Colours

I did look at some basic colours in July 2015 under COLOURFUL LANGUAGE. If you want to know the origins of colours such as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, black, white, gold, silver, purple, brown, beige, cerise, chartreuse, cyan, ecru, magenta, mauve, taupe, or puce, simply follow the link. For other colours, read on

Amber - the name of the colour comes from the substance ambergris, secreted in the intestines of sperm whales and used in perfumes, itself from the Arabic anbar referring to the product rather than its colour.

Amethesyt - from the same source as the gemstone, this representing Latin amethystus, itself from Greek amethustos translating as 'anti-intoxicant' as it was once believed to be a remedy for drunkeness.

Apricot - from the name of the fruit, which can be traced through Catalan aberoc, Portuguese albricoque, Arabic al-birquq, Byzantine Greek berikokkia, and ultimately from the Latin (malum) praecoquum telling us it was the 'early ripening fruit'.

Auburn - now this will confuse you, for the reddish-brown colour has only been associated with this word since the 16th century. Prior to that the English word meant 'whitish, yellowish-white' and comes from Old French auborne and Medieval Latin alburnus 'off-white' and ultimately derived from Latin albus 'white'.

Azure - a colour originally made from the stone lapis lazuli. This came from Latin lazuri and lost the initial letter when the French considered it to be the definite article. This comes from Greek lazour and ultimately the Turkestan place name Lajward. This was mentioned in the writings of Marco Polo and was where the stone was originally collected.

Burgundy - named after the administartive region of France, itself taking the name of the Gothic tribe who lived there, The baurgjans taking their name as 'the dwellers of the fortified places'.

Cobalt - from the name of the metal, itself from the German kobold meaning 'household goblin'. This was down to the ore obtained from the Harz Mountains containing arsenic and sulphur, these making the miners ill but thought to be caused by the goblin of the mountain.

Copper - takes its name from the metal, itself from Latin cuprum and Greek Kyprios meaning 'Cyprus' for this was one of the original mining sites.

Cream - the colour of the dairy product, itself from Middle French creme'chrism, holy oil' and ultimately from the Latin chrisma 'ointment'.

Crimson - came to English from Old Spanish cremeson meaning 'belonging to the kermes'. These louse-like insects were the source of the red dye. However if we trace 'kermes' we find this comes from Arabic qirmiz and ultimately Sanskrit krmi-ja meaning 'that produced by a worm'. Hence the insect game the name to a colour which gave its name to an insect which gave its name to a colour.

Emerald - came to English from Old French, Latin, Greek, Semitic, Herbrew and ultimately Arabic barq or 'lightning'.

Fawn - takes its name from the colour of the young deer, although originally it meant 'young animal' and shares its root with 'foetus' which was originally used to mean 'offspring'.

Gentian - said to be named from the plant from which the colour is named, itself taken from the king of ancient Illyria named Gentius who is said to have discovered its properties.

Ginger - a long trail through Old English, Latin, Greek and Prakrit brings us to two possible origins. Here we either have Sanskrit srngam vera 'horn body' and a description of its shape; or Malayam spice names inchi-ver 'root'.

Hazel - named from the colour of the nut, itself almost unchanged since Proto-Indo-European was spoken.

Heliotrope - a Greek term literally translating as 'the plant turning its leaves and flowers to the sun'.

Jet - originates from Greek gagates lithos 'the stone of Gages' which is where it was collcted.

Khaki - a Persian word meaning 'dust'.

Lavender - comes from the Latin lividus 'bluish, livid' and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European leue 'to wash'.

Lemon - derived from the fruit, itself traceable through a line including Old French, Arabic, Persian, Balinese and Malay where limaw probably meant 'citrus fruit' - the same as is found for 'lime' below.

Lilac - not used as a colour until 1801, this is derived from the name of the shrub introduced to Europe through Turkey, where it was known as leylak and likely derived from its native Balkan name.

Lime - see 'lemon' above.

Maroon - coming to English from the French where marron meant 'chestnut'. Here the likely origin is Greek maraon 'sweet chestnut'.

Mauve - named from the French mauve meaning 'mallow' as the colour is close to that of the mallow plant. However the dye was not obtained from that plant but was the first dye not produced from animal or vegetable matter. This process was unique, actually creating a whole new technology which formed the basis of many other processes - the whole fascinating story is told by Simon Garfield in Mauve: How One Man Invented a Colour That Changed the World - a book I can certainly recommend.

Navy - obviously the colour used by the Royal Navy, the dye obtained from what became known as the navy bean. Clearly it takes its name from the branch of the armed forces, all of which lead back to Latin navis a plural form based on Proto-Indo-European nau 'boat'.

Ochre - named from the clay soil from which the pigment was obtained. The etymological trail can be traced back to the Greek ochra but ends there and the original meaning unknown.

Olive - no surprise to find it comes from the fruit, itself named from the tree and ultimately seen in an Aegean language meaning simply 'oil'.

Peach - another named from the fruit, it is derived from Persis or 'Persia' and even once known as the Persian apple'.

Pearl - obviously from the gem, itself having two possible origins. If this refers to the pearl itself it could be likened to the shape of the fruit of the pear tree, itself referring to the tree. However it seems more likely to be derived from the oyster in which it grows, a creature known in Latin as pernula 'sea mussel', but also used to refer to 'ham' as it was seen as resembling the oyster shell.

Pink - named from the flower, itself from the Latin verb pungere and Proto-Indo-European peuk both meaning 'to prick, pierce'. The flower uses this name as the petals have a perforated appearance, and we still use the word in this sense, albeit only when cutting with pinking shears.

Ruby - from the colour of the gemstone, itself from the Latin rubeus or 'red'.

Ruddy - only used as a euphemism since 1914, a ruddy interesting fact and the start of a trail which ends with Proto-Indo-European reudh meaning both 'red' and 'ruddy' and the only word for a colour thus far known to have been used in Proto-Indo-European.

Sable - as a colour only seen in heraldry, where it is black. However the word comes from the animal, although the creatures coat is brown. It seems likely the use of this for 'black' comes from the custom where the coat of the sable was dyed black and worn when in mourning.

Sapphire - traceable to Sanskrit, where sanipriya meant 'sacred to the planet Saturn'.

Scarlet - first seen in English in the 13th century when used to mean 'rich cloth' which was often, but not always, red. This was likely from a Germanic term where scar 'sheared' joined with lachen 'cloth'.

Tan - the colour is derived from the Latin tannum 'crushed oak bark', this used as a dye. Interestingly Breton tann meaning 'oak tree' is related to German Tanne 'fir tree'. Clearly the two are quite different in shape and one deciduous the other evergreen, which almost certainly shows this colour is ultimately from a very early word, one possibly referring to 'a tree' or maybe even as simplistic as 'plant'.

Titian - named from a person, specifically the Venetian artist Tiziano Vecellio (1490-1576) and a reference to the light auburn hair colouring often found in his work.

Turquoise - as a colour first seen in 1853, this comes from Old French pierre turqueise 'Turkish stone'. Thus the name comes from the country, itself thought to come from Phrygian ank 'angled, crooked' and a reference to a gorge where these people were first identified.

Ultramarine - from Latin ultramarinus and ultimately Proto-Indo-European al mori literally 'beyond the water' and so called as the mineral was imported from Asia.

Vermilion - is from Old French vermeillon 'red lead, cinnabar', and derived from vermeil which comes from Latin vermiculus 'a little worm' and from here shares the same origins as found in 'crimson' above and began as Proto-Indo-European wer 'to turn, bend' which is the basis for the modern word 'worm'.

Ecuador 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 Ecuador and a look at some of its largest settlements and most interesting names and starting with the capital.

Quito is the capital but, with a population of 2.67 million, is not the largest city in Ecuador, that title goes to the following entry of Guayaquil. Quito is named for its founders two thousand years ago, the Quitu tribe. This tribe, the dominant force in the region known as the Kingdom of Quito, derived their name from two Tsafiki words: Quitso 'centre' and To 'the world'. Hence their tribal name probably suggested they were 'the centre of the world' - as we all see the world from our own perspective to this day.

Guayaquil is the most populous, although only just, with 2.69 million living here. Officially founded on July 25th 1538 by Spanish conquistador Francisco de Orellana as Muy Noble Y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de Guayaquil or the 'most noble and most loyal city of St James of Guayaquil'. That the existing name is present at the end of this 16th century 'official' name is further proof, adding to archaeological evidence, showing the settlement already existed prior to the arrival of the Spanish and named by the indigenous people. It takes the name of the Guayas river, the name given to the lowest part of the most important network of rivers draining the western slopes of the Andes mountains. Popularly the place name is derived from two people, the Puna Indian chief Guayas and his wife Quill, whom he is said to have killed before he committed suicide by drowning. However etymologists prefer hua meaning 'land' and Illa or 'beautiful prairie'. When added to the Quilca, this one of the many tributaries of the Guayas and also the name of the tribe who inhabited this region, it gives a meaning of 'the land of the beautiful prairie at the land of the Quilcas'.

Bahia is from the Spanish occupation and refers to 'the bay'.

Banos de Agua Santa is another of Spanish derivation. Here describing 'the baths of the holy water', it refers to the hot springs in this region said to have healing powers.

Cuenca took the name of the city in Spain, itself from the Latin for 'river basin'.

Guaranda is after a chief of the indigenous people named Guaranga.

Ibarra was founded in 1606 on the orders of the president of the Royal Audience Club of Quito, whose name was Miguel de Ibarra. The man who gave his name to this city represented an administrative unit of the Spanish Empire.

Latacunga is a Spanish corruption of the earlier name of Llacta cunani, itself traditionally held to be an inn here since the Incas were resident. If this is indeed even remotely accurate, then the name would be a welcoming one offering hospitality in the form of a meal and a bed which, as evidenced by the origins of so many pub names, makes perfect sense.

Loja is named after the home town of Field Marshal Alonso de Mercadillo who founded the Ecuador version in 1548, the name probably first used to refer to this place as a trading post or market. The town of Nueva Loja, a major point of oil extraction for the Texaco company, is named from the Ecuador city because many of the workers hailed from there.

Macas is simply from the indigenous Macas tribe.

Machala takes the name of Lord Dominic Machala.

Manta is an ancient site, named for its importance as a trading post for the Mantas tribe.

Milagro is said to be the result of events in 1784 when a plantation owner named Don Miguel de Salcedo sought the help of many doctors to cure his ailing wife. One day a beggar knocked at his door and, on hearing of the poor woman's illness, produced some leaves. These he was to use to produce a tea which his wife should drink and she would be cured. Desperate to try anything he did as the beggar asked and soon she was healed. Astonishingly Don Miguel believed it had been St Francis of Assisi who had been responsible for the miracle and immediately declared the farmland here should be known as San Francisco de Milagro, milagro meaning 'miracle'.

Portoviejo is simply 'the old port'.

Shell Mera was established in 1937 by the Shell Oil Company as a base for their workers, it is located just four miles from the smaller town of Mera.

Tulcan is a Spanish variation on the earlier Mayan name of Hu-Can meaning 'warrior'.

Santo Domingo de los Colorados is predictably of Spanish origin and, as with so many of the names from the early days of the Spanish Empire, refers to the day it was founded and thanks the church - here the name means 'Holy Sunday'. The addition, also Spanish, refers to the indigenous people, the Tsachila, and the men who dyed their hair with an extract from the achiote plant. This plant gives an orange-red dye from the waxy seed coverings. There is a story which suggests this ornamentation is comparatively recent and, if the story is true, was caused by the arrival of the Spanish. It is well-known how the Spanish brought disease from Europe, the indigenous people having no resistance to even the mildest and the population decimated as a result. With the Tsachila people the disease was the dreaded smallpox, against which they shaved the temporal region of the head, then creating a helmet-like feature with the remaining hair after the dye had taken. It seems a local shaman was drawn to the bush when asking the spirits to protect them from the disease and, having covered themselves with the red juice, discovered mortality rates plummeted within days. The helmet-style design is imitative of the seed pods from which the dye is obtained.

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

The Phoenicians

Last time I highlighted the influential Greek tongue in the development of Indo-European languages. The biggest influence on ancient Greek had been the earlier Phoenician tongue. It is quite surprising to discover just how much influence the Phoenicians have had and continue to have on our modern world.

The Phoenicians are probably best remembered as navigators. Dominating the Mediterranean for more than five centuries, their initial wealth came from salt. Every Phoenician city stood on the coast and allowed the sea to flood the marshland by means of a series of man-made channels. Subsequently dammed, these were dried by the reliable Mediterranean sun. Compared to processes this was almost labour-free. This salt enabled them to cast their fishing nets much further from shore and keep the catch fresh for much longer.

The Phoenicians would never have referred to themselves as such, for this is a Greek term used to describe the Canaanite towns and comes from the Greek for ‘land of purple’. This is a reminder of the murex-shell dye exported from the region. As with Greece each city state was an independent unit. With little arable land they were forced to trade and built a great number of vessels from the one natural resource they did have – wood.

Not only did the Phoenicians leave us salt and sailing, their writing proved the basis for almost every modern alphabet – the language is held to have been very closely related to Hebrew but whether one is a dialect of the other or the two have an unknown common ancestor is disputed.

A culture with a wealth built on salt enabled their vessels to travel great distances and bring back wonderful and rare spices, the most valuable of which was pepper. The two are inseparable on 21st century tables and yet ironically it was pepper which devalued salt. Another link between the Phoenicians and the modern era is that of climate change. A few years of extreme weather destroyed half the salt marshes and abnormally heavy rains ruined the cycle of evaporation. They never recovered and eventually even the most famous of them all, Carthage, was no more.