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Etymology Lessons - May 4th, 2001 - 5.1 - Interesting Word Etymologies - 3 |
Coffee and Croissant
According to legend, coffee beans were first discovered in the town of Kaffa, Ethiopia. As the advancing Arabs had cut off access to Ethiopia (known then as Abyssinia) by the Eighth Century A.D., it first made its way into Arabic as qahwah. By the thirteenth century, the Kaffa beans were brought into southern Mediterranean Europe as cafe. It would take a failed seige of Vienna in the latter half of the Seventeenth Century by the advancing Ottoman Turks to introduce the term and the beverage into German-speaking Europe as Kaffee. Apparently, the Turks had retreated in such haste (according to Austrians--Turks, of course, describe it as a calculated withdrawal) that they left behind, among other things, sacks and sacks of coffee beans; as a result, the Austrians were introduced to coffee and, incidentally, celebrated the event by enjoying a certain puffed pastry created especially for the occasion: the "croissant" or "crescent" (to symbolize victory over the Turks whose flags bore a crescent moon)(The term croissant was used instead of the literal German translation Halbmond or the German culinary term currently in use, Hoernchen, because at the time French was the language en vogue within aristocratic circles due to the prominence of the French King Louis XIV.).[1590–1600; < It caffè < Turk kahve < Ar qahwah]CROISSANT[1895–1900; < F: lit., CRESCENT]
Cravat Eng., Cravate Fr., Krawatte Ger., Corbata Sp.
The term "Krawatte" (German), "cravate" (French) and "corbata" (Spanish), which all mean a man's "tie", first originated in the Napoleonic Wars when French troops were entering the territory of Crotia, which, at that time, was part of the Holy Roman Empire. Apparently the Croatians were so estatic to be rid of the German Habsburg yoke that they showered the triumphant French troops with flowers and ran up to them and tucked squares of red cloth in the collars of their uniforms as a gesture of goodwill. From them on the term "Croat" or a variation thereof seems to have stuck in may parts of Continental Europe.
[1650–60; < F cravate neckcloth, lit., Croat (< G Krabate < Serbo-Croatian hmv!t); so called because worn by Croatian mercenaries in the French army]
Deutsch (German for German)
"Deutsch" has its origin in the Old High German word "diutisc" meaning "the language of the people" (as opposed to Latin). There are also uncertain alernatives origins of "German" as Cletic "The Noisy Men" or Old High German "The Greedy Men"!
Elite
From the Latin elire, meaning "to choose," from which we also get the modern Spanish word meaning the same, elegir.
[1350–1400; ME elit a person elected to office < MF e(s)lit ptp. of e(s)lire to choose; see ELECT]
Escape
In Latin, escape means "out of cape." The ancient Romans would often avoid capture by throwing off their capes when fleeing.
[1250–1300; ME escapen, ascapen < ONF escaper (F échapper) < VL *excapp!re, v. deriv. (with ex- EX-1) of LL cappa hooded cloak (see CAP1)
]Essay
The English noun essay comes from the French verb "essayer," to try. Early intellectuals believed their papers to be only a modest attempt to put their I deas on paper.
[1475–85; < MF essayer, c. AF assayer to ASSAY < LL exagium a weighing, equiv. to *exag(ere), for L exigere to examine, test, lit., to drive out (see EXACT) + -ium -IUM
]Forest
From the French meaning the same, Forest originally comes from the Latin foris, which means "outside," and captured the idea of a place forbidden or protected by a barrier. The concept would later signify the legal barriers around the territories reserved for royal hunts (and the felling of trees). Incidentally, the English word foreign is of the same derivation, denoting the stranger outside the royal territory, on the other side of the frontiers.
[1250–1300; ME < OF < LL forestis (silva) an unenclosed wood (as opposed to a park), deriv. of L for#s outside. Cf. FOREIGN]
Gorilla
New Latin from Greek Gorillai, for a tribe of hairy women, perhaps of African origin.
[1790–1800; < NL < Gk Gor#ll!s (acc. pl.) name for a race of hairy women in Hanno's account of his voyage along the coast of Africa (5th century B.C.)]
Hazard
This term came from the Arabic "al zahr," which means "the dice" and was used by Western Europeans to call each of the various games played with dice that they learned while in the Holy Land during the Crusades. The term eventually took on the connotation of danger because, from very early on, dice games were associated with gambling and with con artists using corrupted dice.
[1250–1300; ME hasard < OF, perh. < Ar al-zahr the die]
Heresy
Greek for "Choice."
Notes
We are half the way through the section Interesting Word Etymologies. An e-book awaits you at the end!
Bibliography
Gathered and Partly Re-Edited by Çetin SertUsed Here With Permisson