Etymologies of Yet 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 Q before, now continue with a selection of others:

Right meaning both 'correct' and the opposite of left. The former can be traced through a Germanic line meaning 'fair, proper' back to Proto-Indo-European reg 'to move in a straight line', to rule', to lead straight', to correct' - it is clear why the modern sense is 'correct', and that is also the reason the righthand is so named, for it is considered the correct hand. Compare 'left', in the Latin group of languages clearly show this as considered sinister, for lefthanded is exactly what 'sinister' means.

Rock can be stone or to move backward and forward. As a stone 'rock' has hardly changed since pre-Roman times, although as the trail ends here it was probably very different prior to this. The sense of 'oscillate' is derived from a Germanic root, where such as Swedish rycka and Middle Dutch rucken refer to the back and forth motion used when plucking (such as feathers from a bird to prepare it for the pot).

Rose is a flower which is named, not for its perfume or its bloom but, for its thorns. As the past tense of 'rise' it is a very modern creation, for most of the existence of English the word would have been risen.

Row as in rhyming with 'know', could mean to be arranged in straight lines or to propel a boat. As a line it can be traced to a Proto-Indo-European reiwhich meant 'to scratch, tear, cut' and shows the first lines described were designs or creations. To propel with oars is from the Proto-Indo-European root ere which may look very different but is not pronounced very differently and means exactly the same, showing the concept of rowing has hardly changed in millennia.

Saw is the past tense of 'see' and a cutting tool. The latter is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European sek 'to cut', while the visual reference is simply the Old Norse sja meaning 'see'.

Seal a method of closing a document, for example, shares an origin with 'sign' and 'insignia' in Proto-Indo-European sek, the same word which gave us the saw as a cutting tool. Of course a seal is also a mammal, a pinniped, with the word common to all Germanic tongues, but the trail ends there and the origins uncertain.

Set a complete complete collection or to solidify. The collection sense shares an origin with 'sect' in referring to a group. In meaning 'to solidify' or 'harden', its use is unknown before the 16th century although it we do know it comes from the sense 'to sit' which was also said as 'to set'. Hence the sense is really 'to put in place' and 'harden' began as 'to sit'.

Sink, as a verb, can be traced back to the Proto-Indo-European language where sengw meant exactly the same thing. It is easy to see why the kitchen sink got its name from the verb, but as a noun it began referring to a 'cesspit or sewage system' - hence it wasn't where the waste water came from but where it went to. The kitchen sink, or what passed as a sink at the time, is first recorded in 1560.

Spring, either a season, a water source, or a coil of wire. Yet there is a fourth sense, and that is the source of the other three. To spring or pounce is to leap up, burst forth, or fly out. As a coil of wire the sense is clear, as is the water source where the water springs forth from the ground, for the season the sense is much the same but it is the plants which spring forth early in the year.

Stalk is either part of a plant or to pursue a quarry furtively. As part of the plant it shares an origin with 'stale', a straight part of a ladder, handle of a broom, etc.. The Proto-Indo-European root is stel 'to put straight, in order' and something we will encounter again in the next entry. In the sense of 'to pursue', the root is rather different in coming from Proto-Indo-European stel meaning 'to rob, steal' and very much still seen as such, even if stalking today may well be to take the quarry's life.

Stall, a small building for animals or for trade, or to delay. As a stable or market stall it comes, as mentioned above, from Proto-Indo-European stel 'to put in order'. The sense 'delay' is rather different and only used in English for two hundred years. Prior to that it was used to refer to a staller, a thief's assistant who distracted the quarry.

What's Cooking?

To continue on from previous weeks and etymological themes, another old piece was written for a culinary magazine (sadly no longer in circulation). Here the origins of words (particularly verbs) associated with cooking was the challenge and resulted in the following information.

Baking is to cook in dry heat, although today it is associated solely with cooking of breads, pastries, and cakes. However to bake food must have been the earliest method of controlled cooking, where food wrapped in leaves or similar protection was buried in the ashes and embers of the still-hot open fire. Consequently the term must be very old and probably comes from a Proto-Indo-European root word bakan. Although we shall never know for certain it may well be this represents the original verb 'to cook'.
Both fry and roast, despite being very different words and methods, seem to have a common origin in Proto-Indo-European bher. From this the French derived frire and Latin frigere both meaning 'to fry', while another branch of that language came through Sanskrit bharjanah, Persian birishtan, and Greek phrygein all meaning 'to roast'. It seems unlikely these share a name derived from the vessel in which they were cooked, although this cannot be ruled out entirely.
However we can be certain that grill certainly was derived from the mesh on which the item was placed. Note the English word buccaneer has identical origins. While we association such with the roguish pirate in pursuit of treasures, the word is derived from the French boucanier or 'the user of a boucan. Originally used to describe the French settlers who made a living as hunters and woodsmen in the Spanish West Indies, it was later applied to their method of cooking. It cannot be difficult to see the term barbecue is also related, this is simply the Haitian variation of barbacoa with the same meaning. However the verb 'toast', in the 'brown with heat' sense, has the same origin, coming from Old French toster meaning 'to toast or grill'.
While boiling would have been employed as a means of cooking for many years, the term was brought to England by the Normans in the Old French bolir from Latin bullire. Both originally meant 'to bubble up, seethe' and was probably used in the sense 'to agitate' well before it was applied to cooking terminology. Simmer, ostensibly a gentle boil in culinary terms, comes from simperen which, again, is an emotional reference to feeling 'agitated'. To baste is another from Old French, where basser meant 'to moisten'. Poach is a similar method of cooking in liquid, although it is actually describing the cooking 'in a pocket' from French poche - envisage the white of the egg being the pocket to hold the yolk as it cooks.
Braise is also French, although braiser 'to stew' was not seen in a cooking sense in Britain until the seventeenth century. The etymological trail is complex, yet seems to be identical to 'brew', the process effectively little different. Broil can be traced back to a Proto-Germanic origin and is related to the word for 'broth' and is closely related to 'brew'. Casserole is a comparatively modern creation, the first record of this in English dating from 1706 and referring to a metallic pan until 1958 when the seemingly traditional casserole dish was first seen. The name is French casserole describing 'the sauce pan'.
The word curry is Tamil, first known in the west in the 1680s. It is a Tamil word kari referring initially to the spice and later used to mean 'sauce or relish for rice'. Fricasse sounds very French and for good reason, for it comes from the Middle French fricassee meaning 'to mince and cook in sauce'. While the earlier etymology is unknown it would be most surprising if this did not come from frire 'to fry' with quasser 'to cut up'.
Scramble is an oddity and quite recent. The word is thought to be a mispronunciation of 'scrabble', first known usage of which dates from the 1580s when it is used to mean 'to struggle' or 'scrape quickly'. It is unknown in its most common modern use, that of scrambled eggs, before 1864.
To chip is a modern kitchen expression, it is derived from cipp a noun referring to 'a small piece of wood' and also used a verb to describe how such was produced - exactly as the vegetables are prepared today. Note the original noun came to be used as a verb, while as a culinary expression it was used as a verb before it became the noun describing the famous British fried chip.