Interesting Etymologies

Regression (statistics)

Francis Galton was studying how tall people tend to have children shorter than they are. Their descendants’ heights ‘regress’. From this was coined the term regression to the mean, and from there ‘regression’ grew to refer to any of a broad array of techniques for studying the relationships between variables.

Capital and per-capita

Both derive from the latin capita, meaning head. ‘Per-capita’ refers to human heads, of course. While ‘Capital’ refers to heads of cattle, which would now be classified as a specific kind of capital, falling under the category of cultivated biological resources.

Economic

from Greek oikonomikos originally referred to the proper management of a household. (The word has since expanded in meaning, but household decisions are still a large part of the field of economics.)

Alphabet

It means ‘barn’, in a roundabout way. “Alphabet” comes from “alpha beta” (AB), the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, which in turn comes from “aleph beth” (𐤁𐤀), the first two letters of the Phoenician alphabet. “Aleph” also meant “cattle”, and “beth” also meant “house”. It is thought that the the forms of the letters are simplified representations of Egyptian hieroglyphs for the same (𓃾 𓉐). So “alphabet” descends from “cattle house”, a barn.

Tycoon

From the Japanese 大君 (taikun), a title used for the shogun which literally translates to “big boss”. After Commodore Perry made contact with the US, the word was used as a nickname for Abraham Lincoln.

Doctor

From a Latin word meaning ‘teacher’. IE, a Doctorate is a certificate saying you know enough about a field to teach it. Nowadays, the word is most commonly used as short for “medical doctor”, which can lead to confusion.

Lord

“Lord” means “bread guardian”. It’s a contraction of “loaf ward”, or rather the Old English hlafweard.

Companion

From com-panis, meaning ‘together-bread’. A companion is someone you share bread with.

Soup

Originally refering to suppa, the bread soaked in broth.

Stew

Originally meaning a steam bath.

Salad

From vulgar latin salata, meaning salted. Short for herba salata, meaning salted herbs. A pile of gherkins? Totally a salad.

Patient

Nowadays refers to the ability to wait, or to someone who is sick. Originally meant the ability to endure suffering.

World

From wer (manly men) + ald (age, period of time). So “world” means “age of man”.

Middangeard or Midgard

Middle enclosure. “Gard” has the same origin as “garden” and “yard”.

Cosmos and Mundus

“Cosmos” comes from a Greek word meaning “orderly arrangement”. (Same root as “cosmetic”. One refers to the order of natural laws. The other refers to the order of fashion accessories.) “Mundus” comes from the latin equivalent.

Secretary

Someone entrusted with secrets

Calculus

Small stones

Algebra

The breaking and re-setting of bones

(and in general the reunion of broken parts)

Geometry

Measurement of the Earth

Analysis

solving a problem by loosening things

Topology

Study of a place

Statistics

from Latin statisticum “state affairs”, from Italian statista “one skilled in statecraft,”

Clue

Originally spelt clew, meaning a ball of yarn. Refers to the clew Theseus used to navigate the Minotaur’s Labyrinth.

Unless otherwise mentioned, the source for each of these is EtymOnline