Origin of words

English is primarily a Germanic language in terms of grammar and basic, over time, it has evolved and absorbed vocabulary from several other languages, including Latin, Ancient Greek, and Old French, to name a few. The English language’s history is complex; various factors such as trade, cultural exchange, conquest, and globalization have shaped its vocabulary. Today, English is the most widely spoken language in the world and continues to evolve and adapt to new technologies and cultural influences. The diversity and richness of the English vocabulary reflect its long and complex history as a global language of communication and cultural exchange.

Words, like facts, are difficult to remember out of context. Remembering is greatly facilitated when you have a body of information with which to associate either a word or a fact. For words, interesting origins or histories will help provide a context. For example, a hippopotamus is a "river horse," from the Greek hippos, meaning "horse," and potamos, meaning "river."

If you were offered a Hobson's choice, would you know what was meant? Thomas Hobson owned a livery stable in seventeenth-century England. He loved his horses, and to prevent any one horse from being overworked, he hired them out in turn, beginning with stall number one. Customers had to take the horses they were given. Thus Hobson's choice means no choice at all.

is the study of the origins of words. The English language is living and growing. Although many of our words have been part of our language for many years, new words are added all the time. Following are various ways our language is influenced.

Derived from Foreign Words - English, in many cases, has been commonly expanded by incorporating foreign words into it. Most of our language has ancient Anglo-Saxon or Latin origins. Other languages have also added to our vocabularies.

Additions through Technology & Products .

Our words often reflect current interests, trends, and innovations. One of the most recent contributors to our language has been computer technology, which has created words such as bytes, monitor, and disk.E-mail.

Another way new words come into our language is through the development of products. Some examples include: Kleenex, Walkman, Scotch tape, Xerox, and Linoleum.

People's Names - sometimes when a person invents or introduces something, that thing becomes associated with the person's name. The person, through time, is forgotten while the name lives on in our language. Examples include:

mesmerize - F.A. Mesmer, an Austrian doctor and hypnotist.

sideburns - an American English alteration of burnsides, Ambrose E. Burnside, a Union general.

Words from Letters.

The initials for the names of things may actually come to replace the names. The initials become the words that represent the thing, concept, or group. The following are examples of words that have developed from initials.

TV - TeleVision

DWI - Driving While Intoxicated

COD - Cash On Delivery

ZIP - Zone Improvement Plan

Word Histories - Some words also have interesting histories. Learning the stories behind the meanings is a good way to learn those words. The following examples will give you an idea of how history can affect language.

footman - It was once thought to bring bad luck if a person stepped on the door threshold when entering a house. Rich people hired a servant to stand at their doors. His job was to guard against a guest's stepping on the threshold. The guard became known as a footman.

hooker - A synonym for prostitute. The term became popular during the Civil War. The women involved were camp followers. General "Fighting Joe" Hooker approved their presence in order to boost the morale of his men.

Where Do Words Come From?

New words have entered (and continue to enter) the English language in many different ways. Here are some of the most common methods.

Borrowed.

The majority of the words used in modern English have been borrowed from other languages. Although most of our vocabulary comes from Latin and Greek (often by way of other European languages), English has borrowed words from more than 300 different languages around the world. Here are just a few examples:futon (from the Japanese word for "bedclothes, bedding")

hamster (Middle High German hamastra)

kangaroo (Aboriginal language of Guugu Yimidhirr, gangurru , referring to a species of kangaroo)

kink (Dutch, "twist in a rope")

moccasin (Native American Indian, Virginia Algonquian, akin to Powhatan mäkäsn and Ojibwa makisin)

molasses (Portuguese melaços, from Late Latin mellceum, from Latin mel, "honey")

muscle (Latin musculus, "mouse")

slogan (alteration of Scots slogorne, "battle cry")

smorgasbord (Swedish, literally "bread and butter table")

whiskey (Old Irish uisce, "water," and bethad, "of life")

Shortened.

Some new words are simply shortened forms of existing words, for instance indie from independent; exam from examination; flu from influenza, and fax from facsimile.

Compounding.

A new word may also be created by combining two or more existing words: fire engine, for example, and babysitter.

Blends

A blend, also called a portmanteau word, is a word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two or more other words. Examples include moped, from mo(tor) + ped(al), and brunch, from br(eakfast) + (l)unch.

Conversion or Functional Shift

New words are often formed by changing an existing word from one part of speech to another. For example, innovations in technology have encouraged the transformation of the nouns network, Google, and microwave into verbs.

Transfer of Proper Nouns

Sometimes the names of people, places, and things become generalized vocabulary words. For instance, the noun maverick was derived from the name of an American cattleman, Samuel Augustus Maverick. The saxophone was named after Sax, the surname of a 19th-century Belgian family that made musical instruments.

Creative coinages.

Now and then, new products or processes inspire the creation of entirely new words. Such neologisms are usually short lived, never even making it into a dictionary. Nevertheless, some have endured, for example quark (coined by novelist James Joyce), galumph (Lewis Carroll), aspirin (originally a trademark), grok (Robert A. Heinlein).

Imitation of Sounds

Words are also created by onomatopoeia, naming things by imitating the sounds that are associated with them: boo, bow-wow, tinkle, click.

If a word's etymology is not the same as its definition, why should we care at all about word histories? Well, for one thing, understanding how words have developed can teach us a great deal about our cultural history. In addition, studying the histories of familiar words can help us deduce the meanings of unfamiliar words, thereby enriching our vocabularies. Finally, word stories are often both entertaining and thought provoking. In short, as any youngster can tell you, words are fun.

Some examples.

In Ancient Rome, a “genius” was a guardian deity or spirit that protected each individual throughout their life. The word stems from the Latin “gigno” meaning to “give birth”, “produce” or “bear” since the guardian spirit was thought to appear as an individual was born. These guardian spirits were said to dictate the mental prowess of an individual. If a person was exceptionally talented and skilled, they were considered to possess a powerful spirit. It is clear how the word evolved to a contemporary understanding of “genius” as a naturally gifted and outstandingly intelligent individual.

The word “robot” was first used in the play “Rossum’s Universal Robots” by Czech writer Karel Čapek in 1920. The word “robot” comes from the Czech word “robota”, which means “forced labor” or “drudgery”. In the play, the term “robot” is used to describe artificially created beings that are designed to perform menial tasks for their human masters.

If an individual or situation is described as “sinister”, they provoke an ominous feeling of evil, harm, and malice. The adjective stems from the Latin word “sinistra” meaning “the left-hand side”. In many cultures, the left was associated with unluckiness, weakness, and even the devil in opposition to the fortunate right. The Romans, for example, would interpret good or bad omens by watching which direction birds would fly in. The birds flying right would predict a good auspice, but those flying left signified bad luck

I love "thagomizer", the spiky part of a stegosaur's tail. It came from a Far Side comic, "named for the late Thag Simmons". And then paleontologists actually started calling it that.

In old English, the word "Eke" meant "also". Therefore, a 2nd name or casual name that you had for someone was known as an "ekename"-->i.e. an "also-name".Since "ekename" began with a vowel, the indefinite article used before it was "an". So, people said, "an ekename". Eventually, the 'n' of "an" became more tacked onto the noun itself and the indefinite article changed to "a".Hence, "a nekename"...and eventually: "a nickname"! :)

The finnish word for "World" is "Maailma", a compund word from "maa" = ground, earth, soil etc. and "ilma" = air, sky. So the world consists of everything that you can see between these two relms. An everyday mundane word that people take for granted without even realising the great logic behind it. So we live in the Groundair.

S.H.I.T

During my research, I could not find definitive proof, but I had read somewhere that this word came by way of the initials stamped on the sacks of manure shipped over from Great Britain to America on ships, at first originally low in the holds at the bottom, but the escaping methane gases would catch fire and blow up the ship. So the sacks would have a warning label stamped on them. Store on deck or high up in the cargo hold. Ship High In Transit. S.H.I.T. (It might not be true, but it should be, it’s a great story.)