Complex Numbers

Can I Have Two Words?

I've said stuff before about etymology. This is more stuff.

Linguistic Siblings: 9 Pairs of Words With Surprisingly Shared Etymologies  

Every linguist is familiar with the feeling of delight mixed with vexation when they notice a linguistic connection that had been right under their nose—like that abysmal is the adjective form of abyss.

Does someone not know that? I suppose not anymore, now that you've read this or the article. Wait'll you find out that "terrific" originally meant "causing terror" and comes from exactly the same place as "terrible."

Because somehow, that's not in today's list.

1. Disaster and Asteroid

Doesn't take much knowledge of Latin to know where "aster" came from: "astra"

I think "asteroid" would be a better word for "hemorrhoid."

These star-crossed words remind us of the enduring human fascination with the heavens and our attempts to comprehend their influence.

It would indeed be a disaster if a large enough asteroid crashed into Earth.

2. Galaxy and Lactose

Yeah, this is a fun one.

As you may have guessed, galaxy comes to us from a Latin word for “the Milky Way.”... French chemist Jean Baptiste André Dumas proposed that name for the natural sugar in milk, using the Latin lac for “milk” plus -ose in analogy to another sugar, glucose.

Now I want a Milky Way bar.

3. Company and Pantry

The Latin root panis, “bread,” links the words company and pantry.

I'll just pause here for a moment while you do your Beavis and Butt-Head impression over "panis."

Ready?

Okay. Far as I can tell, neither of those words is related to panty.

4. Sarcasm and Sarcophagus

I have to admit, I never saw the connection here, unlike with previous pairs.

Meanwhile, a sarcophagus is a “flesh-eater,” so named because the limestone used for these coffins was believed to quickly decompose the deceased’s flesh.

Perhaps ironically, sarcophagi (look, it's a legitimate plural) are most closely associated with Egypt, which, as I understand things anyway, used them to preserve bodies.

Skipping a few. Not because they're not interesting, but because I don't have anything to add.

7. Muscle and Mollusk

You might think the shared m and l link these two words, but it’s actually the diminutive -scus suffix connecting them.

And here we have an example of a connection I might never have made on my own.

And before you ask, yes, as far as I can tell, mussels are so named because of their muscle, and they are mollusks.

BONUS: Silence and Silhouette

This, they included as an example of words that aren't linguistically connected. Apparently, per the article, a silhouette is so named because the French dude it was named after was named Étienne de Silhouette.

It's debatable whether Monsieur de Silhouette actually did silhouettes. He apparently had a reputation for being cheap, and silhouettes are cheaper than portraits. This reminds me of the origin of "guillotine," where Monsieur Guillotine didn't actually invent the device.

But. Names have meanings, too. I can't find many references to the origin of the name "de Silhouette," but that form usually makes reference to a place name. An English equivalent would be, like, "Geralt of Rivia." (Yes, I've been watching The Witcher.)

In this case, however, the only reference I can find (a literal footnote on a Wikipedia page,   so it's not necessarily canon, indicates that the name appears to have a Basque origin, and as Basque is, weirdly, unrelated to other Indo-European languages. Or any other languages, for that matter. So yeah, those words are unrelated. But according to this footnote, the place origin of Silhouette is Zuloeta, which apparently translates to "an abundance of holes."

If true, that's something of a coincidence, as well.

But in case you were wondering, yes, English has at least one word of Basque origin (even if through French), which is fascinating enough by itself.