Category: Music

Adventures in Etymology – Gather Together

By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we’re gathering together the good roots of the word gather.

A room full of polyglots

Gather [ˈɡæðə / ˈɡæðɚ] as a verb can mean to collect normally separate things; to harvest food; to accumulate over time; to congregate or assemble; to bring parts of a whole closer; or to infer or conclude.

As an noun, gather can mean a plait or fold in cloth, a blob of molten glass collected on the end of a blowpipe, or a gathering.

It comes from Middle English gaderen (to assemble, congregate), from Old English gaderian (to bring together, to gather), from Proto-West Germanic *gadurōn (to gather, bring together), from *gadur (together, gathered in one place), possibly from PIE *gʰódʰ-r̥, from *gʰedʰ- (to join, unite, suit) [source].

Words from the same roots include godzić (to reconcile, bring together) in Polish, hodit (to fit, suit, be appropriate) in Czech, guõdas (virtue, nobleness, glory, honour) in Lithuanian, goed (good, correct, right) in Dutch, and good and together in English [source].

Next week I’m off to the Polyglot Gathering in Brno in the Czech Republic, where language enthusiasts from all over the world will forgather and regather together to talk in and about languages. There may some woolgathering, but hopefully no misgathering, as we gather our thoughts and ourselves together.

  • to forgather = to assemble or gather together in one place, to gather up, to congregate
  • to regather = to gather again, to gather back together
  • woolgathering = the gathering of fragments of wool torn from sheep by bushes, etc. indulgence in idle fancies or daydreams
  • to misgather = to accumulate or assemble incorrectly, to infer or conclude incorrectly

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

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I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog.




Adventures in Etymology – Burning Torrents

By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we uncover the burning roots of the word torrent.

torrent

Torrent [ˈtɒɹənt / ˈtoɹənt] as a noun can mean a violent flow (as of water, lava, etc), a stream suddenly raised and running rapidly, or a large amount or stream of something.

As an adjective, torrent means rolling or rushing in a rapid stream, and as a verb it means to fall or flow in a torrent or to pour.

It comes from French torrent (a torrent), from Italian torrente (stream, creek, torrent), from Latin torrentem, from torrēns (scorching, burning, roasting), from torreō (to scorch, burn, parch, roast), from Proto-Italic *torzeō (to burn, scorch), from PIE *torséyeti (to make dry), from *ters- (dry) [source].

Words from the same roots include tir (land) in Welsh (and Cornish and Breton), tierra (earth, land, ground, soil) in Spanish, torr (dry, matter-of-fact, dull) in Swedish, turska (cod) in Finnish, and terrace, terrain, territory, thirst, toast, torrid in English [source].

Yorkshire Terrier

The terrier dog also gets its name from the same roots via Old French chien terrier (terrier dog) from chien (dog) and terrier (of earth), from Latin terra (dry land, ground, earth), ultimately from PIE *ters- (dry)[source].

The Mediterranean

The Mediterranean also gets part of its name from the same roots. It comes from Latin mediterrāneus (inland), from medius (middle),‎ terra (earth, land) and -āneus (adjectival suffix) source].

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog.




Adventures in Etymology – Frequently Crowded

By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we uncover the crowded roots of the word frequent.

The Shenzhen Eye of Gangxia North Station

Frequent [ˈfɹiː.kwənt] as an adjective can mean:

  • Done or occuring often – common, regular, recurring.
  • Occurring at short intervals – continual, steady.
  • Addicted to any course of conduct; inclined to indulge in any practice; habitual; persistent.

It used to mean full, crowded or thronged, or often or commonly reported, and as a verb to frequent [fɹɪˈkwɛnt] means to visit often.

It comes from Old French frequent (frequent, often), from Latin frequēns (crowded, filled with a multitude, frequent, repeated), from Proto-Italic *frekʷents, possibly from PIE *bʰrekʷ- (to condense, crowd together) [source].

Words from the same Latin roots include fréquent (frequent) in French, freqüent (frequent, often) in Catalan, frequente (frequent, common) in Portuguese, and frequency in English [source].

Words from the same PIE roots may include farcir (to stuff) in French, harter (to bore, tire, make fed up) in Spanish, hartzitu (to ferment) in Basque, and farce in English [source].

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog.




Adventures in Etymology – Entangled Perplexity

By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we untangle the perplexing roots of the word perplexity.

Perplexity

Perplexity [pəˈplɛksɪti / pəɹˈplɛksəti] is:

  • The state or quality of being perplexed (puzzled, confused, bewildered)
  • Something that perplexes.
  • (information theory) A measure of how well a probability distribution or model predicts a sample.

It comes from Middle English perplexite ([a state of] doubt, confusion), from Middle French perplexite (perplexed, uncertain), from Latin perplexitās (perplexity, state of bewilderment, obscurity), from perplexus (entangled, involved, intricate, confused, complicated), from per- (very) and plectēre (to weave, twist), from Proto-Italic *plektō, from PIE *pleḱ- (to fold, weave), from *pel- (to wrap) [source].

Words from the same roots include πλέκω (pléko – to knit, weave, tangle) in Greek, plést (to braid, plait, knit) in Czech, fläta (braid, plait) in Swedish, vlak (flat, place) in Dutch, and flax and flay in English [source].

The English suffix -plex, as in complex, duplex, multiplex, possibly comes from the same roots [source].

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog.




Omniglot News (19/04/26)

By Simon

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Omniglot News

Here’s the latest news from the world of Omniglot.

New language pages:

  • Metaʼ (Mɨta’), an Eastern Grassfields language spoken in the North West Region of Cameroon.
  • Romani Tatar (Romaní Tatarja), a Kipchak Turkic language spoken in northeast Bulgaria and southeast Romania.
  • Kedang (tutuq nanang wela), a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken on Lembata Island in East Nusa Tenggara in eastern Indonesia.
  • Waris, a Trans-New-Guinea language spoken in Sandaun Province of Papua New Guinea and Papua Province in Indonesia.

New numbers pages:

  • Waris, a Trans-New-Guinea language spoken in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
  • Oroqun, a Northern Tungusic language spoken in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang in northern China.

New constructed script: Urisaiyo, an alternative way to write Japanese, English and other languages created by Eteluptra.

Sample text in Urisayo in Japanese

New constructed script: Stylogic, a phonemic alphabet for English and other languages created by Richard Agnew.

Sample text in Stylogic

This week on the Omniglot blog we explore connections between the words nexus, annex(e) and connection in a post entitled A Nexus of Connections, and there’s the usual language quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in Guatemala.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Tawellemmet (Tawəlləmmət / ⵜⵓⵍⵎⵓⵜ / تَاوَلَّمَّتْ), a Southern Tuareg language spoken in Mali, Niger and Nigeria.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post about words for Dukes, duchesses are related things.

Here’s a little song I wrote recently called Reaching For The Sky inspired by idioms meaning to give up or quit such as ‘to throw in the towel’.

Unfortunately I didn’t get round to make a new Adventure in Etymology podcast this week as I was busy with other stuff, and I recorded this news a day early as I’ll be in London on Sunday (19th April) for a concert by the South Korean band Rolling Quartz (롤링쿼츠), which I’m very much looking forward to.

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100046466483286

JapanesePod101.com

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn and Podchaser.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.




Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Adventures in Etymology – Material Matters

By Simon

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This Adventure in Etymology uncovers the maternal and woody roots of the words material and matter.

Central, Hong Kong / 香港中環

Meanings of material include:

  • A basic matter from which the whole or the greater part of something physical is made.
  • Fabric, which can be made into a garments, etc, especially, woven fabric.
  • The elements, constituents or substance of which something is composed of or can be made of.

It comes from Middle English material (material, worldly), from Latin māteriālis (material – made of matter), from māteria (matter, material, substance, timber), from māter (mother, matron, woman), from PIE *méh₂tēr (mother) [source].

Words from the same roots include mattter, maternal, matrix, and mother in English, madre (mother) in Italian, matière (material, matter, subject) in French, madeira (wood) in Portuguese, motër (sister) in Albanian, and modryb (aunt) in Welsh [source].

Incidentally, in Old and Middle English, one word for material (and matter) was andweorc, which comes from and- (against, back, fully), and weorc (work, labour, pain) [source].

This is partially related to the Modern English word handiwork, which comes from Old English handġeweorc (manual labour, something made with the hands) [source].

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog.




Adventures in Etymology – Bloggery

By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology, we’re looking into bloggery and other blog-related words.

Omniglot blog - Adventures in the world of words and language - 20 years old

As this week marks the 20th anniversary, or blogiversary of the Omniglot Blog, which I started on 26th March 2006, I thought I’d explore some blog-related words.

Bloggery is the act or practice of writing a blog, or blogging

The word blog [blɒɡ / blɔɡ / blɑɡ] comes from weblog, and was coined by Peter Merholz in 1999 on his blog Peterme.com, on which he used the phrase we blog. Not long after, others starting used blog as a noun and a verb.

The word blogger was coined in 1999 by Evan Williams of Pyra Labs, who produced a online content management system called Blogger to help people create blogs.

The word weblog was coined on 17th December 1997 by Jorn Barger, an American blogger, and combines web, as in wordwide web and log, as in a ship’s log (a written record of a ship’s navigation and speed) [source].

The world of blogs is apparently known as the blogoverse, the blogosphere, the blogdom or blogland.

Within the blogoverse there are many types of blog, including the blahgs (dull or uninteresting blogs), splogs (fake blogs full of link spam), a.k.a. flogs or spam blogs, and even metablogs (blogs about blogs) [source].

Blog-related words are collectively known as blogspeak or blargon (jargon of the blogosphere), and ever since I started this blog, I’ve kept my eyes and ears open for bloggable words and expressions to blog and/or blogcast about.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog.




Adventures in Etymology – Holding It Together

By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology, we’re holding it together as we uncover the origins of the words content and content.

Contentment

As an adjective, content [kənˈtɛnt] means satisfied, pleased or contented, and as a noun, it can mean satisfaction, contentment or pleasure, or that which contents or satisfies. As a verb, to content means to give contentment or satisfaction to, to satisfy, or to make happy.

It comes from Middle English contenten [kɔnˈtɛntən] (to satisfy), from Old French contenter (to content, satisfy), from Latin contentus (contained, satisfied, enclosed), from contineō [kɔnˈtɪ.ne.oː] (to hold, keep, connect, contain), from con- (together) and teneō (to hold) [source].

A related word is content [ˈkɒn.tɛnt], which means that which is contained, subject matter, semantic information, or one or more creative works. This comes from the same roots as content, via Middle English content (things contained, contents), from Latin contentus etc [source].

Related words include contain, continent, continuous and countenance in English, contenir (to contain, hold) in French, contente (happy, content, satisfied) in Portuguese and continencia (continence, self-control) in Spanish [source].

Incidentally, the word contend [kənˈtɛnd] (to contest, dispute, quarrel) is not related to content or content even though it sounds similar. Instead, it comes from Middle English contenden (to engage in rivalry, compete), from Old French contendre, from Latin contendēre (to stretch out, strive after, contend), from con- (together) and tendere (to stretch) [source].

Related words include contention and contentious in English, contesa (quarrel, argument, dispute) in Italian, and cynnen (contention, discord) in Welsh [source].

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog.




Adventures in Etymology – Flowing Rhythms

By Simon

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What does the word rhythm have to do with flowing? Let’s find out in this Adventure in Etymology.

bodhran by the window

Meanings of rhythm [ˈɹɪð.m̩] include:

  • The variation of strong and weak elements (such as duration, accent) of sounds, notably in speech or music, over time; a beat or meter.
  • A specifically defined pattern of such variation.
  • A flow, repetition or regularity

It comes from Latin rhythmus [ˈrʰytʰ.mʊs] (rhythm), from Ancient Greek ῥῠθμός [r̥ytʰ.mós] (vibration, rhythm, measure, order, form), from Proto-Hellenic *hrutʰmós, from PIE *sru-dʰ-mo-s from *srew- (to flow, stream) [source].

Words from the same roots include catarrh, stream, rheumatism and rhyme / rime in English, ρέω (réo – to flow, run) in Greek, ritmo (rhythm, pace) in Spanish, strøm ([electrical] current, flow, stream) in Danish, srūti (to flow, stream, run) in Lithuanian, and sruth (stream, current, flow) in Irish [source].

The word logorrhea (excessive talkativeness, the excessive use of words in writing; excessive and often uncontrollable speaking due to a mental disorder) also comes from the same roots. It’s made up of logo- (word speech) and -rrhea (flowing), and was possibly modelled on verbal diarrhea – diarrhea also comes from the same roots [source].

Part of the word maelstrom (a large and violent whirlpool, a chaotic or turbulent situation) is also related. It comes from Dutch maelstrom (whirlpool), ultimately from PIE *melh₂- (to crush, grind) and *srew- (to flow, stream) [source].

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog.




Adventures in Etymology – Plain Planes

By Simon

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Are the words plain, plane and plan related? Let’s find out in this Adventure in Etymology.

Cheshire Plains

Plain [pleɪn] as an adjective can mean:

  • Simple, unaltered, ordinary, unsophisticated.
  • Obvious, evident.
  • Open, honest, candid.
  • Unattractive
  • Flat, level (rare, regional)

It comes from Middle English pleyn (clear, unambiguous), from Anglo-Norman pleyn (plain), from Old French plain (plain [flat area]), from Latin plānus (level, flat, even, intelligible, clear), from Proto-Italic *plānos, from PIE *pleh₂-no-s (flattened) from *pleh₂- (flat) [source].

As a noun, plain can mean:

  • An expanse of land with relatively low relief and few trees, especially a grassy expanse.
  • A broad, flat expanse in general, as of water.

This comes from the same roots as the adjective plain, but directly from Old French plain [source].

Words from the same roots include plane (flat surface), explain, plan, palm, piano, floor, flat and maybe plant and field in English, plan (map, plane, plan) in French, llano (even, flat, level, plain) in Spanish, flor (thin, transparent fabric) in Swedish, and llawr (floor, deck, stage, platform, cellar, ground) in Welsh [source].

The word clan (a group of people all descended from a common ancestor; a traditional social group of families in the Scottish Highlands having a common hereditary chieftain) possibly comes from the same roots via Irish clann (children, clan) or Scottish Gaelic clann (children, clan, tribe), both of which are from Old Irish cland (children, family, plant), from Old Welsh plant (children), from Latin planta (shoot, offspring), from PIE *pleh₂- (flat).

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog.