It’s -Verse part… no, wait. I finally finished that series. I
actually have to come up with something new!
Tight showed up in the fifteenth century,
meaning dense or close at first, then becoming drawn or stretched in the late
sixteenth century. The word comes from the Middle English thight—weirdly
enough, it’s from the Old Norse þettr, which itself is related to the
Old English suffix, -þiht. All of those words are
from the Proto Germanic
thinhta-, from the Proto Indo European root tenk-, to thicken or become firm.
Speaking of stretch, it showed up in the late twelfth century meaning a patch of
land, not meaning stretching out something until sometime before the sixteenth
century (the exact timing’s a little unclear). It comes from the Old English streccan, and before that the Proto
Germanic strakjanan, but where that one comes from is unknown. One
theory is it’s related to the word stark (which used to mean rigid or stiff, so
I guess maybe), and another is that
it’s from the same root as string which I think makes more sense. But you know. Words.
Snug showed up in the late sixteenth century,
and b this word as weird as you might think. It originally meant compact or
trim, then a state of comfort in the early seventeenth century, and “fit
closely” by 1838, and snuggle showed up in the late seventeenth century, likely from the whole state of comfort thing. As for its origins, snug is
thought to be Scandinavian in origin (but, you know, maybe not), and it might
come from the Proto Indo European root kes-, to scratch. That actually
has another descendant—xyster, a surgical instrument for scraping bone.
I know it’s entirely possible, if not likely, that snug and xyster aren’t
related, but WOW if they are.
I think I’ll end things here, short and sweet
after the end of the multi-part slog. Turn in next week, for the next
multi-parter!
Sources
Online Etymology Dictionary
Omniglot
University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center
University of Texas at San Antonio’s page on Proto Indo European language
University of Texas at Arlington
Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English
Online Etymology Dictionary
Omniglot
University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center
University of Texas at San Antonio’s page on Proto Indo European language
University of Texas at Arlington
Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English
Not too many Scandinavian words show up, so amusing snug is one of them.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of snug in the context of comfort.
ReplyDeleteFascinating! I wonder, with social media, if our language will morph even more quickly or if we'll become more standard in our language because we're no longer separated because of geography. Thanks for doing the work on this one!
ReplyDeleteSnug sounds like a Scandinavian word. And if any people need to get snug, it's the Scandis with all that cold weather up there.
ReplyDeleteAnd then tight became one of the more annoying slang terms...
ReplyDeleteSince medical terms (so surgical instruments, too) are largely chosen from older words with an eye to original meanings, snug and xyster being related does not surprise me.