Origin of Top 10 English Words, Etymology in English

Butterfly

Translation for bilinguals: Butterfly

Literally, butterfly translates to “butter fly”. But why? One legend is that in the Middle Ages, people thought that this insect used its cute little stem to sting butter and honey left on the table. In fact, it may be because the wings of the most common butterfly are buttery.

Important

Translation for bilinguals: Note

The word “clue” originally comes from “clue”, meaning ball. Where do you think this confusion comes from? It comes from Greek mythology. When the Minotaur traps Theseus in the labyrinth, he escapes using Ariadne’s thread, string, or ball of wool. The word “clue” or “clue” became a word that guided your steps and then a clue to discover the truth.

Dandelion

Translation for bilinguals: Dandelion

In French, tent-de-lion is another name for dandelion. Although we don’t actually use it today, the British invented a random spelling of the word and reclaimed it, and that’s the job.

Mortgage

Translation for bilinguals: Mortgage

The word “mortgage” also comes from the French language, as it is a combination of the words “mart” and “pledge”. We easily understand that the idea is to guarantee the repayment of the loan during his lifetime, promising to repay it until his death if necessary. Great environment.

Walrus

Translation for bilinguals: Walrus

Askiberite, the word “walrus” comes from the Dutch words “walvis” meaning whale and “ros” meaning horse. A walrus would be a whale-horse, and that really defines it well.

bad dream

Translation for bilinguals: bad dream

For “night” you really have to have a -2/20 in English Baccalaureate to not understand the relationship to nightmare. On the other hand, we want to know where “mare” comes from, which is also found in the French version. It is actually the name of a folkloric creature that haunts dreams and sits on the chests of men in their sleep.

The legend surrounding this creature (it looks like a goblin) has been spread by people who have experienced sleep paralysis.

A nickname

Translation for bilinguals: A nickname

The word “nickname” did not come from a boy named Nick but from a simple typo. Originally, “a nickname” was written as “an ek-name” because “ak” means “additional.” The spelling of the word has changed to “nickname” except that when spoken, one hears “a neck-name” more easily.

Checkmate

Translation for bilinguals: Checkmate

In French as in English, the terms “checkmate” and “check et mate” used during the game of chess come from Arabic. In fact, the expression we can write “Sha Mat” means “the king is dead” or “the king is powerless”. The phrase traveled and each country wrote it in its own way and adopted it.

Jinx

Translation for bilinguals: Bad luck

In English, “a jinx” is a curse that brings bad luck. It is often used in the sentence “don’t jinx it” to say “stop talking about it, it will bring me bad luck”. Originally, “jinx” was a small bird, called in French ryneck, and the word got a second meaning because this bird, like crows, was often associated with witches.

The bully

Translation for bilinguals: the tyrant

The most surprising thing about the word “bully” is that its meaning has reversed itself over time. It comes from the Dutch “bel”, meaning “brother” and was originally used affectionately. Today, it refers to a bully, a tyrant or a predator.

Why has its meaning changed so much? Of course because of the word “bull,” which is very close in spelling, meaning bull, but the word “bully” was also sometimes used to refer to a pimp. Bad environment.