tomato (n.) 1753, earlier tomate (c. 1600), from Spanish tomate (mid-16c.) from Nahuatl (Aztecan) tomatl “a tomato,” said to mean literally “the swelling fruit,” from tomana “to swell.” Spelling probably influenced by potato (1565). Slang meaning “an attractive girl” is recorded from 1929, on notion of juicy plumpness.
Keeping this in consideration,What’s the origin of the word ‘word’?
word (n.) Old English word “speech, talk, utterance, sentence, statement, news, report, word,” from Proto-Germanic *wurda- (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian word, Dutch woord, Old High German, German wort, Old Norse orð, Gothic waurd), from PIE *were- (3) “speak, say” (see verb).
Beside above,What English words originate from Greek?
English Words From Ancient Greek Myths.
1. Atlas. The English word ” atlas ” means a book of maps, and it comes directly from a Greek myth. According to Greek lore, Atlas was a Titan who was …
2. Cloth.
3. Chaos.
4. Charity.
5. Chronology.
More items
Also question is,What is the study of word origin?
Word Origins. Etymology, the study of word origins, derives from the philosophical tradition which is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics. It dates back to the time of the Classical Greeks, who were interested in the development of alphabetic writing. Scholars who study the history of word origins are known as Ethnologists.
What is the history of a word?
Etymology ( /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/) is the study of the history of words. By extension, the phrase “the etymology of [some word]” means the origin of the particular word. For place names, there is a specific term, toponymy . For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts, and texts about the language,…
18 Related Question Answers Found
Are there any English words that have African roots?
Other common English words with African roots are, “kwashiorkor” (from Ga, the Ghanaian language, where the word literally means “swollen stomach”), mumbo jumbo (i.e., gibberish; unintelligible talk; derived from Mandingo, a West African language spoken mostly in the Gambia, Mali, Liberia,…
What English words came from the Greek language?
According to one estimate, more than 150,000 words of English are derived from Greek words. These include technical and scientific terms but also more common words like those above. Words that starts with ‘ph-‘ are usually of Greek origin, for example: philosophy, physical, photo, phrase, philanthropy.
What kind of English do African Americans speak?
African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is the variety formerly known as Black English Vernacular or Vernacular Black English among sociolinguists, and commonly called Ebonics outside the academic community.
What was the first African language to reach America?
Thus, Wolof was the first African language to reach the American plantations and lay a linguistic foundation on which other African languages would follow. In North America, Wolofs were primarily employed as house servants. Many of the Senegambians were already familiar with domestic service.
What are some Greek words in the English language?
Common Greek Root Words. There are also a host Greek roots used in English as the foundation for further words. Here are some common Greek roots (and their definitions) we use in English. Arche – ruler, ancient. Auto – referring to the self. Bibl – pertaining to a book. Cosm – order or world. Cracy – government, authority.
Does English come from Greek or Latin?
English (and most other Western-European languages) adopted many words from Latin and Greek throughout history, because especially Latin was the Lingua Franca all through Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and later.
What is the origin of the word tomato?
The word “tomato” comes from the Spanish tomate, which in turn comes from the Nahuatl word tomatl [ˈtomat͡ɬ], meaning “the swelling fruit”. The native Mexican tomatillo is tomate (in Nahuatl: tomātl pronunciation , meaning “fat water” or “fat thing”).
What does bad mean in West African language?
In West African languages and Caribbean creoles a word meaning ‘bad’ is often used to mean ‘good’ or ‘alot/intense’. For instance, in Guyanese Creole mi laik am bad, yu noo means ‘I like him alot’.
What words have their origin in Greek mythology?
English Words From Ancient Greek Myths Atlas. The English word ” atlas ” means a book of maps, and it comes directly from a Greek myth. … Cloth. In English, the word ” cloth ” means a fabric or material, often used for clothing. … Chaos. The word ” chaos ” means disorder and randomness. … Charity. … Chronology. … Erotic. … Echo. … Europe. … Fury. … Halcyon. … More items…
Is it ‘jitomato’ or ‘tomato’?
Jitomate is synonymous with what we know as a tomato today, though it is a regional word most commonly used in southern mexico.
What is the origin of tomato?
Historians believe the origin of tomatoes can be traced to the coastal highlands of Central and South America where they grow wild in the countries of Ecuador and Peru. They were cultivated in ancient Mexico. The name tomato comes from the word ‘tomatl’ in Nahuan, the language of the Aztecs of Central America (Aztecan).
Is it tomato or tomatoes?
A tomato is a red, fleshy fruit that grows on a vine. The plural of tomato is tomatoes. Tomatos is an incorrect pluralization.
Which is the origin of the word Venkata?
The word vēṅkaṭa denotes the Venkata Hill in southern Andhra Pradesh which is also the shrine of Lord Vēṅkaṭēśvara, an incarnation of Vishnu. The etymology of vēṅkaṭa, however, is controversial. Before a plausible etymology could be suggested a history of the region is needed to contextualize it in a particular linguistic landscape.
How did Tamil and Sanskrit come to be?
Ancient Tamils believed that Lord Shiva gave two languages to the Hindus: Sanskrit and Tamil. They believed that Siva’s drum Damaruka gave Sanskrit from one side and Tamil from another side. The fourteen Maheswara Sutras (fourteen sounds of letters) came from one side of the drum. And the other side echoed Tamil.
Which is the closest language to Sanskrit and vice verse?
Apart from this story, another important thing is Tamil is the closest language to Sanskrit and vice verse. Both have similar case suffixes and alphabetical order. Writers of both the languages follow the same style and beliefs, literary styles (genres) and the values in life.
What is the etymology / word origin of the Tamil word’tamil’?
The obvious root ‘tam’ in ‘Tamil’ means ‘own’ or ‘self’. This is as far as we can get! The word ‘Tamil’ does have lots of lexical meanings: Sweetness, Beautiful, Natural, Agam literature of Tamil (Literature that deals with love and internal affairs).
Where do words come from origin?
A majority of the words used in English today are of foreign origin. English still derives much of its vocabulary from Latin and Greek, but we have also borrowed words from nearly all of the languages in Europe. In the modern period of linguistic acquisitiveness, English has found vocabulary opportunities even farther afield.
What does the word origin mean?
Origin is the point at which something comes into existence: The origins of some words are unknown. When origin refers to people, it means parentage or ancestry: “He came … of mixed French and Scottish origin” (Charlotte Brontë).