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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Feeling Whelmed

You can be overwhelmed and underwhelmed, but can you just be whelmed?

Overwhelmed

Overwhelmed comes from the verb to overwhelm, which means to engulf, surge over, submerge, overpower (emotionally), crush, cause to surround or to cover. So when you feel overwhelmed, you might feel crushed, overpowered or engulfed by everything [source].

Underwhelmed comes from to underwhelm, which means to fail to impress or perform disappointingly. It was coined in the 1950s as a humorous negation of overwhelm. I hope you won’t be too underwhelmed by this blog post. [source].

Both to overwhelm and to underwhelm come from to whelm, an old word that means to bury, cover, engulf, submerge, ruin, destroy or overcome with emotion. As a noun, whelm means a surge of water or a wooden drainpipe. They come from Middle English whelmen (to turn over, capsize, invert, turn upside down), perhaps from Old English *hwealmnian, a variant of *hwealfnian, from hwealf (arched, concave, vaulted), from Proto-West Germanic *hwalb, from Proto-Germanic *hwalbą (arch, vault), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelp- (to curve) [source].

Related words include unwhelm (to raise (sb) up from under something that has overwhelmed them), and whelming (something that covers or submerges).

Words from the same roots include gulf in English, Walm (bevelled roof, particularly if triangular and in a gable) in German, welven (to arch, bend like an arch, be shaped like an arch) in Dutch, valv (vault, arch) in Swedish, and cupla (fault, guilt, blame) in Spanish [source].

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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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Paved Floors

The Italian word pavimento looks like the English word pavement, but actually means floor. Let’s find out more.

Regarde où tu marches !

Pavimento [pa.viˈmen.to] comes from Latin pavīmentum (a floor composed of small stones beaten down) from paviō (to beat, strike, ram, tread down), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (to strike, hit) [source].

Related words in Latin include pavīmentārius (floor-maker, who makes the tiled ground), pavīmentō (to pave) and pavīcula (a rammer) [source].

Related words in Italian include pavimentare (to floor, to pave) and pavimentazione (flooring, paving).

Words from the same Latin / PIE roots in other languages include paviment (flooring, pavement) in Catalan, pavement and to pave in English, palmant (pavement) in Welsh, pavement (paving, tiled floor) and paver (to cobble, pave [Canada]) in French, pământ (earth, ground, land) in Romanian, pavimento (road surface, paving) in Spanish, and pļaut (to mow, reap, shoot intensively) in Latvian [source].

Amlwch

The English word pavement can refer to:

  • A paved surface; a hard covering on the ground.
  • A paved path, for the use of pedestrians, located at the side of a road (mainly in the UK, Ireland and South Africa) – known as a sidewalk in North America, a banquette in Louisiana and Texas in the USA, and as a footpath in Australia, New Zealand and India
  • A paving (paved part) of a road or other thoroughfare; the roadway or road surface. (mainly in North America)
  • The paved part of an area other than a road or sidewalk, such as a cobblestone plaza, asphalt schoolyard or playground, or parking lot. (mainly in North America)
  • The interior flooring of a church sanctuary, between the communion rail and the altar. [source].

Pavements / sidewalks have been around for a many thousands of years. There were pavements in Ancient Greece and Rome, for example, and the Romans called them sēmite (narrow way, footpath, path, pathway) [source], which comes from PIE *swé(d) (by oneself, away, without) + *mey- ((ex)change). Words from the same roots include senda (footpath) in Catalan, sente (footpath, track, trail) in French, and senda (footpath) in Spanish [source].

Are there other words for pavement / sidewalk in English?

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Kaput Capes

What does the word kaput have to do with words like cape, chapter and cap? Let’s find out.

KAPUTT

Kaput [kəˈpʊt] refers to something that is out of order or not working in English. It was borrowed from German kaputt (destroyed, broken, out of order, tired, exhausted), which comes from the French phrase être capot (not having won any trick in a card game). The origin of this phrase is uncertain, but capot (bonnet, hood) comes from Old French capote (hooded cloak) a diminutive of cape (cape), from Late Latin cappa (cape, cloak), possibly from Latin capitulāre (head tax, poll tax), from caput (head, top, summit, point, end), from Proto-Italic *kaput (head), from Proto-Indo-European *káput- (head), from *kap (head, bowl, cup) [source].

Beach next to Cape of good hope

Cape, as in a sleeveless garment or part of a garment, hanging from the neck over the back, arms, and shoulders, comes from French cape (cape), from Old Occitan capa, from Late Latin cappa (cape, cloak), ultimately from PIE *káput- (head) – see above. Cape, as in a promontory or headland, comes from the same roots, via Middle English cape, Old French cap (cape, headland) and Latin caput (head, top, etc) [source].

Chapter I...Down The Rabbit Hole

Chapter (one of the main sections into which the text of a book is divided) comes from Middle English chapitre (chapter, passage, section of a book), from Old French chapitre (chapter), from Latin capitulum (a chapter of a book), a diminutive of caput (head, top, etc) [source].

Happy Truck Day!

Cap (a close-fitting hat, either brimless or peaked) comes from Middle English cappe (cap, hat), from Old English cæppe (hat, hood), from Proto-West Germanic *kappā (covering, hood, mantle), from Late Latin cappa (cape, cloak), from Latin caput (head, top, etc) [source].

So they all share a common root, the PIE *káput- (head) and arrived in modern English by various different routes.

Other words from the same root include cadet, capital and captain, chef, chief(tain) and head in English; hoofd (head, chief, boss) in Dutch; huvud (head) in Swedish; capo (head, boss, chief, leader) in Italian; cadeau (present, gift) in French, and capăt (termination, end, extremity) in Romanian [source].

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Language Quiz

Language quiz image

Here’s a recording in a mystery language.

Do you know, or can you guess, the language?

If you need a clue, listen to or read the Omniglot News on Radio Omniglot.

These quizzes are normally published every Sunday, and the answers are given the following Saturday here in the comments.

Language Quiz

Language quiz image

Here’s a recording in a mystery language.

Do you know, or can you guess, the language?

If you need a clue, listen to or read the Omniglot News on Radio Omniglot.

These quizzes are normally published every Sunday, and the answers are given the following Saturday here in the comments.

Hire & Rent

In English, you might say that you rent a house or a flat (apartment), but you hire a car or a boat. These words have similar meanings, but might be used slightly differently.

Rent

Rent [ɹɛnt] means

  • A payment made by a tenant at intervals in order to lease a property.
  • A similar payment for the use of a product, equipment or a service.
  • A profit from possession of a valuable right, as a restricted licence to engage in a trade or business.
  • To take a lease of premises in exchange for rent.
  • To grant a lease in return for rent.
  • To obtain or have temporary possession of an object (e.g. a movie) in exchange for money.

It comes from Middle English rent(e) (rent, income, revenue), from Old French rente (income), from Early Medieval Latin rendita (revenue, income), from Late Latin rendere (to give back), from Latin reddere (to give back, return, restore, deliver, provide) [source].

Hire [haɪə / ˈhaɪ.ɚ] as a noun means

  • A person who has been hired, especially in a cohort.
  • The state of being hired, or having a job; employment.
  • Payment for the temporary use of something.

It comes from Middle English hire/hyre (one’s salary, wages, a reward, recompense, payment, charge), from Old English hȳr (employment for wages, pay for service, interest on money lent), from Proto-West-Germanic *hūʀiju (payment, hire, interest), from *hūʀijan (to hire, pay), from Proto-Germanic *hūzijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *kewHs- (to pay, hire) [source].

Hire as a verb means:

  • To obtain the services of in return for fixed payment. (chiefly UK)
  • To occupy premises in exchange for rent. (chiefly UK)
  • To employ; to obtain the services of (a person) in exchange for remuneration; to give someone a job.
  • To exchange the services of for remuneration.

It comes from Middle English hiren/hyren (to hire, pay, accept employment), from Old English hȳrian (to hire) from hȳr (see above) [source].

So it seems that they can both be used to refer to payment for temporary or short-term use of something, and for longer term use. How would you use them?

I’m in the fortunate position of owning my own home, so don’t need to worry about paying rent. I don’t own a car, but if I needed one, I would hire one. If I needed some extra income, and/or wanted some company, I could rent out a room in my house. Last night was Halloween, and I saw a lot of people out and about in costumes that they might have hired.

Are there different words for short- and long-term hiring / renting in other languages?

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Hat Tricks

A hat trick usually involves achieving three things in a row, and has little or nothing to do with hats. So where does this expression come from?

hat-trick

A hat trick (also written hat-trick or hattrick) can refer to

  • Any magic trick performed with a hat, especially one involving pulling an object (traditionally a rabbit) out of an apparently empty hat.
  • (sport) Three achievements in a single game, competition, season, etc., such as three consecutive wins, one player scoring three goals in football or ice hockey), or a player scoring three tries in rugby
  • Three achievements or incidents that occur together, usually within a certain period of time. For example, selling three cars in a day
  • Historically, it referred to a means of securing a seat in the (UK) House of Commons by a Member of Parliament placing their hat upon it during an absence.

The sporting senses of the expression come from cricket – in the past, a bowler who took three wickets in three consecutive balls would be presented with a commemorative hat as a prize. It was first used in this sense in 1858, when H. H. Stephenson (1833-1896) achieved such as feat in a game of cricket at Hyde Park in Sheffield. On that occasion, fans held a collection and presented Stephenson with a hat, or possibly a cap – I like to think it was a bowler hat, but haven’t been able to confirm this.

So in the magical sense, the sporting sense, and the political sense, hats were originally involved.

Hat trick has been borrowed into many languages. In Czech, Danish, Dutch, Faroese and Swedish it’s hattrick. In Portuguese, Romanian, Slovenian and Vietnamese it’s hat-trick, in German it’s Hattrick, in Japanese it’s ハットトリック (hatto torikku), in Korean it’s 해트트릭 (haeteuteurik), and in Greek it’s χατ τρικ (khat trik).

In Welsh, it’s hat-tric, camp lawn (in rugby and football), or trithro (in cricket). Camp means feat, exploit, accomplishment, achievement, game, sport, etc., and llawn means full, complet, whole, etc., so camp lawn could be translated literally as “a full feat”. Trithro also means three turns, three times or three occasions, and comes from tri (three) and tro (rotation, turn, lap, etc).

Are there interesting expressions in other languages with similar meanings?

Incidentally, the practise of awarding people caps for representing a team in a particular sport comes from the UK as well. In the early days of rugby and football, players on each side didn’t necessarily all wear matching shirts, and they started wearing specific caps to show which team they were on. From 1886, it was proposed that all players taking part for England in international matches would be presented with a white silk cap with red rose embroidered on the front. These were known as International Caps. This practise spread to other sports, although the caps in question are often imaginary rather than real.

Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hat_trick#English
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hat-trick
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Stephenson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap_(sport)

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Language Quiz

Language quiz image

Here’s a recording in a mystery language.

Do you know, or can you guess, the language?

If you need a clue, listen to or read the Omniglot News on Radio Omniglot.

These quizzes are normally published every Sunday, and the answers are given the following Saturday here in the comments.