Homonyms, Etymologically Speaking: M

Many words have two meanings, sometimes more, which are often very different. Such words have identical spelling and pronunciation, they are known as homonyms. Here I continue an A to Z list of such words and look at how that word came to have two different meanings.

M is for match, the comparison or the little stick for producing fire, came to English from each of the two main Western European language groups - Germanic and Latin respectively. Taking the Germanic first, we find Old English maecca 'companion, mate, wife, husband'; Proto-Germanic gamakon 'fitting well'; and Proto-Indo-European mag 'to knead, fashion'.

The fire lighter came to English from Old French meiche 'wick of a candle'; Latin myxa and Greek myxa both meaning 'lamp wick', but the latter also used to refer to 'mucus' (yes, as in snot); and all based on the Proto-Indo-European meug 'slimy, slippery'.

A Liquid Lesson

Not a cookery or brewing lesson but one looking at why various liquids, and not just drinks, are known by the names we use virtually every day.

Alcohol comes from the Arabic al-kuhul, this the fine metallic powder used to darken eyelids, for kahala means 'to stain, paint'. Not that the two things at all similar, other than in the method of production - sublimation.

Beer has been said to be a major factor in creating civilsation - it is argued that our ancestors were forced to settle temporarily to produce beer for drinking, a reasonable alternative to potentially bad water. Be that true or no there is no doubt beer has been drunk for thousands of years, as seen in the many seemingly diverse languages which speak of the drink using quite similar words. The English 'beer' is related to the Latin biber meaning 'to drink' which has given us the word 'imbibe'.

Blood is another word which has remained largely unchanged for millennia, the term seen in the ancient Proto-Indo-European bhlo-to which was also used to mean 'to swell, gush, spurt'. It takes little imagination to realise just how blood was most often viewed in those far-off days.

Broth is a Germanic word, seen in Old High German brod and its root bhreue meaning 'boil, bubble'. Here we see how 'broth', a liquid from cooking, and 'brew', the act of producing beer, are related and have a common root as the two use the same process.

Diesel comes directly from Rudolph Diesel, the German engineer who designed the diesel engine. The surname is a pet form of Mathias (or Matthew) and is from the Hebrew for 'Gift of God'.

Emulsion came to English from the French and earlier from Latin emulgere or 'to milk out'. Milk is the best example of an emulsion, that is drops of one liquid dispersed in another.

Gasoline uses the chemical suffix 'ine' after 'ol' (understood as representing 'oil') and 'gas'. Here the use of 'gas' is taken from 'gas' as both are fuels. Incidentally 'gas' is from the Greek khaos meaning 'empty space' and has the same origin as 'chaos'.

Gravy is an Anglo-French corruption of the Old French grave, itself from grane meaning both 'sauce' and 'stew'. Earlier this is seen as Latin granum, 'grain, seed'.

Honey is a Germanic term and originated as Proto-Indo-European keneko simply meaning 'yellow' or 'golden'.

Ink came to English from Old French encre which described the same thing. Taking it further back we find Greek enkauston from enkaiein meaning 'to burn' and related to 'caustic'. Here we need a history lesson, for this was also used to refer to a kind of painting produced using fire or heat. Later it was transferred to a purple-red ink used by Roman emperors and produced by heating the ground remains of certain shellfish - note the Code of Justinian prohibited common folk from making this ink on pain of death.

Juice, in its simplest form, refers to any flavoured liquid. Going back to Proto-Indo-European yeue it meant 'to blend, mix food' and from this came Sanskrit yus 'broth' and Lithuanian juse 'fish soup' among others.

Kerosene uses the chemical suffix 'ene' following a word derived from the Greek keros or 'wax'. The link here is that both contain paraffin.

Milk may be a noun but it is also a verb, indeed it is the action of milking which has given the product its name. Tracing this back to Proto-Indo-European we discover this has hardly changed since melg meant 'to stroke, wipe, rub off'.

Molasses has been adopted into English in the plural form, although this is seen as singular. This came to English from Portuguese melaco from Latin mellaceum or 'new wine' and ultimately from mellaceus or 'resembling honey'.

Oil is a comparatively late word for substances with a certain texture. Indeed olive oil must have been known since prehistory, although we have no idea what these ancestors knew the product as. The modern oil takes the name of possibly the earliest produced oil, that being olive oil and named for the olive. Ironically substances with this greasy or viscous texture are named from the early olive oil, itself derived from the olive which had the original meaning of 'oil' and has thus turned full circle.

Paint as a noun comes from the verb. This term came from French and Latin, both from the Proto-Indo-European root peig meaning 'to cut'. Hence first used to mean 'decorate' (pots, for example) the term now means the substance with which we most often decorate our homes.

Sauce originates from the Latin salsa, literally 'that which is salted'.

Syrup is from the Old French sirop 'sugared drink' and ultimately from Arabic sharab 'beverage, wine'.

Turpentine was first derived from the terebinth tree, hence its name, although now applied to that obtained from conifers. Terebinth trees are native to the Mediterranean, the name coming from Greek but here the etymological trail dries up and can only have been an early loan word from a non-Indo-European language.

Varnish began as a noun, this from Latin vernix meaning 'odorous resin'. Here the trail becomes unclear but it could well be derived from the Greek Berenike, the ancient Libyan city today known as Bengasi as this is where varnish is said to have been first used. This town is named after Berenike II, queen of Egypt whose name is now seen as Berenice.

An A-Z of Homonyms (Almost)

While working on my last post I was reminded of a question posed to me at a recent talk. Specifically a member of Stone Historical and Civic Society asked about the use and origins of the word ‘plant’ when speaking of heavy machinery. Did it have an entirely different etymology to its more common use? Of course at that moment I had absolutely no notion. However I did promise to cover such in my blog and here it is.

Any word having the same spelling and pronunciation but having more than one meaning is described as a homonym. Correctly these should be seen as different words for, as we shall see, they have rather different histories. When contemplating this post I had wondered just how many examples I could discuss and whether there would be enough to make it worthwhile. I will admit to being a little surprised by just how many there are and hence have opted for a simple alphabetical list. No apologies for omitting the letters X and Z for there are no homonyms beginning with these two letters – unless you can show me otherwise.

Ash – referring to the tree and also the residue from a fire. Doubtless one of the oldest words as it is one of the simplest sounds and an examination shows this to be true. Related to Greek azein ‘to parch’, to Latin ardus ‘dry’, and even Sanskrit asah ‘ashes, dust’. All have the common root of Proto-Indo-European ai meaning ‘to burn, glow’ and what was originally a reference to the fire later used in a plural form to give the modern meaning. When it comes to the tree, as with many tree names, it is the use of the wood we should look to. Ash was used to make the shafts of spears, indeed Old English aesc referred to both the tree and the spear, and comes from Proto-Indo-European root os for the ‘ash tree’. Over millennia this gave Old Norse askr, Dutch esce, German esche, Armenian haci, Latin ornus, Russian jasen, and Lithuanian uosis.

Bank – either the financial institution or used topographically. Clearly the latter will have been known and described thousands of years before even the concept of finance existed. However from an etymological perspective there is virtually no difference in the two. Both are known from around the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries and both seem to be derived from an unknown Proto-Indo-European word meaning something akin to ‘build up’, ascend’. The modern words have been derived from Old Italian banca ‘table’, in the case of the financial institute, and early Germanic bankiz or ‘bench’, when speaking of a feature in the landscape.

Carp – is either a fish or to complain. The piscine form is by far the simplest, ultimately from an East Germanic karpa and the name given to a fish found in the Danube. Once the carp was prized as a food fish, indeed this was the reason for the creation of the many fish ponds into which these fish were introduced – they satisfied the need for protein in a diet, especially when religion deemed it wrong to eat red meat on Fridays. We do not know the original use of the word, however anything other than a reference to food is highly improbable. When it comes to the use of ‘complaint’, the word comes to English from Latin carpere ‘to slander, revile’ and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kerp meaning ‘gather, pluck, harvest’. Hence the phrase ‘to pick or pull apart’, as in an argument, has the identical origin and ‘carp’ in this sense shares an origin with ‘harvest’.

Dock – as in a place where craft come to be unloaded or in the sense to remove the tail of an animal. The former appears to have been used initially to refer to a rut created by the passage of a wheel through wet or muddy ground. As a dock is a man-made feature, the cutting to where the goods can be unloaded would resemble the wheel rut. To remove part of an animal’s tail is first used in the late fourteenth century, ultimately this comes from Proto-Germanic dokko meaning ‘a bundle’ or ‘something round’ and its use for a shortened tail a reference to the muscle which had been cut.

Egg – the obvious reproductive reference is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European awi meaning ‘bird’. When it comes to meaning ‘to incite’, it comes to English from Old Norse eggja and from ‘edge’ as in ‘to advance slowly’ and thus misunderstood pronunciation.

Firm – meaning ‘solid, stable’ and another word for a company or business. The former is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dher ‘to hold, support’ and evolved before coming to English through the Latin firmus ‘strong, steadfast’. When used in the business sense the origin is also Latin but here from firmare or ‘to sign’, this giving us the modern ‘affirmation’ in the same sense.

Gum – can be a part of the mouth where the teeth erupt or an adhesive. In the latter the use can be traced to Latin gumma, Greek kommi and Egyptian kemai, all meaning ‘resin’ and used in this sense to refer to texture. When it comes to a part of the mouth we can trace it back to gheu, the Proto-Indo-European word meaning ‘to yawn’. Later we find Lithuanian gomurys, Old High German goumo, and Old Norse gomi, all meaning ‘palate’.

Hail – used to describe frozen rain and to refer to a greeting. The latter was first used as a nautical greeting, first seen in print in the sixteenth century, and from the religious salutation Hail Mary or ave Maria. Weather-wise it is related to Greek kakhlex ‘round pebble’ and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kaghlo ‘pebble’.

Inch – as in the imperial measurement and also a small Scottish island. The former comes from the Latin root uncial meaning ‘a twelfth part’. The island is much earlier and seen in Gaelic innis, Old Irish inis, Welsh ynys, and Breton enez, all from the earliest meaning of ‘land by a river’.

Jade – used for the ornamental stone and also in ‘to weary’ and possibly my favourite homonym, at least from the etymologies. The stone can be traced back to Latin ilia meaning ‘flanks, kidney area’. It came to English through Spanish piedra de la ljada around the sixteenth century to mean ‘pain in the side’ or ‘stone of the colic’. It was thought jade could cure such an ailment. Its use meaning ‘to tire’ seems to be from the earlier noun referring to ‘a worn-out horse’ – and was also once used as a derogatory term for a woman.

Key – either that used to open a lock or a musical reference. The former is of uncertain etymology but thought to come from the Proto-Germanic ki meaning ‘to cleaver, split’. Musically the reference is from Latin clavis and French clef and thought to come from a reference to ‘the lowest note on the scale’.

Lark – either the bird or meaning ‘a prank’. The latter has been suggested as coming from ‘skylark’, a nautical reference to the play of sailors in the rigging likened to that of the singing of the skylark – hence ‘larking about’. As for the bird the modern etymology is all we have, although some sources suggest a compound of Norse and Saxon referring to a ‘treason-worker’, the reason for which is unexplained.

Mace – is either a weapon or a spice. The weapon is ultimately from the Latin matteola or ‘type of mallet’. The spice is less certain but may be related to Latin macir, this the name of an Indian spice obtained from the bark of a tree, although this is disputed.

Nap – can be a short sleep, or a reference to the smooth surface of cloth. The sleep is known in earlier tongues, such as Old High German hnaffezan and Norwegian napp, yet with identical meaning the source is unclear. Of course it is always possible that ‘nap’ was the original word for ‘sleep’, certainly the latter has no very earlier references. When it comes to cloth the term comes from a root giving Old Swedish niupa and Gothic dis-hniupan ‘to tear, and a description of removing anything from the cloth which would spoil the finish.

Ounce – and when it comes to the imperial measurement of weight is ultimately from Latin uncial ‘one-twelfth’ and thus sharing an origin with ‘inch’. Of course there are 16 ounces to the pound in the avoirdupois system, this refers to the Troy system of weights. Note the abbreviation oz is from Italian onza. The ounce is also an alternative name for the snow leopard, this comes from the Old French word lonce, originally referring to the lynx.

Plant – was the original question posed and can refer to either flora or to heavy machinery. The more common usage is clearly the oldest for plants were plants before the Industrial Revolution. Whether used as a noun or verb the origin is Proto-Indo-European plat meaning ‘to spread’ or ‘flat’ and clearly first a reference to where the plants were planted, literally ‘a place’. In its modern sense it is not seen before the sixteenth century. In the machinery sense it is first recorded in a document dated 1789, where the reference is to where something had been constructed for industrial purposes, literally the machinery had been placed or planted.

Quack – used to refer to the sound made be a duck and a medical figure of dubious qualifications. Taking the anseriformes first, the sound can be traced back through Middle Dutch quacken to the Latin coaxare ‘croak’, and Greek koax meaning ‘the croaking of frogs’, and Hittite akuwakuwash ‘frog’. In a medical sense it is short for ‘quacksalver’, a Dutch phrase ‘hawker of salve’ where salf meant ‘salve’, and originally used as ‘to play the quack’.

Race – either a reference to cultural heritage or to a speed contest. That meaning ‘of common descent’ is only seen from the sixteenth century, itself from Middle French razza meaning ‘lineage, family’ and first used in English to denote those with a common occupation. The predictably earlier use, although not by much, comes from Scandinavian rasen meaning ‘to rush’ is first seen in the thirteenth century.

Sage – is used to describe wisdom and is a herb. In the former we find Latin sapere ‘to have taste’ as well as ‘be wise’. This is from Proto-Indo-European sap ‘to taste’. As a herb it came to English from Old French sauge, itself from Latin salvia meaning ‘healthy’. Interestingly the English ‘safe’ has identical origins. The herb gets its name through usage, sage being used to clean teeth, ease soreness of the gums, and as a cure for arthritis.

Tender – either meaning ‘soft’ or ‘to offer’. The former comes to English through Old French and from Latin tenerem not only used for ‘soft, delicate’ but also ‘youthful’. Here Proto-Indo-European ten ‘stretch’ was used in the sense of ‘thin’ then ‘weak’ and finally ‘delicate’. The latter comes to English from tender Old French for ‘to offer’ and from Latin tendere ‘to stretch, extend’.

Utter – either ‘to speak’ or ‘absolute’. Sharing an origin with ‘out’ and from Proto-Indo-European ud which has the same ‘to put out’ meaning. The use of ‘to the utmost degree’ comes from Old English uterlic meaning ‘external’. Thus both have a loosely common root. Note ‘utter’ was also used until comparatively recently to mean ‘to release’.

Vault – is either a leap or a strong-room. The athletic reference is ultimately from Latin volvitare ‘to turn or leap’, coming to English through the Old French volter. The other origin is from an Old French vaulter referring to ‘an arched roof’. Today used more often as in a bank vault, the term originated as a reference to a vault in a crypt. Architecturally this referred to the arch.

Wax – is either used as a noun or as a verb. Originally wax was seen occurring naturally in honeycombs and thus Old English weax, Old Slavonic vosku, Polish wosk, Russian vosk and Proto-Indo-European wosko all referred to ‘that substance made by bees’. As a verb and meaning ‘to grow’, the term comes through Old English weaxen, Old High German wahsan, Old Norse vaxa, and Proto-Indo-European weg.

Yak – is either a wild Asian ox or a term meaning ‘to talk idly’. The former is first seen in Europe from the end of the eighteenth century and comes from Tibetan g-yag ‘a male yak’. Idle chatter was originally seen as ‘yack’, a term unheard before the twentieth century and having no etymological history to speak of.

Naturally many are monosyllabic, itself a reasonable, albeit general, explanation of why two words of different etymological beginnings and sources sound identical and consequently have the same spelling.