The origin of a word means the language from which it originally came from.
Currently, there are many words in English that have said to be originated
from other languages. A few of them have changed over the years, while the
others have pretty much stayed the same.
Whenever you learn a word, it’s always interesting to learn its origin too.
On an average, a person is said to speak about 16,000 words per day. But
how often do you stop and think about the words that you are saying or
where do they come from? Not very often right?
We are definitely missing out the interesting and weird origin of some words.
The story behind many such English words are funny, fascinating, and
strange too. Let’s see a few of them here:
1. Tragedy
This word 'tragedy' has been derived from a Greek word called ‘tragodia',
the translation of which defines to 'goat song'.
In order to explain this very strange origin of this word, many theories have
been offered. One of the theory would be, because goats would often be
sacrificed to be Gods at the end of Athenian play competitions, and hence,
the sound of their cries have become associated with Greek tragedies.
2. Clue
The modern version of this word, is derived from its Middle East ancestor.
‘Clue’, spelled as 'Clew', an old variation, is referred to as 'ball of thread or yarn'.
The word 'clue' defined as 'guide to the solution of a mystery', grew out of a
myth that, the ball of thread has helped in finding one’s way out of a maze.
The best myth among all would be the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.
Here, the Theseus unravels a ball of thread while he searches for the
monstrous Minotaur in the labyrinth. After he killed the Minotaur, Theseus retraces his steps out of the maze by rewinding the thread!
3. Quarantine
This particular word 'Quarantine' (which currently most of us are in), refers to
a period or place of isolation in order to prevent the spread of any disease.
This word takes its origin from the Italian words 'quaranta Giorno' meaning
'forty days'.
This is because, back in 14th century, that was the period for which the ships
coming to Venice from plague-infected ports were actually required to sit for,
before the passengers were actually allowed to come ashore.
This was a precautionary measure taken in order to give them enough time
to see if symptoms develop.
4. Mortgage
The word 'mort' meant 'death' and 'gage' meant 'pledge', in Old French.
Hence, whenever you are taking out a mortgage on your house, you are
actually technically making a 'death pledge'. Sounds weird right!
5. Malaria
The word for this disease took its origin from Italian words, namely, 'mal'
meaning 'bad', and 'aria' meaning 'air'.
Back in the 1700s, the Romans had thought that breathing in the air
surrounding the marshland around the city cause malaria. But in reality, it’s
transmitted by mosquitoes that breed in swampy areas.
6. Nightmare
Have you ever had a bad dream? Ever wondered why it’s called a
'Nightmare' ? Well, we are going to tell you that.
The word 'Nightmare’ took its origin from Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse word
'mara' meaning 'demon' or 'evil spirit'. This word has a real surprising past.
In German folklore, it is said that the demon would sit on people’s chests
when they slept, suffocating and causing them to have bad dreams.
7. Ketchup
What is burger and French fries without a ketchup? Ketchup has always been
America's favorite condiment, even today. But surprisingly, the origin of the
word took place far away from the United States!
Various theories regarding the origin of the word has been put up. But,
probably, it had originated from the Amoy dialect of Chinese word 'ke-tsiap'
which means 'brine of pickled fish'. Later, it made its way all the way to
Malaysia, hence taking the form of word 'kicap' to denote 'fish sauce'.
Later, the British and Dutch merchants had brought it back to their countries and called it 'ketchup' or 'catsup' , and over the time, the recipe changed, hence dropping the fish and adding sugar instead for preservation purposes.
Looks like just like the product, the origin of the word had been in demand too!
8. Sinister
The origin of this word is a fairy tame. The word 'Sinister' is a Latin word,
which means 'of the left'. This is because, in ancient Rome, as most of the
people were right-handed, the left-handed people were considered as
untrustworthy or unlucky.
Later on, as time went on, this word came to be known as 'evil'. If you or
your friend is a leftie, no offense!
9. Whiskey
To all the one’s who go for weekend parties, do you know where does the
origin of the word 'Whiskey' come from? It’s definitely not because it’s so
strong that it caused you to grow whiskers!
The word 'Whiskey’ originated from the Gaelic phrase 'uisge beatha', which
basically means 'water of life'. Many might find the meaning of this phrase
true as for many people out there, whiskey has been their life-sustaining
beverage.
10. Avocado
This is definitely weird and strange as the origin of this particular popular
product has been related to the male sex organs!
The word 'avocado' is basically said to be a modification of the Spanish word 'arguacate', which was in turn derived from the Nahuati word 'ahuacatl', which basically means 'testicle'. Please note the shape of an avocado and also its reputation for being an aphrodisiac.
Written by – Sandhya R
Edited by – Adrija Saha
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