Word of the day – poc
In Welsh a poc (/pok/) or pocyn (/’pokɪn/), is a kiss, however this word is rarely used in everyday speech. The more common word for kiss is cusan (/’kɪsan/) or sws (/sʊs/) and ‘to kiss’ is cusanu.
When I came across the word poc while looking for something else in the dictionary, it immediately reminded me of the Irish word for kiss – póg (/po:g/) and I assumed that they came from the same root. At first I thought the root was a ancient Celtic word, but have since discovered, via MacBain’s Dictionary, that both words come from the Latin pâcem, “the kiss of peace”, a part of the Mass.
There are similar words for kiss in the other Celtic languages: pòg in Scottish Gaelic, paag in Manx and pok in Breton.
September 15th, 2008 in
Breton, Irish, Language, Latin, Manx, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Words and phrases
I was reminded of “a peck on the cheek,” but it seems this would be just another addition to the already complex etymology and lexical web of “to pick” (choose, strike something, a pick, pick apart, pick up…) that “peck” leads back to according to most etymologies.
Fantastic pick for word of the day!
Just out of interest, in Catalan, poc means little/few:
Parles Catala? – do you speak Catalan?
Molt poc. – very little
Not to do with kissing though I suppose.
Jim
Waw, erioed wedi clywed am pocyn o’r blaen. Amser am atgyfodiad!
Tha sin inntinneach! Bith sinn ag radh pòg gu math tric!
Amser am atgyfodiad!
Resurrection? Don’t you mean re-sws-citation??! lol
Hwyl a “phocyn”?