Dog Days

What does the word canicule have to do with heat waves and dogs? Let’s find out.

Canicule

In French, canicule [ka.ni.kyl] refers to a heat wave or hot spell, the dog days of summer, or Sirius (Canis Major / the Dog Star). A heat wave is also known as une vague de chaleur. In English, it’s an old word for dog days. It comes from Latin canīcula (puppy), from canis (dog, hound), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ (dog) [source].

Related words include caniculaire (scorching), chenille (caterpiller), chien (dog) and chiot (puppy) in French, and canine (of or pertaining to a dog), cynophile (a dog lover) and kennel (a dog house) in English.

What are the dog days (of summer)?

  • (archaic) The days following the heliacal rising of Sirius, now in early August at dates varying by latitude.
  • The unpleasantly hot days of late summer.
  • Any similar period of inactivity, laziness, or stagnation.

Dog Days of Summer

The expression dog days is a calque of Latin diēs caniculārēs (puppy days), a calque of Ancient Greek κυνάδες ἡμέραι (kunádes hēmérai – dog days). The return of Sirius to the night sky (its heliacal rising), occurred in antiquity around 25th July in Athens and 29th July in Rome, and was considered by the Greeks and Romans to herald what were considered the hottest, least healthy, and least lucky days of summer [source].

Dogwalk in the rain

Bad weather is also associated with dogs in French: temps de chien (‘dog weather’) means bad, filthy, dreadful or awful weather. Similar associations are made in Italian: tempo da cani (‘dog weather’ – bad or rotten weather); German: Hundewetter (‘dog weather’ – bad weather), and Dutch: hondenweer (‘dog weather’ – particularly bad or rough weather, the kind of weather when it is raining cats and dogs) [source]. In Welsh, unsettled weather is tywydd llwynog (‘fox weather’) [source].

Is bad weather associated with dogs, or other canines, in other languages?

Incidentally, the letter R was known as littera canīna (‘dog’s letter’) in Latin because its trilled pronunciation sounds a bit like a dog [source].

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Calm Heat

The word calm seems to a cool and collected kind word, but it possibly has roots related to heat or burning. Let’s find out more.

Afon Cegin, Porth Penrhyn

Calm is [kɑːm / kɑm] means:

  • Peaceful, quiet, especialy free from anger and anxiety
  • Free of noise and disturbance
  • With few or no waves on the surface (of water)
  • Without wind of storm (of weather)

It comes from Middle English calm(e) (calm), from Middle French calme (calm, still, windless), probably from Old Italian calma (calm, stillness, peacefulness), possibly from Late Latin cauma (heat [of the midday sun]), from Ancient Greek καῦμα (kaûma – heat, especially of the sun), from καίω (kaío – to light, burn, cause to be extremely cold); or possibly from Latin caleō (to be warm, heat, glow), from Proto-Germanic *kalmaz (coldness, freeze, frost), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (to be cold, to freeze) [source].

Other words from the same roots include cold, chill, cool, gel and jelly in English, koud (cold) in Dutch, kalt (cold, chilly, calm, restrained) in German, gelato (icy, frozen, very cold, ice cream) in Italian, and kylmä (cold, level, sensible) in Finnish [source].

In Old English, the word smylte was used to mean calm, and also quiet, tranquil and serene. This became smilte, smolt (quiet, still, gentle) in Middle English, and may be related to the modern English word smolt (a young salmon two or three years old) [source].

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON

Incidentally, the famous poster featuring the slogan “Keep Calm and Carry On” (see above), was produced by the Ministry of Information of UK government in 1939 in preparation for World War II. It was intended to raise the morale of the British public, and while 2.45 million copies were printed, in was never officially released, and most posters were pulped in 1940. A few did make it into the wild, and the poster became famous when a copy was rediscovered at a bookshop in Alnwick in the northeast of England in 2000 [source].

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Bloody Pencils

One Italian word that I learnt recently is matita, which means pencil, but looks nothing like words for pencil in other languages I know, so I wondered where it comes from.

Maita [maˈti.ta] comes from ematite (haematite), from Latin (lapis) haematites (‘haematite (stone)’, a red-coloured gem), from Ancient Greek αἱματίτης (haimatítēs – bloodlike), from αἷμα (haîma – blood, race, stock, kin) [source]. It has been borrowed into Armenian as մատիտ (matit – pencil) [source].

Words from the same roots include αίμα (aíma – blood) in Greek, words beginning with haem(o)- in English, such as haemocyte (a blood cell), haemopathy (any disorder or disease of the blood), haemorrhage (a heavy release of blood within or from the body), and emoteca (blood bank) in Italian [source].

Hematite

Haematite / Hematite (Fe₂O₃) is a kind of iron oxide, is found in rocks and soils in many places. It occurs naturally in such colours as black, sliver-grey, brown, reddish-brown and red, and rods of haematite were once used as pencils. It is also used to make jewellery and other art.

Ochre, a clay containing varying amounts of haematite, which give it a red, brown, yellow or purple colour, has been used as a pigment in decoration, drawing and writing for a very long time. The earliest known examples of human use were found at the Pinnacle Point caves in South Africa, and date from about 164,000 years ago.

Incidentally, ochre comes from Old French ocre, from Latin ōchra (ochre, yellow earth), from Ancient Greek ὤχρα (ṓkhra – yellow ochre), from ὠχρός (ōkhrós pale, sallow, wan) [source].

More information about haematite and ochre:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematite
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ochre

Lapis Lazuli, Polished Stones

Another word for pencil in Italian is lapis, which also means sanguine (blood-red, blood-coloured), and comes from Latin lapis (haematites) ((haematite) stone), from Proto-Italic *lapets (stone). Related words in other languages include llapis (pencil) in Catalan, lapes (pencil) in Maltese, lápiz (pencil) in Spanish, and lapidary (a person who cuts and polishes, engraves, or deals in gems and precious stones), and lapis lazuli (a deep-blue stone used in jewellery [see above], and to make pigment) in English [source].

You can find out about the origins of the English word pencil in the post Pens and Pencils.

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Little Dishes

Is the word plateau related to plate, platypus, plaza, pizza, place, flat and fold? Or is one of these words an odd one out? Let’s investigate.

Vercors

Plateau [ˈplætəʊ / plæˈtoʊ] means:

  • A largely level expanse of land at a high elevation; tableland.
  • A comparatively stable level after a period of increase.
  • A notable level of attainment or achievement.
  • To reach a stable level after a period of increase; to level off.

It comes from French plateau (flat area, tray, plateau, stage, (TV) set, chain-ring), from plat (flat, flat area of ground, flat thing, a dish or course) [source] and the diminutive ending -eau, which can also be added to words like éléphant and zèbre to make éléphanteau (a young [male] elephant, calf) and zébreau (young zebra) [source].

Plat comes from Middle French plat (flat), from Old French plat (flat, a footbridge), from Vulgar Latin *plattus (flattened), from Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús – broad, flat), from Proto-Hellenic *plətús, from Proto-Indo-European *pléth₂us (flat, broad), from *pleth₂- (to spread, to extend, flat) [source].

Plate, platypus, plaza, place, flat and fold all probably come from the same roots, as do pit(t)a (bread), piazza, flan, field, plantain, and the name Plato [source].

The odd one out is pizza, which was borrowed from Neapolitan pizza, which comes from Byzantine Greek πίτα (píta – cake, pie), the origins of which are uncertain. Words from the same roots include пита (pita – round loaf, cake, pie, honeycomb) in Bulgarian, pită (bread, sustenance) in Romanian, pite (pie, tart) in Hungarian, and pide (traditional Turkish flatbread, Turkish pizza) in Turkish [source].

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Hydraulic Plumbers

A lot of the words in Italian are similar to words in Spanish, French or other Romance languages I know, but quite often I come across a word that doesn’t seem familiar at all. For example, idraulico (plumber) – a bit different from plombier in French, plomero in Spanish.

Idraulico Livorno

Idraulico [iˈdraw.li.ko] means plumber, plumbing or hydraulic in Italian. It comes from Latin hydraulicus, from Ancient Greek ὑδραυλικός (hudraulikós – of a water organ), from ὕδραυλις (húdraulis – water organ), from ὕδωρ (húdōr – water) and‎ αὐλός (aulós – pipe) [source].

Words from the same roots include hydraulic, hydrate and hydrofoil in English, hydraulique (hydraulic) in French, and υδραυλικός (ydravlikós – plumber, hydraulic engineer, hydraulic) in Greek, hydraulik (plumber) in Polish [source].

The French word plombier (plumber, plumbing), the Spanish word plomero (plumber, plumbing), and the English words plumber and plumbing, all come from Latin plumbārius (plumber, of or pertaining to lead), from plumbum (lead [metal], pipe of lead), possibly from Ancient Greek μόλυβδος (mólubdos – lead), or from Proto-Celtic *ɸloudom (lead) [source].

Related words from the same roots include piombo (lead, grey, bullet), piombino ([lead] seal, sinker [weight], plummet) in Italian, plomb (lead [metal], fuse, sinker [fishing weight]) in French, Plombe (seal, lead seal [dental] filling) in German, and plwm (lead, leaden) in Welsh [source].

The Spanish word plomero is used for plumber in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Uruguay. Other Spanish words for plumber include: fontanero in Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, gásfiter in Chile, gasfitero in Ecuador and Peru, and tubero in the Philippines [source].

Are there interesting words for plumber in other languages?

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Pasting Meals

The Italian words pasto and pasta look and sound similar, but are they related? Let’s find out.

ristorante italiano in NYC

Pasto [ˈpa.sto] means meal, and comes from Latin pāstus (fed, nourished, consumed, pastured, satiated, satisfied), from pāscor (to feed oneself, to eat, graze, feed, nourish, pasture, browse, from Proto-Italiac *pāskōr (I am fed, driven to pasture) from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (to protect, ward, shepherd) [source].

Words from the same roots include feed, fodder, food, pasture and repast in English, paître (to graze), repas (meal), and possibly pain (bread) in French, pascere (to graze) in Italian, and pasto (pasture, lawn, grass) in Spanish [source].

Pasta

Pasta [ˈpa.sta] in Italian means dough, pastry, pasta, cake or paste, and can also refer to the nature or mo(u)ld of a person, e.g. sone tutt’e due delle stessa pasta = they’re both cast from the same mo(u)ld [source].

Here are some examples of how the word pasta is used in Italian:

  • pasta in brodo = noodle soup
  • pasta fatta in casa = home-made pasta
  • pasta frolla = shortcrust pastry
  • pasta sfoglia = puff pastry
  • pasta all’uovo = egg pasta
  • pasta dentifricia = toothpaste
  • pasta di mandorle = almond paste

It comes from Late Latin pasta (paste, pasta), from Ancient Greek παστά (pastá – barley porridge), from παστός (pastós – sprinkled with salt), from πάσσω (pássō – to sprinkle), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷeh₁t- (to shake).

Words from the same roots include παστός (pastós – salted, preserved with salt, corned) in Greek, quash (to defeat decisively, suppress, void) in English, quassare (to shake, agitate) in Italian, casser (to break) in French, and , cascar (to crack, split) in Spanish [source].

In British English, pasta refers to Italian pasta, that is, dough made from wheat and water and sometimes mixed with egg and formed into various shapes; often sold in dried form and typically boiled for eating [source]. Types of Italian pasta include calamarata, cannelloni, farfalle, fettuccine, fusilli, gnocchi, lasagne, linguine, macaroni, orecchie d’asini, orecchiette, penne, radiatori, spaghetti, tagliatelle, tortellini, vesuvio, and vermicelli [source].

One of those types of pasta I made up. Do you know which one?

In American English, the word noodle(s) apparently can refer both to Italian pasta, and Asia noodles, while in the UK, noodle(s) normally only refers to Asia noodles, such as Japanese ramen. What about in other varieties of English?

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Swords & Spades

What links the word epee (a type of sword) with the word spade? Let’s find out.

Tarheel Cup Epee Team Event 2011

An epee / épée is a sharp-pointed duelling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing (pictured above).

The word comes from French épée (sword, glaive), from Middle French espee (sword), from Old French espee (sword), from Latin spatha (spatula, spattle, a long two-edged, straight sword typically carried by Roman cavalry officers, batten, a kind of tree), from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē – any broad blade, of wood or metal), from Proto-Hellenic *spátʰā (blade), from Proto-Indo-European *sph₂-dʰh₁-éh₂, from *(s)peh₂- (to draw) + *dʰeh₁- (to do, put) + *-eh₂ (a feminine ending) [source].

The Proto-Germanic word spadô (spade) comes from the same PIE roots, and from that we get words like spade in English, spade (spade) in Dutch, Spaten (spade, idiot) in German, spade (shovel, spade) in Swedish, and spaði (a small shovel, spade, paddle, racket) in Icelandic [source].

The Greek word σπαθί (sword, club [in cards]) comes from the same Ancient Greek root, as does the Bulgarian word спатия (spatíja – suit of clubs), which was borrowed from Greek [source].

Other words from the same Latin root (spatha) include spatula in English, épaule (shoulder) and spatule (spatula, spoonbill) in French, spada (sword, epee) in Italian, espasa (sword, epee) in Catalan, espada (sword, epee) and espalda (back, backstroke) in Spanish, and ezpata (sword) in Basque. The words for sword all refer to the suit of clubs in cards in the plural [source].

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Mermaid Sirens

What’s the difference between a mermaid and a siren? Let’s find out.

Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Plut.40.52 (L'Acerba etas), folio 43v

Last night at the French conversation group, we were discussing mermaids and sirens, as you do, and discovered that in French, they are both referred to as sirènes. This got me wondering what the differences are between them, if any.

According to Wikipedia, a mermaid is “an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish.” They appear in stories from Europe, Asia and Africa, and are sometimes associated with floods, storms, shipwrecks and drownings, although they may also bring benefits and bestow boons on humans.

Their male equivalent is the merman, who appear less often in folklore, and they’re collectively known as merfolk or merpeople

The word mermaid comes from Middle English mermayde (maid of the sea), from mere (sea, lake) and mayde (young woman) [source].

Sirens first appear in Homer’s Odyssey, which was written in about the 8th century BC(E). The Sirens are described in these passages:

First you will come to the Sirens who enchant all who come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too close and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will never welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble him to death with the sweetness of their song.

That is the Island of the Sirens. Circe warned me to steer clear of it, for the Sirens are beautiful but deadly.

They sit beside the ocean, combing their long golden hair and singing to passing sailors. But anyone who hears their song is bewitched by its sweetness, and they are drawn to that island like iron to a magnet. And their ship smashes upon rocks as sharp as spears. And those sailors join the many victims of the Sirens in a meadow filled with skeletons.

To Odysseus, who got his crew to tie him to the mast of his ship, the Sirens sounded and looked beautiful, but to his crew, who blocked their ears with beeswax, they looked like monsters with vicious claws. They are described in later works as large birds with the women’s heads, or part woman part bird. Originally, there were also male sirens, but they disappear from art works after the fifth century BC(E).

There are some Ancient Greek depictions of sirens are half woman half fish, like mermaids, and images from Medieval times often show them as mermaid like, although sometimes with wings and clawed feet like birds.

The word siren [ˈsaɪɹən] can also refer to:

  • One who sings sweetly and charms.
  • A dangerously seductive woman.
  • A member of Sirenia, an order of mammals.
  • A member of a genus of aquatic salamanders of the family Sirenidae.
  • Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Hestina.
  • A device, either mechanical or electronic, that makes a piercingly loud sound as an alarm or signal, or the sound from such a device.

Other meanings are available.

It comes from Middle English siren (a mermaid whose song lures sailors to shipwreck; a mythical flying serpent of Arabia) [source], from Old French sereine (Siren), and Latin Sīrēn(a) (a siren, one of the mythical birds with faces of virgins, that dwelt on the southern coast of Italy, where, with their sweet voices, they enticed ashore those who were sailing by, and then killed them), from Ancient Greek Σειρήν (Seirḗn – siren, perhaps originally entangler or binder), from σειρά (seirá – rope, cord), from Proto-Indo-European *twerH- (to grab, seize, enclose) [source]

More information about sirens:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siren_(mythology)
https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/myths/odysseus-and-the-sirens/

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Paper Cards

The word carta means paper in Italian, but letter in Spanish. It has other meanings, and this post finds out more.

Carte

Carta [ˈkar.ta] in Italian means such things as:

  • paper or charter, e.g. un foglio di carta (a sheet of paper), carta igienica (toilet paper), carta da lettere (writing paper), carta da regalo (wrapping paper), carta lucida (tracing paper), carta da parati (wallpaper)
  • papers / documents (in the plural – carte)
  • card, e.g. carta di credito (credit card), carta d’indentità (identity card), dare le carte (to deal the cards), mettere le carte in tavola (to lay one’s cards on the table)
  • menu / list, e.g. alla carta (à la carte), carta dei vini (wine list)
  • map, e.g. carta geografica (map), carta automobilistica / stradale (road map), [source].

Carta [ˈkaɾta] in Spanish can mean:

  • letter, e.g. carta de amor (love letter), carta adjunta (covering letter), carta de dimisión (letter of resignation), carta de presentación (letter of introduction)
  • card(s), e.g. una baraja de cartas (a pack of cards), jugar a las cartas (to play cards)
  • map / chart / plan, e.g. carta acotada (contour map), carta astral (star chart), carta meteorológica (weather chart/map), carta de navegación (flight plan)
  • menu / list, e.g. a la carta (à la carte), carta de vinos (wine list) [source].

It has similar meanings in the other Romance languages, and comes from Latin charta (papyrus, paper, a piece of writing, letter, poem. charter) from Ancient Greek χάρτης (khártēs – paper, book), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- (to scratch) [source].

Words from the same roots include card, chart and charter in English, hartă (map), hârtie (paper), cartă (charter) and carte (book, card) in Romanian, Karte (card, map, chart, menu, ticket) in German, כַּרְטִיס (kartís – card, ticket) in Hebrew, ქარტეზი (karṭezi – certificate) in Georgian, and քարտ (kʻart – [playing] card) in Armenian [source].

Incidentally, another word for card in Spanish is tarjeta [taɾˈxeta], as in tarjeta de crédito (credit card). It is a diminutive of tarja [ˈtaɾxa] (tally [stick], plaque, plate, shield), which comes from French targe [taʁʒ] (targe [a small shield], buckler [a kind of shield]), from Middle French targe (round shield, targe), from Old French targe (buckler), from Frankish *targa (buckler), probably from Old Norse targa (small round shield), from Proto-Germanic *targǭ (edge), from Proto-Indo-European *derǵʰ- (fenced lot) or *dergʰ- (to catch, grasp) [source].

Related words in other languages include targe and target in English, Zarge (frame, border) in German, targhetta (label, tag, sticker, name plate) in Italian, and tarcza (shielf, target, clock face) in Polish [source].

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Kitchen Fruit

Is the word kitchen related to the words apricot, pumpkin and melon? Let’s find out.

My kitchen / Fy nghegin
This is my current kitchen, which will soon be replaced with a new one, that I bought this week.

Kitchen [ˈkɪtʃ(ɪ)n / ˈkɪtʃ(ə)n] comes from Middle English kichen(e), from Old English cyċene (kitchen), from Proto-West Germanic *kukinā (kitchen), from Late Latin cocīna (kitchen), from coquīna (cooking, kitchen, cookery), from coquō (to cook, ripen), from earlier *quoquō, from Proto-Italic *kʷekʷō (to cook), from Proto-Indo-European *pékʷeti (to be cooking, to ripen), from *pekʷ- (to cook, ripen) [source].

Apricots

Apricot was originally apricock in English, from Catalan abrecoc / abricoc (apricot), from Arabic الْبَرْقُوق (al-barqūq – plums), from Byzantine Greek βερικοκκία (berikokkía – apricot tree), from Ancient Greek πραικόκιον (praikókion – apricot), from Late Latin (persica) praecocia (“(peaches) which ripen early”), from praecox (ripe before its time, premature, precocious, untimely), from prae- (before) and coquō (to cook, ripen), from Proto-Italic *kʷekʷō (to cook), from PIE *pékʷeti (to be cooking, to ripen), from *pekʷ- (to cook, ripen) [source].

Pumpkins!

Pumpkin comes from Middle French pompon (melon, cucumber), from Latin pepō (pumpkin, large melon), from Ancient Greek πέπων (pépōn – large melon), from πέπων (pépōn – ripe), from πέπτω (péptō – ripen), an alternative form of πέσσω (péssō – to soften, ripen, boil, cook, bake), from Proto-Hellenic *péťťō (to cook, ripen), from PIE *pékʷ-ye-, from *pekʷ- (to cook, ripen) [source].

Melons

Melon comes from Middle English melo(u)n (melon), from Old French melon (melon), from Late Latin melonem (melon), from Latin melopeponem, from Ancient Greek μηλοπέπων (mēlopépōn – melon), from μῆλον (mêlon – apple, any fruit from a tree) + πέπων (pépōn – ripe) from PIE *pékʷonts (cooking, ripening), from *pekʷ- (to cook, ripen) [source].

So parts of them at least share a common root: PIE *pekʷ- (to cook, ripen).

Other words from the same root include biscuit, concoct, cook, cuisine, dyspepsia (indigestion) and precocious in English; keuken (kitchen, cuisine), kok (cook, chef) and koken (to cook, boil, seethe) in Dutch; and cegin (kitchen), cogydd(es) (cook), pobi (to bake, roast), poeth (hot, spicy) and popty (oven, bakery) in Welsh [source].

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