Unexpected #Etymology

Words you wouldn't guess are etymologically linked.

An ongoing, continually updated thread 👇🏻

Medicine and remedy both come from the Latin verb medeor, meaning to heal.

Medicine comes from the Old French medecine, from the Latin medicina meaning medicine.

Remedy comes from the Old French remede, from the Latin remedium.

https://t.co/09BQ4avjOo
Feminism, fawn and fetus both come from the PIE root *dʰeh₁(y)-, meaning to nurse or suckle.

https://t.co/POZwnKbSom
Pine (tree) & Piñata (papier-mâché container) both come from the Latin pinus—meaning pine.

Piñata (Spanish), came from piña meaning pineapple, as the paper-covered box resembles one. Piña comes from the Latin pinea meaning pinecone (derived from pinus).

https://t.co/L8LGcb4NcC
Whiskey and wash both come from the Proto-Indo-Euro root meaning "water; wet."

Whiskey (Irish uisce beatha & Scottish uisge-beatha) literally means "water of life."

Wash cames from the Middle English weschen, meaning "to wash."

https://t.co/GflKmpx8gD

https://t.co/W86lE76jIg
Text and textile both come from the Latin texo, meaning to weave.

Textile: borrowed from Latin textile (“woven”), from texō (“weave”).

Text: Medieval Latin textus (“the Scriptures, text, treatise”), from Latin textus (“style or texture of a work”)

https://t.co/mATf45QsD3
Rat and erode both come from the PIE root *reh₁d-, meaning to scrape, scratch or gnaw.

https://t.co/XQy0Rl37UM

More from Education

It appears to be a combination of some of these factors, along with others not mentioned here. Ibn Khaldun’s analysis appears to be a good foundation to go off. [Thread]


Ibn Khaldun makes an important distinction between what he calls العُمران الحضري and العمران البدوي, which, for convenience’s sake, I’ll translate as urban civilisation and rural/Bedouin lifestyle.

He notes that the rural world is largely nomadic, and, as such, Bedouins build character traits that assist the survivalist lifestyle — e.g. the fact that they have to kill snakes that might pop up at any time during their travels helps them build courage and bravery.

The lack of stability and a proper settlement means they don’t really have the luxury of sitting down to let their minds wonder around. They thus build a preservation mindset, which manifests itself through emphasis on memorisation and transmission.

Inhabitants of urban world, on the other hand, are largely settled and established. This means they face less attacks from snakes, lions or danger of human attack from other tribes. Thus, they don’t build the courage and bravery of the Bedouins.

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