters and associated muscle, it gets its name from the French croupier which, prior to its modern usage, described 'one who rides behind the other' and referred to where the second individual sat.

Fetlock is the tuft of hair behind the pastern joint of the animal. This Germanic term is from fetel and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ped-el and originally referred to 'the foot part'.

Flank, the fleshy part of the side, came to English from Old French flanc 'hip, side' and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kleng 'to bend, turn'.

Hock, the joint in the hind leg of the animal, corresponds to the ankle joint in humans but derives its name from Old English hoh and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kenk 'heel'.

Hoof is a Germanic word, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kop meaning 'to beat, strike' and imitative of the noise made by the horse as it walks.

Loin, the side of the animal, gets its name from its use as the choicest cut of meat as food. Less appetising is how the same word also gave us 'lumbago'.

Mane is yet another traceable back to Proto-Germanic where mano, and the ultimate origin of Proto-Indo-European mon, simply meant 'nape of the neck'.

Pastern has only been used for a part of the leg since the early 16th century. It came from the tether known as a pastern used to keep the animal, not just the horse, where it had been left. This, in turn, shares an origin with 'pasture' and even 'pastor' as the early animals were tethered in the pasture rather than fenced in.

Poll is the occipital crest behind the ears, it shares an origin with the sense of electoral poll in that it refers to the head, and was originally used to refer to a haircut before it was also applied to trees and plants (as in pollarding).

Stifle, the equine equivalent of the human knee joint, does share an origin with the more often heard sense 'choke, suffocate' as both come from Old High German stopfon 'to plug up, stuff' as this is could easily be seen as a description of a joint.

Withers is that point just above the top of the shoulder blades and where the height of a horse is measured. It is this sense where Old English wither, also used to mean 'against, contrary, opposite', speaks of this being the point where the beast of burden would oppose the weight of the load.

A Complete Suit of Armour

Yesterday, wearing my hat as a part of Tamworth Literary Festival, I had the pleasure of meeting a number of successful authors. Among them was Christina Smee, author of The Rose of Middleham. She is also the mother of Dominic Smee, who was featured in Channel 4's recreation of Richard III and who is currently raising money to reproduce the king's suit of armour. At Tamworth Literary Festival we are planning a one-off event later this year to allow by Christina and Dominic to show the people of Tamworth to hear their remarkable story.

On hearing the various parts of the suit of armour mentioned, and being fascinated by the development of words, I soon began looking at the etymologies of some of the many terms used for parts of a suit of armour, and beginning with .....

Armour, and obviously the parts going to make it, as we most commonly perceive it was brought to England by the Normans. The earliest surviving use in English dates from 1297, coming from the Old French amure and derived from the Latin armatura meaning 'arms and/or equipment' and from the root armare 'arms or gear'. Note it is only in recent times we have used 'suit of armour', for most of its life it has simply been 'armour'.

Armet is a bowl-shaped helmet covering the entire head and does not have a visor, but folding panels at the cheeks. Clearly the term shares its etymology with the word 'armour'.

Aventail is a piece of chainmail attached to the skull of the helmet covering the neck, throat and shoulders. It comes from the Old French esventail meaning 'air hole'.

Baldric, which is undoubtedly going to prove the most popular in this list, is a belt worn over the shoulder and thus little surprise to find it is from the Old French baldre meaning 'shoulder belt' and a variation on the original Latin balteus meaning 'belt'.

Brassard, that part protecting the arm, comes from Old French bras ard meaning literally 'arm hard'.

Breastplate is clearly a combination of two monosyllablic words. Thus taking each in turn we find the earliest root of 'breast' to be the Proto-Indo-European bhreus meaning 'to swell, sprout'. Oddly 'plate' is a much more recent word - as a table utensil unknown until the 15th century - and originally used to mean anything flat, it comes from the Greek platys 'flat, broad'.

Burgonet is another bowl-shaped helmet but with the distinctive crest. Despite this only being from the 16th century the origins are not clear, however this could be a feminine version of bourgignot and thus 'the Burgundian'.

Coif is the balaclava-like hood of mail, this from Old French coife and other contemporary terms sharing a meaning of 'cap'.

Cuirass is a breastplate, although also used to describe both breast and back plates together. It comes from Latin coriacea vestis 'garment of leather' and earlier from corium 'leather' or 'hide'.

Helm and helmet have idential origins, both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kel meaning 'to cover, hide'.

Cervelliere is derived from Old French cervel meaning 'brain, head' and is the steel cap worn under the helm.

Bassinet is more headwear and easily seen as coming from the same source as 'basin' and ultimately from bacca 'water vessel'.

Culet is the skirt-like strips of metal covering the buttocks and derived from Old French cul 'bottom' and ultimately from Latin culus 'arse'.

Gauntlet, most often used today as part of a phrase meaning a challenge, is from Proto-Germanic wantuz 'glove'.

Gorget is the name given to the steel collar attached to the top of the breast and back plates. It is derived from Latin collare 'necklace band', earlier kwol-o 'neck' and itself from the root kwel 'move about, turn'.

Hauberk, also recorded as Haubergeon, is a coat of mail which lengthened over the centuries until it came to the knee. Possibly the name tells us the earliest forms had no sleeves, thus really a cape of mail, as the name shares an origin with the previous entry where Proto-Germanic hwals and Proto-Indo-European kwolso referred to the 'neck'.

Tuille are the bands hanging from the breastplate to protect the top of the legs. Here the origins are Old French teuille and Latin tegula meaning 'tile'.

Vambrace is the forearm guard and means just that - avant 'before' and bras 'an arm'.

Visor is from Old French visere and from vis or 'face'. Both are derived from Latin videre 'to see'.

Cuba Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time to cast my net a little wider. This time Cuba and a look at some of its largest settlements and most interesting names and starting with the capital.

Havana has probably retained its original name given by the Taino people and a reference to local chief Habaguanex. There is an alternative explanation suggesting this comes from the Middle Dutch havene and refers to 'a harbour', best seen as sharing a root with the English 'haven'.

Holguin is named after its founder, Spaniard Captain Garcia Holguin, who came here in 1545.

Guantanamo may be an infamous name but began quite simply as the Taino for 'land between rivers'.

Cienfuegos is easily translated as 'one hundred fires'.

Mantazas literally means 'massacre', a reminder of when 30 Spanish soldiers attempted to cross the river to attack the camp on the opposite side. Having not boats they enlisted the help of local fishermen but, when in midstream, the fishermen rolled the boats. In their heavy armour the soldiers drowned with just two women surviving.

Sancti Spiritus is a typical Spanish place name, this translating as 'Holy Spirit'.

Moa is another from the native Taino tongue and is thought to mean 'water here'.

Florida, as with every other place of this name, comes from the Spanish for 'land of flowers'.

Contramaestre is another related to water, this simply meaning 'boatswain'.

Artemisa has been said to be named from the Greek goddess Artemis, however it seems odd to find Greek mythology recalled at the beginning of the 19th century as a place name, thus the suggestion of Artemisia, this the Spanish for ragweed or Ambrosia artemisfolia then found in abundance.

Baracoa comes from the local Arauaca tongue meaning 'the presence of the sea'. As this is the spot where Christopher Columbus landed on his first voyage west he probably thought of it as 'the presence of the land' after many days without sight of any coastline.

Banes is another from the native Taino language and a word meaning 'valley'.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.