Word Origins
Dedicated to finding real origins of words in several languages
Edition 5
absent without leave (AWOL)
Origins
German ab ‘away’, ‘down’
Latin ab ‘away’, ‘off’
Indian Sanskrit stha ‘remain’, ‘stay’
Indian Sanskrit vina ‘without’
Mechanism
ab + Indian Sanskrit stha = English abstain ‘stay away’
abstain leads into absentIndian Sanskrit vinaa becomes English without
absinth/absinthe
strong liqueur
Origin
Arabic afsinteen
absolute alcohol
Ethyl alcohol with less than 1% water by weight
Origins
English absolute ‘complete’, ‘perfect’
Arabic al ‘the’
Indian Tamil kall ‘vineous liqueur’
Mechanism
Arabic al + Indian Tamil kall = German der Alkohol, English alcoholEnglish absolute + Arabic al + Indian Tamil kall = English absolute alcohol
absolute magnitude
astronomical term for magnitude of stars
Origins
English absolute ‘complete’, ‘perfect’
Indian Tamil makaa ‘big’
Mechanism
One Indian Tamil consonant has both k and g sounds.
Thus Indian Tamil makaa becomes Latin and English mega.
magnitude derives from mega.
English absolute + magnitude (from Indian Tamil makaa) = English absolute magnitude
Similarities between Indian Tamil and German sound pronounciations
One Indian Tamil consonant has both k and g sounds.
One Indian Tamil consonant has both t and d sounds.
German follows the same practice.
.
German der Tag ‘day’ is pronounced as der Taak
German rund ’round’ (from Indian Tamil undai ‘sphere’) is pronounced as runt.
absolute majority
Origins
English absolute ‘complete’, ‘perfect’
Indian Tamil makaa ‘big’
Mechanism
Indian Tamil consonant sound k becomes h sound in other languages.
Eg: Indian Tamil mukam ‘face’, Indian Sanskrit mukham ‘face’, Indian Hindi/Urdu muh ‘face’, Arabic muhayyam ‘face’
Indian Tamil vikkal ‘cough’, Greek viho ‘cough’
Spanish g and j have h sound.
Eg. Spanish Jose is pronounced as Hose.
Spanish gente ‘people’ is pronounced as hente.
Thus Indian Tamil makaa becomes Latin and English major
majority derives from mega.
Interesting Fact
Many cold and cough medicines begin with the manufacturer’s name Vicks, from Indian Tamil vikkal ‘cough’.
absolute value
magnitude of a quantity regardless of sign (like positive or negative)
Origins
English absolute ‘complete’, ‘perfect’
Indian Tamil vilai ‘value’
Mechanism
Indian Tamil vilai becomes English value. Both have v-l sounds.
Thus English absolute + English value (from Indian Tamil vilai) = English absolute value
absolute zero
Temperature at which molecular activity stops
Origins
English absolute ‘complete’, ‘perfect’
Arabic sifir ‘zero’
Mechanism
Arabic sifir becomes English cipher and zero. c and z are sibilant (related sounds).
Thus English absolute + English zero (from Arabic sifir) = English absolute zero
absorb
take in, suck up
Origins
English prefix ab ‘do’
Arabic zurb ‘suck up’
Mechanism
Thus English ab + Arabic zurb = English absorb
absorbance
See absorb
absorbed
See absorb
absorbent
See absorb
absorber
See absorb
absorbing
See absorb
absorptance
See absorb
absorption
See absorb
absorption spectrum
See absorb
abstain
Origins
German ab ‘away’, ‘down’
Latin ab ‘away’, ‘off’
Indian Sanskrit stha ‘remain’, ‘stay’
Mechanism
ab + Indian Sanskrit stha = English abstain ‘stay away’
abstainer
See abstain
See our previous edition
http://wordorigins.wordpress.com/2006/12/22/hello-world/
Contact us
See our other articles and books
http://www.geocities.com/kmguru2000/Ignorance.doc
OPOL: http://www.authorsonline.co.uk/viewbook.php?bid=419
Roots: http://www.authorsonline.co.uk/viewbook.php?bid=510
