Synonym Etymologies N

Continuing the look at synonyms through the eyes of the etymologist, this time it is the letter N and new. As a simple and monosyllabic word, 'new' has hardly changed since Proto-Indo-European newo and with the same meaning. That we find other Germanic languages with very similar words: Old Saxon niwi, Old Frisian nie, Middle Dutch niuwe, Old High German niiwl and Danish (and Swedish) ny is telling, as are the non-Germanic languages with similar words, such as: Sanskrit navah, Persian nau, Hittite newash, Greek neos, Lithuanian naujas, Old Church Slavonic novu, Russian novyi, Latin novus, Old Irish nue, and Welsh newydd. The point is, with it being common to so many languages, it can not have ever meant anything else and must be ancient in the extreme. For the same reason that the word is so ancient, synonyms of 'new' are rarely needed. Indeed many of the following are only synonyms due to modern usage.

Fresh has, for most of its history, simply been used to refer to food, albeit not as we would think today but in the sense of 'not salted' - salting being the method of preservation for much of human history. Not until the 14th century did it come into use as a synonym for 'new' and it's roots are unclear, even though it is common to most Latin and Germanic languages.

Novel is used in this sense, at least since the 15th century, at least a century before it was used as a noun. Interestingly, the word 'novel' is from 'novella', itself a Latin term meaning 'new things'.

Original is clearly from 'origin', and while it seems odd to be talking of the origins of the word 'origin', he goes. This is from Latin originem. 'a rise, commencement, source, descent', and can betraced to the Proto-Indo-European heri 'to rise'.

Contemporary is a complex word, which is a good indication it is comparatively modern. Thus we can get rid oc the first syllable, leaving the root 'temporal', itself from Proto-Indo-European temp-os 'stretched' and ten 'to stretch', both used in the sense of 'time'.

Upgraded comes from 'up' added to 'grade', itself a word which has meant 'to step, walk' for much of its existence and found in Latin gradus and Proto-Indo-European ghredh.

Recent comes from the Latin recentem meaning 'fresh, young' as much as 'new'. It can also be seen in Sanskrit kanina 'young'. Old Irish cetu 'first', and Breton kent 'earlier'.

Current in the 'contemporary' sense is unknown prior to around 1600. It came from the noun, describing movement and, as an adjective, is used in the sense of 'keeping up with the times'. The noun comes from Proto-Indo-European kers 'to run'.

Latest, the superlative of 'late', is first seen in 1520 and used to mean 'the last in order'. The word 'late' has an odd history, for the Old English laet meant 'slow, sluggish, lax', Old Norse latr 'lazy', Gothic lats 'weary', and all from Proto-Indo-European le 'to let go'.

Mint - and I could not resist including a little modern slang. Little surprise to find it came to be used in this sense from the idea of a freshly-minted coin. The place where a coin is produced, the 'mint', is derived from the same source as the word 'money' - Latin moneta, first seen in English in mynet, the Old English word meaning 'coin, money'.

Marshall Islands 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 I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest settlements of the Marshall Islands.

Ujeland or Wujlan is from Marshallese wuj lan meaning 'the rough or cloudy sky'.

Ebeye is an island where the first Christian missionaries to visit the Marshall Islands first settled. Oriiginally they wrote the name as Ebeje although correctly should have been more like Ebje and is said to mean 'making something out of nothing' and a reference to how difficult it is to eke out a living here.

Laura is not just a female name, we know the very female after whom it is named. Indeed, the town was named by American GIs stationed here in the Second World War after actress Lauren Bacall. Oddly it was also referred to as Rita, after actress Rita Hayworth, which probably indicates a preference for looks rather than anything else.

Jemo or Jamo features the element mo meaning 'taboo'.

Ailinglaplap is the name given to an atoll which is where the greatest legends of the Marshallese people are invariably located. Hence the name from aelon laplap means 'the greatest atoll' and refers to the legends and not size or population.

Arno is a coral atoll enclosing a lagoon, it is derived from the local tongue and means 'no wave'.

Ebon is the name given to an atoll which is thought to refer to 'their Ebon' and a reference to a people of darker skins who possibly inhabited this place.

Jebat simply refers to itself as 'the hill'.

Jalwoj comes from a local term meaning 'facing beauty' and it's hard to disagree with this descrption of any of the Marshall Islands.

Kole gets its name from the local description of the 'gravel surface'.

Kuwajleen comes from Marshallese waj leen or 'to you its fruit'. This is also told in a legend speaking a typhoon which hit here destroying all the fruit and leaving only flowers, it was these flowers they took to their chief as a tribute.

Lae simply translates as 'calm water'.

Lib or Ellep Island comes from Marshallese el lap or 'big nest'.

Likiep Atoll takes its name from iep or 'basket'.

Majuro or Majro comes from maj ruo or 'two openings' and an apt description of the lagoon.

Maloelap is from malew yelap, Marshallese for 'big lagoon'.

Mejit or Majej represents the Marshallese maj ej 'eastern opening'.

Namdrik or Namdik is from nam dik which is either 'small lagoon' or perhaps 'secondary lagoon'.

Utirik or Utrek is from Marshallese ut rok or 'southern flower'.

Wotho is disputed and, depending on who is asked, could refer to 'the entrance through the reef' or 'island far away'.

Wotje or Wojja is from jejaak which translates delightfully as 'land on which one can overheat'.

Ailing or Aelonin is from aelon ae or 'island of current', a warning of what to expect at sea.

Bikar or Pikaar comes from Marshallese pik ar or 'fly lagoonward'.

Bikini, probably the most famous name of all, should actually be Pikinni and from pik ni meaning 'surface of coconuts'.

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

Etymologies and Homonyms

Whilst I am always interested in learning new words, it is the never so much the meaning as the origins which intrigue me. Overhearing a conversation where one learned there were two meanings for one word made me think about the etymologies, the origins of the word. Were there two completely different origins and the identical spelling is pure coincidence or has the word simply been used to mean two different things?

I took a look at a number of examples and discovered the following:

Address: as a verb to mean 'to guide or direct', it came to English in the 14th century from Old French adrecier meaning 'straighten, set right' and from Latin addirectaire with the same meaning. When it comes to the noun and meaning 'dutiful or courteous approach' it is first seen in the 1530s and is derived from the verb. As a noun the sense of 'formal speech' dates from the 1750s and in referring to a place of residence is not known prior to 1888.

Arm: when referring to the upper limb the word can be traced back to Proto-Germanic armaz and Sanskrit irmah and has probably remained largely unchanged since the development of Proto-Indo-European. Note, however, the later change in languages such as Greek arthron 'a joint', Latin armus 'shoulder', and Armenian armukn 'elbow'. In the sense of 'a weapon' it can be traced to Proto-Indo-European ar 'fit, join' and eventually used as a verb.

Bank:as a financial institution dates from the 15th century and originated in the Italian banca meaning 'table', coming to English through Middle French banque with the same meaning. Whilst unrecorded this almost certainly came from the Germanic for a 'bench'. The second use is for the slope or a bank of earth. This certainly came to English from the Proto-Germanic bangkon meaning 'slope' and having a common origin with bankiz or 'shelf'. Hence the word, despite having two quite diverse uses, has the same source in the early European tongues but by coming to English through very different routes has two quite different meanings.

Bark: when referring to the sound made by a dog, is from Proto-Germanic berkan and simply imitative of the sound. When it comes to the noun describing the covering on the trunk of a tree, the term most likely came to English from Old Norse barkr and from Proto-Germanic barkuz and seem certain to be from the name of the birch tree.

Base: when used as a verb or noun to refer to a low point or foundation, it is surprisingly recent and not seen before the 14th century as a noun and in 1841 as a verb. Both are derived from Old French bas 'depth', Latin basis and Greek basis 'foundation, step'. Also used as an adjective meaning 'lowly', this has exactly the same origins.

Beam: in the modern sense would refer to rays of light and seen since the 15th century. (Smiles and radio transmissions being derived from the same source.) Also used today to refer to wooden beams used for construction purposes, this originally referred to the 'living tree' and ultimately comes from Proto-Indo-European bheue simply meaning 'to grow'.

Board: when referring to 'a plank' it can be traced to Proto-Germanic burdam and ultimately Proto-Indo-European bhrdh both with identical meaning and thus likely one of the earliest words coined. Interestingly there is also a Proto-Indo-European bherdh, almost the same word but used in the sense 'to cut', further evidence of this being among the first key words used by the people of the European continent. The word 'board' has a number of other meanings - including 'to get onto', 'food and lodging' - are both derived from the original 'plank' meaning. In the case of the 'food and lodging' meaning, this comes from the use of a 'board' as a table top, a board not fastened down but simply resting on the trestle below - one side polished and on which the food was served, the reverse scrubbed clean but left in its natural state on which the food was prepared.

Bolt: as a verb used, in a general sense, to mean 'move rapidly' in its various forms is seen from the 13th century and undoubtedly comes from the bolt or arrow used in a crossbow. The stout arrow known as a 'bolt' is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bheld or 'to knock or strike'.

Bow: when used to refer to the weapon used to fire an arrow comes from a Proto-Germanic bugon with the same meaning. The reference to a looped knot is seen from the middle of the 16th century and speaks of it being shaped like the weapon.

Box: the noun referring to the wooden container is probably from the Greek where pyxis refers to a box made from boxwood', while the Greek for 'the box tree' is pyxos. When it comes to 'box' being used in the sense of 'a blow' the origin is much later and completely unrelated. Traceable only as far as the 13th century, it can be found in the Middle Dutch boke and Middle High German buc, likely imitative of the sound.

Can: as the 1st and 3rd person singular of 'know', the origin of which is Proto-Indo-European gno, has its vowel change through influence from other early European languages such as Old Frisian kanna and Proto-Germanic kunnan.. In the sense of a 'container' the origins are uncertain but came to English from Proto-Germanic kanna and seen in Late Latin canna with the same meaning and early Latin canna 'reed pipe, boat'.

Cast: began as meaning 'to throw' and came from Old Norse kasta, every other usage came from here - including 'group of actors', 'an eye condition', 'turn', 'a shape from molten metal'.

Chip: in the sense 'piece of wood' can be traced to Proto-Indo-European keipo 'sharp post' and eventually came to mean 'small piece of wood' in Dutch kip and smiliar. The later use to mean 'that cut off' has clear connections and first seen in the early 15th century.

Clear: as a verb and as an adjective - be it to tidy, prove innocent, explain and a number of others - seen since the 13th century and new uses can be found up to the end of the 19th century. The many uses indicate several sources from other languages and there are a number of cases of influence from other languages where the meaning is somewhat different: Old French cler 'bright, shining', Latin clarus 'clear, loud', Italian chiaro and Spanish claro 'illustrious, famous, glorious'. All these can be traced to Proto-Indo-European kle meaning 'to shout'.

Club: used as a noun to mean 'a gathering, an association', is first known in a document from the early 17th century. In the late 13th century we first find the use as 'sizable stick used as a weapon', this from the Old Norse klubba meaning 'cudgel'. Note the suit in playing cards is unknown prior to the 17th century, earlier it being known by its Spanish or Italian names of basto and bastone respectively. By the 17th century the shape shown was that of the trefoil, Danish klover and Dutch klaver literally 'a club at cards' but clearly related to the English 'clover'.

Current: is first applied to the flow of electrical force in 1747, this obviously taken from the flow of water and derived from Old French corant meaning 'running, lively, eager, swift' and from Latin currere 'to run', itself from Proto-Indo-European kers 'to run'. It has been used to mean 'the present time' since around 1570 and should be seen as using 'running' in the same sense as when we speak of something currently being shown.