A falseetymology is a popularly held but false belief about the origins of specific words, especially where these originate in common sense assumptions rather than serious research. Such etymology etymologies often have the feel of urban legend s, and can be much more colorful than the typical etymologies found in dictionaries, often involving stories of unusual practices in particular subcultures e.g. Oxford students from non noble families being forced to write sine nobilis by their name, soon abbreviated to s.nob. , hence the word Wikt snob snob . Citation needed date March 2011 Many recent examples are based on acronym s or backronym s . Citation needed date March 2011 Source and influence of false etymologies Erroneous etymologies can exist for many reasons. Some are reasonable interpretations of the evidence that happen to be false. For a given word there may often have been many serious attempts by scholars to propose etymologies based on the best information available at the time, and these can be later modified or rejected as linguistic scholarship advances. The results of medieval etymology , for example, were plausible given the insights available at the time, but have mostly Citation needed date August 2009 been rejected by modern linguists. The etymologies of Humanism humanist scholars in the early modern period began to produce more reliable results, but many of their hypotheses ... ever existed . ref http www.quinion.com words qa qa rul1.htm World Wide Words etymology of rule of thumb ... reference pages on supposed etymology of picnic ref buck , ref http www.snopes.com language offense buck.htm Urban Legends reference pages on supposed etymology of buck ref and crowbar ref http www.snopes.com ... mniggard.html Article on the etymology of the word niggardly ref See also Backronym Back formation Chinese translation of crisis Eggcorn Folk etymology Johannes Goropius Becanus Okay Phono semantic matching Pseudoscientific language comparison Slang dictionary Notes reflist Category Etymology ... more details
, see Etymologiae and The Etymologies Tolkien respectively. For help writing an etymology on Wikipedia Template Etymology Distinguish2 Entomology , the scientific study of insects, or Etiology , the study ... The story of a word.jpg thumb 260px right Supposed evolution of the word mother linguistics Etymology ... . Term The word etymology pronounced IPA en t m l d i derives ety ell LSJ e tumologi a polytonic ... index.php?term etymologyetymology Online Etymology Dictionary ref The Greeks Greek poet Pindar ... each Hagiography vita of a saint with a fanciful excursus in the form of an etymology. Methods Etymologists .... For an example of the etymology of an English irregular verb of Germanic origin, see the etymology ... to Sir Thomas Browne , etymology had been a form of witty wordplay, in which the supposed origins ... analysis of linguistics and etymology. The study of Sanskrit etymology has provided Western scholars with the basis of historical linguistics and modern etymology. Four of the most famous Sanskrit ... Sanskrit grammar done by the previously mentioned linguists involved extensive studies on the etymology ... texts of the Classical Greek period to address etymology was the Socratic dialogue Cratylus ... etymologies to flatter his patrons. Plutarch Life of Numa Pompilius spins an etymology for Pontifex ... sacred office, to the priesthood. blockquote Medieval Main Medieval etymology Isidore of Seville compiled ... The Golden Legend Volume 2 full text ref blockquote Modern era See comparative method Etymology in the modern ... European linguistics . The study of etymology in Germanic philology was introduced by Rasmus Christian ... div style column count 3 moz column count 3 webkit column count 3 Back formation Cognate , false cognate Epeolatry Etymological dictionary Etymological fallacy Falseetymology , folk etymology Historical linguistics , proto language Lists of etymologies Malapropism Medieval etymology Neologism Philology ... of English Etymology , repr ed., Diane. ISBN 0 7881 9161 6 Walter William Skeat Skeat, Walter ... more details
wiktionary false falsehood False or falsehood may refer to False logic Lie or falsehood, a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement Falsity or falsehood, in law, deceitfulness by one party that results in damage to another Falsies padding for use in a brassiere to create the appearance of larger breasts FALSE , a programming language false Unix , a Unix command False album False album , an album by Gorefest Matthew Dear or False, American DJ and producer Falsehood film Falsehood film , a 2001 American short film starring Marie Noelle Marquis See also columns list 2 False advertising False alarm False arrest False confession False consciousness False conviction False dilemma False document False ending FalseetymologyFalse flag False friend False gharial False hero False imprisonment False memory False neurotransmitter False pregnancy False prophet False self False start True disambig de False it Falso scn False ... more details
Infobox programming language name FALSE released Start date 1993 developer Wouter van Oortmerssen influenced by Forth programming language Forth influenced Brainfuck website http strlen.com false strlen.com About the programming language other uses False disambiguation FALSE is an esoteric programming ... in 68k 68000 Assembly language assembly . According to Van Oortmerssen, FALSE provided the inspiration for various well known esoteric languages, including brainfuck and Befunge . FALSE is notably more ... contrast to the behemoths Intercal and Malbolge . The difficulty of programming in FALSE comes mostly ... flow statements, and input output operations. FALSE operations are done using a stack data structure ... values 0 representing false 1 representing true , and lambda calculus expressions. These can be used on the stack or stored in Variables variables . Basic operators FALSE supports binary operation ... a code would push 3 onto the stack if a has been assigned 3 . The heavy use of the stack in FALSE ... this to 3, leaving the stack as 4. Control flow FALSE has two control flow statements, if and while ... science String s are not a real data type in FALSE they only exist as string literal s and cannot ... to 1. Input Output Apart from strings, which print themselves, FALSE has a number of operators ... code . Comments cannot be nested. Code examples Sample programs taken from the FALSE Programming Language ... > outfile code 1 , Factorial calculator for numbers 1 through 8 1 1 f ? f fac in FALSE calculate ... the structure of FALSE was derived. Esoteric programming language Stack oriented programming language External links http strlen.com false false.txt The FALSE Programming Language Manual http strlen.com false The FALSE Programming Language Web Page these two links are also mirrored at http wouter.fov120.com false false.txt The FALSE Programming Language Manual http wouter.fov120.com false The FALSE Programming Language Web Page removed from de wiki in March, and again in April 2005 de False Programmiersprache ... more details
this a technical term in linguistics incorrect popular etymologies falseetymology Folk etymology is change ... folk 20etymology&f false Folk Etymology ref ref R.L. Trask , Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics , http books.google.com books?id EHeGzQ8wuLQC&dq oxford linguistics 27&q folk etymology v snippet&q folk 20etymology&f false Folk Etymology ref ref Folk Etymology , p 142, The Concise ... 5&ved 0CDwQ6AEwBA v onepage&q folk 20etymology&f false Folk Etymology Winfred Lehmann , Historical ... Backronym Back formation Chinese translation of crisis Eggcorn Falseetymology Hyperforeignism Johannes ... both true and folk etymologies here mainly examples of popular etymologies 1911 DEFAULTSORT FalseEtymology ... familiar one. ref Oxford English Dictionary Online , folk etymology, usually, the popular perversion ... books?id 85zS w AaP0C&pg PA86&dq 22folk etymology 22&ei iUkzSoyZK4GczQTOntSBCQ isbn 9789027236975 ... and Comparative Linguistics Benjamins, 1989 ISBN 90 272 3557 0, pp 92 93 ref The term folk etymology ... Benjamins, 1989 ISBN 90 272 3557 0, pp 92 93 ref Folk etymology as a productive force The technical term folk etymology , a translation of the German language German Volksetymologie from Ernst F rstemann ... that happen to be false. For a given word there may often have been many serious attempts by scholars ... modified or rejected as linguistic scholarship advances. The results of medieval etymology , for example ... etymology. Believing a word to have a certain origin, people begin to pronounce, spell, or otherwise ... arms which may express a name by one or more elements only significant by virtue of the supposed etymology may reinforce a folk etymology for a noun proper, usually of a place. Citation needed date November 2010 Examples of words modified by folk etymology In linguistic change caused by folk etymology ... the root to obtain its extract. cite book title The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology last Barnhart first ... was a folk etymology from Wiktionary lantern lantern as old lanterns were glazing glazed with strips ... more details
Medieval etymology is the study of the history of words as conducted by scholars in the European Middle Ages . Etymology is the study of the origins of words. Before the beginnings of large scale modern lexicography in the 16th century and the discovery of the comparative method in the 18th, a scientific etymology as modern linguistics understand it was not possible. However, grammarians had always speculated about the origins of words. There are many examples of etymology in the Bible, for example, and in the works of classical writers. In cases where the history of the words was simple, such speculations have sometimes proved correct in the light of modern scholarship, but generally they were based on superficial similarities. Like classical etymology, Medieval Christian etymology drew tenuous connections between superficially similar words, but exegetical etymology was radically new in what it then did with the connections. The purpose of etymology was to elucidate the spiritual background to a concept, drawing out aspects of semantics in a similar manner to the symbolic interpretation of the natural world. An example Hugh of St Victor derived the Latin word mors death from morsus bite a morsu primi hominis qui vetitae arboris pomum mordens mortem incurrit from the bite of the first man, who, biting the apple of the forbidden tree, incurs death . ref PL 177, 134C. ref The etymology was thus crafted to teach a spiritual truth. The fact that the same author knew other, alternative ... history of Christian etymology, but a very useful discussion of it is that of Friedrich Ohly ... Press 2005. ref Ohly writes It would be foolish to deride such an etymology as unscientific if it helped ... the task of etymology at that time to illuminate the spiritual meaning of the word. Our modern etymology would have appeared questionable to the Middle Ages, because it is bogged down ... div See also Etymologiae Cratylus dialogue Cratylus Category History of linguistics Category Etymology ... more details
&pg PA39&dq pittsburgh pittsburro&ei Htp S6TdE4vAywS69OWZCw&cd 1 v onepage&q &f false accessdate ... Placename etymologies Pittsburgh, Etymology of Category Names of places in the United States Pittsburgh ... more details
The Etymology of Assam is an issue that often comes up for debate in the India n state of Assam . In the latest instance, the Government of Assam under the Indian National Congress has sought to change the name of the state from Assam to Asom . This move has been opposed by a wide range of people, triggering once again a public debate. The academic consensus is that the name is associated with the Ahom kingdom called Kingdom of Assam in medieval times , established by the Shan people Shan prince Sukaphaa in the 13th and which existed till 19th century for nearly 600 years. According to historian Satyendra Nath Sarma, ref Sarma, Satyendra Nath 1976 Assamese Literature , Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden. ref blockquote While the Shan invaders called themselves Tai, they came to be referred to as s m , sam and sometimes as Acam by the indigenous people of the country. The modern Assamese word hom by which the Tai people are known is derived from s m or sam . The epithet applied to the Shan conquerors was subsequently transferred to the country over which they ruled and thus the name K mar pa was replaced by s m, which ultimately took the Sanskritized form Asama , meaning unequalled, peerless or uneven ref Banikanta Kakati Assamese Its Formation and Development , p2 ref blockquote Though there exists an academic consensus on the association of Assam with the Ahom kingdom , the exact etymology is not clear. Look Etymology of Assam Theories on etymology below for some theories. Evidence of names Pragjyotisha The land referred as Progjyotisha in the Mahabharata is now accepted to be present day Assam. In the Bhismaparvan , the Pragjyotisha king Bhagadatta is said to have joined the Kurukshetra ... . Theories on etymology Though there exists a consensus on the fact that the name Assam is associated with the Ahom kingdom, the exact etymology of Assam is not clear and there are a number of theories .... Dec., 1983 , pp. 3 34. ref Notes reflist Category Assam Category Placename etymologies Assam, Etymology ... more details
Image Fr s stenen.jpg thumb Fr s Runestone The etymology of J mtland entails the origin, history, and use of the name J mtland which dates back to 11th century Scandinavia . The name is first found on the northernmost runestone in Europe, the Fr s Runestone , as eotalont in normalized Old Norse Jamtaland . The prefix Jamta is a genitive plural case of Jamts, a Germanic tribe . The Root linguistics root of Jamt Old West Norse jamti , and thus J mtland, derives from the Proto Germanic word stem emat meaning persistent, efficient, enduring and hardworking ref name etymology cite book last Hellquist first Elof title Svensk etymologisk ordbok year 1922 publisher Gleerups f rlag location Stockholm pages 285 ref . So J mtland basically mean Jamts land or land of hardworking people . A folk explanation is that the name ought to have something to do with the even parts around the lake Storsj n . This theory is based on the similarity between the Swedish words j mt from emat and j mnt from Germanic ebna , even ref name etymology The form Audio sv J mtland.ogg J mtland is Swedish, which previously pre 20th century was spelled Jemtland , as it still is in e.g. Danish whilst the local name of the province is Jamtland IPA xx jamt lan . There have been several Latinisation literature Latinized forms of the name, such as Jemtia, Iempihia and Iemthalandia . Origin How and when the Jamts got their name is unknown, though one possible explanation is presented in the Iceland ic work Heimskringla from the 13th century. Quote Ketill jamti, son nundar Jarl title jarls or Sparab i, f r austr um Scandinavian Mountains Kj l , ok mikill mannfj ldi me honum, ok h f u b ferli sitt me s r. eir ruddu markir ok byg u ar st r heru at var s an kallat Jamtaland. Translation ref Hollander, Lee M. transl. 1964 Heimskringla or Chronicle of the Kings of Norway . University of Texas Press, 105. ref ... etymologies J mtland, Etymology of ... more details
. ref The Online Etymology Dictionary states a possible connection to Gothic wikt weihs weihs holy ... ZfDA 53, 1912 . Walter William Skeat ref Principles of English Etymology 2 series, 1887 and 1891 ref ... it a corruption of an earlier witga . No Old English spelling with t is known, and this etymology is not accepted ... Old Norse v ir . The wicker word is in fact from the weik root employed for hop, dance etymology ... Wicca Reflist Witchcraft Use dmy dates date September 2010 DEFAULTSORT Witch Etymology Category Witchcraft Etymology Category Etymologies ... more details
The etymology of the name of the city of London has been the subject of speculation for centuries, though no generally accepted explanation has been found. While there have been many theories advanced over the centuries, most can be dismissed as fanciful on historical linguistics linguistic or historical grounds. A few have been recognized as having some measure of academic plausibility, but none has any direct evidence. The city of London was founded by the Romans in the 1st century CE though some earlier settlements are known to have existed. The roots Londin and Lundin are the most prevalent in names used from Roman times onward. The 12th century account Historia Regum Britanniae asserts that the city s name is derived from the name of Lud son of Heli King Lud who once controlled the city. A variety of other theories have been proposed since. Attested forms Richard Coates , in the 1998 article ref name coates cite journal last Coates first Richard year 1998 title A new explanation of the name of London journal Transactions of the Philological Society volume 96 issue 2 pages 203 229 url http www.blackwell synergy.com doi pdf 10.1111 1467 968X.00027 doi 10.1111 1467 968X.00027 ref where he published his own theory of the etymology, lists all the known occurrences of the name up to around the year 900, in Greek language Greek , Latin language Latin , British language Celtic British and Anglo Saxon language Anglo Saxon . Most of the older sources begin Londin , Londino ... Conjecture on the Etymology of London url http books.google.com ?id xj8lAAAAMAAJ&pg PA453&lpg PA453 ... title Etymology of London year 1821 pages 42 43 url http books.google.com ?id tnEEAAAAQAAJ&pg PA42 ... PA60&dq 22etymology of London 22 publisher K. Baedeker ref asserts that The etymology of London is the same ..., and that D Arbois suggested etymology for it from Celtic londo , fierce would have a short ... by Metathesis linguistics metathesis to L nodinjon . References Reflist 2 DEFAULTSORT Etymology ... more details
Karnataka is an India n state. Several etymology etymologies have been suggested for the name Karnataka. One derivative is from Sanskrit where Karna means ear, and atati means wander, together giving a meaning for Karnata as where ones ears would want to wander, since this is the birth place of the popular Carnatic music. The region was popularly referred to as Karnata desha in Indian history. However, historically, the names Karnatak or Carnatic have been misapplied to refer to the regions in or beyond the Western Ghats Kodagu and Kerala as well as to a region in present day Andhra Pradesh Telangana . ref http dsal.uchicago.edu reference gazetteer pager.html?objectid DS405.1.I34 V09 308.gif Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 9, page 302 Imperial Gazetteer of India Digital South Asia Library Bot generated title ref The other accepted derivative comes from the Kannada words karu and n du meaning elevated land , or from the Kannada words kal and n du meaning rock country , referring to the rocky terrain of the state. During the British Raj , the words Carnatic or Karnatak were used to describe this part of the region in general. Another etymological derivative of the name comes from lear or black &mdash a reference to the black soil black cotton soil of the region. ref http 19.1911encyclopedia.org C CA CARNATIC.htm Carnatic LoveToKnow 1911 Bot generated title ref Mysore state was renamed Karnataka in 1973. References from Hindu texts KarnatakaHistory The earliest known references to Karnataka are found in the Sabha Parva and the Bhishma Parva of Mahabharata , an History of India ancient Indian Epic poetry epic . ref cite news url http www.hindu.com 2006 10 31 stories 2006103108870500.htm title Article from The Hindu national newspaper of India accessdate 2007 03 10 location ... article on History of Karnataka Karnataka topics DEFAULTSORT Etymology Of Karnataka Category History of Karnataka Category Placename etymologies Karnataka, Etymology of ... more details
at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem suggest an alternative etymology for cannabis Greek cannabis .... Material uses and the various names by which materials are called also help to confirm etymology ... , etc. in reference to the spice. See also Marijuana etymology References wiktionary cannabis reflist ... Cannabis Etymology Category Etymologies Category Cannabis Etymology sr ... more details
coauthors Ian Crofton title Brewer s Britain & Ireland The History, Culture, Folklore and Etymology ... Name of DEFAULTSORT Etymology Of Scotland Category Country name etymology Scotland Category Scotland ... more details
This article describes several theories on Etymology of Kolkata , erstwhile Calcutta the capital of the eastern India n state of West Bengal . The rent roll of Akbar , a sixteenth century Mughal Empire Mughal emperor, and the work of a Bengali poet, Bipradaas , of the late fifteenth century, both make mention of the city s early name being Kolikata , from which Kolkata Calcutta are said to derive. ref http www.britannica.com eb article 9821 Calcutta Britannica entry ref There is lot of discussion on how the city got its name. There are different views on the issue. The more popular one is that the city got its name from the Hindu goddess Kali and the original name was Kalikshetra , meaning the place of Kali . Other theories abound like The name derived from the location of the original settlement beside a khal which means canal in Bengali language Bengali According to another theory, the place was known for the manufacture of shell lime.And the name derived from lime kali and burnt shell kata . the name may have been derived from the Bengali term kilkila flat area . ref name calcuttawebhistory cite web url http www.calcuttaweb.com history.shtml title Kolkata Calcutta History publisher Calcuttaweb.com language accessdate 2006 06 01 ref An interesting anecdote exists on the nomenclature of Calcutta. According to it, a United Kingdom British merchant was traveling through the village, when he came upon a peasant stacking hay into the barn . Not knowing where he was, the merchant asked the peasant about that place. The peasant, unfortunately did not understand English language English , and he guessed that the Sahib must be inquiring about the date the crop was harvested. In his own language, he replied Kal Kata which in Bengali language means harvested yesterday Kal Yesterday, Kata cut, which here means harvested . The merchant was happy in the knowledge that he had learned ... . Notes reflist Category Kolkata Category Placename etymologies Kolkata, Etymology of ... more details
In the history of science , the etymology of the word chemistry is a debatable issue. ref cite book contribution url http xtf.lib.virginia.edu xtf view?docId DicHist uvaBook tei DicHist1.xml chunk.id dv1 04 contribution Alchemy title Dictionary of the History of Ideas year 1973 last Debus first Allen G author link Allen G. Debus editor last Wiener editor first Philip P isbn 0684132931 ref Nonspecific date November 2010 It is agreed that the word derives from the word alchemy , which is a European one, derived from Arabic, but the origin of the root word, chem , is uncertain. ref Encyclopedia Britannica , 2002 Edition, CD ROM ref Words similar to it have been found in most ancient languages, with different meanings, but conceivably somehow related to alchemy. In fact, the Persians, Greeks, Chinese, and Indians usually referred to what Westerners call alchemy as The Art, or by terms denoting change or transmutation. The majority agree that chem has an Egyptian language Egyptian origin, based on the ancient Egyptian word k me chem , which stands for black. ref Tweed, Matt 2003 . Essential Elements Atoms, Quarks, and the Periodic Table. New York Walker & Company. ISBN 0802714080 ref ref name Greenberg Chemical History Tour, Picturing Chemistry from Alchemy to Modern Molecular Science Adele Droblas Greenberg Wiley Interscience 2000 ISBN 0471354082 ref Most agree that alchemy was born in ancient Egypt, where the word Khem was used in reference to the fertility of the flood plains around the Nile. ref http www.chemsoc.org ExemplarChem entries 2002 crabb history.html A Brief History of Alchemy UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL SCHOOL OF CHEMISTRY ref Some, however, maintain that the word chemistry ... black Egypt was the Black Land , by contrast with the Red Land , the surrounding desert so this etymology ... Mahn Mahn , this theory may be an example of folk etymology . ref name OED Assuming an Egyptian ... www.alchemywebsite.com timelin2.html History of Alchemy Timeline DEFAULTSORT Chemistry Etymology Category ... more details
wiktionary Edinburgh The etymology of Edinburgh traces the origin of the city s name. Some believe that the name comes from the Brythonic languages Brythonic language . Some who date November 2010 propose that the name was Din Eidyn Fort of Eidyn from the time when it was a Gododdin hillfort ref name gododdin Gardens of the Gododdin Craig Cessford Garden History, Vol. 22, No. 1 Summer, 1994 , pp. 114 115 doi 10.2307 1587005 ref although many who date November 2010 believe that the name comes from the Bernicia n Angles , Edwinesburh or Edin burh , which derives from the Anglo Saxon for Edwin s fort , possibly derived from the 7th century king Edwin of Northumbria , and that the name Din Eidyn in British writings is an anachronism. ref name campellone Campbell, Edinburgh A Cultural and Literary History , 5. ref ref Blackie, Geographical Etymology A Dictionary of Place names Giving Their Derivations , 68. ref ref Davies, Europe A History , 87. ref ref Swanton, The Anglo Saxon Chronicle , 126. ref ref Jordan Bychkov, The European Cultural Area , 243. ref ref name Lost Edinburgh p3 Coghill, Hamish Lost Edinburgh p.3. ref The term Din Eidyn first appears in the Y Gododdin , a poem that depicts events relating to the Battle of Catraeth which is thought to have been fought circa AD 600. The oldest manuscript of the Y Gododdin forms part of The Book of Aneirin which dates from circa 1265 ref http www.maryjones.us ctexts aindex.html ref but which possibly is a copy of a lost 9th century original. Some scholars consider that the poem was composed soon after the battle and was preserved in oral tradition while others believe it originated in Wales at some time in the 9th to 11th centuries. ref Evans 1982, p. 17. ref The first evidence of the existence of the town as a separate entity from the fort lies in an early 12th century royal charter , generally thought to date from 1124, by David ... DEFAULTSORT Etymology Of Edinburgh Category History of Edinburgh Category Scottish toponymy Category ... more details
be a case of folk etymology . ref For discussions of phonological development see Borgstr m 1941 ... date 1 May 2007 accessdate 2007 09 29 ref References references DEFAULTSORT Etymology Of Skye ... more details
the German etymology after the fact to avoid anti Semitic prejudice against Esperanto. That would mean ... language Etymology eo Esperanta etimologio fr tymologie de l esp ranto ... more details
to the conventional etymology , the name Kafir derives from Arabic Kafir , commonly translated into English ... Category Placename etymologies Kapisa, Etymology of ... more details
Encyclopedia
top
