etymological curiosities

mollusque commented on the list etymological-curiosities

Great list, sarra! Do you know which word has the most independent origins? I asked that on question 11 months ago, and gave bear as an example.

In biology this would be called convergence, but convergence has a different meaning in linguistics.

January 2, 2009

rolig commented on the list etymological-curiosities

I like this list a lot! But I am wondering what dear is doing here. Isn't the meaning "cherished" just an extension of the meaning "expensive (valuable, rare)"? In French, cher does similar double duty, as does дорогой / dorogoy in Russian.

Another word I might suggest would be slough (meaning 1. "swamp", and 2. "shed dead skin"). And now that I think of it, also shed. And then there's the triple-duty row (1. "operate a boat using oars", 2. "a straight line of something", 3. "a quarrel"). There appear to be many such homographs in English.

January 3, 2009

sarra commented on the list etymological-curiosities

Hallo rolig — I'm not looking for homographs, as many of those differ in pronunciation (like slough and row). Shed might fit though: I'll check!

edit: I think row goes in. I'd forgotten about oars. Shed too!

Dear was an early addition; it does indeed seem to be cognate. I must've been lax in my research back then. Note that there are many other holes and shoddy bits, I'm sure, as I've only looked at the background when I've added/rejected words. There will, eventually, be a proofing process.

January 3, 2009

qroqqa commented on the list etymological-curiosities

May I suggest mould: "fungal coating", "earth", and "matrix, model".

January 3, 2009

sarra commented on the list etymological-curiosities

Mould, yes! I didn't even know about the second meaning you give; I had thought leaf-mould was mouldered leaves, a perfect example of how we often make imperfect sense of our language. I haven't looked into how cognate that sense may be with the "fungus" one, but it certainly seems distinct from a mould for moulding.

January 3, 2009

sionnach commented on the list etymological-curiosities

At first I thought that words on my list of 'faux comparatives' (e.g. temp, temper, tempest; earn, earner, earnest) might includes some candidates for this list, but a little reflection shows this to be unlikely.

January 3, 2009

sionnach commented on the list etymological-curiosities

host? junk?

January 3, 2009

rolig commented on the list etymological-curiosities

The word cleave would seem to belong here.

January 3, 2009

sarra commented on the list etymological-curiosities

'cleave' is already in, rolig :) Yes to host, and of course junk.

January 5, 2009

rolig commented on the list etymological-curiosities

How about lay (to place, a narrative poem)? I'm not sure why you decided against lie (to recline, an untruth) – aren't they etymologically distinct?

January 5, 2009

sarra commented on the list etymological-curiosities

Didn't know the narrative poem meaning, but lay lie is distinct from lay non-clerical, so that's something I'd genuinely so far missed for this list.

Can't see why I rejected lie. Must've been sleepy.

January 5, 2009

sionnach commented on the list etymological-curiosities

Sarra:

How about hop, charge, bandy, dun, baffle? Then, you might find some more candidates on my beastly verbs list, e.g. crane, gull, fry, goose, among others.

January 5, 2009

rolig commented on the list etymological-curiosities

Another curious word, which goes along with Sionnach's foxy suggestion, is thrush, which is not only a bird but also (with a different etymology entirely) a mouth infection.

January 12, 2009

trivet commented on the list etymological-curiosities

Founder?

January 12, 2009

rolig commented on the list etymological-curiosities

Here's another great word for your wonderful list, the etymological triplet smelt (smelled; meld metals; little fish). Also, bale (bundle; menacing evil).

January 17, 2009

sarra commented on the list etymological-curiosities

Oh, and spelt! I'll be checking through these when I've time.

NB. 'triplet' is used to describe a treble doublet, but I understand your meaning, of course.

January 18, 2009

rolig commented on the list etymological-curiosities

In the grocery store today, I thought of this list when I saw the squash, and nearby the staff was cleaning up a tomato that had gotten squashed on the floor. As I stood in line for the till, I realized that I hadn't given much thought to such covergences till recently. Thanks, Sarra!

Another one is the tetrasemantic dock: 1. pier, 2. deduct, 3. enclosure for the accused in court, 4. a kind of weed.

January 23, 2009

mollusque commented on the list etymological-curiosities

How about tang? A tool, a seaweed, a sound, and a dynasty.

March 8, 2009

bilby commented on the list etymological-curiosities

And a drink powder.

March 9, 2009

myth commented on the list etymological-curiosities

Is this a list of homonyms or something more specific?

May 3, 2009

sarra commented on the list etymological-curiosities

Hallo! More specific, indeed. Some homonyms like bank have distinct meanings in the English we speak, but in the Oxford English Dictionary there's a long long note on the origins of bank-the-place-where-we-keep-money, which ends 'The word is thus ultimately identical with BENCH and BANK², and cognate with BANK¹.'

May 3, 2009

rolig commented on the list etymological-curiosities

Sarra! Nice to see you back here. I thought you had abandoned this list, which is one of my favorites.

May 4, 2009

ruzuzu commented on the list etymological-curiosities

*favorited*

March 10, 2011

Londheart commented on the list etymological-curiosities

Hi, Sarra! You may be interested to know that I, with the help of a friend, arrived at the phrase convergent homonym independently of you, yesterday evening, 21.1.19, and additionally coined the phrase 'disparate homonym' (sounds a bit like 'Desperate Dan,' doesn't it?) for homonyms seemingly unrelated in meaning to each other, while noting that there is also a grey area (see e.g., *check* mate).

January 23, 2019