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#etymology

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multilinguo
Multilinguo @multilinguo@mastodon.social · Jul 28, 2026
OK started as a joke. March 23, 1839: the Boston Morning Post used "o.k." for a deliberately misspelled "oll korrect". 1830s slang comedy. Van Buren's 1840 campaign borrowed it (nickname: Old Kinderhook). Supporters formed "OK Clubs". It stuck. 1844 telegraph made it infrastructure. WWII took it to every continent. Even the languages that tried to keep it out (French, Icelandic) use it. #Etymology #Linguistics
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multilinguo
Multilinguo @multilinguo@mastodon.social · Jul 27, 2026
"Eventually" is a false friend. In English: ultimately, in the end. In French (éventuellement), German (eventuell), Spanish (eventualmente), Portuguese (eventualmente), Italian (eventualmente): possibly. All from Latin "eventualis" ("relating to an outcome"). English narrowed to "ultimate outcome". Every other major European language kept the original "possible" sense. Same Latin root. English took the outlier path. #Etymology #FalseFriend #linguistics
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sasutina13a is-a small exothermic chaos @sasutina13@lgbtqia.space · Jul 26, 2026
Replying to @VenusianMars@cupoftea.social
@VenusianMars@cupoftea.social aka… self-aware… no? #Autism #ActuallyAutistic #AutisticActually #ASD #etymology #WordsAreCool
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VenusianMars
VenusianMars @VenusianMars@cupoftea.social · Jul 26, 2026
"...The word “autism” is composed of two parts, “aut” and “ism.” The prefix of the word is “aut,” which comes from the Greek word “autós,” meaning “self.” The suffix “ism,” also from Greek, implies a state of being or condition. When I looked at the prefix and suffix of the word combined, I found that the word “autism,” in its purest form, means “a state of being oneself.".. Wowsers! Yes. Thank You. ♡ 🧡 ♡ #Autism #ActuallyAutistic #AutisticActually #ASD #etymology #WordsAreCool https://www.jewishboston.com/read/etymology-of-the-word-autism/
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Arusekk
Arusekk @Arusekk@infosec.exchange · Jul 24, 2026
Today I learned the word #ableism - am I the only one who first read ableist as /ab'laist/ (instead of /'ejblist/) and inferred connection with the German word Leistung instead of disabled people? I am therefore a huge proponent of using #ablism instead. In hindsight, it could have been even /e'bleist/, like along, aside and awry (no, the latter does not come from awe/awre but from wry, an equal surprise to me). #pronunciation #etymology
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michelleful
Dr. Michelle Fullwood @michelleful@scicomm.xyz · May 24, 2026
I've been making a linguistics puzzle game where you decipher a language (which happens to be German) using shared etymology, shared cultural knowledge and pattern matching. It's called German Is A̶w̶f̶u̶l̶ Easy and the first five levels are up! No German knowledge necessary, and feedback is very welcome. https://michellefullwood.com/languages/german/is-easy/ #etymology #linguistics #puzzles #LearnGerman
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AllEndlessKnot
Alliterative/Endless Knot @AllEndlessKnot@toot.community · Jul 15, 2026
The surprisingly connected origins of "champion" and "champagne". #etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #champion #champagne #worldcup #final https://youtube.com/shorts/H6FewWiVhpU
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maj
Maj - 🇨🇦 @maj@cosocial.ca · Jul 15, 2026
"Podfic is the ultimate portmanteau" [https://www.tumblr.com/thelightcomingthroughthewindow/818787281751212032?source=share] #fromTumblr #words #etymology
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Ken5280
Ken @Ken5280@pixelfed.social · Jul 05, 2026
No. 46 in my photo collection of signs of unique Spanish-language business names ending in 𝗲𝗿í𝗮: DISQUERÍA Broadly, "disco" in Spanish means "disc" or "disk" in English, including specifically an audio/video disc, vinyl record, etc., with a "disquería" being a store selling such products. Note that the 𝗰 in "disco" has changed to 𝗾𝘂 in the process of adding the 𝗲𝗿í𝗮 suffix. In Spanish, as in English, a 𝗰 followed by an 𝗮, 𝗼, or 𝘂 has a hard "k" sound while a 𝗰 followed by an 𝗲 or 𝗶 has a soft "s" sound. The last letter of the root word is dropped before adding the 𝗲𝗿í𝗮 suffix, so in this case we'd end up with "discería." But this would cause the 𝗰 to undergo a change in pronunciation from a hard to soft sound. In Spanish, a word's original pronunciation must be maintained during conjugation or when adding a suffix, so the 𝗰 must be changed to 𝗾𝘂 to maintain a hard "k" sound, giving us "disquería." January 2025 | Santiago, Chile To view all of the 𝗲𝗿í𝗮 photos I've posted so far, visit my Collection here: https://pixelfed.social/c/867505112495812844 #spanish #language #signs #streetphotography #urbanexploration #urbanwalking #graphicdesign #etymology
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paninid
Coach Sankhavaram ® @paninid@mastodon.world · Apr 10, 2025
The word emolument originates from the Latin term emolumentum, which initially referred to a payment made to a miller for grinding grain. It derives from the root molere, meaning “to grind,” combined with ex- (“out”) to form emolere (“to grind out”). Over time, the meaning broadened to signify profit, gain, or advantage, particularly in the context of compensation for services or employment. #language #etymology #history #emoluments #American
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Moss
Moss Wizard @Moss@beige.party · Jul 01, 2026
It didn’t occur to me to look up the word “ostrich” until I saw the Spanish word for it “avestruz”. The ave (bird) revealed that “os” is the same as the aus in auspicious. So, bird what? Turns out strich/struz means “sparrow”, so ostrich means “bird sparrow”. But wait! Apparently sparrow was historically used as a generic term for all kinds of birds. So an ostrich is a bird bird! #etymology #language #birds https://www.etymonline.com/word/ostrich
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mapologies
Mapologies @mapologies@mastodon.social · Jun 30, 2026
https://mapologies.com/time/ While Romance and Baltic languages often differ, they share the Proto-Indo-European root *wósr̥, meaning “#spring” and originally “becoming #warmer.” For example, the Portuguese “verão” and Latvian “vasara” derive from this root. Similarly, the German “Sommer” and Kurdish “havîn,” despite their different appearances, both stem from the Proto-Indo-European root *semh₂-, meaning “summer” or “half of the #year.” #etymology #etymologymap #map #laguagemap #linguisticmap
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seanpm2001
seanpm2001 🇺🇦️🇬🇱 @seanpm2001@techhub.social · Jun 29, 2026
Quick question, because I don't know what a search query for this would look like A discography is a collection of music by an artist A filmography is a collection of films by an artist So what would the equivalent term be for a collection of books by an author? Also, does such a term exist for a collection of software? #question #books #software #etymology #words #graphy
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paninid
Coach Sankhavaram ® @paninid@mastodon.world · Jun 23, 2026
The English name #Croatia comes from Medieval Latin Croātia, which in turn derives from the native ethnonym Hrvat (plural: Hrvati) — the name of the Croat people — and the country’s Croatian name Hrvatska. #history #language #etymology
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ancientsounds
𝔸𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕤 🔉 @ancientsounds@mastodonapp.uk · Dec 14, 2022
My audio etymology simulations are collected at http://ancientsounds.net I'm also compiling, correcting and extending past posts on 🐦 (I left there before X) and 🐘 about those audio etymologies into an alphabetically-ordered blog, so that we can look up examples: http://ancientsounds.net/blog.html #acoustics #phonetics #audio #etymology #philology #Proto-Indo-European #EnglishLanguage #linguistics
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gannet
Naomi P @gannet@sunny.garden · May 01, 2026
I was discussing thimbles when I suddenly wondered about the word’s etymology. It’s clearly not the same as the German fingerhut (finger hat), and I guessed that it’s something to do with the thumb. So it is. It’s “thumb” plus an instrumental suffix, “-el”, which is added to a root to make a tool name. (I wish we still had -el as a productive morpheme in English.) https://www.etymonline.com/word/thimble 1/2 #etymology #tools #sewing
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ancientsounds
𝔸𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕤 🔉 @ancientsounds@mastodonapp.uk · Apr 28, 2026
𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗘𝘁𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘆, 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 English "cow" comes from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeh₃-u-s [gwous], perhaps something like this (listen): 🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/cow-from-PIE-gwous.wav which also developed into Dari گاو [gau] and Persian گاو [gov]: 🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/PIE-gwous-to-Persian-gov.wav and very many other Indo-European languages, such as Ancient Greek βοῦς [bous]: 🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/PIE-gwous-to-Ancient-Greek-bous.wav Image source: https://faradeed.ir/%D8%A8%D8%AE%D8%B4-%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%88-35/186305-%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%AF%D8%A6%D9%88-%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%8C-%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%A2%D8%B0%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86-%DA%86%DA%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D9%87-%D8%B4%DB%8C%D8%B1-%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%88-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D9%BE%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B4%DB%8C%D8%AF%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%BE%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%84-%D9%85%DB%8C-%DA%A9%D9%86%D9%86%D8%AF @linguistics #linguistics #etymology #EnglishLanguage #AcousticPhonetics #phonetics #ProtoIndoEuropean #Iranian #Persian #Dari #AncientGreek
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