When we speak a language, we rarely think about how the words we use came to be and how their meanings may have changed over time. Etymology is the name given to the science of the history of vocabulary and the origin of words.
New words appear literally every day. Some do not linger in the language, while others remain. Words, like people, have their own history, their own destiny. They may have relatives, a rich pedigree, and, on the contrary, be orphans. A word can tell us about its nationality, its parents, its origin.
Railway station
The word comes from the name of the place "Vauxhall" - a small park and entertainment center near London. The Russian Tsar, who visited this place, fell in love with it - especially the railway. Subsequently, he commissioned British engineers to build a small railway from St. Petersburg to his country residence. One of the stations on this section of the railway was called "Vokzal", and this name later became the Russian word for any railway station.
Hooligan
The word bully is of English origin. It is believed that the surname Houlihan was once borne by a famous London brawler who caused a lot of trouble for city residents and the police. The surname has become a common noun, and the word is international, characterizing a person who grossly violates public order.
Shit
The word “shit” comes from the Proto-Slavic “govno”, which means “cow” and was originally associated only with cow “patties”. “Beef” means “cattle”, hence “beef”, “beef”. By the way, from the same Indo-European root is the English name for a cow - cow, as well as for the shepherd of these cows - cowboy. That is, the expression “fucking cowboy” is not accidental, it contains a deep family connection.
Orange
Until the 16th century, Europeans had no idea about oranges at all. Russians - even more so. Oranges don't grow here! And then Portuguese sailors brought these tasty orange balls from eastern countries. And they began to trade them with their neighbors. They, of course, asked: “Where do the apples come from?” - because we haven’t heard of oranges, but the shape of this fruit is similar to an apple. The traders answered honestly: “The apples are from China, Chinese!” The Dutch word for apple is appel and the Chinese word is sien.
Doctor
In the old days they treated with incantations, spells, and various whisperings. An ancient doctor or healer would say something like this to the patient: “Go away, disease, into the quicksand, into the dense forests...” And muttered various words over the sick person. Do you know what muttering or chatter was called until the beginning of the 19th century? Muttering and chatter were then called lies. To mumble meant “to lie.” He who trumpets is a trumpeter, who weaves is a weaver, and who lies is a doctor.
Scammer
In Rus', swindlers were not called deceivers or thieves. This was the name of the craftsmen who made the purse, i.e. wallets.
Restaurant
The word "restaurant" means "strengthening" in French. This name was given to one of the Parisian taverns by its visitors in the 18th century after the owner of the establishment, Boulanger, introduced nutritious meat broth into the number of dishes offered.
Heaven
One version is that the Russian word "heaven" comes from "ne, no" and "besa, demons" - literally a place free of evil/demons. However, another interpretation is probably closer to the truth. Most Slavic languages have words similar to "sky", and they most likely originate from the Latin word for "cloud" (nebula).
Slates
In the Soviet Union, a famous manufacturer of rubber slippers was the Polymer plant in the city of Slantsy, Leningrad region. Many buyers believed that the word “Shales” embossed on the soles was the name of the shoes. Then the word entered the active vocabulary and became a synonym for the word “slippers.”
Nonsense
At the end of the last century, the French doctor Gali Mathieu treated his patients with jokes.
He gained such popularity that he did not have time for all the visits and sent his healing puns by mail.
This is how the word “nonsense” arose, which at that time meant a healing joke, a pun.
The doctor immortalized his name, but nowadays this concept has a completely different meaning.
What I found on different sites about Russian words. You can go to the sites themselves using the link and read other information - something that seemed uninteresting or controversial to me. In particular, there are practically no religious meanings of the words. The point of view that most words with the particle Ra mean Divine light by the name of the Sun God Ra - paradise, joy, rainbow, beautiful - for all its attractiveness, does not seem proven to me, it is doubtful that we have the same God as in Ancient Egypt....
The word “sorcerer” comes from a corruption of the Russian “kolyadun” - one who sings carols during winter Christmastide (carols), celebrated in Rus' from December 23 to 31.
From School etymological dictionary of the Russian language
ORANGE- ... literally "Chinese apple"
GOD- Indo-European, related to the ancient Indian bhada
"lord", Persian baga "lord, god". Initial value -
"giving, allocating master; share, happiness, wealth." Religious significance is secondary
CHEESECAKE- in ancient Persia, the god Vatra is the guardian of the home
hearth, 23 lunar day is His day and therefore you need to drink more milk,
there is cottage cheese and other dairy products, bake "VATRUSHKI" in which
Roast the nuts well. The indicated etymological connection is not just
coincidence, it also testifies to the cultural kinship of the Slavs and
Persians, and about their origin from the same root. Oral Avestan
legends say that a very long time ago, more than 40 thousand years ago, on
There was a civilization on the continent of Arctida in the Arctic Ocean
Aryans In ancient times this continent was called "Khair" - sometimes it
translated as "bear". As a result of some natural
cataclysm, Arctida sank to the bottom of the ocean simultaneously with
Atlantis, Pacifida and Lemuria. The saved Aryans went to
The northeast of Europe and the Cis-Urals created a state
education - northern Khairat. Some of them moved on, and eventually
why in the Volga region, on a vast territory from the Urals to the Caspian Sea, another
one Khairat, where many thousands of years later lived the prophet Zarathustra (or
Zarathushtra) - Son of the Star. The words "Khair", "aria", "Haraiti"
(apparently, "Hairaiti" is the ancient name of the Ural Mountains) have one
root. As a result of several invasions of nomadic peoples from Asia
Aryans were forced to leave their homes. They passed the Northern and
Eastern Europe (their descendants here are Slavs, Balts, Scandinavians,
Scythians who have already left the historical arena). Some reached Western and
Southern Europe, others moved through Asia Minor to Persia and India.
This was the path of our ancient relatives - the Avestan and Vedic
Aryans There was a mixing of cultures. In India, the Vedas were created by the Aryans,
those. “Knowledge” (cf. verb “to know”); in Persia for several thousand years
later the knowledge of the ancients was restored and recorded in writing
Aryans - Avesta (words with the same root - “news” and “conscience”), i.e.
sacred knowledge of cosmic laws. The language of the ancient Aryans is Sanskrit.
It served as the basis for Indo-European languages, including the language
ancient Parsis
DOCTOR- formed using suf. -ch from lie “to speak”.
Originally - “speaker, magician”.
From the book by V.D. OsipovaRussians in the mirror of their language
True– this is what it really is. Truth comes from “is”, or rather from “ist”, as this word was pronounced in ancient times.
This reminded me of the European verbs “to eat” - is, est, ist.....
Goodbye! It means “forgive me all insults, you will not see me again.” It means that this meeting was the last in this world, and therefore the custom of dying forgiveness and remission of sins comes into effect. The French and Italians in this case say “to God!” (respectively “adye” and “addio”).
Too much from “too”, that is, “with dashing”. Everything that was beyond measure was considered bad, evil, and dashing. From “dashing” also: “surplus”, “superfluous”.
burn. Literally: “to ascend upward.” In the old days, instead of "up" they said"grief". Hence the “upper room” (the bright room upstairs).
Good. Literally: "pleasing to Horos." Words are formed in a similar way in other languages. In English, "gud" is a good consonant of "year" - god. It’s the same in German: “gut” means good and “goth” means god.
Witch. Literally: “she who knows.” The witch has access to knowledge unknown to others. From the same base “ved” comes the name of the Vedas, the sacred books of the Vedic religion.
Garnish literally means "decoration". The French "garnish" means "to decorate." It is related to the Latin “ornament” and the Ukrainian “garniy” - beautiful. One of the first to use the word “side dish” in its current meaning was N.V. Gogol. In “Dead Souls” we read: “... a side dish, a larger side dish of any kind... And add beets as an asterisk to the sturgeon.”
Month. In ancient times, the change of lunar phases was also used to count time. The Russians also called the moon a month. Having switched to solar chronology, the Slavs did not abandon the usual word “month”, but began to call it 1/12 of the year. In one of his poems M. Yu. Lermontov writes:
The moon changed six times;
The war is long over...
In this “the moon changed” instead of “a month passed” is an echo of the former, lunar calendar inherited by the Muslim world.
I also remember the English Moon Moon and month month
The origin of the word barbarian is very interesting. In Ancient Rus', the Greek letter β (beta) was read as the Russian “V” (ve). Therefore, such Greek names as Barbara are pronounced by us as Varvara, Balthazar - Balthazar. Our Basil is Basileus in ancient Greek, which means “royal.” Rebecca became Rebekah, and Benedict became Benedict. The god of wine Bacchus became Bacchus, Babilon became Babylon, Sebastopolis became Sevastopol, and Byzantium became Byzantium.
The ancient Greeks called all foreigners barbarians. This word was borrowed by the Romans, and its derivative barbaria began to mean: “rudeness,” “uneducation.” The Greek barbaros gave in Russian "barbarian": an ignorant, cruel, brutal person.
In Ancient Greece, medicine was at a very high stage of development. A lot of words created by Greek doctors thousands of years ago still exist in all languages, including Russian. For example, surgery.
For the Greeks, this word simply meant “handicraft”, “craft”, from hir - “hand” and ergon - “to do”. The word chirurgus (surgeon) in Greek meant... "hairdresser"!
Who remembers that in not so distant times, barbers not only shaved and cut their clients’ hair, but also pulled teeth, bled, applied leeches and even performed minor surgical operations, that is, they performed the duties of surgeons. Pushkin wrote in “The Captain’s Daughter”:
“I was treated by the regimental barber, because there was no other doctor in the fortress.”
From the root hir and palmistry: fortune telling along the lines of the palm.
In zoology, the name of one of the lizards is known - hirot, given to it because its paws are similar to human hands.
And anatomy is a Greek word. This means it is a "dissection".
The origin of the word diphtheria is interesting. In Ancient Greece, diphthera simply meant skin, skin taken from a killed animal, film. The skin rotted and became a breeding ground for germs. Then they began to call any sticky disease diphtheria, but this name was retained only for diphtheria, an acute infectious disease that most often affects the tonsils of the pharynx and larynx.
Toxin means poison. This word went through a complex evolution before it received its current meaning.
In ancient Greece, toxicon meant "pertaining to archery." The arrows were smeared with poisonous plant juice, and gradually this juice began to be called a toxin, that is, poison.
When firearms appeared in Greece, they forgot about the antediluvian bows, but the old meaning of the word toxin remained in the language - poison.
After the invention of the microscope, people saw that some microbes looked like rods; for example, the tuberculosis bacillus - "Koch bacillus". Here the Greek name for a staff or stick comes in handy - bacterium.
Interestingly, the Latin word bacillum also means “stick.” It was useful to designate another type of protozoan organism - bacilli.
And here are some more new words: microbe, microscope, micron, microphone and many others - formed from the Greek macro - small. And in Greece this is the name of children.
In their book “One-Story America,” Ilf and Petrov recall a trip to Greece: “We were given a five-year-old boy to guide us. The boy is called “micro” in Greek.” Micro led us, from time to time beckoning with his finger and benevolently parting his thick Algerian lips. .."
We all know the word grocery store. And a person who loves to eat well, a connoisseur of fine food, in Russian speaking - a glutton, is also called a gastronome.
This word is made up of two Greek roots: gaster - stomach and nomos - law. It turns out that a gastronome is a person who knows the “laws of the stomach,” but now we call people to whom the stomach dictates its laws.
The word is relatively new: it is not listed in Russian dictionaries of the late 18th century.
Who knows where the word katorga comes from?
The Greek word katergon meant a large rowing vessel with a triple row of oars. Later, such a vessel began to be called a galley.
In the Old Russian language there were many names for ships: plows, boats, uchans, canoes. The Novgorod charter mentions boats, rafts and katargs. In the "Russian Chronicle" according to Nikon's list we read:
“The boyars took the queen, and noble maidens, and young wives, sending many on ships and boats to the islands” (“The boyars took the queen, and noble maidens, and young wives, sending many on ships and vessels to the islands”).
The work of the rowers on these ships was very hard, hard labor! Then they started putting criminals on these katargs - ships.
A very old word nasty. It is mentioned in the “Tale of Igor’s Campaign, Igor Svyatoslavich, Olgov’s grandson”:
“And Poganova Kobyakova from Lukomorye, From the iron, great Polovtsian regiments Like a whirlwind, she was torn away...”
In Latin paganus (paganus) means “villager”, “peasant”; Later they began to call the pagans this way, since the old beliefs persisted for a long time among the peasants.
Tomatoes in French are romme d'or (pom d'or) - golden apple (from the Italian pomi d'oro). But the French themselves call tomatoes tomatoes. This Aztec word came to France from South America. In the 16th century, the Aztecs, the indigenous people Mexico, were exterminated by the Spanish conquerors. That's what an ancient word is - tomatoes!
We don't say tomatoes, but tomato juice is called tomato juice
From the site Living Word
Boyarin. The word boyar comes from the merger of two words: bo and ardent, where bo is an indication, and ardent is close in meaning to the word light, fiery. Boyar means he is an ardent husband.
Word marriage in the meaning of marriage and the word marriage in the meaning of flaw are homonyms, that is, words with the same sound, but in no way related to each other in meaning. The word marriage (marriage) comes from the Old Church Slavonic language, in which it meant marriage and is formed from the verb brati (take) using the suffix -k (similar to know-sign). The connection of the word marriage with this verb is confirmed by the expression take in marriage, and there is also a dialect take - get married, Ukrainian got married - got married. By the way, in those days the word brother meant to carry. There is a version that the reverse process took place - from the word marriage, the verb brother came from.
Word marriage in the meaning of flaw comes from the German word brack - lack, defect, which in turn is derived from the verb brechen - to break, break. This borrowing occurred in Peter's times, and since then there have been two different marriages in the Russian language and another reason for a joke.
Den - the lair of Ber, the spirit of the elements, whose symbol is the bear. In English, a bear is still called Bär - bear, and also in German - Bär. From the root ber originate such words as amulet, shore.
Poor- the word comes from the word trouble. The poor is not the one who has little money, but the one who is haunted by troubles.
Antonym of word - word rich- also has nothing to do with money. Rich is the one who carries God within himself.
Know, know- the word is cognate with the Sanskrit veda (usually translated as “to know”) and words with the root vid (usually translated as “see”, “know”. Compare English wit- to know, to know, to find out; witch - witch; witness - witness, literally "saw"). Both words come from the "Proto-Indo-European root" weid.
Year, year- this word, until approximately the 16th century, meant a favorable period of time, and what we now call a year was previously called summer. Hence the words chronicle, chronology. Somewhere from the 16th century, the words year and summer received their modern meaning, but at the same time, the word summer is still sometimes used to refer to the calendar year, for example, in the word chronology. Most likely, the words year and year came from the same root, but later acquired different meanings. From them come such words as pogodi, weather, suitable, acceptable, suitable.
It is noteworthy that in foreign languages the branches descended from the root year retained the meaning of something good, favorable. Compare:
good (English), gut (German), god (Swedish) - good;
God (English), Gott (German) - God.
The words jahr (German), year (English), denoting year, come from the Slavic root yar. The ancient name for spring is yara. It turns out that the Germans and the British count time, literally translated, by springs, as we used to count by summers.
It’s like, for example, “Many Summers” - so what happens: that the year and summer have changed places :))))))
Tomorrow, breakfast. The etymology of the words tomorrow and breakfast is formed in exactly the same way from the preposition for and the word morning. Tomorrow is what will happen in the morning.
Nature- this is what the god Rod created, putting part of himself into his creation. Therefore, the creation of the Rod is inextricably linked with it and is located with the Rod, and this is the essence of nature.
Modest- with edge. Kroma is a wall, barrier, frame, hence the edge. A modest person is a person who limits himself and his behavior, that is, a person with boundaries, with an edge.
Thank you- save +bo. Thank you - God bless you.
From Wikipedia
“Most of the Proto-Slavic vocabulary is original, Indo-European. However, long-term proximity to non-Slavic peoples, of course, left its mark on the vocabulary of the Proto-Slavic language.
In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. the language was influenced by Iranian languages. This is mainly cult and military vocabulary: god, rai, Svarog, Khars, axe, grave, soto, bowl, vatra (“fire”), kour, korda (“sword”), for the sake of.
In the II century. The Slavs encountered the Goths, who were heading from the southern Baltic to the middle reaches of the Dnieper. Most likely, it was then that a significant number of Germanic borrowings entered the Proto-Slavic language (St.Khyzhina, Russian hut (*hūz-) with pra-Germ. hūs; v.-sl. prince, Russian. prince (*kŭnĭng-) from Gothic. kunings; v.-sl. dish\dish, Russian. dish (*bjeud-) from Gothic. biuÞs; v.-sl. shtouzhd, Russian alien (*tjeudj-, etc.) from Gothic. Þiuda (hence the German Deutsch), Old-Sl. sword, Russian sword (*mekis) from Gothic. *mēkeis."
From the Slavs website
The Indo-European name for the bear was lost, which was preserved in Greek - άρκτος, reproduced in the modern term “Arctic”. In the Proto-Slavic language it was replaced by the taboo compound *medvědъ – “honey eater”. This designation is now common Slavic. The Indo-European name for the sacred tree among the Slavs also turned out to be forbidden. The old Indo-European root *perkuos is found in the Latin quercus and in the name of the pagan god Perun. The sacred tree itself in the common Slavic language, and then in the Slavic languages that developed from it, acquired a different form - *dǫb
......Actually, the name Arthur means bear...although there is another option - bear, or Beorn, that is, Ber. Some believe that the name of the capital of Germany, Berlin, came from this word.
And:
Idiot
the Greek word [idiot] did not originally contain even a hint of mental illness. In Ancient Greece it meant “private person,” “separate, isolated person.” It is no secret that the ancient Greeks treated public life very responsibly and called themselves “polites”. Those who avoided participating in politics (for example, did not go to vote) were called “idiotes” (that is, busy only with their own narrow personal interests). Naturally, conscious citizens did not respect “idiots,” and soon this word acquired new disparaging connotations - “limited, undeveloped, ignorant person.” And already among the Romans the Latin idiota means only “ignorant, ignorant,” from which it is two steps away from the meaning “stupid.”
Scoundrel
But this word is Polish in origin and simply means “a simple, humble person.” Thus, the famous play by A. Ostrovsky, “Simplicity is Enough for Every Wise Man,” was performed in Polish theaters under the title “Notes of a Scoundrel.” Accordingly, all non-gentry belonged to the “vile people”.
Rogue
Rogue, rogue - words that came into our speech from Germany. The German schelmen meant "swindler, deceiver." Most often, this was the name given to a fraudster posing as another person. In G. Heine's poem "Shelm von Berger" this role is played by the Bergen executioner, who came to a social masquerade pretending to be a noble person. The Duchess with whom he danced caught the deceiver by tearing off his mask.
Mymra“Mymra” is a Komi-Permyak word and it is translated as “gloomy”. Once in Russian speech, it began to mean, first of all, an unsociable homebody (in Dahl’s dictionary it is written: “mymrit” - sitting at home all the time.”) Gradually, “mymra” began to be called simply an unsociable, boring, gray and gloomy person.
Bastard
“Svolochati” is the same thing in Old Russian as “svolochati”. Therefore, bastard was originally called all kinds of garbage that was raked into a heap. This meaning (among others) is also preserved by Dahl: “Bastard is everything that is bastard or dragged into one place: weeds, grass and roots, rubbish dragged by a harrow from arable land.” Over time, this word began to define ANY crowd gathered in one place. And only then they began to refer to all sorts of despicable people - drunks, thieves, tramps and other asocial elements.
Scoundrel
The fact that this is a person unfit for something is, in general, understandable... But in the 19th century, when conscription was introduced in Russia, this word was not an insult. This was the name given to people unfit for military service. That is, if you haven’t served in the army, that means you’re a scoundrel!
Word dude , despite its widespread use, has not yet received a qualified etymology in the scientific literature. On the contrary, the word dude , attested at the beginning of the century in the thieves' argot in the meaning of "prostitute", was at one time considered by A.P. Barannikov, who analyzed it as a derivative of Tsig. damn"guy", i.e. "thief's girlfriend"
The article talks about what etymology is, what this science does and what methods it uses in its work.
Language
Any living language that is actively spoken by people gradually changes. The extent of this depends on many different factors. For example, the amount of time that has passed since its inception, the level of political or cultural self-isolation of the country and the official position that concerns In France, for example, a domestic analogue is selected or created for all foreign words. And some languages of the Scandinavian group have remained virtually unchanged for a millennium.
But not all languages can boast of this, and it is not always an indicator of quality or uniqueness. Russian is one of the most diverse languages, and over the centuries it has changed a lot. And from the colloquial speech of our ancestor, say, from the 15th century, we would understand only individual words.
It is precisely in order to determine morphemes that such a branch of linguistics as etymology was created. So what is etymology and what methods does it use in its activities? We'll figure this out.
Definition
Etymology is a branch of linguistics that deals with the study of the origin of words. It is also a research technique used to identify the history of the appearance of a word in a language and the very result of such study. This term originated in the times of Ancient Greece, and until the 19th century it could be used as the meaning of the word “grammar”.
Answering the question of what is the etymology of a word, it is worth mentioning that this concept very often means the very origin of the morpheme. For example: “In this case, you need to find a more convincing etymology,” or: “The word notebook has a Greek etymology."
Now let us briefly consider the formation of this science and what research methods it uses.
Story
Even in Ancient Greece, before the advent of etymology as such, many scientists were interested in the origin of various words. If we consider later ancient times, then etymology was considered one of the parts of grammar, and accordingly, it was dealt with exclusively by grammarians. So now we have etymology.
During the Middle Ages, no significant changes were made to the methods of studying etymology. And before the advent of such a method as comparative historical, most etymologies were of a very dubious nature. Moreover, this was observed both in European and For example, philologist Trediakovsky believed that the etymology of the word “Italy” comes from the word “prowess” because this country is very remote from Russia. Naturally, because of such methods of determining origin, many considered etymology to be an absolutely frivolous science.
Comparative historical method
Thanks to this method, etymology was able to very accurately explain the origin of many words. It is still used today. Its essence lies in a set of techniques that prove the relationship of certain languages, the origin of words and reveal various facts from their history. It is also based on a comparison of phonetics and grammar.
Etymology of the Russian language
If we talk about the origin and history of the Russian language, then there are three main periods: Old Russian, Old Russian and the period of the Russian national language, which began in the 17th century. And from its Old Russian form, by the way, almost all the languages of the East Slavic group originated.
As in any other language, Russian contains words that have roots both in its ancient forms and those that are borrowed.
For example, the word “nonsense” comes from the name of the French doctor Gali Mathieu, who was not distinguished by his doctoral skills and “treated” his patients with jokes. True, he soon gained popularity, and even healthy people began to invite him to enjoy his humor.
And the well-known word “swindler” comes from the word “moshna” - the name of the wallet in which money was previously carried. And the thieves who set their sights on him were called swindlers.
Now we know what etymology is. As you can see, this is a rather interesting discipline that sheds light on the origins of many words.
We don't often think about how the words we use originated and how their meanings may have changed over time. Meanwhile, words are quite living beings. New words appear literally every day. Some do not linger in the language, while others remain. Words, like people, have their own history, their own destiny. They may have relatives, a rich pedigree, and, on the contrary, be orphans. A word can tell us about its nationality, its parents, its origin. A very interesting science deals with the study of the history of vocabulary and the origin of words - etymology.
Railway station
The word comes from the name of the place "Vauxhall" - a small park and entertainment center near London. The Russian Tsar, who visited this place, fell in love with it - especially the railway. Subsequently, he commissioned British engineers to build a small railway from St. Petersburg to his country residence. One of the stations on this section of the railway was called "Vokzal", and this name later became the Russian word for any railway station.
Hooligan
The word bully is of English origin. According to one version, the surname Houlihan was once borne by a famous London brawler who caused a lot of trouble for city residents and the police. The surname has become a common noun, and the word is international, characterizing a person who grossly violates public order.
Orange
Until the 16th century, Europeans had no idea about oranges at all. Russians - even more so. Oranges don't grow here! And then Portuguese sailors brought these orange delicious balls from China. And they began to trade them with their neighbors. The Dutch word for apple is appel, and the Chinese word for apple is sien. The word appelsien, borrowed from the Dutch language, is a translation of the French phrase Pomme de Chine - “apple from China”.
Doctor
It is known that in the old days they treated with various conspiracies and spells. The ancient healer said something like this to the patient: “Go away, disease, into the quicksand, into the dense forests...” And muttered various words over the sick person. The word doctor is originally Slavic and is derived from the word “vrati”, which means “to speak”, “to talk”. Interestingly, “to lie” comes from the same word, which for our ancestors also meant “to speak.” It turns out that in ancient times doctors lied? Yes, but this word initially did not contain a negative meaning.
Scammer
Ancient Rus' did not know the Turkic word “pocket”, because money was then carried in special wallets - purses. From the word “moshna” the word “swindler” is derived - a specialist in thefts from the purse.
Restaurant
The word "restaurant" means "strengthening" in French. This name was given to one of the Parisian taverns by its visitors in the 18th century after the owner of the establishment, Boulanger, introduced nutritious meat broth into the number of dishes offered.
Shit
The word “shit” comes from the Proto-Slavic “govno”, which means “cow” and was originally associated only with cow “patties”. “Beef” means “cattle”, hence “beef”, “beef”. By the way, from the same Indo-European root is the English name for a cow - cow, as well as for the shepherd of these cows - cowboy. That is, the expression “fucking cowboy” is not accidental, it contains a deep family connection.
Heaven
One theory is that the Russian word "heaven" comes from "ne, no" and "besa, demons" - literally a place free of evil/demons. However, another interpretation is probably closer to the truth. Most Slavic languages have words similar to "sky", and they most likely originate from the Latin word for "cloud" (nebula).
Slates
In the Soviet Union, a famous manufacturer of rubber slippers was the Polymer plant in the city of Slantsy, Leningrad region. Many buyers believed that the word “Shales” embossed on the soles was the name of the shoes. Then the word entered the active vocabulary and became a synonym for the word “slippers.”
Nonsense
At the end of the 17th century, French physician Gali Mathieu treated his patients with jokes.
He gained such popularity that he did not have time for all the visits and sent his healing puns by mail.
This is how the word “nonsense” arose, which at that time meant a healing joke, a pun.
The doctor immortalized his name, but nowadays this concept has a completely different meaning.
Greetings to new and regular readers! Friends, the origin of words is a very interesting topic. We rarely think about the origin of the common words we use in conversation and writing. But they, like people, have their own history, their own destiny.
The Word can tell us about its parents, its nationality and its origin. This is what etymology deals with - the science of language.
The word (or root) whose etymology is to be determined is correlated with related words (or roots). A common producing root is revealed. As a result of removing the layers of later historical changes, the original form and its meaning are established. I present to you several stories of the origin of words in the Russian language.
The origin of some words in Russian
Aviation
From Latin avis (bird). Borrowed from French - aviation (aviation) and aviateur (aviator). These words were coined in 1863 by famous Frenchmen: the great photographer Nedar and the novelist Lalandelle, who flew in hot air balloons.
Emergency
A term common among seafarers and port workers. From Dutch overal (get up! everyone up!). Nowadays, emergency work is called urgent urgent work on a ship (ship), performed by its entire crew.
Scuba
It was borrowed from English. The first part is the Latin aqua - “water”, and the second is the English lung - “lung”. The modern meaning of the word scuba is “an apparatus for breathing under water. It consists of compressed air cylinders and a breathing apparatus.”
Scuba diving was invented in 1943 by the famous French navigator and explorer J.I. Cousteau and E. Gagnan.
Alley
In Russian, the word “alley” has been used since the beginning of the 18th century. From the French verb aller - “to go, to walk.” The word “alley” is used to mean “a road lined with trees and bushes on both sides.”
Pharmacy
The word was known in Russian already at the end of the 15th century. The Latin apotheka goes back to the Greek original - apotheka, derived from apotithemi - “I put aside, hide.” Greek - apotheka (warehouse, storehouse).
Asphalt
Greek - asphaltos (mountain tar, asphalt). In Russian, the word “asphalt” has been known since ancient Russian times as the name of a mineral. And from the beginning of the 16th century. the word “asphalt” already occurs with the meaning “building material”.
Bank
Italian - banco (bench, money changer's counter), later "office", which came from the Germanic languages from bank ("bench").
Bankrupt
The original source is the old Italian combination bankca rotta, literally “broken, broken bench” (counter, office). This is due to the fact that initially the offices of ruined bankers declared bankrupt were destroyed.
Banquet
Italian - banketto (bench around a table). In Russian - since the 17th century. Now "banquet" means "a formal lunch or dinner party."
Wardrobe
It is borrowed from French, where garderob - from - “to store” and robe - “dress”. The word came to be used in two meanings:
- Dress storage cabinet
- Storage space for outerwear in public buildings
Nonsense
At the end of the last century, the French doctor Gali Mathieu treated his patients with jokes. He gained such popularity that he did not have time for all the visits. He sent his healing puns by mail. This is how the word “nonsense” arose, which at that time meant a healing joke, a pun.
Blinds
French - jalousie (envy, jealousy).
Conclusion
Origin of words: where did they come from, from what languages of the world do words come into the Russian language? There are many such languages, but first of all, we need to name the languages Greek and Latin.
A large number of terms and scientific and philosophical vocabulary were borrowed from them. All this is not accidental. Greek and Latin are very ancient languages of highly cultured peoples, which have greatly influenced the culture of the whole world.