This subreddit has built up a huge wealth of valuable information and entertaining posts about etymology. This has only been possible through the joint work of an enthusiastic community and a dedicated moderation team to keep our content informative, relevant, researched, and reliable.

With Reddit's decision to force out third-party apps through impossible pricing, and their subsequent refusal to reconsider, it's no longer possible for me - as the sole active moderator of the community - to continue to ensure that content meets the community's standards on suitability.

Making the community private on the 12th was done with advance notice to other moderators, who have not objected or reversed the action. The r/etymology team has thus far been unanimous on the protest. Reddit's failure to respond with any cooperative compromise has been thoroughly disappointing - though not entirely surprising.

However, in the interest of maintaining the online availability of the huge corpus of existing content, and following a high number of requests for access that highlight the value or r/etymology as a resource for word origins, I've switched the subreddit from private to read-only. It's likely that Reddit will override this at some point in the future, but personally I can't meet the needs of the community without suitable mobile moderation tools.

If the call from the community is to fully open back up, I'll remove automod settings that necessitate mod review, turn the community public, and - with great reluctance - step down as a moderator. I won't link elsewhere, but I do recommend that readers educate themselves about growing federated internet communities. Reddit is not the only place on the web that we can share knowledge, hold discussions, and ask questions.

This community means a lot to me. You are the people who ask "why?" until the answers are totally exhausted, and then ask "why?" some more. Moderation can be a time-consuming endeavor, but it's been fun and rewarding to help prune and grow this community, and that's thanks to you all. Keep being curious, keep sharing knowledge, and keep asking "why?" ❤️

So I was cleaning out my spice cupboard (as you do) and there were so many spices with the soft c (cinnamon, cilantro/coriander ) and hard c (cumin, cayenne pepper, chili, cloves, curry powder, cardamom, caraway seeds) I put them on one shelf. The other shelf had everything else (fennel, oregano, baking spice, mustard seeds, salt and pepper, paprika etc). Are there reasons why so many start with "c"?

My dear etymologists!

I’m in the midst of worldbuilding for my new Dungeons and Dragons campaign and have reached the “pantheon creation” phase. In previous campaigns I have just grabbed various relevant words from languages such as Icelandic and Latin and stirred for deity names. Also, Aedra and Daedra just sound cool being a TES fan.

Accordingly, my challenge to you is this: if you were to absolutely geek out and go as niche into your realm of etymology as possible to create some epic or goofy deity names and prayers, what would those names be (and why are they so cool in your professional opinion)? The more history, the better! I swear, I'm totally not outsourcing a fictional world history to real-world experts ;-)

The unsuspecting denizens of Morphon thank you in advance!!

Aren't languages set up like the LOTR or Elder Scrolls technically real since they have set up rules and what not?

Is it only official if it's used as a nation's or peoples' territory language? If those 1000s indigenous language count, why not those "fictional" ones?

I am an Orton Gillingham tutor, and part of our program is teaching our students the etymology of certain words so they can understand why they are spelled that way. I have one student who wants to know the why behind everything, and I’m about to teach the SLFZ doubling rule and I admit that I know when it happens but not why.

For those who don’t know this is the rule: In one syllable words with a short vowel, if it ends in s, l, f, z, double the final consonant. (Ex: floss, fall, sniff, buzz). Why do we do this with only these 4 letters?

Like name Hayleigh. Anytime I see a spelling like this I pronounce it “hay-layh.” I can’t see “leigh” without thinking “layhh.”

Is there a reason it’s not pronounced “lee?” Is it just people saying it wrong, or is there an explanation for why this wacky spelling convention is pronounced nothing like how it’s spelled?

Edit: why am I getting downvoted for asking a question about a part of a word in a word sub

I invented the word. It means two people in a love relationship who argue and come out the better for it, e.g., "We are not only compatible, but combatible." Feel free to use it.

Today I was reading a biography of William IV, King of the UK and came across this curious passage. The passage is describing an instance in 1834 when the King asked the prime minister, Lord Melbourne, to send letters proposing a coalition to opposition leaders.

Melbourne “went through the motions, as directed, but if ever a question was prefixed by the celebrated ‘num’ - expecting the answer no- it was to be found in the invitations[…]”

I searched for this on Google but any meaningful inquiries are obscured by webpages about numeral prefixes. Does anybody have any insight on this curious phrase? Thanks everybody!

I've become fascinated tonight over the fact that in Japanese the word for Salmon is Sake or Benizake for Sockeye Salmon. Sockeye apparently is a anglicization of a Pacific coast Halkomelem (tribe?) native word Suk-Kegh. Apparently there have been some suggestions that the Ainu Natives of Japan are related to the Pacific NW native people.

Also generally

Benizake means red fish Suk-Kegh means red fish

Anyways anyone have any idea why these words are so similar an ocean apart? I feel like there must be an etymological connection. Off to do more research! Fascinating!

Is there any etymology for the word "derg*(o)*" meaning "dragon"? (Where/when was it first used?)
If so, what is it?

Does anyone know where this "Strendu" name comes from? It seems to me not to be any one language's name for the creature, but rather some umbrella term that's been applied. I have found individual terms from tribes: the Shoshoni called their giant "dzoavatis" (stone giant), the Seminole "esti capcaki" (tall man), Seneca "geno'sgwa" (stone giant), Paiute "numizo'ho" (crusher of people), Lakota "rugaeu" (big hairy man), etc.

Just curious. Thanks!

To me, this tattoo will represent several serendipitous happenings, my love for Shakespearean verse, and the peaceful reminder that the universe turning as one… plus numerous other emotional impressions.

Is there anything in the meaning/history of this Latin root that I should know about? Am I missing the meaning of the word?

Are there conjugations or variations that make more sense out of context? Vertō or vertēre?

Thank you and sorry if this isn’t the right way to go about engaging with this community!

Reddit's upcoming changes to API pricing and access will kill apps that are essential for moderation. In protest, this subreddit will go private on June 12th.

In doing so, we're joining hundreds of other Reddit communities, large and small, that rely on the accessibility, functionality, and usability of third-party apps that make use of the Reddit API.

What's going on?

A recently-announced Reddit policy change will make it unaffordable for developers to run third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users.

This isn't only a problem on the user level. Many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free. r/etymology requires removal of posts, reminders of the rules, and moderation of comments multiple times a day, and this is only practically possible with proper tools.

What's the plan?

On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. This isn't something subreddit moderators do lightly; we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.

What can you do as a user?

• Learn more on r/Save3rdPartyApps
• Communicate your thoughts to Reddit. Message the mods of r/reddit.com, who are the admins of the site; message /u/reddit, or comment in relevant threads on r/reddit, such as this one,.
• Spread the word on related subreddits, and suggest to anyone you know who moderates a subreddit that they join the coordinated mod effort at r/ModCoord.
• Boycott: stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th - instead, take to other platforms and make some noise in support!
• Be nice. As upsetting this may be, please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, and reasonable as possible.

What can you do as a moderator?

• Join the coordinated effort over at r/ModCoord
• Make a sticky post showing your support. A template has been created here you can use or modify to your liking, and be sure to crosspost it to r/ModCoord.

Thank you for your patience in the matter.

- The r/etymology moderation team

Is the word lion/leo/lev reconstructed to PIE?

Might there be any connection with Semitic words : Hebrew levia(לביא), Accadic labbu and Arabic لَبُؤَة‎?

I am clueless about etymology and how to research this in an accurate, well-sourced, manner (as I am not an academic in this field to any degree)

In the Korean word for elevator, "엘리베이터", coming from the English word "elevator", why are there two 'l'-s (ㄹ-s) in the beginning of the word?  The 'l' in the English word is geminated neither in pronunciation nor in writing. And it's not the only such word in Korean. The word for olive, "올리브", also has two 'l'-s for no obvious reason.

If a language has a word meaning 100, doesn't it also need to have a word meaning 10?

Hello, I am looking to originate the surname: Pajkanovic, and the name Pajkan.

To me, the name 'Pajkan' does not seem Slavic, while the surname does due to the suffix of 'ovic'. For further information, this surname is said to originate from a family member from Montenegro who was possibly a member of the Piperi Tribe, a Serbinised/Slavicised Albanian tribe. By originating the name and surname I will be able to confirm if he was in said tribe and thus Albanian, at least in ancestry. I have also done a DNA test that has said I am between 2% & 10% Albanian, if that helps too. This ancestor lived during the 18th Century, but was possibly born in the last decade of the 17th Century and moved between Kosova and Serbia before settling in North-Eastern Bosnia.
Sorry for the information overload, I just wanted to provide as many details to help anyone who wishes to originate the surname and name. Thanks so much in advance.

Duchies and dukedoms are both areas of land ruled or reigned over by a duke (or duchess). Today in modern European monarchies' laws, they are very symbolic for the most part. When a country is ruled over by a sovereign duke, it seems that it is called a duchy (ex. Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, a grand duchy in this case as it is ruled, or more accurately reigned over by a grand duke). When a person holds the title of duke—a holdover of feudalism—in a country that is reigned over by a king or queen, it seems that it and, technically, the area in which the title refers to is called a dukedom (ex. Dukedom of Edinburgh - Edinburgh).

​

So I may have hit the nail on the head, here. Is it called a duchy when it is a sovereign state? And then, is it called a dukedom when it a title held from the remnants of feudalism? Not that Luxembourg isn't a leftover of feudalism, 'cause 'tis.

More examples, if that helps whatsoever:

Grand Duchy of Baden (1806–1918)

Duchy of Brabant (1183–1797)

Dukedom of Kent - Kent

Dukedom of Norfolk - Norfolk

So we were watching an episode of The Good Wife, and noticed that in one episode, the characters always use the verb “[to] phone” instead of “[to] call”, eg “I’ll phone you later”, “he phoned me at home”, etc. The show is set in/near Chicago and the episode aired in 2010. I grew up in the same region at the same time, and we almost always said “call” instead of “phone”, so this dialogue was weirdly jarring. What I’m wondering is, was this almost exclusive use of “phone” instead of “call” specific to an American regional dialect? Our hypothesis is that the writer of the episode was from a part of the country where the use of “phone [verb]” was more common—what do you think?

I'm a native English speaker and I had one of those moments where I was using my own language and went "...huh"

The context is a situation where one is describing (usually unfortunate) events as a reason for something else. There's also a tinge of sarcasm woven through.

Example:

"I can't come into work today, what with the flooding and all"

I also feel like then ending "and all" needs to be at the end of the phrase? You could say:

"Don't walk over there, what with the shattered glass"

It would be an incomplete sentence but still convey meaning and under the assumption that the listener knew there was shattered glass.

I am understanding that this could be a slang substitute for "on account of (the)"

Example:

"I can't come into work today on account of the flooding"

Any thoughts or knowledge on where "what with the" phrasing came from?

The Vietnamese word mật / mứt (meaning honey) ultimately comes from Proto-Indo-European médʰu and is a cognate of English mead.

Do you know any other Vietnamese words derived from Proto-Indo-European but aren't recent borrowings through French / English? You can still comment them if they are really obscure borrowings e.g blokhuis (Dutch) -> lô cốt

Or words derived from other language families (excluding Sinitic) e.g Afro-Asiatic, Tai-Kadai or Austronesian and also aren't recent borrowings through English / French?

I just heard someone claiming that marmelade comes from the French "sea" and "sick" (mer AND malade) because orange jam was used by Spanish seamen to avoid scurvy (and sea sickness by extension).

But I couldn't find any such reference online so I'd like to hear your opinion.

Thanks

etymonline just says "To be into (something) "be intensely involved in or devoted to" recorded by 1967 in American English youth slang." without giving an explanation

Obviously daily comes from adding -ly to day, but really I’m curious about why it is spelled with an i and not a dayly.

Can phallic be used as a term for a vagina reference?