Animal Names from Yesteryear

As a boy I recall those traditional names given to animals: badgers were always known as 'Brock'; horses were Dobbin; and Reynard was the name for all foxes (be they dog or vixen). Regular visitors will already have guessed I thought it time that the etymologist (or slightly older boy, if you prefer) should investigate.

Brock the badger is the ideal start, at least for the etymologist, for the animal has been known as a badger since around 1520. Prior to that the largest carnivore in the British Isles was known as a brocc, this an Old English loan word from the languages of the Celtic peoples - Old Irish brocc and Welsh broch two examples. Interesting to note that Middle English brocc was used to mean 'a low, dirty fellow', most often preceded by 'stinking'. Anyone who has ever got close enough to a badger will know they do fit this description, at least aromatically speaking.

Reynard the fox was the title of a series of stories, but the trail goes back much earlier than that. It came to English from Old French in the late 13th or early 14th centuries, the French word came from the Old High German personal name Reginard, itself related to the Latin name Raginohardus - the latter meaning 'strong in counsel' and an early example of the wisdom and cunning associated with this highly successful mammal. The popularity of the stories in France has led to reynard being used as the word for 'fox' in France, replacing the earlier goupil, itself derived from the Latin vulpecula.

Neddy the donkey is only seen in Britain, at least for the most part. In Australia racehorses are known as 'neddy'. Any etymological explanation is lost, but it seems likely to be related to Neddy (or Ned) being used as a pet form of Edward.

Buttercup the cow is probably the obvious answer, butter being associated with dairy and cows. Buttercups were once known by two other names - either a goldcup or a butterflower, thus the modern name borrows a bit of each (and may have been a cupflower). The irony being that certain buttercups contain a chemical called Protoanemonin which is toxic to cattle,

Dobbin the horse was a common name for a working horse, especially a farm horse, and is given as such in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, although certainly used earlier. It seems to be a later version of Dob, a pet form of Robin or Robert. Note 'Dobbie', the name of the elf in Harry Potter, was used to mean 'household sprite' from the late 18th century, while in Sussex it had also been used earlier to describe a 'silly old man'.

Fido the dog comes from a Latin word which meant 'to trust or confide in' and most often used to state 'I am faithful', which is what dogs are deemed to be. Personally I think they are only following their natural instincts and if you were to fuss and pet me and feed me whenever I demand, I'd be pretty faithful, too - just don't throw the ball and expect me to retrieve it.

Tiddles the cat is derived from the Old English word tid meaning 'weak, tender'. Indeed, the first syllable of 'tender' shares that origin, while it is still used in English in the word 'tidbit' - yes, I know the English tend to use 'titbit' but the Americans, and quite correctly, have not corrupted it and still say 'tidbit'.

Quackers the duck was the only modern one I could find, and there's no need to explain that, but research revealed that ducks, and indeed many waterfowl, have been known as Arsefoot for more than four centuries. Of course, this refers to their legs being set back on the body (it helps with swimming).

Bobby-Dazzler - now I know you are going to think this is a term used to describe someone of glitzy appearance, but it began as a reference to a butterfly. Indeed, 'bobby' was also used to describe a plant which was covered in invertebrates - buddleia and butterflies, nettles and caterpillars, etc.

Moths were once known as candleflies - no explanation needed there.

Dumbledore - another J K Rowling loan, but it was an Old English word for any buzzing or humming insect.

Do You Speak Reindeer?

It's that time of year when certain individuals get to don a certain suit of red. One of the delights of such is hearing what the little ones want for Christmas and having no idea what it is. Requests from more mature individuals have included a blonde of 18 and a Land Rover. Why she wanted an inexperienced driver for such a car when surely half the pleasure is in driving it, I have no idea.

As always I was stumped by one question. A young chap asking "What language does the reindeer speak?" I told him "reindeer" and moved the conversation quickly on. But it did get me thinking as to what animals are heard to sound like in other languages. A quick search failed to reveal anything about speaking reindeer, but I did find this fascinating list of dogs barking, ducks quacking and frogs croaking in other languages.

These alternative sounds can be found here'

Birds

Dogs last week and, for the many birds I saw on the same short break, our avian friends this. Of course no gull could ever be considered a friend, they always look very angry.

Albatross - interestingly an alteration of the Spanish or Portuguese alcatraz 'large web-footed sea bird', although originally referring to the pelican. This comes from the Arabic al-ghattas 'sea eagle' and related to Portuguese alcatruz 'the bucket of a water wheel'.

Auk - from the Old Norse alka originally imitative of its cry.

Bantam - a place name, a Dutch settlement on the island of Java.

Blackbird - it is well known the female is brown, however correctly the male is not actually black but a very dark brown.

Blue tit - again named for its colour.

Booby - the adjective referring to a person means 'stupid', this considered a reasonable description of these ungainly seabirds.

Budgerigar - a native of Australia named from budgeri 'good' and gar 'cockatoo'.

Bullfinch - a composite of 'bull', a description of its head and neck, with 'finch' a Germanic word imitative of its call.

Bunting - derived either from a Brythonic word for 'plump' or a Germanic bunt or 'speckled'.

Bustard - often said to come from Old French bistarde and itself from Latin avis tarda but this 'slow bird' does not accurately describe the creature.

Canary - named for it being found on Canary Island, itself named for the Island of Dogs.

Chaffinch - another finch, named for its call, this time the prefix points to its habit of eating the chaff from grain on farms.

Chicken - a Germanic name, the root imitative of its call.

Cockatoo - from a Malay or Austronesian word kakatua 'elder sibling' and tua 'old'.

Condor - from the Quechua cuntur, simply their name for this bird.

Cormorant - from Late Latin corvus marinus 'sea raven'.

Crane - from Proto-Indo-European gere 'to cry hoarsely'.

Crow - an Old English word, imitative of the bird's cry.

Cuckoo - again, imitative of the bird's cry.

Curlew - from Latin currere 'to run quickly', ultimately Proto-Indo-European kers 'to run'.

Cygnet - came to English from French cigne 'swan' and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European keuk 'to be white', which a cygnet isn't.

Dipper - aptly named for its repeated action in fast-moving water.

Dodo - is from the Portuguese doudo 'fool, simpleton'.

Dove - a Germanic reference to its flight as it comes from the root for 'dive'.

Eagle - named as the 'dark-coloured' bird, as it is so often seen in silhouette.

Eider - a kind of duck named from the Old Norse aethar or 'duck'.

Falcon - from the Latin falcis 'curved blade, pruning hook, sickle, war scythe'.

Finch - again the name imitative of its call.

Flamingo - from the Greek phoinikopteros literally meaning 'red-feathered'.

Goose - is from the Proto-Indo-European ghans 'goose, swan'.

Grebe - some of the species of grebe are crested, hence the name from Breton krib 'a comb'.

Gull - effectively its name means 'one who will swallow anything'. Yes, that's the gull.

Hawk - ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kap 'to grasp'.

Hen - derived from Proto-Indo-European kan 'to sing'.

Heron - from an Indo-European root imitative of its cry.

Jackdaw - both elements are imitative of the bird's cry.

Jay - again named from its harsh cry.

Kestrel - again imitative of its cry, but this time related to the Latin crepitare 'to rattle'.

Kingfisher - self-explanatory.

Kite - once again imitative of its cry.

Kiwi - named by the Maoris as what they perceived as its cry.

Lapwing - has a Germanic root meaning 'leaper-winker'.

Lark - from Proto-Indo-European leig 'to play'.

Magpie - the two syllables describe the 'chattering bird'.

Mallard - it fundamentally means 'male'.

Merganser - from Latin mergus 'waterfowl, diver' and from mergere 'to dip, immerse'.

Merlin - simply means 'small hawk'.

Nightingale - is Germanic for 'night singer'.

Oriole - named from a Latin root meaning 'gold'.

Ostrich - effectively from the Greek strouthos megale 'big sparrow'.

Owl - a Germanic origin imitative of its call.

Parakeet - thought to be from the Italian parrocchetto literally 'little priest'.

Partridge - comes from the Greek perdesthai 'to break wind' and a reference to the whirring sound made by the bird's wings in flight.

Penguin - named from the Old Welsh for 'white head' and yet look at any penguin and you will see it has a black head. What the name first referred to was the great auk, which did have a white head.

Peregrine - comprised of per ager 'away from the land'.

Pheasant - from the Greek for 'Phasian bird', the birds were particularly numerous along the river Phasis leading to the Black Sea.

Pigeon - is an Old French word meaning 'young dove'.

Plover - from the Latin plovarius 'belonging to the rain'.

Ptarmigan - of uncertain origin but likely realted to the Greek pteron 'wing'.

Raven - another Germanic name imitative of the bird's cry.

Redstart - basically means 'red tail'.

Rook - from roots such as Gaelic roc 'croak' and Sanskrit kruc 'to cry out'.

Rooster - literally 'the roosting bird'.

Shrike - from Old Norse referring to 'the bird with a shrill call'.

Sparrow - from the Greek spergoulos 'small field bird'.

Swan - from Proto-Indo-European swen 'to sing, make sound'.

Tercel - the male falcon, thought to be named from Latin tertius 'a third' as the male is a third smaller than the female.

Tit - an old word for any small animal, be a bird, rodent or anything else.

Vulture - from the Latin vellere 'to pluck, tear'.

Whippoorwill - imitative of its call.

Woodpecker - of obvious derivation as indeed is the dialect name in the East Midlands of 'nicker'.

And before anyone asks, no I didn't see all these birds.

Etymologies and Homonyms (again)

Whilst I am always interested in learning new words, it is the never so much the meaning as the origins which intrigue me. A couple of years ago I looked at homonyms, a word with two meanings and I looked at the etymologies of these words. 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?

Here are another selection and, having done ABC before, now continue with a selection of others:

Dear can be used as a noun to mean ''beloved' and as a verb to mean 'expensive'. In both cases this is from the Old English deore and if defined as 'precious' can also be used in both senses.

Deck can be used to mean 'adorn' and also to refer to a part of a ship. Both are derived from Middle Dutch dekken meaning 'to cover' and, once again, appropriate to both senses. Note the use referring to a pack of cards is first seen in the late 16th century, thought to liken the stacked cards as the decks of a ship. Later use as a tape deck, coined around 1949, describes the flat surface required to ensure smooth passage of the recording tape from one reel to another.

Down is also used to describe soft feathers as well as the opposite of up. These have to quite different origins, albeit from similar words. Old English dun meant 'hill', still seen in the similar modern word 'dune', today only used to refer to sand features. We also find Old Scandinavian dunn referring to 'soft feathers', this derived from Proto-Indo-European dheu which referred to 'to fly (like dust)' or 'rising cloud'.

Duck is found in its earliest form as a verb. Germanic languages feature intermediate forms - Old High German tuhhan, German tauchen, Old Frisian duka, Middle Dutch duken, and Dutch duiken - are come from Proto-Germanic dukjan or 'to plunge or dive'. As a noun it is easy to see how dabbling is why the waterfowl earned this name. Furthermore because the females greatly outnumber the males, this is why the females are known generically as 'ducks' while males are specifically 'drakes'. The use of 'duck' as a noun is a late addition to Old English, Saxons used the term ened from Proto-Indo-European aneti.

Even can be used to mean 'alike' as well as 'equal'. The latter is from Old English efnan with the former from the similar efen. Both undoubtedly have the same root, although when the two meanings first came about has never been identified and by the same token we have no idea which use came first.

Exact is most often used as an adjective meaning 'precise'. This is from the Latin exactus, with the same meaning, itself the past participle of exigere which means 'demand, enforce' and is also how the word 'exact' is used as a verb. In English the 'demand' meaning is much older than the more common modern use of 'precise'.

Fawn is most often used to refer to the young of the deer and, as with the previous example, is of later origin than the verb. The young deer came to English from Old French feon which originally meant 'young animal' rather than specifically 'young deer', indeed the former was in popular use until at least the 15th century in England, too. This ultimately shares an origin with 'foetus', the Latin fetus meaning 'bringing forth' as well as 'offspring'. When it comes to the verb meaning 'grovel', this began as Old English faegnian or 'rejoice, applaud'. Later Middle English used 'fawn' as an expression of great pleasure and delight, in particular we find it used most often in reference to a dog wagging its tail.

File can be used to refer to the tool or the act of using said tool to smooth or abrade, particularly in metalwork. In this sense Old English feol comes from Proto-Germanic fihalo 'cutting tool' and Proto-Indo-European peig 'to mark by cutting, an incision'. Interestingly a couple of Eastern European languages have also evolved this root to mean 'paint', presumably both are linked in the sense of the piece being improved upon by work done on it. Talking about a file in the office sense (computer terminology simply borrowing this usage), has a strange etymology indeed. First seen in the early 16th century, this is from the Old French file meaning 'a row' and still used in English in this sense. The link from 'a row' to 'documentation' is through the original filing being done by stringing the documents on a cord or wire. This is reason we so often hear administrative excuses telling us something is either 'on file' or, more often, 'not on file'.

Fine has three uses: as an adjective meaning 'pure, refined'; to describe something as 'delicate'; and as a verb meaning 'penalise'. The first example is from Old French fin 'perfected', itself sharing a root with 'finish' and the French word finis. In Modern French the word continues to be used in the second sense of 'delicate', and came to English in a general sense around 1300 when used to express approval, this is why we use expressions such as 'fine figure' and 'fine arts'. When it comes to third meaning, this is also Old French where fin was used to mean 'limit, death, boundary' as well as in the sense 'fee, payment, finance, money', the different uses probably beginning as when a debt became due, ie the period of credit had come to an end.

Fire could well be one of the earliest words ever spoken, or at least one of the earliest ever described. Clearly that original sense referred to flame and, while we will never know what language was first spoken, we do know a reasonable amount of Proto-Indo-European, the root of most European and related languages. This ancient tongue appears to have to quite different roots for 'fire': this seen in paewr which should be seen as 'inanimate' and probably best seen as the chemical process and thus the process of burning; and also from egni, the origin of 'ignite' and used in the sense of 'animate', ie the living flame. Fascinatingly the latter 'animated' use is also seen in viewing water as a 'living force' both etymologically as well as elementally. When used to mean use of a gun, this undoubtedly refers to the flame associated with early musketry and although we use 'fire' with archery today, this is a modern term and Saxon archers would have said 'shoot'. The ejection of the projectile in guns, muskets and canon is undoubtedly the reason for using fire to mean 'dismissal', this not seen before 1885.

Flat has three uses today. The earliest, and most obvious, came to English from Proto-Germanic flata which meant 'shallow' as well as 'flat'. It is worth noting that while today we would see 'flat' as meaning 'having no significant rises', the original sense was 'having no significant dips'. The use of 'flat' to refer to a property on a single storey began some two centuries ago in Scotland and originally described (quite sensibly) what we would today see as a bungalow. It is derived from a source meaning 'ground, floor' and ultimately used to refer to 'level ground near water'. In a musical sense it is first seen in the late 16th century, this originally being used to mean 'dull, featureless, lacking contrast' - we still speak of 'featureless' when looking across a flat landscape. Around the same time, indeed within ten years either side, we find 'flat' used in the context of 'unexciting' and also in reference to drink being flat.

Fold is used as a noun to refer to an enclosure for animals, this from a Germanic root and brought to England by the Saxons with falud. While evolution of the word is uncertain, it is interesting to note the Dutch vaalt and East Frisian folt have the same origins but have come to mean 'dunghill'. As a verb the history is much clearer. Distributed across the northern hemisphere and seen in Albanian pale, Greek ploos, Latin plus, and Sanskrit putah, while also evolving in some languages to mean 'a joint'.