Did you know that trope and tropical share a root?

This certainly never occurred to me, until I was reading a quote from St. Augustine a few weeks ago that said this:

“Though God is said to change his determinations (so that in a tropical sense the Holy Scripture says even that God repented), this is said with reference to man’s expectations, or the order of natural causes, and not with reference to that which the Almighty had foreknown that he would do.”

Did you scratch your head at that use of tropical? Because I sure did! Clearly, Augustine was not talking about palm trees and the scent of coconut and lovely, sunshine-filled days. I stared at it for a moment, looked at the word, and finally went, “Oh! Like, ‘trope’-ical.”

Those of us in the bookish community are likely familiar with the word trope. A bookish trope is “a common theme or motif.” Like “marriage of convenience” or “love triangle,” for example.

Well, that use of trope follows because the primary definition is “a word or expression used figuratively,” which also came to mean “cliche.” But where did that come from? The original definition was actually “a turn of phrase.”

That’s important–because that’s how it links to tropical as we know the word today. Both share the Greek root trop-, which means “turn.”

So what does a turn have to do with the tropics? The word was used in astronomy to mean “either of the two circles in the celestial sphere which describe the northernmost and southernmost points of the elliptic.” Which is to say, the northern-most or southern-most points after which the sun appears to “turn back” from the equator. These regions on earth happen to be a steady, warm climate, so tropical has of course been applied to things pertaining to those regions, especially having to do with weather and the flora that grows in the regions, and even the colors associated with them.

So Augustine definitely wasn’t talking about palm trees…but he was talking about “a figure of speech which consists in the use of a word or phrase in a sense other than that which is proper to it.” 

Word Nerds Merch!

A few weeks ago when we looked at the word mathematics, a reader asked for the history of arithmetic too, since that’s included in the “Three Rs” of education–Reading, wRiting, and ‘Rithmetic. (And don’t we just love that of those “Three Rs,” only one actually starts with an R? LOL)

Arithmetic entered the English language waaaaay back in the mid-1200s, meaning exactly what it does today: “the art of computation, the most elementary branch of mathematics.”

The English word came from French, which came from Latin, which came from the Greek arithmetikē , which means, quite simply, “counting.”

Yep. Arithmetic just means counting.

A small, interesting note is that the spelling was originally arsmetike, which mirrors the French spelling but does not reflect the Latin or Greek spellings. This was “corrected” in the early 1500s to better reflect the root words.

Word Nerds Merch!

These days when we talk about glamour, we tend to mean that something has an attractiveness associated with high fashion, Hollywood, or celebrity. But until 1939 when that meaning gained popularity, glamour meant something entirely different.

Glamour actually shares roots with grammar, which we looked at last week, and when the Scottish variation was first recorded in 1715, it had nothing to do with the “rules of language” meaning of grammar and instead focused on the “magic, enchantment” sense of the original word. To cast the glamour was to cast a spell on someone. (For any fantasy readers out there, you’re probably familiar with this use of glamour; it’s used frequently in the genre when someone has magic that enables them to change their appearance.)

The word was popularized by the late 1700s and early 1800s by Sir Walter Scott, who used glamour in his writing. By around 1840, the word had evolved to mean “magical beauty, alluring charm.” And from there, we get that version we have today, which specific high-fashion or glitz associated with celebrity.

Also around 1840, we get the verb form, which meant “to enchant, to bewitch.”

Word Nerds Merch!

Last week’s look into mathematics inspired me to look up some other “learning” words too, so I started with one of my favorites: grammar.

If you were to ask me the definition of this word, I’d say off the top of my head something like, “the rules that govern language.” And grammar is my “thing.” Capitalization and punctuation, sentence structure and parts of speech…these are the things at which I’ve always excelled, which is probably no great surprise to anyone. I mean, I make my living with words, after all.

But in fact, that definition is not the original…exactly. When the word grammar came to English from French in the 1300s, it very specifically meant the rules of Latin, not any other language. The original “grammar schools” were where one went to learn Latin. In the US of the 1840 the phrase began to be applied to the level of school between primary and secondary, when English grammar was taught.

What, however, are the roots of grammar? It traces back from French to Latin and all the way to Greek. First to grammatikos, which meant “pertaining to letters or learning.” The root of grammatikos is, in turn, gramma, which means… “Letter.” Makes sense!

Now, here’s a bit of history I didn’t know. When grammar first came into the English language back in that late 14th century, there was another meaning too–it was linked to magic. Grammar could also be used to mean “incantation, spells.” That might seem odd, but remember that this was the Dark Ages, when the “learning” taught to the upper class included astrology and, yes, what was deemed “magic.” While this meaning has fallen away in English, it’s preserved in glamour, which was originally a Scottish variation of the word…which we shall look at in more detail next week.

Word Nerds Merch!

I love it when I get requests for the Word of the Week. And this one comes from my fantabulous virtual assistant, Rachel, whose husband asked what the history of mathematics might be. Rachel’s response was “To the blog!” But alas, I hadn’t covered this one yet! So my response was, “Word of the Week!”

I love that this is now not only how my family operates, but hers too. 🤣

So then, let’s take a look at mathematic(s).

First, the plural form ending with an -s is quite a bit newer than mathematic, singular, though both mean the same thing. The singular version dates from the 1300s in English, while the plural first appeared around 1580 and ultimately replaced the singular form in the early 1600s. The simple definition is “the science of quantity, which investigates the concepts of numerical and spacial relations.”

Our English word came via French (mathematique–singular), though I imagine it’s no surprise to learn that the French came from Latin (mathematica-plural). In both French and Latin, the words meant what ours meants today. We have to dig back even further to get to the roots, all the way to Ancient Greek.

Greek also had mathematike tekne, which meant “mathematical science,” but here we finally get to the parts we can parse. Greek’s mathematikos is from mathema, which means “science, knowledge, mathematical knowledge, a lesson”…because its root is manthanein, which means “to learn.”

So there we have it. At its foundation, mathematics is about learning, and numbers are some of the most fundamental things we learn about in the world. (There was in fact an Ancient Greek theory that math was so fundamental that it exists in the human mind at birth and rather than being “taught” it like other skills, we instead “discover” it or are reminded of it.)

The shortening to math, interestingly, didn’t happen until the 1890s, and that’s the American version. In the UK, they opted for the plural maths instead, but didn’t do that until 1911. Who knew that was so new?

Word Nerds Merch!

The world outside my window is in full bloom, so I went hunting for springtime words to feature. And I landed on this one, not because of its fascinating history, but because the word itself is so lovely.

Frondescence.

Ever heard of this one? It means, quite simply, “the condition or period of unfolding leaves.”

It traces its roots directly back to the Latin frondescere, which means “to become leafy,” and I’m of the opinion that it isn’t used NEARLY enough. So let’s remedy that shall we? Now–go thee hither and enjoy the frondescence!

Word Nerds Merch!