Now for various names for
injuries. Because that’s fun!
Damage
Damage showed up in the fourteenth century as both a verb and a noun, coming from the Old French damage/domage, from dam, which is from the classical Latin damnum, damage. And… that’s the origin for damn. Seriously. Damn showed up in the late thirteenth century as a legal term, to declare guilty, not being a mild curse until the early seventeenth century.
Lacerate
This one showed up in the early fifteenth century from the classical Latin laceratus, torn, from the verb lacerare, to tear. That’s just from the Proto Indo European lek-, to rend, so no big surprises here.
Lesion
Lesion showed up in the fifteenth century from the Old French lesion, and before that the classical Latin laesionem, injury. While that’s from the verb laedere, to hurt, it’s another one where further origins are unknown.
Wound
Wound comes from the Old English wund, which means, you know, wound. It’s from the Proto Germanic wuntho, and before that is uncertain, but it would make sense if it was from the Proto Indo European wen-, to beat or wound. But at this point you should realize how stupid etymology is, so maybe not.
Mutilate
Mutilate showed up in the sixteenth century, but back then it meant disfigure writing or books (by cutting something out), not referring to people until a few decades later. It comes from the classical Latin mutilatus, mutilated, from the verb mutilare. Mutilation actually first showed up in Scottish law, but is from the same place. But you want to know the real WTF thing? Mozzarella is from the Italian verb mozzare, to cut off (as in a slice/cut off part of cheese). And mozzare is from mutilus. Mutilate and mozzarella… are related.
Sources
Online Etymology Dictionary
Google Translate
Omniglot
University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center
University of Texas at San Antonio’s page on Proto Indo European language
Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English
Old English-English Dictionary
Damage showed up in the fourteenth century as both a verb and a noun, coming from the Old French damage/domage, from dam, which is from the classical Latin damnum, damage. And… that’s the origin for damn. Seriously. Damn showed up in the late thirteenth century as a legal term, to declare guilty, not being a mild curse until the early seventeenth century.
This one showed up in the early fifteenth century from the classical Latin laceratus, torn, from the verb lacerare, to tear. That’s just from the Proto Indo European lek-, to rend, so no big surprises here.
Lesion showed up in the fifteenth century from the Old French lesion, and before that the classical Latin laesionem, injury. While that’s from the verb laedere, to hurt, it’s another one where further origins are unknown.
Wound comes from the Old English wund, which means, you know, wound. It’s from the Proto Germanic wuntho, and before that is uncertain, but it would make sense if it was from the Proto Indo European wen-, to beat or wound. But at this point you should realize how stupid etymology is, so maybe not.
Mutilate showed up in the sixteenth century, but back then it meant disfigure writing or books (by cutting something out), not referring to people until a few decades later. It comes from the classical Latin mutilatus, mutilated, from the verb mutilare. Mutilation actually first showed up in Scottish law, but is from the same place. But you want to know the real WTF thing? Mozzarella is from the Italian verb mozzare, to cut off (as in a slice/cut off part of cheese). And mozzare is from mutilus. Mutilate and mozzarella… are related.
Online Etymology Dictionary
Google Translate
Omniglot
University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center
University of Texas at San Antonio’s page on Proto Indo European language
Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English
Old English-English Dictionary
I guess if you shred it, you are mutilating mozzarella cheese...
ReplyDeleteI feel like mutilate and mozzarella being related needs to be a Jeopardy question.
ReplyDeleteI love that mutilate and mozzarella are related. I'll just go and top my pizza with mutilation cheese...
ReplyDeleteDamn is one of my standard words.
ReplyDelete