Enjoy our selection of delicious bite-size stories about the origin of seemingly ordinary words. We call them Etymo snacks. Are you looking for a bigger etymological adventure? Then we highly recommend our Story of the week.


salary

The word salary is derived from Latin salarium and is related to the word sal 'salt', because originally salarium was a soldier's allowance to purchase salt. So etymologically speaking, your salary is 'salt money.'

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tulip

The source of the word tulip is the Turkish word tülbent 'turban,' because the shape of the flower was perceived to resemble a turban.

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October

October is derived from Latin octo 'eight,' because it was originally the eighth month of the old Roman calendar, which began the year in March. After a reform in 46 BCE it became the tenth month, but despite numerous attempts, the name not only stuck but spread to other languages.

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robot

The term robot was coined by the Czech writer Karel Čapek in his 1920 play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots). He had derived the word from Czech robota 'forced labor.'

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Monday

Monday literally means 'day of the moon.' So does lundi in French (and lunes in Spanish, or lunedi in Italian).

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sinister

The word sinister is derived from Latin sinister, which meant 'left, on the left side.' It also meant 'unfavorable, harmful' because omens, especially bird flights, seen on the left side were considered predictors of misfortune.

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clue

The word clue originally meant 'a ball of thread' and it shifted its meaning to 'something that leads the way' in reference to Ariadne in Greek mythology, who gives her beloved Theseus a ball of thread to help him find his way out of the Labyrinth.   

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lord and lady

A lady is etymologically speaking 'the one who kneads bread.' The word derived from Old English hlafdige, from hlaf 'bread, loaf' and dige 'kneader.' The lady's partner, her lord, is literally the 'one who guards the bread,' from Old English hlafweard (hlaf 'loaf, bread' + weard 'guardian').

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Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.

- Rita Mae Brown