WOW! I was familiar with تكبير (and I like it) but not with that one!
Interesting Words (moved from Games)
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puis - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
en.wiktionary.org
The etymology.
I've always liked Portuguese "pois". It's used a lot, notably in "pois é", that depending on the context can be a bit equivalent to English "uh uh" (I can't remember the name of this kind of words that are used to let the person you're speaking with know that you're listening. They're phatic words, but I think there's a more precise term)
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, αἰγίλιψ
www.perseus.tufts.edu
métèque - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
en.wiktionary.org
The etymology.
I just found out about the etymology of Latin ’nihil’, from *ne-hilum, hilum being defined in my textbook as the trace on a bean of the stem that secures it to its pod.
It reminded me of Arabic فتيل which is the minute line in the groove of a date pit and is used in the Qur’an (and in later Arabic, in various phrases) to denote something negligible or insignificant.
قُلْ مَتَاعُ الدُّنْيَا قَلِيلٌ وَالْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لِّمَنِ اتَّقَىٰ وَلَا تُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلًا _ 4:77
Say, The enjoyment of this world is little, and the Hereafter is better for he who fears Allah. And injustice will not be done to you, [even] as much as a thread [inside a date seed] _ 4:77
Similarly when something ’لا يجدي فتيلا’ it means it is of no use or no interest at all.
I thought the botanical references were interesting.
It reminded me of Arabic فتيل which is the minute line in the groove of a date pit and is used in the Qur’an (and in later Arabic, in various phrases) to denote something negligible or insignificant.
قُلْ مَتَاعُ الدُّنْيَا قَلِيلٌ وَالْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لِّمَنِ اتَّقَىٰ وَلَا تُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلًا _ 4:77
Say, The enjoyment of this world is little, and the Hereafter is better for he who fears Allah. And injustice will not be done to you, [even] as much as a thread [inside a date seed] _ 4:77
Similarly when something ’لا يجدي فتيلا’ it means it is of no use or no interest at all.
I thought the botanical references were interesting.
As you may know, I tend to like Arabic factitive verbs. Here's a particularly awesome one: سوّف, (sawwafa), "to put off, postpone, delay, procrastinate". It's based on the particle سوّف (sawfa), which is put in front of a verb to form the future tense. Isn't this utterly amazing?
en.wiktionary.org
سوف - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
en.wiktionary.org
أطلق - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
en.wiktionary.org
The second usage mentioned in definition 2 is interesting! Literally "to launch a word at".
The Wiki entry is a bit confusing though, it actually means 'to give the name X to Y'. For example أُطلِقَ على هذا المركب اسم الحمض النووي= this compound has been named 'nucleic acid'.أطلق - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
The second usage mentioned in definition 2 is interesting! Literally "to launch a word at".
Never forget that English has gems too. This one is new to me:
قاموس - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
en.wiktionary.org
شوية - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
en.wiktionary.org
From the diminutive form of Arabic شَيْء (šayʾ) ---> i.e. it's a diminutive of the word for "thing".
Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words
The world's leading online dictionary: English definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more. A trusted authority for 25+ years!
www.lexico.com
The etymology of "pay" is interesting:
"Middle English (in the sense ‘pacify’): from Old French paie (noun), payer (verb), from Latin pacare ‘appease’, from pax, pac- ‘peace’. The notion of ‘payment’ arose from the sense of ‘pacifying’ a creditor."
"Middle English (in the sense ‘pacify’): from Old French paie (noun), payer (verb), from Latin pacare ‘appease’, from pax, pac- ‘peace’. The notion of ‘payment’ arose from the sense of ‘pacifying’ a creditor."
See verb 1 and verb 3, especially definition 6 of the latter.
en.wiktionary.org
That's yet another great Arabic causative verb for me. I just love those.
لحن - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
en.wiktionary.org
That's yet another great Arabic causative verb for me. I just love those.
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Not a verb you'd need to use that frequently I guess, but it's nice to have it at your disposal lol
You would be surprised
this notion comes up a lot in Islamic history. The spread of Islam to Persia and other non Arabic-speaking peoples led to increasingly embarrassing mispronunciations of the Holy Qur'an, to the point of altering the meaning of some verses, which is what triggered its second compilation, according to the traditional account. The accusation of تلحين against 'Persians' (the equivalent of Barbarians to the Romans) is pretty common in texts describing these events.
Fascinating, I didn't think of the possible religious ramifications but it makes sense. Still funny thoughYou would be surprised
The way the word "caption" evolved from "capture" to its current meaning in interesting:
"Late Middle English (in the sense ‘seizing, capture’): from Latin captio(n-), from capere ‘take, seize’. Early senses ‘arrest’ and ‘warrant for arrest’ gave rise to ‘statement of where, when, and by whose authority a warrant was issued’ (late 17th century): this was usually appended to a legal document, hence the sense ‘heading or accompanying wording’ (late 18th century)."
www.lexico.com
"Late Middle English (in the sense ‘seizing, capture’): from Latin captio(n-), from capere ‘take, seize’. Early senses ‘arrest’ and ‘warrant for arrest’ gave rise to ‘statement of where, when, and by whose authority a warrant was issued’ (late 17th century): this was usually appended to a legal document, hence the sense ‘heading or accompanying wording’ (late 18th century)."
Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words
The world's leading online dictionary: English definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more. A trusted authority for 25+ years!
www.lexico.com