Synonym Etymologies V

Continuing the look at synonyms through the eyes of the etymologist, this time it is the letter V and vice. Vice is a word with two very different meanings - the crime is probably the first to come to mind for most, although those with an interest in DIY and/or engineering and carpentry might think of the device which grips items firmly while being worked on. Synonyms for either are difficult to find, but the etymology of these two very different words is interesting. As a crime it came to English from Old French vice meaning 'fault, failing, defect', itself traceable to Latin vitium 'defect, offence, blemish, imperfection' and used in both moral and physical senses. For the tool, the word also came through the Old French and Latin route, where French vis meant 'screw' and Latin vitis meant 'vine'. The Latin 'vine' refers to how the plant winds itself around its support, and the French refers to the thread resembling the winding of the vine. Thus the gripping or clamping tool, usually attached to a workbench, is named for the screw which operates the grips and not the grips themselves. We can also take it back to Proto-Indo-European wei 'to turn, bend' and thus the vine is also known for its winding growth.

Morality is questioned when speaking of vice, clearly from 'moral', this can be traced to Latin moralis 'proper behaviour of a person'. Moral shares a Proto-Indo-European root with 'mood' in coming from a word which referred more to 'anger, courage, bravery, wrath, intention' depending upon context.

Wrong came to English from Proto-Germanic wrang meaning 'crooked, wrong' and earlier to Proto-Indo-European wer 'to turn, bend'. This is also the root for 'wring', as in wringing out wet clothes and wringing our hands to show mood.

Wicked is an adjective which is derived from the Old English wicca meaning 'wizard, witch'. Earlier the trail finds Proto-Germanic wikkjaz 'necromancer' and Proto-Indo-European weg 'be strong, lively'.

Bad is rarely found as the opposite of 'good' before 1400 - the normal usage being 'evil'. Prior to that the word is normally only found in surnames and the etymology of 'bad' is uncertain.

Evil has never changed its meaning since the time of Proto-Indo-European wap, even though the later forms were rather different - such as Old High German ubil, Old Frisian evel, Gothic ubilis, and even Hittite huwapp - all have the same meaning of 'evil'.

Crime comes from Old French crimne 'mortal sin', Latin crimen 'charge, indictment, accusation', and back to Proto-Indo-European krei 'to seive'.

Offence in the 14th century this word meant 'hurt, harm, injury, pain' and came from the Latin where offendere also gave us the word 'offend'.

Depravity, from deprave, comes from Old French depraver and Latin depravare meaning 'pervert, accuse' and 'distort, disfigure' respectively. The word can be taken back a little further where the prefix de 'completely' precedes the Latin pravus 'crooked'. Sadly the etymological route ends there.

Degenerate can be traced back to Proto-Indo-European gene 'give birth, beget'.

Misconduct is seen since 1780, with the prefix mis meaning 'bad, wrong' added to conduct. Again there is a prefix here, con meaning 'with, together' preceding the Latin root of ducere 'to lead' and derived from Proto-Indo-European deuk with the same meaning of 'to lead'.

Left, Right, Left, Right

If you have ever tried to explain the concept of left and right to a child, you will understand just how difficult the concept can be. Invariably we make the mistake of facing them, then they have to learn the mirror image problem.

Now try to explain it to an adult, for example an alien who wants directions to Proxima Centauri (yes I know left and right would not enter into it), or perhaps a better way to look at it is explaining left and right on the telephone. Is it possible? One solution offered is to face north and then the sun rises on the right and sets on the left. However if the aliens are telephoning from their spaceship in orbit, that explanation will never work. There is no perfect answer, and neither is there an answer to clockwise and anticlockwise if you don't know what a clock face is and pointing (or whirling hands around) is not an option.

Etymologically right and left are easy enough to explain. Right, from Old English riht, simply tells us it is the correct hand to use, although this use is unrecorded before the 12th century. The same Old English origin for left, this time lyft originally used to mean 'weak, foolish' before being the opposite of right. Historically lefthandedness has been frowned upon - many will be aware of the Latin sinister meaning 'left' and with it the negativity of being lefthand dominant.

If the left is so undesirable, why does marching in the military go left, right, left right - should it not be right foot first? It has nothing to do with marching, but fighting. When engaging another in combat the natural stance for most, being righthanded, is to defend with the shield in the left hand, thus when pressing an attack the left foot leads and did for over a thousand years.

I thought it might be nice to look at left and right in other languages, to see if this right and wrong message is the same there. See for yourself as we start with 'right':

French adroit also used to mean 'properly'.

German recht also used to mean 'justice, law'

Spanish derecha 'straight'

Italian destra simply 'the right'

Japanese tadashi 'lucky, correct, auspicious'

Swahili haki 'justice'

Maori tika 'right, correct'

And now the left:

French gauche also used to mean 'awkward'.

German links only used for 'the left'.

Spanish izquierda 'inflexible, hard'

Italian sinistra as with the Latin mentioned above.

Japanese hidari also used to mean 'butterfly, band, illustrator'

Swahili kushoto 'left side'

Maori maui 'valley'

Yes, for Indo-European groups the idea of good right and bad left is very much the case. Elsewhere, not so.