We all know that English words come from somewhere…mostly from other languages. Here are some interesting word origins I came across. Some are named after people, others after foreign words and phrases.
Berserk: Out of control — From the Norse berserkers, meaning wild warriors.
Boycott: Refusal to deal or do business with — Named after Captain Charles Boycott, whose community shunned him.
Braille: Raised writing system used by the blind — Created by Louis Braille, who was blind.
Decimate: Destroy — From the Roman punishment to kill 1 in 10 (dec meaning ten).
Diesel: Type of engine — Named after Rudolf Diesel, the inventor.
Guillotine: Execution device used for decapitating — Named after Dr. Joseph Guillotin, who proposed it.
Hazard: Danger, something unsafe — From the Old French hasard or hasart, referring to a game of chance played with dice. It likely traces back to the Arabic az-zahr (the dice) evolving through the Spanish azar to mean a “chance throw.”
Honeymoon: Early marriage period, vacation taken after a wedding — From belief that honey wine boosted fertility.
Maverick: A non-conforming, independent-minded person. From rancher Samuel Maverick, who neglected to mark his herd. The term came to represent independent, “masterless” animals and later evolved to describe people.
Mesmerize: – Fascinate — From scientist Franz Mesmer’s theory of animal magnetism. His work was a forerunner of hypnotism.
Nicotine: -Chemical in tobacco — Named after Jean Nicot, who introduced tobacco to France.
Panic: – Sudden intense fear — From Pan, the Greek god who startled travelers.
Quarantine: Isolation — From the Venetian quaranta giorni, meaning 40 days of ship isolation during the plague.
Raffle: Random drawing — From French rafler, meaning to snatch everything.
Robot: Automated machine — From the Czech robota, meaning forced labor, first used by Czech playwright Karel Čapek in his 1920 play, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots).
Salary: Pay, whether daily, weekly, or monthly — From salarium, Roman salt money, a stipend given to Roman soldiers to buy salt which was a valuable commodity used for food preservation and antiseptic purposes.
Sandwich: Food with bread or a roll or bun — Named after the Earl of Sandwich, who ate while playing cards.
Shrapnel: Fragments of explosives — Named after General Henry Shrapnel, the shell inventor.
Silhouette: Outline — Named after Étienne de Silhouette, known for cheap portraits.
Tuxedo: Formal suit — Named after Tuxedo Park, New York. Coined around 1886, named after the exclusive Tuxedo Park country club where American socialites adopted the style.
These are wonderful, Arlene – thanks so much!
I had remembered something bear-related about those Norse warriors of yore, and checked out “berserk” in Merriam-Webster for this fun history:
{ Combine a bear with a shirt, and what do you get? A cuddly, honey-loving, ursine pal, perhaps. Combine the words bear and shirt, however, at least in Old Norse, and you get something quite different. Our English word berserk comes from the Old Norse noun berserkr, which is likely a combination of ber- (“bear”) and serkr (“shirt”). According to Norse legend, berserkers were not ones to say “Oh bother” when faced with sticky situations—they were warriors who wore bearskin coverings and worked themselves into such frenzies during combat that they became immune to the effects of steel and fire. Berserk was borrowed into English (first as a noun referring to such a warrior) in the 19th century, when interest in Scandinavian myth and history was high. It was considered a slang term at first, but it has since gained broader use. }
Thanks for that great story, Rosina, and for doing the research!
It’s fascinating how many words we use today are rooted in historical figures or practices. I never knew ‘decimate’ had such a brutal origin tied to Roman punishment!
Neither did I! Thanks for the comment!