Etymology - More Homonyms and Homographs

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 words with different usages, despite sounding the same or having identical spellings. 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 A to N before, now continue with a selection of others:

Object can be found as a noun and as a verb. The noun, describing a physical item, came to English from Old French object, from Latin obiectus meaning 'lying before, or opposite', and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ob ye or 'to throw against'. These earlier forms are also the origin of the verb, the root suggesting the idea or proposal is thrown back as it proves unacceptable.

Order can be a command or arranged by some pre-agreed pattern. The command is first recorded in the 13th century and comes from the other sense, from Old French ordre 'position', Latin ordinem '

Park is another word with two uses, as a verb and as a noun. The noun, first used in Britain to describe an area of land enclosed for hunting purposes, it came to Britian from Old French. Ultimately this comes from a Germanic root, parruck meaning 'enclosed tract of land', a word which has also given us 'paddock', and while the earlier roots are uncertain, there is enough evidence to show they all refer to enclosed land. The verb originally borrowed the noun to describe how military vehiles were arranged in an enclosed area, quite literally 'parked'.

Pile has two uses, both nouns. Most often we think of the heap, a rough accumulation of something. This came to English from Middle French pile and Latin pila a reference to a 'stone barrier'. The other sense, of a heavy pointed beam, comes from Old English pil and Latin pilum, where the former referred to 'a stake' and the latter a heavy javelin used by Roman soldiers.

Pitcher is either a large jug or one who pitches. The latter originated as 'to thrust in, fasten, settle', thus the original pitchers were those who drove in pegs. The jug came from Old French pichier, that from Latin bicarium, and ultimately from Greek bikos meaning 'earthen vessel' and which is also the origin of 'beaker'.

Pole, another stake, can be traced back through words of identical meaning in Old English, Old Frisian, Old Norse, Latin and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European pakslo, also the root of the word 'peg' meaning 'to fasten'. Poles, as in the people, and who gave their name to their country of Poland, take their name from the Old Church Slavonic polje and known as 'the field dwellers'.

Pound has four possible uses:currency, weight, an enclosure, and to hit repeatedly. Both measurments take their name from the Latin, and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root pen usd to mean 'draw, stretch, spin'. The enclosure shares an origin with 'pond' in Old English pyndan 'to dam up, enclose'. To 'hit repeatedly' comes from Old English punian, used to mean 'crush, pulverise' as well as 'bruise'.

Punch is one of my favourite etymologies, and not because of the alcohol link and not for the physical sense either. It will come as a surprise to most to learn the drink gave a name to the fist form. Punch originated in India, brought to Britain during the days of the Empire, traditionally it includes five ingredients (no more or less). It is the five ingredients which gave the drink its name, it comes from the Hindi word for 'five'. The blow is taken from the drink, brought across with the expression a 'bunch of fives' and quickly adopting the word 'punch' for the action.

Pupil used in the sense of a child or scholar, originated in the 14th century from Old French pupille meaning 'orphan, child, ward, minor'. That part of the eyeshares the origin but from the earlier Latin pupilla 'little doll'. Looking into the eyes of another and you can see a small version of yourself, like a little doll, reflected back at you.

Quarry as in prey comes from Anglo-French quirreie, itself from Old French quirre which referred to the entrails of the animal caught and killed given over to the dogs who had taken part in the hunt. That where rocks or stone is excavated comes from the Latin quarreria 'place where stones are squared', it comes from quadrare 'to make square'.

Quarrel a row and the bolt used in a crossbow. The argument sense is not seen before the late 16th century, when it first came to England from Old French querele it was used in the sense of 'complaint, concern, business, dispute, controversy'. The crossbow bolt shares a similar origin, for the root is the Old French carre or 'square'.

Maldives 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 the Maldives settlements.

When it comes to the place names, many are named after the island or atoll on which they stand. 'Atoll', now used as a term throughout the world to refer to a ring-shaped coral reef that encircles a lagoon, sometimes completely. The word is from the Dhivehi of Maldive word atholhu and has the same meaning. Traditionally Maldivians do not add 'atoll' to the end of the names.

Kulhudhuffushi is named after its most famous feature, the kulhi or 'mangroves'.

Fuvahmulah is from the Dhivehi tongue and means 'island of the Areca nut palm'. The palm nut has a number of uses and is used across Asia.

Gan comes from a Sanskrit word Grama meaning simply 'village'.

Hilhumeedhoo is an amalgamation of Meedhoo and Hulhudhoo.

Male is named after the island and has also given its name to the nation, for dives means 'islands'. Its name is said to come from the time of early settlement where freshly caught tuna were cleaned after being landed. The large amount of offal and blood stained the sandbank and waters and resembled a large pool of blood or maa ley gandeh 'big blood'.

Fasdhuthere Atoll describes itself as 'what lies between five islands' and refers to its location.

Huvadhu Atoll has a name referring to 'the forbidden place'.

A few British names can also be found, Malcolm Atoll, Horsburg Atoll, Ross Atoll, all named around 1835 by Robert Moresby to honour famous commanders of the British Empire.

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

Lichfield as a Place Name

Attracted by the sound of a train passing over the bridge just before entering the station at Lichfield City, I noticed the image on the shield on the side of the bridge and reminded of the story of how Lichfield got its name. As we will see, a very wrong story resulting in it still popularly being said to refer to the 'field of corpses'.

For years records suggested this place name described the 'grey battle field' and, when asked which battle, pointed to a 7th century conflict reported by one Caer Lwydgoed who stated the Welsh of Powys captured 1,500 cattle, 80 horses and five bondsmen in a raid. Now the problem here is the writer lived quite some time after the 7th century. Furthermore, he was Welsh and would never have written anything about it should the Welsh of Powys returned home beaten and empty handed - remember the victors write the histories.

During the Middle Ages the origin was said to be Middle English lic feld or 'the open land of corpses'. When questioned about where and when the corpses came into the story, recorders either pointed to the aforemention 7th century battle or to a report by Matthew Paris. It seems 999 Christians were slaughtered here on the order of the Roman Emperor Doicletian. Problem is Mr Paris of St Albans Abbey wrote his report in 1259, rather later than the events he was writing about. Putting this into perspective, Paris is writing almost 750 years ago and a long way back in history as you will surely agree. However he is describing an event which supposedly occurred more than twice that long ago, for Diocletian died in 305 and more than a thousand years earlier.

So how does the story continue to be told? Take a look at the shield depicted on the bridge. It is a depiction of this story of the death of 999 Christians and a copy of an image on the city's seal. In 1549, already 300 years after Mr Paris, the new city corporation adopted the image we see on the seal. More than a century later the corporation repeated the story of the murdered armies of three Christian kings. This was repeated yet again in the 19th century and seems will never go away.

The true origin of the name is 'the grey open land' and indeed has exactly the same origin as that of Letocetum, although today this name is associated with the nearby Roman remains found at Wall on Watling Street.

Further evidence of the nonsense of the Christian armies theory can be seen in the lack of an organised Christian faith in Britain at the time. While Christianity is rightly associated with the mission of Augustine in 597 AD, the Christian faith had had followers since the 1st century AD in the form of the Roman traders and artisans who came to our islands. Yet this was simply one of the untold Roman cults and not an overly popular one as it is monotheistic and frowned upon by the Romans meaning they had to worship in secret. Note also the Roman Empire was effectively Christian after Constantine converted in 313 - but still this is eight years after the latest possible date of the slaughter of three Christian armies.

Colonial Slang

Dialect terms vary greatly across England, words used in the north and east would be completely unknown in the south and west. What is more the English spoken in Scotland and Ireland has even more variations. Hence I wondered what terms had crept in English among the former British colonies, in particular the slang terms. There were hundreds, but having removed those referring to body parts, sex and those of more obvious meaning, I ended up with the following list.

Australian: Back of Bourke (a very long way away)

Australian: Bush oyster (nasal mucus)

Australian: Franger (condom)

Australian: Mystery bag (a sausage)

Australian: Zack (sixpence - actually 5 cents)

Canadian: Toque (a warm knitted cap)

Canadian: Cowtown (how the locals know Calgary, Alberta)

Canadian: Pablum (vitamin deficiencies) and named from a propietary baby food.

Canadian: Gastown (a region of Vancouver) named after Gassy Jack Deighton and refers to the area devoted to the arts, media, technology and tourism.

Canadian: Skookum (excellent)

New Zealand: Carked (death, not necessarily a person)

New Zealand: Choice (thanks a lot)

New Zealand: Hungus (someone who likes food a lot)

New Zealand: Squizz (a glace)

New Zealand: Dairy (expensive)

South African: Babbelas (a hangover) comes from the Zulu word ibhabhalazi.

South African: Braai (barbecue)

South African: Fundi (expert) comes from the Nguni tribe's language.

South African: Jislaaik (an expression of surprise)

South African: Shongololo (a millipede) and from the Zulu word ukushonga which means 'to roll up'.

If anyone wants to drop me a line and suggest others, feel free.

Emperor Claudius is Dead

On this day in 54AD Emperor Claudius was poisoned in suspicious circumstances and his 17 year old stepson Nero succeeds him. Never being the greatest student of Latin – I gave up after a year of mindless chanting of ‘amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant’ and all the other verbs I’ll never remember – I do have an interest in links between Latin and Old English, Middle English and Modern English. And I began to think about the meaning of the names of the Roman emperors.

The first emperor was Augustus, whose full name of Imperator Gaius Julius Divi Filius Caesar Octavianus Augustus included Augustus, a title more than a true name, which comes from Latin augere (meaning ’to increase’). This is translated as ‘the illustrious one’ and a title which comes from religious beginnings and a symbol of the holder’s authority over the populace but one which exceeded constitutional status while falling short of god-hood. He is recorded as dying from natural causes.

Tiberius followed, whole ruled as Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus. The origin of the name is obscure, although it seems impossible if Tiberius is not from the river Tiber or the city of Tibur. Tiberius is sometimes said to have died of natural causes, others point to assassination and likely at the hands of his successor.

Caligula was that successor, his full name Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus did not include the name by which he is remembered. This is derived from the footwear worn by his father’s soldiers, the caliga. Hence Caligula means ‘little soldier’s boot’ and doubtless a name which he resented. We do know he was assassinated, although the conspiracy involved so many it encompassed several senators and members of the Praetorian Guard.

Claudius was next in the line. Full name of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, Claudius is derived from claudus meaning ’lame, crippled’. As stated his death was most suspicious. It is generally thought his wife was to blame, Agrippina wanting to see her son Nero in charge.

Nero’s reputation has not improved with the centuries. Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, he was named as a baby when his mother clearly had his future well-planned for his name means ‘great and powerful’. He certainly remained in full control of his own destiny to the very end for he committed suicide when he heard the senate declared him an enemy of Rome.

Galba was next in the year known for having four emperors. Galba Servius Sulpicius Galba Caesar Augustus, his name meaning ‘paunchy, fat’, seized power in January and was murdered by the Praetorian Guard led by his successor seven months later.

Otho only lasted three months. Marcus Salvius Otho Caesar Augustus, his name meaning ‘wealth’, committed suicide after defeat in the Battle of Bedriacum to his successor.

Vitellius was the victor at the Battle of Bedriacum. Aulus Vitellius Germanicus Augustus, his name means ‘calf’ (and probably more suitable for Nero considering his mother’s actions), and was murdered by Vespasian’s troops.

No points for guessing Vespasian was the next holder of the office. Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus was the first emperor for 65 years (since Augustus) known to have died from natural causes. Less is known of the origin of his name, which could either represent vesper ‘evening, west’ or vespa ‘wasp’.

Titus is also said to have died from ‘natural causes’, although this simply means nobody killed him nor did he take his own life but died from the plague - which sounds anything but natural. Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus can define every one of his names but for the one he was given at birth. The origin is obscure, all we do know is it was in use by the time Romulus founded the city in the eighth century BC.

Domitian was next, something of a traditional emperor in that he was assassinated, this time by members of the court. Known as Titus Flavius Caesar Domitianus Augustus, his birth name means ‘tamed’.

Nerva followed, his name meaning ‘strength’. In full Marcus Cocceius Nerva Caesar Augustus, this emperor died from natural causes just over a year after he became emperor.

Caesar Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus Augustus also died from natural causes. Trajan, as he is remembered, is a name understood to mean ‘the kind-hearted soldier’.

Caesar Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, another who died from natural causes, is better known as Hadrian. Sadly his name does not mean ‘builder of walls’ but ‘from Hadria’. This town in northern Italy has a name which is also seen in that of the Adriatic Sea.

Thereafter the emperors are not as well known or remembered, thus I shall stop here – and not because Antoninius shares an origin with the modern Anthony in coming from the Greek anthos for ‘flower’. However, as ever, I would welcome any suggestions for themes or subjects, or even specific words to examine the origins, meanings and etymologies. I’d be delighted to hear from you.