Language

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

Sometimes, as many farmers have observed, a seed of rye becomes diseased and is transformed into a fungus growth of dark purple color, in shape strongly resembling a cock’s spur. The condition was noted by French farmers many centuries ago, and because of the shape they gave this fungus the name argot, cock’s spur. In … Read more

In southern Europe there is a perennial plant which, though not a true fennel, is called “giant fennel” because it somewhat resembles the fennel and belongs to the same order. Unlike the fennel, which runs about three or four feet in height, this plant sometimes reaches a height of fifteen feet. Its Latin name is … Read more

In the Age of Chivalry, that is, in the period between the tenth and fourteenth centuries, young men of gentle birth who aspired to be knights were accustomed to attach themselves to the services of the knight of their choice and attend him in his travels. The chief duty of such a voluntary servant was … Read more

The Greek mathematician, Archimedes, who was born in Syracuse in 287 B.C., was so far in advance in the practical application of geometry to mechanical devices that he may be called the Thomas Edison of his day. It is hard to comprehend that more than two thousand years after his death we are still making … Read more

The Roman populace expressed their opinion of the abilities of their actors in manners that were unmistakable, and their ways were not unlike our own. If they liked an actor’s performance, they clapped their hands at the end of his lines, when the action permitted; if they liked the entire play, they continued to clap … Read more

In old Roman days, when a soldier had retired from service and his name was to be carried no longer on the lists, the fact was indicated by a series of dots or points pricked over or beneath his name. In this manner it was said to be “pointed out.” The Latin term for “to … Read more

Literally, when the word “debut” was two words in French, de but, it meant “from the mark.” It was used just as we say, “your first stroke,” in billiards, “your lead,” in cards, or “your first throw,” in dice. In other words, it signified the opening move or play in a game. From that expression, … Read more

In the Middle Ages it was no more difficult to persuade a man to leave his work, perhaps for conversation or a convivial drink, than it is today. The French of that period had a word for that. It was desbaucher, literally, to lure from one’s place of work or from one’s duty to a … Read more

Old Greek and Roman writers tell of a chaste nymph, Daphne, who was so beautiful and graceful that the god Apollo, when he saw her, fell in love with her charms and would have taken her for himself. But she, fearing that he would harm her, fled from him. Apollo pursued, but as he was … Read more

The damson plum was one of the fruits which the Crusaders of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries tasted on their weary travels in the lands bordering the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, found to be good, and took back with them for cultivation in their own countries. Because it was one of the products obtained … Read more

Formed from the Latin words extra, outside, and vagor, to wander, extravagant has the literal meaning, “tending to wander outside the usual path; hence, astray, roving.” Such were the senses of the term in Shakespeare’s time. But it soon became extended in meaning, and “straying beyond reasonable bounds” became the usual intent of the word. … Read more

Zeus, according to one of the many traditions surrounding his infancy, desired especially to honor the nymph to whose care he had been entrusted when a babe. (See CORNUCOPIA.) So he placed her in the sky and made one of the stars which form her constellation of great brilliancy and to be stationary in the … Read more

Among the traditions of the ancient Greeks the earliest developments in the arts of sculpture and architecture were accredited to the legendary personage, Daedalus. However, it is said, he was obliged to flee from Athens at the very peak of his genius when, jealous of a skill that threatened to surpass his own, he killed … Read more

Among the students of Socrates was one named Antisthenes, a man who, as time went on, never abandoned the teachings of his master, but, rather, extended them and applied them to a philosophy of his own devising. But because his mother was not an Athenian by birth, Antisthenes was obliged to meet his own students … Read more

The plants which we grow in our gardens under this name, as well as the berries produced upon them, are really sailing under false colors, for the name currant should never have been given to them. The real currant is the dried seedless fruit of a certain variety of grapevine; a raisin, that is, but … Read more

It may be said at once that the source of the word “curmudgeon” is unknown. It is of interest, however, because of the several speculations that have been made of its source. In his Dictionary of the English Language, back in 1756, Dr. Samuel Johnson said that an “unknown correspondent” had suggested the French coeur … Read more

In certain regions of England, the local people, when they caress a child, or make a pet of it, say that they “faddle” it. That word has been known and used for three hundred years. From it, about a hundred years ago, the curtailed word, fad, was formed and used to indicate a pet project, … Read more

Although Chinese weavers had long engaged in the production of beautiful woven designs in their silken fabrics, it remained for the weavers of Damascus, in the eleventh or twelfth century, to outstrip all other countries in the creation of silken textiles of unusually rich and curious design. These fabrics, sometimes with colors woven into the … Read more

In the medieval towns of Europe, fire was an ever-present danger. The houses were of timber, usually with thatched roofs, and the household fire, in a hole in the middle of the floor, sent out its smoke and sparks through an opening in the center of the roof. Naturally, the danger was greatest at night. … Read more

The story that is sometimes told to explain the origin of the word “culprit” is that it was formed in the last quarter of the seventeenth century from two legal abbreviations. It is said that when a prisoner stood for his trial and pleaded “Not guilty,” the Clerk of the Crown, using Anglo-French legal phraseology, … Read more

Our ancestors treated learning with reverence and respect, possibly because most of the teaching, three and four centuries ago, was performed by men trained for the ministry. So it is not amazing to find that when children learned the alphabet, the little “hornbooks” from which they studied were almost invariably decorated with a cross. Sometimes … Read more

In its original sense, the word defalcate meant “to cut off by a sickle.” Its Latin source, defalco, was formed from the preposition de, off, and f alx, sickle, and that was the literal sense in which the word was employed in Medieval Latin. After its introduction into English speech, however, possibly from the notion … Read more

The ancients employed figures of speech just as we do. Thus, if a person in the days of Caesar wished to say that another was suffering from vertigo or was wandering in mind or speech, he might use the Latin verb deliro. The literal meaning was “to stray from the furrow,” lira being “furrow.” Naturally, … Read more

From the time of its first use in English, the word credence has had as its prime meaning, confidence, belief, trust, from the Latin credo, believe. But there has also been a secondary meaning which arose from a cautionary measure back in the Middle Ages. In those days, when the preservation of meat was unknown … Read more