Karen Hill

Turkey became an independent monarchy in the year 1300. Its army, however, was too feeble and poorly organized for the wars of aggression that the political leaders wished to wage against neighboring states. Hence, in 1330, it was suggested that a band of Christian youths be taken from their parents each year, and that this … Read more

The month of January derived its name from the ancient Italian god, Janus, Januarius being the Latin name, which signified “the month pertaining to Janus.” How old the worship of the god may have been cannot be determined, but it undoubtedly dated back prior to the foundation of Rome. Janus was the tutelary deity of … Read more

Hunters through all the ages have known that their game could be found by following its footprints or the traces that it left of its passage. Roman hunters used the word vestigium for footprint or trace, whence our word vestige, trace, and thus investigo meant to trace or track out, as a dog scents game. … Read more

Once there was a Spartan youth, son of a king, who possessed such extraordinary beauty as to win the affection of the god Apollo. The name of this remarkably beautiful lad, according to Greek legend, was Hyacinthus. But he was also beloved by the West Wind, Zephyrus. And one day, when Apollo and Hyacinthus were … Read more

In Old English the common name for any of the flatfish, skate, turbot, plaice, flounder, or whatever, was “butt.” The most highly regarded of all, however, the one that was reserved for eating upon holy days, was the largest of the flatfishes, so large that fish weighing three and four hundred pounds are not uncommon, … Read more

Greek legend relates that Halcyone, whose name sometimes occurs as Alcyone, threw herself into the sea when she found the drowned body of her husband. She was one of the demigods, a daughter of Aeolus, but had married a mortal. The couple were blissfully happy and their wedded life had been compared with that of … Read more

Among the Greeks a sound body was considered to be equally as important as a sound mind. Thus physical training was as much a part of the general education of boys and young men as was mental training. Buildings were set aside for the purpose and officials were especially selected for their fitness in supervising … Read more

After Queen Isabella of Spain was deposed in 1868 the country was without a ruler for some years. Members of the royal families of Europe declined to accept the vacant throne, but at last, in 1870, Prince Amadeo of Savoy accepted the offer. Three years later, however, he was glad to resign. Thereupon one branch … Read more

In early November, 1605, a plot, long under preparation, was about ready to be put into execution. It was to blow up King James I of England and the entire House of Parliament when the king was to address the opening session of that body on November 5. The gunpowder, covered with faggots to fire … Read more

In 1663, the Royal Mint of England made a special gold coinage of twenty-shilling pieces “in the name and for the use of the Company of Royal Adventurers of England trading with Africa.” These coins, and others of the same value afterward coined for general use, were called guineas, because the trade of the “Royal … Read more

Sponsors for infants in the rite of baptism were, at one time, held to contract a spiritual kinship with the infant in whose name they took the vows. We still observe that kinship by the terms we use for sponsors, “godparents,” parents in God; “godfather,” “godmother.” Such godparents thus were held to be spiritually related … Read more

In the game of chess, as played in England until about the beginning of the sixteenth century, a problem which posed an even chance of winning or losing was known as a iuparti. This was from the Old French iu parti, meaning “divided chance” or “even game.” The term was also introduced into other games … Read more

Ancient physicians, Hippocrates, Galen, and others, and even the physicians of the Middle Ages, believed that the body was governed by four primary fluids, or humors, as they said, using the Latin term for “fluid.” These four fluids were the blood, the yellow bile, the black bile, and the phlegm. The nature of the four … Read more

Because the name is actually a corruption of holy hock, in which hock is an old name for mallow, an ingenious scholar of the past century (Hensleigh Wedgwood) made the statement that it “was doubtless so called from being brought from the Holy Land, where it is indigenous.” This statement has been repeated by others, … Read more

Although this is another word for “helpmate,” it was formed through a misunderstanding. If one turns to Genesis 2: 18, one reads, “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” The meaning of meet in this passage is “suitable, … Read more

The ibis-headed god Thoth, in Egyptian theology, was the god of wisdom, science, magic, religion, and art. The Greeks identified him with Hermes, and he was therefore often known as Hermes Trismegistus (Hermes Thrice-greatest). He was the reputed author of the 42 books that constituted the sum of Egyptian learning, books which were therefore known … Read more

Among the amusements in England of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, especially in the May-day celebrations, was one known as the morris dance. Its original name had been “Moorish dance,” and some of the features, probably borrowed from the Moors of Spain, were long retained. Thus, although the group of characters costumed for the dance … Read more

Little more may be done with the word “hobo” than to repeat the several theories that have been advanced to explain its origin. Any one of them might be true, but there is no proof as yet. Slightly less than four centuries ago the French musical instrument, the hautbois, came into English use. Its name … Read more

Genghis Khan, great leader of the Mongols, died in 1227. He left his vast empire to his sons and grandsons, dividing it among them. To one of the grandsons, Batu Khan, fell the leadership in 1235 of the Mongol invasion of Europe. Without meeting much resistance his armies crossed the Volga River, where one part … Read more

After he had plowed, the old British agriculturalist raked his land with a “harrow.” The Norman invaders of England in the eleventh century called this implement a herse, a term which had come down in French from the Latin hirpex, rake. This was a heavy, triangular affair of wood, with spikes projecting from the lower … Read more

Here is an instance of a word being formed first, through mispronunciation, and a meaning then devised which would account for the word. Anciently the English word on which “hangnail” was based was angmegl, which then meant “a painful corn or wart on the foot.” It was literally, “a painful nail,” because at that time … Read more

In 1738, the British House of Commons was stirred by a story related by one Robert Jenkins. Jenkins, a master mariner, said that he had been peacefully trading in the West Indies when his vessel had been boarded by a Spanish guard, his hold had been rifled, and as a crowning indignity one of his … Read more

In Homer’s Iliad, the chief hero and champion among the Trojans was Hector, the son of their king, Priam. He was described as being an ideal son, husband, and father, loyal to his friends, and a man of the highest courage and bravery. He was feared by the Greeks above all others among their Trojan … Read more

Gramm is the Latin word for grain or seed, and is the source of a number of the words we now use. Not only grain and grange and granary, but also garnet, grenade, and pomegranate. The latter words came from the Latin adjective, granatus, “having many seeds.” Anyone who has eaten a pomegranate will readily … Read more

Among any primitive people the care of one’s livestock is, next to oneself, the most important duty. Such people therefore become very familiar with the ways of their livestock and, naturally, compare the actions of their fellowmen with the actions and habits of dumb creatures. So it was among the Romans, and so did they … Read more

We know little about the character of Eric the Red except what can be judged from episodes in his life related in the sagas of Iceland. He must have been hot-tempered. His father and he fled from Norway to Iceland after killing a man. But in Iceland Eric was so continually in trouble with his … Read more

The most interesting story of the probable source of the word “hoyden” is the one that connects it with heathen. Formerly the word did not apply chiefly to a boisterous or ill-mannered girl, as it does now, but denoted an awkward lout, an ignorant boor of either sex. Persons of such uncouthness, in olden days, … Read more

The Greek physician Galen, who lived in the second century B.C., discovered that the cheeks of certain of his patients were continuously flushed as if by fever. He described that condition as hektikos, which meant “habitual.” Later the condition was recognized as a disease, and the physicians of the fifteenth century, using Galen’s term, called … Read more

Joseph Ignace Guillotin did not invent the machine that bears his name, nor did he die by it, although both statements are sometimes made. He was a physician, born in 1738, and was practicing in Paris at the outbreak of the French Revolution. He then became a member of the National Assembly. In 1789, three … Read more

The thirty-first of October was the last day of the year, according to old-time Celtic reckoning. Ghosts walked until the midnight of that evening, and all witches held their annual festivals, riding to them on their broomsticks in the company of their black cats. Many of our present customs and sports in observance of the … Read more

Gamblers of the fourteenth century had a sport which they called “Newe Faire.” Three players were required, one of whom served as umpire. All three put some forfeit money into a cap held by the umpire. Then one of the other two offered some article that he had in exchange for something held by the … Read more

Sylvester Graham was born in Connecticut in 1794 and, after studying at Amherst College, entered the ministry in 1826. Within a few years he became an ardent advocate of temperance and of vegetarianism. He held that the two were related, for it was his belief that one who followed a diet composed wholly of vegetables … Read more

We know that “son” is pronounced as if spelled “sun,” so it is not surprising to learn that the word “fun” was spelled fon back in the days of Chaucer. The meaning of fon, however, was not quite the same as that which we give to the later spelling. It meant “a fool,” and when … Read more

There is, unfortunately, no certainty about the origin of this word. But Isaac D’Israeli (the father of the statesman, Benjamin Disraeli), in Curiosities of Literature, published in 1791, quoted a story that went the rounds of the British navy in 1700 which was then thought to explain the source. The quoted explanation ran: “There was, … Read more

When the Egyptian system of a week of seven days was adopted by the Roman Empire during the reign of Constantine, the sixth day of what is now our week was named dies Veneris, day of Venus, in honor of the planet that was presumed to influence that day, according to Egyptian astronomers. But the … Read more

In 1818, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, second wife of the romantic young poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, published her first piece of writing. It is said that she had undertaken such authorship two years before when she, Shelley, and Byron had agreed that each was to undertake to write a tale dealing with the supernatural. Mrs. Shelley … Read more

In the late sixth and early seventh centuries A.D., a warlike German tribe living along the lower stretches of the Rhine, moved steadily southward. The Roman legions had at one time conquered this tribe and had used its forces as honored allies, but now the Roman power had become weak and the tribe finally occupied … Read more

Before the days when Edward I ruled England (1272-1307), an acre of land was understood to be such amount of tillable land as a yoke of oxen could plow in a day. The size was indefinite, just as was the Latin ager, field, from which acre is derived. It was several times the size of … Read more

After the battle of Poitiers in 1356, John II, king of France, sometimes called “John the Good,” was taken prisoner by the British. He remained a prisoner in London until 1360. Then, upon a promise to cede certain French provinces to the British crown and to pay a ransom of three million gold crowns, he … Read more

In these days of comfortable living we are likely to forget the discomfort that our ancestors took as a matter of course. The theater of today, regardless of outside winter temperature, is pleasantly warm, both for audience and performers. Such was not always the case. Even so recently as a century ago, no matter how … Read more

The Angles and Saxons who conquered Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. had not yet fully adopted all of the Roman devices for marking the passage of time. Thus, though it is probable that they had already accepted the Roman method of naming the days of the week, modified to honor corresponding Teutonic … Read more

The Old English word from which this was derived, haerfest, had the same source and original meaning as the present German word herbst. Its meaning, that is, was the season in which crops were ripe. It was the name of the season, the third quarter of the year, the season now known by the later … Read more

The ancient Romans ate with their fingers, conveying food with such grace as they could master from plate to mouth. So, for that matter, did all European people until about the eleventh century A.D. The Roman furca (from which fork is derived) was an agricultural implement with two tines, like the hayfork of today, and … Read more

It is perhaps just as well that the slang term “flapper” for an adolescent young woman, the equivalent of the later “bobbysoxer,” has just about disappeared. It was never complimentary, even if, as some think, the name was borrowed from the hunters’ term for a young wild duck in ungainly flight. But there was an … Read more

Piracy flourished in the seventeenth century, probably more successfully and openly than ever before or since. Spain had secured all of the rich new countries bordering the Caribbean Sea, and, although nominally at peace with the other maritime nations of Europe, France, Holland, and England, rigidly excluded those nations from establishing colonies in her domain. … Read more

The term “hazard” originated as the name of a gambling game which, at least in its later form, somewhat resembled the American game of craps. The name itself is from the Arabic al zahr, the die. This became hasard in Old French, and the English borrowed both game and name shortly after the Norman Conquest, … Read more

“Fable,” from the earliest appearance of the word in English, six hundred years ago, not only meant a pleasant narrative, but also meant a downright lie, and we still use the word in either sense. Some three or four hundred years ago, however, an unknown parent thought to soften the word, probably, by accusing her … Read more

Back in 1515, when Francis I of France was leading his army against Milan, he found twenty-five thousand Swiss soldiers, the bravest in Europe at that time, drawn up against him ten miles north of the city. They had been hired by the Milanese government to assist in defending the city. The brave Swiss, however, … Read more

The Italian word “fiasco” means, in its literal sense, a flask or bottle. But at some time there became current among theatrical people of Italy the expression, far fiasco, which, though it actually means nothing more than “to make a bottle,” was used with exactly the same meaning that we convey when we say, “to … Read more

A missionary to any heathen country must first learn the language of that country. He then tries to deliver his message in that language, translating the words that are familiar to him into new words that will carry the same meaning. Thus the Latin evangeliurn was turned into god spell, good tidings, when Roman missionaries … Read more

Until the seventeenth century there was no necessity for anyone to speak of “Latin grammar,” because that was the only kind of grammar that was taught. Anyone who knew his “grammar” necessarily knew Latin. Even in these days, among untutored folk, any learned person is regarded with something akin to awe. But in those days, … Read more

Three hideous sisters, according to Greek mythology, lived in the region of Night at the extremity of the Western Ocean. They were known as gorgons; their separate names were Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. The latter, the only one of the three who was mortal, had once been a beautiful girl, but having had the misfortune … Read more

In the fifth or sixth century B.C., a Carthaginian navigator, Hanno, set out upon a westward voyage along the north coast of Africa, through the Pillars of Hercules, which we now call the Strait of Gibraltar, and thence southward along the west coast of Africa. He wrote an account of his voyage in a small … Read more

Credit for the introduction of the juniper berry into wine in the sixteenth century is given to the Count de Morret, one of the illegitimate sons of Henry IV of France. The beverage, subsequently known as juniper wine, was found to be pleasing and it led others to try the effect of the berry when … Read more

The story of St. Martin is briefly told under chapel, originally the sanctuary in which his capella or cloak was preserved. He became the patron saint of France, but was also honored elsewhere in Christendom. In Germany his festal day, November 11, was especially celebrated with eating, drinking, and merrymaking, probably, in part, because it … Read more

If one recalls the French expression so commonly heard during the recent World Wars, “C’est la guerre!” a clue may be seen for the origin of the word garret. The ancient French spelling was guerite, and the term meant a watchtower or place of observation, as under the roof of a building where a sentry … Read more

When the great French writer of the sixteenth century, Francois Rabelais, wished to satirize the extravagances of the French court of his period, he chose to do so by allegory. This he wrote in the form of an account of the life of an enormous giant, whom he named Gargantua, taking the name from that … Read more

Elbridge Gerry, born in 1744, was a member of the group of the American patriots who stirred the townspeople of Boston into active opposition toward the Acts of George III, resulting in the War for Independence. Subsequently he was a member of the Continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He continued … Read more

Alexander Garden was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and went to Scotland to study medicine. He returned to Charleston in 1755 as a young physician of twenty-five. He was also a profound student of botany, as a young man, and it was in his honor that the Royal Society, in 1760, gave the name, gardenia, … Read more

During the Thirty Years’ War, which lasted from 1618 to 1648, the English forces observed a form of disciplinary punishment used among their German allies. It looked highly effective, so it was not long before it was adopted by English disciplinarians. The Germans said that it had originated in the Swedish army, in which it … Read more

Guido of Arezzo was the greatest musician of medieval times. He lived in the eleventh century, although few details of his life are known. He is credited with the first systematic use of the lines of the staff and the spaces between them, but is now chiefly remembered from the names that he gave to … Read more

Luigi Galvani was only a young man of twenty-five when in 1762, through the merit of his studies in medicine, he was appointed professor of anatomy at the University of Bologna, Italy. One day, a few years later, it is said, while his wife was watching him dissect a frog, she saw something that astonished … Read more

Until about the end of the sixteenth century chemists, or alchemists more properly, still held to the theory of Aristotle that the four primary properties of matter were fire, air, water, and earth. At that period, however, some such experimenters as Galileo, Harvey, and others were beginning to discard the old theories, and the alchemists … Read more

Back toward the early part of the sixteenth century there circulated in Venice a small coin of low value, made chiefly of tin. Probably it was worth no more than half a cent in our currency. The Venetians called it a gazzetta. This name may have been a diminutive of gazza, a magpie, or, as … Read more

From earliest times and among all primitive people the solemn chanting of songs has been supposed to have magical properties, to influence the gods, to avert evil, to cast spells, to bring sunshine or rain, to cause or remove disease, to foster the growth of crops or to ruin them, or to bring success in … Read more

We may sometimes think that the word electric and its derivatives are of recent coinage, perhaps no older than Ben Franklin’s experiments with his kite and lightning, but they are much older. They were in use three hundred years ago. Probably as far back as the seventh century B.C., it had been known by the … Read more

We are indebted to the Arabs for the beginnings of the science of chemistry, starting perhaps in the seventh century. Their knowledge was extremely limited, however, and was based on the theory that all the metals are composed of mercury and sulphur in different proportions. It was this theory that found its way into Europe, … Read more

In Roman law part of a formal contract of sale consisted in the buyer’s actually taking hold of the thing that he was purchasing. Such a purchase was called mancipatio, from manus, hand, and capio, take. The proceeding was carried out even in the purchase of a slave, and the owner’s power over that slave … Read more

Within twenty-five years after Spanish captains had begun to explore the northern coasts of South America, they began to hear tales of a marvelous king who ruled over a great and wonderful city somewhere in the interior. The streets of this city, it was said, were paved with gold, the roofs of its buildings shone … Read more

It was a part of Greek belief that Zeus, when an infant, had been suckled by a goat, or, in some accounts, had been raised upon the milk of a goat (compare CORNUCOPIA). At least Zeus was believed to feel that he had been especially protected by a goat. For that reason, therefore, when Zeus … Read more

Early Christian missionaries, spreading out among the Teutonic tribes northward of Rome and Italy, found many pagan religious observances. Whenever possible, the missionaries did not interfere too strongly with the old customs, but quietly transformed them into ceremonies harmonizing with Christian doctrine. Thus they found that all the Teutonic tribes did homage about the first … Read more

Annually, in ancient Athens, groups of play-writers, poets, musicians, and other skilled artists competed with one another among their group for the plaudits of the populace. In their day the men of greatest renown thus had their work reviewed by the great throngs attending these festivals. A successful contestant or one who showed remarkable attainment … Read more

John Duns Scotus was one of the greatest philosophers and scholars of the Middle Ages. He was still a young man when he died, suddenly, in 1308, though the year of his birth and the place where he was born, Ireland or England, are both unknown. He had attained great renown as a teacher at … Read more

Some two hundred and fifty years ago someone noticed that bell ringers attained a remarkable muscular development of the chest, shoulders, and arms, thanks to repeated exercise in pulling the ropes which put the great weight of the bells in motion. Whoever the person was, he figured out a scheme for erecting a device which … Read more

In the Iliad Homer describes a reptile of huge size, of blood-red or dark color shot with changing hues, and sometimes with three heads. This monster he called a drakon, which became dragon in English. Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War, according to this ancient story, bore a shield with a picture … Read more

Silver was discovered in the valley of the Joachim, a few miles west of Prague, in 1516. This valley was then part of the vast estate owned by the Count of Schlick and, as was then the custom, the Count decided to mint his own coins. The first of the coins was produced in 1518 … Read more

The Greek philosopher, Epicurus, who was born in 342 B.C., held that pleasure constitutes the highest happiness. He argued, however, that pleasure was not a transitory or momentary sensation; it was rather something lasting and imperishable. It was attained chiefly by pure and noble thoughts. Freedom from pain and from all influences which disturb the … Read more

If one looks at a picture of an ancient castle of medieval days, it can be seen that one of the towers, usually the central one, dominates all the others and the countryside around. It was also the strongest part of the castle, the part where the defenders, if forced back, might withstand a long … Read more

In all countries people have been wont to bestow the name of some animal upon a tool or implement which in some way resembled it. Thus tailors of old, seeing that their heavy smoothing iron, with its curving handle, somewhat resembled the heavy body and curved neck and head of a familiar barnyard fowl, called … Read more

One of the stories of old Greek legend relates that the great god Zeus was fond of the society of a certain group of nymphs. His wife, Hera, however, tried to keep him devoted to her alone. Through jealousy she followed him wherever he went. To outwit her, Zeus arranged with a nymph named Echo … Read more

From earliest times, and even today among superstitious people, it has been believed that certain persons, if so inclined, have the power to injure or even kill other persons or animals or to destroy crops or commit other injury by no more than a malignant glance. Such a person is held to possess the “evil … Read more

The history of this word, especially of its change in meaning, is curious. It is derived, through the French ferme, from Latin firmus, fixed, settled, and when first used in England, as in France, it denoted the fixed annual rental, tax, or revenue payable by a person, town, or county to the overlord. A farmer … Read more

In the early eighteenth century various card games which became popular at the gambling tables were introduced into England from France. Little is now known about some of these, and others, such as basset (or bassette) and lansquenet, lost their popularity many years ago. But among these was the game now known as faro, although … Read more

In the churches of medieval France and England, back in the thirteenth century, it became customary to insert various phrases in the litanies sung by the monks between the words Kyrie and eleison in the supplication, Kyrie eleison! “Lord have mercy!” Such an insertion, borrowing a term already used in cookery, was called a farce, … Read more

It is said that Sulla, while leading the Roman army in Asia Minor against Mithradates in the early part of the first century B.C., was visited in a dream by a goddess. She appeared to urge him to return to Rome to forestall enemies who were plotting against him at home. He followed the advice … Read more

In the popular sense of an enthusiast, a fan is a follower or devotee of a sport or special interest, or an ardent admirer of some person. One of my elderly friends, an early baseball fan, insists that the term originated through the fact that the spectators at baseball games, back in the 1880s, seated … Read more

Until a hundred years ago the word “fake” was one of the words frowned upon by the schoolmasters. It was slang. Not only that, but it was the slang used by thieves and gypsies, not by reputable speakers and writers. The true history is therefore unknown, but some suppose it to have been picked up … Read more

Among the oldest of the annual festivals of Rome was that known as the Lupercalia. It was celebrated on February 15 in honor of Lupercus, an ancient Italian god of fertility, sometimes identified with Pan or Faunus. He was the god of shepherds; thus the festival was connected with Romulus and Remus, the kings of … Read more

Elsewhere it has been shown how the expression, “That’s the ticket,” arose from a mispronunciation of etiquette. But the French word itself means “ticket,” among other things, and in Old French was used to designate the ticket that prescribed a soldier’s lodging place, his billet. Just how the sense became transferred to prescribed conduct is … Read more

As the dictionary says, the word “escape” is from the Latin ex, out, and cappa, cape. In olden days the meaning was literal. One slipped out of his cape or threw it aside in order to free himself for running, or, it might be, he left it in the clutch of a would-be captor and … Read more