Interesting Words (moved from Games)
- Thread starter Pacifica
- Start date
Reminds me of my first post in "Things That Dawned on You belatedly".
Things That Dawned on You Belatedly | Latin D (latindiscussion.org)
Things That Dawned on You Belatedly | Latin D (latindiscussion.org)
You'd think the word "quintal" was derived from quintus, but nope. It actually came from centenarius, through a circuitous route:
quintal - Wiktionary
quintal - Wiktionary
The German for "dessert" is "Nachtisch", composed of "nach", meaning "after", and "Tisch", meaning "table" or "meal". That's one of those typically apt Germanic compounds that mean exactly what they mean. "Tisch" is ultimately derived from Greek δίσκος (through Lat. discus, whence also English "disc" and "dish").
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English "desk", too, has the same ultimate origin: desk - Wiktionary
Word Genius' word today was autoschediastic, meaning "Impromptu, improvised, ex tempore or offhand." I had wondered if it was related to homoscedastic/heteroscedastic, meaning"having the same/different variances." I'm thinking they're not related.
ORIGIN OF AUTOSCHEDIASM
First recorded in 1835–45; from Greek autoschedíasma, derivative, with -(s)ma noun suffix, of autoschediázein “to extemporize,” verbal derivative of autoschédios “hand-to-hand, offhand, improvised,” equivalent to auto- auto-1 + schédios “near, casual, offhand,” derivative of schedón (adverb) “near, close by,” akin to échein “to hold, possess”
WORD ORIGIN FOR HETEROSCEDASTIC
C20: from hetero- + scedastic, from Greek skedasis a scattering, dispersal
ORIGIN OF AUTOSCHEDIASM
First recorded in 1835–45; from Greek autoschedíasma, derivative, with -(s)ma noun suffix, of autoschediázein “to extemporize,” verbal derivative of autoschédios “hand-to-hand, offhand, improvised,” equivalent to auto- auto-1 + schédios “near, casual, offhand,” derivative of schedón (adverb) “near, close by,” akin to échein “to hold, possess”
WORD ORIGIN FOR HETEROSCEDASTIC
C20: from hetero- + scedastic, from Greek skedasis a scattering, dispersal
Danish, Swedish and Norwegian have a word for "spring" that's cognate with Latin ver.
vår - Wiktionary
vår - Wiktionary
This word, or words, always made me think of bourricot, which I guess made it sound even more pejorative than it already is.
Funny... It looks like the two subject matters that I hated the most at school are called by the same word in Arabic:
رياضة - Wiktionary
رياضة - Wiktionary
Arabic words for "money/cash" (نقد—naqd) and related things and actions (like نقد—naqada—to pay in cash) are based on a root "related to things being shed".
