Latin Language Stack Exchange
Latin Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [etymology]

For questions about etymology: the history of words in Latin or the change in meaning as the words are loaned into another language.

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Why does uacuus have three syllables?

I stumbled across this question on the pronunciation of 'vacuum' in the “linguistics” forum. My question is: If uacuus is *wak+wo- why does uacuus have three syllables, but uiuus, paruus, caluus etc. have only two? Is there a rule that says that *wu…
fdb
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What's up with 'ubī'?

Just noticed, with respect to this question about 'which' and the five 'wh-' question words, that there's kind of a similar but reverse sort of situation in Latin. It looks like of all the corresponding question words in Latin, they are all 'qu-'…
Mitch
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How did "spina" shift semantically from "thorn" or "prickle" to "backbone"?

From the online etymology dictionary (boldface mine): spine (n.) c. 1400, "backbone," later "thornlike part" (early 15c.), from Old French espine "thorn, prickle; backbone, spine" (12c., Modern French épine), from Latin spina "backbone,"…
user37
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How does ‘pontifex’ connect to the significance of bridge building as pious work?

From the Online Etymology Dictionary: pontifex (n.) member of the supreme college of priests in ancient Rome, 1570s, from Latin pontifex "high priest, chief of the priests," probably from pont-, stem of pons "bridge" (see pons) + -fex, -ficis, root…
user37
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What is the origin or significance of "-trio" in "septentrionalis"?

The word septentrionalis "northern" comes from septentriones, cf. Lewis & Short: septentrĭōnes (septemptrĭōnes), um (sing. and tmesis, v. infra), m. [septemtrio; prop. the seven plough-oxen; hence, as a constellation] But what does this -trio…
Cerberus
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Doubt about third declension

I was looking at the words in the phrase, “et verbum caro factum est”, and at caro in particular. I am casually interested in Latin (and languages generally) but I do not know it very well. So obviously, I look it up in the dictionary. The table of…
Omar and Lorraine
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Etymology of 'calcit(r)are'?

While interested in the etymology of 'recalcitrant', most sources, namely OED, M-W, etymonline) give something like the following: 1823, from French récalcitrant, literally "kicking back" (17c.-18c.), past participle of recalcitrare "to kick back;…
Mitch
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Does the verb "amare" come from the babble word for "mother"?

Wiktionary gives us the following etymology of amare. Probably from Proto-Indo-European *am-a-, *am- (“mother, aunt”), a lost nursery-word of the papa-type. Compare amita (“aunt”), Old High German amma (“nurse”). Alternatively, O. Hackstein…
ktm5124
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How does 'versus' metaphorise plowing in Ancient Rome?

[ Etymonline :] from Latin versus "a line, row, line of verse, line of writing," from PIE root *wer- (3) "to turn, bend" (see versus). The metaphor is of plowing, of "turning" from one line to another (vertere = "to turn") as a plowman does.…
user37
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Evolution of the meaning of Tollere?

One of my favorite Latin words is Tollere because it means both "to raise" as in to lift off the ground, as well as (more poetically) "to raze" or destroy/take away. Are there any commentaries on how this word came to have seemingly disparate…
Cthos
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Does the Latin Caspius derive from a Semitic root?

I want to start off by acknowledging that this is tendentious speculation, but I cannot say for sure why it might be wrong, except that I cannot create a clear trajectory for this relationship. Is the name Caspius/Caspi (the Caspian Sea, the…
cmw
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Is there a root word for -scendo?

There are various words that involve the stem -scendo. For example: ascendo inscendo conscendo descendo escendo transcendo However, there is no root word that I can find. Scendo itself does not seem to be a word. Is there some root word for these…
Tyler Durden
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Is there a relationship between the word amor (love) & mors (death)?

I recently read in a book that there is an etymological relationship between the Latin words amor & mort but no citation is given. Looking at an online etymological dictionary (Wiktionary) did not confirm this. Is anyone familiar with any sources…
Tibaq
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How did 'ad' + 'hūc' compound to get its meanings?

[ Adverb   adhūc : ]   Etymology     ad "to" + hūc "here" so far, thus far, hitherto, still [2.1] again; [2.2] furthermore; [2.3] moreover; [2.4] besides (used in scholastic debates to introduce an additional point in one's argument) [3.1]…
user37
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Cur nullum genus adiectivo "vetus"?

Why doesn't the adjective vetus inflect for gender?* I checked the etymology and vetus appears to have been inherited from Proto-Indo-European by the usual route. So why is it irregular? * OK, strictly speaking, it's marked for neuter vs.…
Ben Kovitz
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