Synonym Etymologies S

Continuing the look at synonyms through the eyes of the etymologist, this time it is the letter S and stop. All versions suggest a Germanic origin, but with nothing earlier than Vulgar Latin stuppare it seems this is probably an example of a Germanic load word from Latin. The Latin stuppare is used in the sense 'to plug, to stop up', which explains why the modern sense of 'halt' is not seen until the middle of the 15th century, and even then it referred to a bung in a hole.

Cease comes from the Old French cesser and Latin cessare>, each with the same meaning. These can be traced to the Proto-Indo-European root ked 'to go, yield'.

End, here as a verb, comes from the noun and itself from Proto-Germanic andiaz 'the opposite side'. It comes from Proto-Indo-European antjo 'end, boundary' and its root ant 'front, forehead'.

Done is the past participle of 'do', itself traceable through the Germanic line to Proto-Indo-European dhe 'to set, put, place'.

Over is from the Old English uffera, with the same meaning. It is derived ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root uper 'over' in the sense of 'above'.

Conclude can be traced back to the Latin claudere 'to shut'.

Terminate is another or Latin derivation, here terminare describes 'the end of the boundary'.

Pause is easy to trace through Old French pausee, Latin pausa, and Greek pausis, all with the same meaning.

Finish has only been used in the sense of 'the end' since 1790, the earlier meaning of 'that which gives completion' (as in paint or polish) is still in use. Coming to English from Old French finiss and Latin finire are as far as this can be traced, although it may have a link to the word 'fix'.

Halt is related to 'hold' and traceable to the Proto-Indo-European root keld 'to strike, cut'.

Tunisia 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 Tunisian cities.

Tunis has a number of explanations: the Phoenician goddess Tanith; from the Berber root ens which could mean 'to lie down' or 'to pass right or 'camp at night' or 'stop'.

Sousse is a French version of the Arabic name, itself probably from the Berber Sous River.

Kairouan is an Arabic version of the Persian karvan meaning 'military camp'.

Bizerte is from the Punic and related to ubon meaning 'harbour'.

Aryanah is a name which dates from which this was a Vandal Kingdom and either refers to the Arian faith or to the Persians referring to themselves as Aryan.

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