Here are a few words in the English language that have been named for people. This list consists of widely-used words which are obviously named after specific people. You'll be surprised to find words like, bloomer, maudlin, namby-pamby, tarmac and tawdry having their origins in men and women of yesteryears. Enjoy!!!
oh! and add on more if you know.
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ALDRIN Kurt Alder (1902-1958), American chemist
ALGORITHM al-Khowarizmi (c800 - c850), Arab mathematician
AUGUST Augustus Caesar (63 B.C. - A. D. 14)
BAKELITE Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863-1944), Belgian-born American chemist
BÉCHAMEL SAUCE Marquis Louis de Béchamel (d.1703), steward of Louis XIV of France
BEEF STROGANOFF Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganoff (1772-1817), Russian diplomat
BEGONIA Michel Bégon (1638-1710), French patron of botany
BLOODY MARY Mary I Tudor (1516-1558), English queen (probably)
BLOOMER Amanda Bloomer or Amelia Jenkins Bloomer (1818-1894), American feminist
BOUGAINVILLEA Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729-1811), French explorer
BOYCOTT Charles C. Boycott (1832-1897), English land agent
BOYSENBERRY Rudolph Boysen, American botanist
BUHLWORK A. C. Boule (1642-1732), French cabinet maker
BUNKUM, BUNK Col. Edward Buncombe, Revolutionary War hero, This word actually comes from the name of Buncombe County, North Carolina; the county was named in honor of Col. Edward Buncombe, a Revolutionary War hero. The word originated after the congressman from that county defended an irrelevant speech in Congress by claiming that he was speaking to Buncombe.
BUNSEN BURNER Robert Wilhelm Bunsen (1811-99), German chemist
CAESAREAN SECTION Gaius Julius Caesar, who according to legend was born in this manner
CAESAR SALAD Cesar Cardini, Tijuana, Mexico restaurateur
CAMELLIA George Josef Kamel (1661-1706), Moravian Jesuit missionary
CARDIGAN James Thomas Brudnell, 7th Earl of Cardigan (1797-1868), British cavalry officer
CASANOVA Giovanni Jacopo Casanova de Seingalt (1725-98), Italian adventurer
DAHLIA Anders Dahl (1751-1789), Swedish botanist
DECIBEL Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)
DERBY Edward Stanley, 12th earl of Derby, founded the race, 1870
DIESEL Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913), German automotive designer
DOBERMAN PINSCHER Ludwig Dobermann, 19th century German dog breeder
DOILY Mr. Doyley, a 17th century London draper
DOLOMITE Deodat de Dolomieu (1750-1801), French geologist
DRACONIAN Draco, Athenian lawgiver, circa 650 B. C.
DUNCE John Duns Scotus (c. 1265-1308), Scottish theologian (who was actually very smart)
EGGS BENEDICT Commodore E. C. Benedict (1834-1920), American yachtsman and banker
EPICURE Epicurus (342?-270 B. C.), Greek philosopher
EUSTACHIAN TUBE Bartolommeo Eustachio (1524-1574), Italian anatomist
FALLOPIAN TUBE Gabriel Fallopius (1523-1562), Italian anatomist
FERRIS WHEEL George Washington Gale Ferris (1859-96), American engineer
FRANGIPANI Marquis Frangipani, 16th century Italian nobleman
FREESIA Friedrich Heinrich Theodor Freese (d. 1876), German physician
FRISBEE William Russell Frisbie, pie shop owner in Bridgeport CT
FUCHSIA Leonard Fuchs (1501-1566), German botanist
GALVANIZE Luigi Galvani (1739-1798), Italian physiologist
GARDENIA Alexander Garden (1730-91), Scottish-American botanist
GARIBALDI Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-82), Italian patriot and soldier
GREENGAGE Sir William Gage (1777-1864), English botanist
GROG Old Grog, nickname of Sir Edward Vernon (1684-1757), British admiral
GUILLOTINE Joseph Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814), French physician
GUPPY Robert J. L. Guppy (1836-1916), British scientist from Trinidad
GUY Guy Fawkes (1570-1606), British terrorist
HANSOM Joseph Aloysius Hansom (1803-82), English architect
HAVELOCK Sir Henry Havelock (1795-1857), British general in India
HOBSON’S CHOICE Thomas Hobson (1544-1631), English liveryman
JACQUARD Joseph Marie Jacquard, 18th cent. French inventor
JACUZZI Roy Jacuzzi and Candido Jacuzzi (1903-1986), American inventors
JEROBOAM Jeroboam, first king of the northern kingdom of Israel
JULY Gaius Julius Caesar (c. 101 - 44 B. C.)
KLIEG LIGHT John H. (1869-1959) and Anton T. Kleigl (1872-1927), American lighting experts
KNICKERBOCKERS Dietrich Knickerbocker, pseudonym of Washington Irving (1783-1859), American author
LEOTARD Jules Léotard (1839-70), French acrobat
LEVIS Levi Strauss (1830-1902), Bavarian immigrant to the USA and clothing merchant
LOBELIA Matthias de Lobel (1538-1616), Flemish botanist and physician
LOBSTER NEWBURG Ben Wenberg According to Dictionary of Words and Phrases by William and Mary Morris, the term is named for Ben Wenberg, a West Indies ship captain who came up with this dish by adding the ingredient cayenne to his famous recipe at Delmonico's Hotel. As the story goes, Mr. Wenberg had a falling out with the hotel owner, who, as revenge, reversed the first three letters of a dish which had previously been called Lobster Wenberg; hence, "Lobster Newberg."
LOGANBERRY Judge James H. Logan (1841-1928), horticulturist in California
LUDDITE Ned Ludd, 18th cent. Leicestershire workman who destroyed machinery (see note below)
LYNCH Capt. William Lynch (1742-1820), plantation owner in Virginia
MACADAMIA NUT John Macadam (1827-1865), Australian scientist
MACH Ernst Mach (1838-1916), Austrian physicist
MACKINTOSH Charles Macintosh (1766-1843), inventor of the waterproofing process
MAGNOLIA Pierre Magnol (1638-1715), French botanist
MANSARD François Mansart (1598-1666), French architect
MARIGOLD Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus
MASOCHISM Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836-1895), Austrian novelist
MAUDLIN Mary Magdalene, Biblical figure
MAUSOLEUM Mausolus, 4th century B. C. king of Caria, Asia Minor
MAVERICK Samuel Augustus Maverick (1803-1870), Texas cattle owner
MELBA TOAST and PEACH MELBA Dame Nellie Melba (1861-1931), Australian soprano
MENNONITE Menno Simons (1492-1559), Dutch religious reformer
MESMERIZE Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), Austrian physician
MORSE CODE Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872), American artist and inventor
NAMBY-PAMBY Nickname of Ambrose Philips (1674-1749), English poet
NICOTINE Jean Nicot (c. 1530 - 1600), French ambassador to Portugal
OSCAR Oscar Pierce, American wheat and fruit grower and uncle of an Academy executive director
PAP SMEAR George Papanicolaou (1883-1962), American physician
PASTEURISE Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), French chemist
PAVLOVA Anna Pavlova (1881-1931), Russian ballerina
PLATONIC Plato (c. 427-347 BC), Greek philosopher
POINSETTIA Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779-1851), U. S. minister to Mexico
PRALINE César de Choiseul, Count Plessis-Praslin (1598-1675), French soldier and diplomat
PULLMAN George Mortimer Pullman (1831-97), American inventor
PYRRHIC Pyrrus (c. 318 - 272 B. C.), king of Epirus, who overextended himself
QUISLING Maj. Vidkun Abraham Quisling (1887-1945), pro-Nazi Norwegian leader
RASTAFARIAN Ras Tafari, precoronation name of Haile Selassie (1892-1975), Emperor of Ethiopia
RICKETTSIA Howard T. Ricketts (1871-1910), American pathologist
RORSCHACH TEST Hermann Rorschach (1884-1922), Swiss psychiatrist
RITZY César Ritz (1850-1918), Swiss hotelier
SADISM Count Donatien Alphonse François de Sade (1740-1814), French soldier and novelist
SALISBURY STEAK James J. Salisbury, 19th century English physician
SALMONELLA Daniel Elmer Salmon (1850-1914), American veterinarian
SANDWICH John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718-92), English diplomat
SAXOPHONE Antoine-Joseph Sax, also known as Adolphe Sax (1814-1894), Belgian inventor
SEQUOIA Sequoya (c. 1770-1843), Cherokee Indian who invented the Cherokee syllabary
SHRAPNEL Henry Shrapnel (1761-1842), British army officer
SIDEBURNS Gen. Ambrose Everett Burnside (1824-1881), Union soldier
SILHOUETTE Etienne de Silhouette (1709-1767), French minister of finance in 1759
SPOONERISM Rev. William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930), of New College, Oxford
SOUSAPHONE John Phillip Sousa (1854-1932), American composer and bandleader
STETSON John Bauerson Stetson (1830-1906), American hat-maker
TARMAC John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836), Scottish engineer (the word is short for "tarmacadam")
TAWDRY St. Audrey (St. Etheldreda, c. 630 - 679), queen of Northumbria
TEDDY BEAR Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), U. S. president
TETRAZZINI Luisa Tetrazzini (1874-1940), Italian opera singer
THESPIAN Thespis, 6th century B. C. Greek poet
TIMOTHY GRASS Timothy Hanson, 18th century American farmer (probably)
TOMMY GUN Gen. John Taliaferro Thompson (1860-1940), U. S. soldier
TONTINE Lorenzo Tonti (1620-1695), Neopolitan banker
TUPPERWARE Earl Silas Tupper (1907-1983), American landscaper and inventor
UZI Uziel Gal (1923-2002), Israeli inventor
VALENTINE Valentine, 3rd century Christian martyr
VERNIER Pierre Vernier (1580-1637), French mathematician
WELLINGTON BOOT Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), British soldier and statesman
WISTERIA Caspar Wistar (1761-1818), American physician
ZEPPELIN Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838-1917), German general and aeronautical pioneer
ZINNIA Johann Gottfried Zinn (1727-1759), German botanist
*~Come play with my children feel the peace and Scatter some joy.~* ~*Blowing out someone else's candle doesn't make your's burn any brighter.*~ *** Who put these fingerprints on my imagination? -- Elvis Costello ***
[This message was edited by Ananya on 06-18-04 at 01:48 AM.]
Posts: 5819 | Location: India | Registered: 07-03-01
*~Come play with my children feel the peace and Scatter some joy.~* ~*Blowing out someone else's candle doesn't make your's burn any brighter.*~ *** Who put these fingerprints on my imagination? -- Elvis Costello ***
Posts: 5819 | Location: India | Registered: 07-03-01
An Overview: On one hand it is said that many authors have foolishly and regrettably argued over the etymology of the word "HOBBIT" as originating from the variation of the two words, rabbits and hobby.
Now on the other hand there is one other man (Stan McDaniel) who argues in a serious way the case of JRR Tolkien as a very intense author who was a genius in philology (the study of language forms, relationships and transformations).
In recent decades, a number of scholars have begun to delve more seriously into the relationships between the sounds of words and the meanings of words. "Sound symbolism" or relations among sounds and meanings of certain clusters of words is something that suggests a common "symbol" or image about which the nomenclature revolves.
Anthropologist Dell H. Hymes, for example, in an article "Phonological Aspects of Style: Some English Sonnets," states
"Insistence on the arbitrary nature of the connection between sound and meaning simply cuts off inquiry into a very real aspect of speech and language."
Tolkien was familiar with how meanings and their related sounds flow in and out of one another according to subtle forces by which languages have shaped our perception of the world. It is out of these depths of understanding that the delight and wonder of his stories have evolved. As he says in one place, "Deep roots are not reached by the frost." Were The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings not so deeply rooted, they would not last as they have and as they will as long as there are books to read, eyes to read them, and hearts to beat to their songs.
***
The Unconscious Origin of Hobbit: Tolkien once said of his stories that they grow "like a seed in the dark out of the leaf-mould of the mind," adding that his own personal "compost-heap" was made "largely of linguistic matter." The word hobbit came out of that inner ferment in rare moments of spontaneous intuition.
He was busy grading examination papers when the word popped into his mind, not alone but as part of a whole sentence:
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
Tolkien trusted his philological intuition. When a name occurred to him in this manner, he usually gave it a second look. And this case was unusual in that an entire sentence was involved, not just a single name. So, even though he had formed no idea of a story or of any of its characters, he said of the occasion, "Eventually I thought I'd better find out what hobbits were like." He would subject such names to a "severe philological scrutiny."
Tolkien's philological scrutiny of In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit turned out to be uncommonly productive. The way in which he eventually based a complex, rich, yet accessible story upon an etymological ground may be something unique in literature. Yet there are no published remarks by Tolkien about the research he must have undertaken and its relation to the story of the hobbit.
***
Fictional Hobbit History: Fictionally, Tolkien characterizes himself not as author, but as translator of ancient manuscripts dating back to the Elder Days. In those manuscripts (the story goes) the word used by hobbits to refer to themselves is not hobbit at all, but kuduk, an odd-sounding expression supposed to derive from a yet older term originating in the land of Rohan and used to apply to hobbit-kind: kud-dukan, meaning "hole dweller."
Tolkien needed "English" words to translate kud-dukan and kuduk. Wishing to preserve the sense that kuduk is a "worn-down" form of kud-dukan, Tolkien first made up an "Old English" sounding word, holbytla (for hole-builder), as his "translation" of kud-dukan. Then he invented hobbit to represent a "worn-down" or modern English version of holbytla
But this is the fictional account. In order to understand just how hobbit is related to kuduk, and how Tolkien's story about hobbits is connected to philology, it is necessary to refer to a property of language which Stan McDaniel calls the eidophonetic property, or the relation between idea and sound. - Source
Read more about Eidophonetic properties and its connection to the philosophical etymology of HOBBIT, here
Tolkien's hobbit-stories may constitute a pivotal point in the history of science fiction and fantasy, by establishing for them more firmly than ever a base in the symbol-forming activity of human consciousness. If so, Tolkien has indeed written super science fiction. And we are only beginning to discover how super it really is. -- Stan McDaniel, from Hobbit, The Philosophical and Literary result.
much love, light and laughter, ananya. (aka mumbaichi porgi)
*~Come play with my children feel the peace and Scatter some joy.~* ~*Blowing out someone else's candle doesn't make your's burn any brighter.*~ *** Who put these fingerprints on my imagination? -- Elvis Costello ***
Posts: 5819 | Location: India | Registered: 07-03-01
Many of the fabric names we use today have very old origins, some quite surprising. Lets take a look at some of them.
Linen: It is a very old type of cloth which is made from flax. The word linen dates back to Old English linen – our earliest record of it is from 700 A.D. This word has not changed in over a millenium! There were cognates in Old Frisian, Old Scandinavian, and Old High German, all of which came from a Proto-Germanic root *linom which means "flax".
Muslin: It has its roots in the Arab town of Mosul, where the cloth was originally made. The Romance languages all have cognates, as does Greek: musselin. The current form of the word dates in English to the early 17th century. However, Old French had mosulin in the 13th century, but this was applied to "cloth of silk and gold’ from Mosul, according to Marco Polo.
Silk: This word is quite old, dating from the time that the Greeks obtained silk from the east. The Greek form was seres, and the Romans borrowed that word along with the adjectival form, sericus. Seres is the name that the Greeks had for the oriental people who first provided them with silk. It is thought that the "r" may have changed to an "l" as the word traveled from the Greco-Romans to the Baltic area. There is an Old Slavic form shelku, as well as Old Norse silki and Old English sioloc. No other Germanic language possess this word. Interestingly, silkie is an old Scottish word for seals, so-named because of their silky fur.
Organza: It is a stiff, transparent form of silk, got its name from organzine, a strong, high-quality silk thread. That word comes from Italian organzino (17th century) but the source of the Italian word is not known.
Brocade: It is, interestingly, related to our broach/brooch. It comes from Spanish brocado, which corresponds to Italian broccato "cloth of gold and silver", but literally broccato is "something bossed or embossed". The Italian form comes originally from the verb broccare "to boss, to stud, to set with great-headed nails", from Italian brocca "a boss or stud". Brocca is cognate with English broach/brooch, which is simply a boss worn on one's clothing .
Tweed: Many of us probably assumed Tweed was named after the River Tweed in the Borders of Scotland, but this is not so. It is actually the product of a misunderstanding! This misunderstanding occurred in about 1831, when someone misread the Scottish word tweel "twill" as tweed. It is likely that the river name played some part in the misreading, but the cloth is not named after the river. Exactly who was guilty of this error has not been well determined. However, in 1847, it was written "Narrow cloths, of various kinds, known by the name of Tweeds,..are extensively produced at Galashiels and Jedburgh, but especially the former.
Corduroy: If you know any French, you might recognize the elements du and roi in the word: du = "of" and roi = "king". Corde du roi, "the king's cord", was either invented in English to have this meaning, or that meaning was attached to it soon after the word was coined in the 18th century. The phrase corde du roi is not known in French. In fact, a French list of manufactured articles, dating from 1807, includes "kings-cordes", apparently taken from the English word!
Taffeta: It was current in English by the mid-14th century, in the form taffata. Old French had taffeta and tapheta, and the Romance languages all had similar forms. The ultimate source is Persian taftah "silken cloth" OR "linen clothing". It comes from the Persian verb taftan "to shine" or "to twist, to spin".
Velvet: It has its roots in a Latin words meaning "shaggy haired"! Its earliest English form was veluett or veluet (c. 1320), having entered English from medieval Latin velvetum, which came ultimately from Latin villus "hair, down". Some cognates are Italian velluto, Old French velut, and Spanish and Portuguese velludo.
Crepe de Chine: It is literally "China crape", a white crape made from raw silk. Crape, as found in the term crape myrtle today, is increasingly being replaced by the French form crêpe, having come full circle as crape comes originally from the French form. Crêpe means "crisp" or "wrinkled", arising ultimately from Latin crispa "curled". The term crepe de chine was borrowed by English from French in the 19th century, the French having coined it to differentiate it from crêpe anglais, known in English as "simply crape". That word was originally crespe in English (mid 17th century) as in French, but by the late 17th century it was being spelled phonetically: crape.
Lame: It is a fabric made of silk or other threads interwoven with metallic threads. It gets its name from lame, which was a thin metal plate applied to the small overlapping steel plates used in old armor. Its earliest form was lamm (late 16th century) and English went back to the French form in the early 20th century. French got it from Latin lamina "thin piece or plate". English cognates are lamina and laminate.
Rayon: It is named after a fairly old cognate of the English word ray. A rayon is a "ray of light", from French (1539) rayon, coming ultimately from rais "ray". It was applied to a synthetic cloth in the early 20th century, presumably because of the cloth's sheen.
Spandex: It is simply a clever inversion of expand.
Polyester: It is simply "many esters", an ester being not a Christian holiday, but an acid derivative. The word ester is thought to come from essig "vinegar" (acid) and äther "ether".
Tartan: This word seems to arise first in the 16th century. Some believe it comes from French tiretaine (c. 1247) "a half wool, half linen cloth"
Gingham: It comes ultimately from Malay ginggang "striped". It found its way to English via French guingan, from Spanish guinga and Portuguese guingão, Italian gingano, and Dutch ging(g)ang. The word first appeared in print in English in the early 17th century. Its circuitous route from Malay is an indication of the scale of trade and exploration occurring at the time.
Cotton: This word has roots in Arabic. There it was qutn or qutun, and with the prefixed article it was alqoton. The Spanish took that word as alcoton, but they eventually dropped the prefix and the word became coton, although algodon is still used for specific applications (i.e., a cotton swab) . Italian and Provençal took it from Spanish (as cotone and coton, respectively), and the French took it from the Provençal form and gave it to Middle English as coton in the 14th century. The later English form cotton arose in the 16th century.
*~Come play with my children feel the peace and Scatter some joy.~* ~*Blowing out someone else's candle doesn't make your's burn any brighter.*~ *** Satyameva Jayate aamuche bridvaakya aahe. ***
Posts: 5819 | Location: India | Registered: 07-03-01
Dollar (USA): From THALER -- a nickname for the silver coins that were minted from the ore found in Joachimsthal ("Saint Joachim's Valley" in Germany) -- which gained "currency" shortly after the lode's discovery in 1516. Throughout the rest of the Colonial era, the nickname "thaler" (which eventually became "dolar" in Spanish and "dollar" in English) would remain in use as the nickname for any silver coin that represented exactly one piece of eight. This is where the symbol for the dollar "$" came from--it is the number "8" broken up with a slash down the middle. The term also later made its way into the United States in 1803 when President Thomas Jefferson sought to create a national currency to supplant the various state, local and private currencies then in use. At the time the United States had trade deficits with almost every nation with whom it traded, except for Mexico. Due to a sizeable trade surplus with Mexico, the United States government found itself with a sizeable quantity of Spanish Colonial silver "thalers" which it then proceded to use as the basis for the new currency: the U.S. dollar. The dollar sign came from the back of the Spanish Colonial dollar: the pillars on the back (representing the Pillars of Hercules, the land beyond to which the Spanish owed their wealth) with a banner that wove around them in an "S" shape.
Rupee (India): The origin of the word "rupee" is found in the Sanskrit word rūp or rūpyāh, which means "wrought silver," originally "something provided with an image, a coin," from rupah "shape, likeness, image." [1] The Sanskrit word rūpyakam means coin of silver. The word Rupiya was coined by Sher Shah Suri during his brief rule of India between (1540-1545). It was used for the silver coin weighing 178 grains.
Lira : Lira (Pound) is the name of the monetary unit of a number of countries as well as the former currency of Italy, Malta, San Marino and the Vatican City. The term originates from the value of a Troy pound (Latin libra) of high purity silver. The word Libra developed its Lira shape from Italian, a language famed for its loss of initial consonants in two-part clusters (ie. Doctor = dottore).
Franc (France): F. franc, from the legend Francorum rex king of the Franks, on gold coins first struck in the reign of Jean le Bon (1350–64).
Ruble (Russia, Belarussia): According to one version, the word "ruble" is derived from the Russian verb рубить, rubit, i.e., to chop. Historically, "ruble" was a piece of a certain weight chopped off a silver ingot (grivna), hence the name. Another more convincing version is that the name comes from the Russian noun рубец, rubets, i.e., the seam that is left around the coin after casting: silver was added to the cast in two steps. Therefore, the word ruble means "a cast with a seam".
Pound Sterling (Great Britain): The full, official name pound sterling (plural: pounds sterling) is used mainly in formal contexts and also when it is necessary to distinguish the United Kingdom currency from other currencies with the same name. Otherwise the term pound is normally used. Some sources say it dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, when coins called sterlings were minted from silver; 240 of these sterlings weighed one pound, and large payments came to be made in "pounds of sterlings". Other references, including the Oxford English Dictionary, say a sterling was a silver penny used in England by the Normans, and date the term to around 1300.
Yen (Japan): The Japanese pronunciation is "en", the spelling and pronunciation "yen" is standard in English. This is due to a historical Portuguese transliteration which included the letter y based on romanization of an obsolete writing of the word which included the kana ゑ (ye/we).
Dinar (Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Serbia): The name "dinar" is ultimately derived from the Roman Denarius.
[b]Yuan (China): Yuan in Chinese literally means a "round object" or "round coin". During the Qing Dynasty, the yuan was a round, silver coin. The character for yuan has two forms—a less formal, 元, and a more formal, 圓 or 圆. The pronunciation of the two is the same. Interestingly, the Japanese yen was originally also written 圓, which was later simplified to 円.
Peso (Mexico): The peso was initially the name of the eight-real coins issued in Mexico by Spain. These were the so-called Spanish dollars or pieces of eight in wide circulation in the Americas and Asia from the height of the Spanish Empire until the early 19th century. The symbol used for the peso is "$", basically the same as for the US dollar since the dollar derived its logo from the Spanish-Mexican currency.
Shekel (Israel): The word shekel derives from the Hebrew sakal, weight; it denotes the chief monetary unit of the modern state of Israel, as well as a silver coin and unit of weight used in ancient Israel.
I found a website that sort of relates to this; it’s an online game. The home page states:
In this etymology game you'll be presented with 10 randomly selected etymology (word origin) or word definition puzzles to solve; in each case the word or phrase is highlighted in bold, and a number of possible answers will be presented. You need to choose the correct answer to score a point for that question. Beware! The false answers will often also seem quite plausible, and some of the true answers are hard to believe, but we have documentation!
Ananya if you feel this does not relate to your thread you have my sincere apologies.
________________
i believe that harmonies are colours every time i paint it sharpens my harmony. yesterday i tried to paint you, but the colours weren’t beautiful enough. ~Beyonce Knowles.
*~Come play with my children feel the peace and Scatter some joy.~* ~*Blowing out someone else's candle doesn't make your's burn any brighter.*~ *** Satyameva Jayate aamuche bridvaakya aahe. ***
Posts: 5819 | Location: India | Registered: 07-03-01
Dollar (USA): From THALER -- a nickname for the silver coins that were minted from the ore found in Joachimsthal ("Saint Joachim's Valley" in Germany) -- which gained "currency" shortly after the lode's discovery in 1516. Throughout the rest of the Colonial era, the nickname "thaler" (which eventually became "dolar" in Spanish and "dollar" in English) would remain in use as the nickname for any silver coin that represented exactly one piece of eight. This is where the symbol for the dollar "$" came from--it is the number "8" broken up with a slash down the middle. The term also later made its way into the United States in 1803 when President Thomas Jefferson sought to create a national currency to supplant the various state, local and private currencies then in use. At the time the United States had trade deficits with almost every nation with whom it traded, except for Mexico. Due to a sizeable trade surplus with Mexico, the United States government found itself with a sizeable quantity of Spanish Colonial silver "thalers" which it then proceded to use as the basis for the new currency: the U.S. dollar. The dollar sign came from the back of the Spanish Colonial dollar: the pillars on the back (representing the Pillars of Hercules, the land beyond to which the Spanish owed their wealth) with a banner that wove around them in an "S" shape.
Rupee (India): The origin of the word "rupee" is found in the Sanskrit word rūp or rūpyāh, which means "wrought silver," originally "something provided with an image, a coin," from rupah "shape, likeness, image." [1] The Sanskrit word rūpyakam means coin of silver. The word Rupiya was coined by Sher Shah Suri during his brief rule of India between (1540-1545). It was used for the silver coin weighing 178 grains.
Lira: Lira (Pound) is the name of the monetary unit of a number of countries as well as the former currency of Italy, Malta, San Marino and the Vatican City. The term originates from the value of a Troy pound (Latin libra) of high purity silver. The word Libra developed its Lira shape from Italian, a language famed for its loss of initial consonants in two-part clusters (ie. Doctor = dottore).
Franc (France): F. franc, from the legend Francorum rex king of the Franks, on gold coins first struck in the reign of Jean le Bon (1350–64).
Ruble (Russia, Belarussia): According to one version, the word "ruble" is derived from the Russian verb рубить, rubit, i.e., to chop. Historically, "ruble" was a piece of a certain weight chopped off a silver ingot (grivna), hence the name. Another more convincing version is that the name comes from the Russian noun рубец, rubets, i.e., the seam that is left around the coin after casting: silver was added to the cast in two steps. Therefore, the word ruble means "a cast with a seam".
Pound Sterling (Great Britain): The full, official name pound sterling (plural: pounds sterling) is used mainly in formal contexts and also when it is necessary to distinguish the United Kingdom currency from other currencies with the same name. Otherwise the term pound is normally used. Some sources say it dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, when coins called sterlings were minted from silver; 240 of these sterlings weighed one pound, and large payments came to be made in "pounds of sterlings". Other references, including the Oxford English Dictionary, say a sterling was a silver penny used in England by the Normans, and date the term to around 1300.
Yen (Japan): The Japanese pronunciation is "en", the spelling and pronunciation "yen" is standard in English. This is due to a historical Portuguese transliteration which included the letter y based on romanization of an obsolete writing of the word which included the kana ゑ (ye/we).
Dinar (Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Serbia): The name "dinar" is ultimately derived from the Roman Denarius.
Yuan (China): Yuan in Chinese literally means a "round object" or "round coin". During the Qing Dynasty, the yuan was a round, silver coin. The character for yuan has two forms—a less formal, 元, and a more formal, 圓 or 圆. The pronunciation of the two is the same. Interestingly, the Japanese yen was originally also written 圓, which was later simplified to 円.
Peso (Mexico): The peso was initially the name of the eight-real coins issued in Mexico by Spain. These were the so-called Spanish dollars or pieces of eight in wide circulation in the Americas and Asia from the height of the Spanish Empire until the early 19th century. The symbol used for the peso is "$", basically the same as for the US dollar since the dollar derived its logo from the Spanish-Mexican currency.
Shekel (Israel): The word shekel derives from the Hebrew sakal, weight; it denotes the chief monetary unit of the modern state of Israel, as well as a silver coin and unit of weight used in ancient Israel.
*~Come play with my children feel the peace and Scatter some joy.~* ~*Blowing out someone else's candle doesn't make your's burn any brighter.*~ We can't all be stars, but we can all twinkle. We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.
Posts: 5819 | Location: India | Registered: 07-03-01
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