Language

During the Revolutionary War the American soldiers, gathered about their campfires, of course sang all those songs that any of them could recall. Among the favorites was the Scottish song, Maggie Lauder, one verse of which ran: O wha wadna be in love wi bonny Maggie Lawder, A piper met her gaun to Fife, and … Read more

Blarney Castle, in County Cork, Ireland, was built about 1446 by Cormac McCarthy. Its name was derived from that of a little village nearby. When Queen Elizabeth appointed Sir George Carew Lord Piesident of Munster, something over a hundred years later, it became his duty to obtain, by peaceful means if possible, the surrender of … Read more

Four or five centuries ago it was not so easy as it is today to move from one’s winter residence to his place in the country for the summer and to make the reverse move in the fall. Today, the very wealthy may have a retinue of servants at each place, and the actual change … Read more

Nobody knows when or how the American word “blizzard” originated. Its earliest occurrence in print was in 1829, but it may have been well known in frontier speech long before that. According to the collection, Americanisms, published by Schele de Vere in 1871, the usual western meaning was a stunning blow, as by the fist. … Read more

The article of feminine attire “bloomers”, as someone has said, was named after a woman who “did not invent it, was not the first to wear it, and protested against its being called by her name.” She was Amelia Jenks Bloomer, wife of Dexter C. Bloomer, of Seneca Falls, New York, whom she married in … Read more

There has long been a popular notion that the word “cabal” was formed from the initials of the name of five of the members of the English ministry who were particularly given to intrigue during the reign of Charles II, especially during the period from 1667 to 1673. There were indeed five such men, and … Read more

In the spring of 1662 a new conveyance appeared upon the streets of Paris. They were large coaches or carosses with places for eight passengers and, under decree of Louis XIV, they were authorized to run upon fixed schedules, whether filled or empty, to extreme parts of the city. Their great virtue was in the … Read more

The butcher of today may rarely see a living cow, sheep, or hog, or may never be called upon actually to slaughter anything larger than a turkey or goose. Most of the killing and dressing of animals destined for food is now done in large packing houses, and the word butcher is often applied to … Read more

It would seem awkward to say, “Call a cabriolet,” rather than “Call a cab,” but cab is merely a contraction of cabriolet, just as taxicab is a doubled contraction of taximeter cabriolet further shortened to taxi. The original cabriolet, or cabriole, as it was also called, was built in France in the latter part of … Read more

In England and Scotland, an intense interest in the study of anatomy had been aroused among young medical students in the last half of the eighteenth century through the researches of Dr. John Hunter, Such study, however, was badly cramped by the laws of the period. For, according to law, none but the bodies of … Read more

Back in 1820 the petition of the residents of the Territory of Missouri for admission into the Union as a state came before the Sixteenth Congress. Immediately the question of slavery came into discussion, for even then, forty years before the Civil War, there was strong feeling among the northern states against any further extension … Read more

After the American War between the States and the abolition of slavery, there was a natural tendency for the newly enfranchised Negroes of the South to vote for the political party represented by their emancipator, Abe Lincoln. Southern whites objected. Violence and threats of violence sprang up toward the eve of all elections, continuing for … Read more

The ordinary cabbage which grows in the garden fittingly comes from the Old French word caboche, meaning a head, derived from the Latin caput, a head. But we use cabbage also when we mean “to steal,” and this has nothing to do with a head. The origin of the word in this sense isn’t positively … Read more

In Roman days the forerunner of the musical instrument known as the “bugle” was originally made from a horn. It was not, however, made from any homed creature, but from one particular kind. That was a bullock, a young bull. The Latin name for such an animal was buculus. The name later became bugle in … Read more

Explorers from Spain, Portugal, and France of the sixteenth century found many strange customs among the people whom they encountered along the coasts of South America and on the islands of the Caribbean. Some of these they were able to adopt to their own advantage. One of the latter was a simple method for drying … Read more

Where it came from, no one knows; but in France, six hundred years ago, bribe was the alms or the food that one gave to a beggar. When the word reached England it meant, as Chaucer used it, to steal or extort, as well as the thing stolen or extorted. But in the sixteenth century … Read more

A dishonorable word from an honorable source, the word “caddie” is little more than a hundred years old, and came, in roundabout manner, to its present form and meaning from the French word cadet. Back in the sixteenth century, and at present, a cadet was a younger son, or younger brother, of the head of … Read more

From time immemorial there have been money changers. These were men who, for a premium, calculated the value of currency received by a merchant dealing with foreign countries and exchanged it for domestic money. Their business was conducted in some public place, such as the market place in Athens, the forum in Rome, or the … Read more

Farmers and small landholders along the border counties of England and Scotland, until roughly a century and a half ago, lived in constant dread of being raided by robbers and outlaws in that poorly protected area. Some of them, however, escaped those depredations by paying a regular tribute to the principal robber chieftain of the … Read more

When the word “budget” first came into use back in the fifteenth century, it meant a little wallet or purse, from the French bouge, purse, or bouget, little purse. The diminutive sense died out, and budget, the anglicized word, was used for a purse of any size, especially for a purse made of leather. It … Read more

The people of Cornwall and Wales, seven or eight hundred years ago used to frighten their children with tales of fearful hobgoblins or specters. We don’t know what those ancient tales were nor how they described those imaginary creatures which became very real beings to the children. The Welsh term for specter is bug. The … Read more

We think of a broker these days chiefly as one who, acting for another, buys and sells stocks and bonds for a commission, though there are, of course, other kinds of brokers; as cotton brokers, tea brokers, insurance brokers, and by no means least, pawnbrokers. The last differs from the others in that he advances … Read more

This occurs usually in the expression “Barmecide feast” or “Barmecide banquet.” It comes from the “Story of the Barber’s Sixth Brother” in Arabian Nights. A poor man who had been without food for several days, it relates, begged for bread at the door of the rich Persian noble, Barmecide. To his amazement he was invited … Read more

The Spaniards, when they took possession of Haiti shortly after its discovery by Columbus, saw many customs among the natives which were strange to them. Among those for which they could readily see the reason was an, elevated framework upon which to sleep. This was a protection against marauding beasts. A similar framework, with a … Read more

To the ancient Greeks the sound made by two foreigners talking together was as if they said “bar-bar-bar-bar” to each other. So they called any unintelligible speech, barbaros, and applied it to any language that was not Greek. Later on, the Romans borrowed the word, changing it to barbarus, and had it apply to any … Read more

When Portuguese explorers in India, back in the sixteenth century, began to learn about the various beautiful cloths produced in the country, they saw that one owed its interesting appearance to the curious manner in which it was prepared for dyeing. The cloth was tightly knotted before it was dipped into the dye, and thus … Read more

Back in the late 1500s and early 1600s the young men of England had a game of football that seems to have borne some resemblance to the later game of rugby. The player might either kick the ball or strike it with his arm or hand, though the inflated ball was so large and so … Read more

The gates in the old walled city of London were known by the names of those who had constructed them. Thus the one below London Bridge has been known as Billingsgate since time immemorial, probably so called from a man named Billings, although a map of 1658 ascribes it to “Belen, ye 23th Brittish Kinge.” … Read more

Originally, the word “ballot” meant “little ball,” contracted from the Italian, ballotta. It may be easy to recall this original meaning if we remember that, formerly, the method of voting was through the use of a small ball, white or black, according as one voted affirmatively or negatively, dropped secretly into a receptacle. The method, … Read more

Leo Hendrik Baekeland was born in Belgium in 1863, studied and taught chemistry in his native land, but then, at the age of twenty-six, emigrated to the United States. There, for the rest of his life, he died in 944 he engaged in industrial research. His earliest invention was the photographic paper, “Velox.” But the … Read more

Back in the sixteenth century, during the period when Spain had given the cruel Duke of Alva complete authority over the Netherlands, more than 100,000 Dutch Protestants were forced to flee the country. Many of them went across the channel to England, and of these, many were weavers. Textile weaving had long been a staple … Read more

A wick, in olden times, was a village, from the Latin, vicus, village. It survives now chiefly in place names, often as with, as in Warwick, Greenwich, Norwich. And the bailie, whom we now call bailiff, was the administrative officer. Thus a bailiwick was actually the district over which a bailiff had jurisdiction. We use … Read more

Little is known of its source, but baffle, in the sixteenth century, was thought to be a Scottish term. We use it now when we mean “to flabbergast, confuse, frustrate, foil”; but in those days it meant “to disgrace publicly.” It seems to have referred especially to the manner in which a knight who had … Read more

Probably because they could be turned out more easily on a lathe, the short upright columns for supporting a handrail were made, in the Middle Ages, in circular section and a doubly curved outline, a narrow neck above, swelling into a pear-shaped bulge below. These columns strongly resembled the shape of the flower of the … Read more

Every Sunday School scholar knows that we got the word babel from the high tower which the descendants of Noah started to erect, “whose top may reach unto heaven.” The name of the tower and of the city which was also being built was Babel. But the Lord, according to the eleventh chapter of Genesis, … Read more

When still a young man, Isaac Babbitt produced the first of several inventions by which he became famous. He had been apprenticed as a youth to a goldsmith in Taunton, Massachusetts, where he was born, and it was in this employment that he acquired an interest in metallurgy. Hence, in 1824, when he was but … Read more

Ancient peoples held the firm belief that future events and the purposes of their gods were revealed by certain signs. These signs, however, could be understood only by the very devout, especially trained to observe and to interpret. Different nations had different beliefs in the way these signs were delivered, but among the forerunners of … Read more

In the name of the month of August we still commemorate the first emperor of the Roman Empire, more than nineteen hundred years after his death. His real name was Caius Octavianus, which was also his father’s name. His mother, Julia, was the sister of Julius Caesar, the great Roman general. The young Octavianus, better … Read more

Though the word “Bible” traces back to the Greek biblia, little books, the Greek word was itself derived from byblos, which was the name for the particular kind of papyrus from which ancient books were made. Such books, of course, were not bound into pages, but were long rolls or scrolls of paper, each scroll … Read more

Because proof is lacking, the dictionaries play safe by saying that the word “beggar” is probably just a derivative of beg, which in turn may have come from an unusual Old English term, bedecian. But some scholars flout that theory; they believe that beggar was first in the language, with the verb, beg, derived from … Read more

While besieging a fortified place, in the early Middle Ages, German soldiery sometimes protected themselves under the shelter of a movable wooden tower. This protection they called a bergfrid, literally, shelter shed. The device was soon borrowed by the armies of other countries, and the soldiers probably thought that they were still using its German … Read more

In Norse mythology there was a famous, furious fighter who scorned the use of heavy mail, entering battle without armor. His only protection was the skin of a bear fastened over one shoulder. From this he became known as Berserk, or “Bear Shirt.” It was said of him that he could’ assume the form of … Read more

Henry Bessemer, though of English birth, was the son of a French artist, and was dependent almost entirely upon himself for his education. Metallurgy was his chief interest, and while still a young man he invented a highly successful machine to replace the former cumbersome hand method of reducing gold and bronze to powders. Later, … Read more

Back in the time when Henry VIII was king of England, that is, back in the first half of the sixteenth century, there stood in London a structure known as the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem. It had been erected three hundred years earlier, in 1247, as a priory for the sisters and brethren … Read more

Bob Burns, radio humorist, in a letter to the author, says that he coined this term “bazooka” to fit the alleged musical instrument that he has made familiar to radio listeners. His explanation follows: I started taking mandolin and trombone lessons when I was six years old in Van Buren, Arkansas. When I was eight, … Read more

The origin of the word “bigot” has been greatly disputed. About all that is certainly known is that it was used in France, before the beginning of the thirteenth century, as an opprobrious name for the Normans. Some scholars believe that the French borrowed it from the old Teutonic oath, “bi got.” They quote a … Read more

Although we apply the name “basilisk” now to a South American lizard, which grows to a length of about two feet, this harmless animal only faintly resembles the fabulous reptile that terrified the people of medieval. and ancient times. The name was originally Greek, basiliskos, little king, from basil, a crown, because the monster was … Read more

It was firmly believed by our ancestors, even so recently as in Shakespeare’s time, that the goose which we still call barnacle goose came out of the shell of a nut or tiny gourd growing upon certain trees along the seashore. Some thought that the immature birds were attached to the trees by their bills, … Read more

Among the weavers of Kameric, the old Flemish name of Cambrai, was one who was able to produce upon his loom a linen fabric that was even softer and finer than that produced by any of his neighbors. Nothing is known of this man beyond his name, Jean Baptiste. But English merchants, having already given … Read more

Before the days of the Trojan War, according to the legendary tales of Homer, there was a tribe of fierce warriors living near the Caucasus Mountains. They were ruled by a queen, it was said, and they had waged war against other tribes in Asia Minor and had even invaded Greece. But the peculiar thing … Read more

One who is alone is distinctly “one,” not two or more. And that was the original intent and use of the word “alone”. It was formed from all one, wholly one, and was used as two words until the fourteenth century. In those days and until about the end of the seventeenth century the word … Read more

English writers of the sixteenth century correctly called this American creature a lagarto, for that was the Spanish name for this huge saurian, “lizard.” But because Spaniards, like Arabs, are accustomed to put the definite article al before a noun, al lagarto, the lizard, careless English writers assumed that this was a single word, allagarto. … Read more

Long before the days of Alexander the Great some military genius hit upon a scheme for entering the walls of an opposing city. He ordered a group of his soldiers to take a long log and swing it repeatedly against a vulnerable spot in the wall. In later improvements, the beam, sometimes eighty, a hundred, … Read more

Three goddesses were in control of all human destinies, according to ancient Greek belief. They determined when a man should be born, what his activities should be during his life, and when and under what circumstances he should die. These three beautiful sisters were known, therefore, as the goddesses of Fate, or the Three Fates. … Read more

Until late in the eighteenth century any soldier wounded in battle was likely to lie where he fell until nightfall or until the battle was over. Even then his chance of surgical attention was slim unless a comrade carried him to the rear, for surgeons did not reach the battlefield until the next day. But … Read more

Among the many superstitions of the ancient Greeks was one concerning the wearing of a certain rare stone. To be effective, this stone had to be clear and very like the wine of the grape in color; that is, a clear purple or bluish violet. The possessor or wearer of such a stone, it was … Read more

Back in the Middle Ages, when only a few people could write, and those usually priests, most of the writing was in Latin. But in those days, just as with us now, one of the words that occurred very frequently was “and.” The Latin word for “and” is et. In part because of the script … Read more

Late in the eleventh century, Hassan ben Sabbah, forced from his studies in Cairo, returned to his home in Persia. He then acquired a mountain fortress in the southern part of the country, and made it the seat of a new religious organization. Though the principles were mainly those of one of the leading sects … Read more

Roman candidates for public office who wore a white toga (see CANDIDATE) were not content simply to be seen whenever they happened to be outdoors. They knew that if they wanted many of the voters to notice their glistening white togas they would have to go about from place to place where the voters were, … Read more

In the Latin language, it was the custom to do about as we do today; that is, to give a verb a particular meaning by using a preposition along with it. Thus, with our verb “to walk,” we may say “to walk in,” meaning “to enter”; “to walk up,” meaning “to ascend”; “to walk down,” … Read more

Someone has said that alimony is no more than a telescoping of “all the money.” It may seem so to a man who has little left after his former wife has received the monthly allowance awarded to her. Actually, however, the Latin alimonia was just a new-fangled spelling, two thousand years ago, of the older … Read more

Literally, the word alert means “on the watchtower.” It came from an Italian military expression of the sixteenth century, all’ erta, in which all’ is a common contraction of alla, on. The original phrase was stare all’ erta, “to stand on the watchtower.” As conditions changed, the phrase merely meant “to stand watch.” Ultimately, with … Read more

Strangely enough, when the word “auburn” first came into the language, after the Norman Conquest, it was used as a perfect description of the color of the flaxen hair of the Saxons, a yellowish hue. The Old French spelling was alborne or auborne. But after being taken into English the spelling began to vary, taking … Read more

Like our mathematics, we owe much of the early study of chemistry to Arabic scholars of the so-called Dark Ages. Thus the word alkali is but a transliteration of the Arabic al-qaliy, which means “the ashes of saltwort.” Saltwort is a marine plant used in the production of sodium carbonate, formerly called soda ash. As … Read more

The Norman-French military call when, for example, a sentinel spied an enemy force approaching, was “As armes! as armes!” That summons was introduced into England where it was used for a while, but eventually it was translated into the equivalent English, “at arms!” which became the modern “to arms!” Similar calls were employed at the … Read more

One wonders how we acquired such the curiously formed word “aisle”. By way of answer, we shouldn’t have it. The spelling is the result of confusion; its present common meaning, a passageway, as in a church or theater, arose from still another confusion. The English word was originally ele, borrowed from the French in the … Read more

Although we have since extended the meaning of the word “agony” to include intense physical suffering, such as we experience when in great pain, its original meaning in English referred to intense mental suffering or anguish, specifically that experienced by Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, for it was in the English translation of the … Read more

From very early times the women of East Asian countries, desiring to enhance their beauty, have stained their eyelids with a very fine dark powder. This they call koh’l. The cosmetic is usually obtained from antimony. English writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in describing this cosmetic, thinking the definite article to be part … Read more

Our ancestors were just as vain as we are, and, like ourselves, were always searching for ways to make the hair more attractive. Early in the nineteenth century a new unguent for the hair was produced which, its makers vowed, possessed marvelous properties. This oil, they said, came from the Dutch East Indies, from a … Read more

Strangely enough, even as recently as the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, our ancestors were accustomed to speak of this protective garment as “napron.” The word was adapted from the French naperon; in modern French, napperon, now meaning “napkin.” But our forefathers were careless, even as we are, and “a napron” became slurred in speech into … Read more

The amphitheaters of ancient Rome were structures that resembled in many respects the stadiums in many of the colleges and cities of the United States. The structures, both ancient and modern, were erected so that spectators could easily see and enjoy the contests in the large open spaces which they surrounded. But the great difference … Read more

We use the word “arrant” now to mean downright, out-and-out, unmitigated; as, an arrant coward, an arrant scoundrel. But it was formerly just another spelling of “errant,” and it meant wandering, vagabond, nomad. Thus a “knight errant,” in the Age of Chivalry, was a knight, usually young, who roamed the countryside, seeking an opportunity to … Read more

If we were to use the word “arrive” only with regard to its source and original sense we would use it exclusively when the destination was reached by water. That was the usual application until about four centuries ago. The source was the Latin ad, to, and ripa, land or shore. Its meaning was “to … Read more

When a person dies the immediate concern of his heir or the executor of his estate is to determine whether he left sufficient property to pay his debts and legacies. In England, after the days of William the Conqueror, this was known by the Anglo-French legal term, aver assetz, from aver, to have, and assetz, … Read more

Back in the early sixteenth century, some Italian archeologists, in Rome, were digging about in the ruins of the huge structure now known to be the Baths erected by the emperor Titus. Unexpectedly running across some chambers that had long been buried, they found that the walls were covered with paintings. These paintings were of … Read more

One of the oldest of the Grecian myths tells of the struggle for supremacy between Zeus and the Titans, the sons and grandsons of Uranus and Gaea. The leader of the Titans was the powerful Atlas. And when the Titans were overcome, Atlas, in punishment, was obliged thereafter to bear the weight of the heavens … Read more

Justinian, emperor of the Byzantine Empire from A.D. 527 to 565, was one of the few really great emperors of that division of the old Roman Empire. He is noted especially for the framing of the legal code, since known the Justinian Code. Among the attendants at his court was the historian, Procopius, who, when … Read more

Card playing has been known in Europe since about the middle of the thirteenth century, but it is not known how soon thereafter the players discovered ways to cheat their opponents. But by the late sixteenth century, at least, the players had learned that cheating was more difficult, more easily detected, if the cards around … Read more

Originally “anthem” was the same word and had the same meaning as antiphon, a response, sung or chanted. Introduced into Christian worship, the Greek antiphon, in the speech of the priests, became Old English antefne. Then and for many centuries thereafter it referred to a composition for two voices or two choirs sung or chanted … Read more

Nowadays when we are in full agreement or have a fellow feeling with another, we say that we see eye to eye, or that we are hand in glove with him. Back in the thirteenth century and for the next several hundred years, the saying was to be at one, or to set at one … Read more

We must turn to the Bible to see why the feminine proper name “Abigail” started to become a synonym for servant. In the First Book of Samuel, the twenty-fifth chapter tells how David, in return for past favors, made a peaceful request to the wealthy Nabal for food for his followers. Nabal rejected the request … Read more

When the hair stands up from fright or dread, we have the literal meaning of abhor. The Latin source of our verb was abhorreo, from ab, away from, and horreo, to stand on end, to bristle. Thus the literal meaning was to shrink back from with horror, but, though the verb still expresses great repugnance, … Read more

When anything is in abeyance now we mean that it is in a state of inaction, that the matter, whatever it was, is dormant, although some action is expected to occur eventually. It was that expectancy that gave us the word, for it came as a law term, after the Norman Conquest, from the Old … Read more

When things are in such profusion as to be like the waves of the sea overflowing the land, we may properly say that they abound. Literally, that is what the word means. It comes to us from the Latin, abundo, to overflow, from ab, from, and unda, wave, billow, surge. Our words abundant and abundance … Read more

The Romans were intensely superstitious. Any chance event or chance remark that occurred on the eve of an undertaking was carefully examined to determine whether it might indicate good luck or bad luck. Thus Cicero tells us that Crassus, when about to embark upon his ill-fated expedition against the Parthians, should have turned back. At … Read more

Scarcely known nowadays, except in stories laid in olden times, is the verb affray. Its ancient meaning was “to startle out of one’s rest,” as by a clap of thunder or other sharp noise. That is, one who was affrayed was one who was alarmed. From alarm to fright was a natural development in meaning, … Read more

The so-called sport of bear-baiting was widely known among the Teutonic countries a thousand years ago, but it became nowhere more popular than in England, especially after the fourteenth century. For the pleasure of the spectators, a bear, freshly caught and starved. enough to make it vicious, was fastened to a stake by a short … Read more

The early sense of the word “accost” was nautical, so much so that it was often written accoast, as if the meaning were “to lie along the coast of.” The original meaning was not far from that, because the word was derived from the Latin prefix ad, to, plus costa, which, though actually meaning “rib,” … Read more

The Old English word for “acre” was ecer. In the Middle Ages, however, it was adapted to the Latin of the period and became acra, which gave rise to our present spelling. The word originally meant unoccupied country, whether field or woodland. But through increased interest in agriculture, the meaning became limited to land that … Read more

From time immemorial, perhaps as proof of our relationship with the ape, man has amused himself by performing feats of daring upon ropes, ropes hanging from trees or high structures, or ropes tautly or loosely stretched high between two trees or other supports. In ancient Greece, skill in such feats became highly developed, though, like … Read more