The evening times., 1911-07-27
OUR SYNONYM
80. =: SOURCES -.
Coae From Hsay I.,isstes of Div..tsat
Osifn
(Denyer Times.) !

Denver Times.)
IN our synonyms we often find
curious examples Of the various
sources from which words of similar
meaning come. Take trick, device,
anesse. artifice and stratagem. Trick
Is Anglo-Saxon, devisa Italian, fln-
esse French, artif1cium is Latin and
strategema Is Greek.
Scholars, especially scientists, have
used Greek and Latin terms for their
classi1cations and Inventions, some,
as IN botany and medicine, remaining
purely technical. but many having
come into everyday use. The word
electricity is q familiar example.
elektron being the Greek word for
amber-the first substance known to
possess the peculiar property of cleo
trical attraction.
Telescope means literally at-a-dis-
tance sight; telephone, at-a-distance
sound; telegraph, at-a-distance writ
ting; phono-graph, sound-writing;
autograph, self-writing; photograph.
light writing; ge-graph, earth-writ-
ing, hence earth description; geo.
logy, earth-word, earth-study; theo-
logy, God-word, hence study Of God;
philo-logy, love of words; philo-
sophy, love Of wisdom, borrowed en-
tire from the Greek.
The Latin derivations are far more
numerous than the Greek, and are in
constant and common use. 1t gives
one a better understanding and a
greater appreciation Of his express
sions If, as he speaks, he thinks of
the history contained in the word.
Thus we say pedestrian, because de-
rived from ped, Latin for foot; eques-
trian, from equus, horse. Rural, from
rus, ruis, the country, and urban
from urbs, city, from which also
comes suburb, near the city. Elocu-
tion comes from e and loqui, to speak
out; centrifugal, from centrum, CEN
ter. and fugere, to flee (f1ying from
the center; centripetal, from centrum
and petete, to nova toward (seeking
the center), thus making it easier to
remember and understand the word.
OF chronology (time) we can
scarcely speak without acknowledge
ing our Indebtedness to Latin. Hour,
diurnal, annual, biennial, century and
all the months of the year come from
the Latin.
January. from Janus, Latin deity
grandfather. also of janitor). Febru-
ary, from Februra. the Roman festi-
val of publication: March, from
Aprilis, probably derived from as
peire, to open. May, named from the
goddess NIaia, mother of Mercury.
June, from the GODDESS Juno July
and August, from Julius and Angus
tus Caesar. September, October, No
vember and December. from the Lat
in septem, octo, tnovem and decem, or
seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth
months, which position they occu-
pied in the old Roman calendar
1t seems little odd that with Lat
in months we should have the names
Of the days derived from Saxon my
thology. which ,deriyations are prob
ably familiar to all-from sun, moon,
Tuisco, Wooden, Thor, Friga and
seator, or, as claimed by some. Sat
urn giving the name to Saturday. i
Common Expression
Philologists have devoted much
time to finding the etymology Of our
commonest expressions. Webster's
dictionary gives hurrah as Danish or
Swedish, but late authority claims
to have traced it to Ancient Egypt,
hoo-ra meaning the king. Another
Investigator finds that whoa" is used
the world over for stopping horse,
that eco boss" comes from the San
skirt root gu meaning the low, and
that "soh son." with which the milk
maid soothes the cow, comes from
the Sanskrit "sough," to remain mo-
tionless.
When the Yankee says II calculate"
he harks back to the time when saw
ages used calculi (pebbles) to count
with, and when we speak Of COS
TRACKING" person we refer to q
Greek custom when they used "ostra"