Book.

It’s one of those words so integral to my very life that I’ve never really paused to look it up. Oh, I’ve looked up the history of the things we call books, don’t get me wrong. I’ve learned about how they evolved from scrolls to codexes to the bound paper we call by the word today. But the word itself? 

Somehow I hadn’t ever delved into that history. Gasp!

And you might (or might not) be surprised to learn that book is actually from the same root as beech. As in, the tree. Whose bark was used (you guessed it) for paper AND whose wood was also used as early tablets for inscribing runes. Our English word traces its roots back to the proto-Germanic boko, which is in turn from bokiz.

Interestingly, Germanic languages aren’t the only ones whose words for book are directly related to a tree! Latin’s word is related to birch and Sanskrit to the ash tree! (Given last week’s word of the week, library, the Latin won’t be a surprise to you.)

Now, it’s worth noting that early uses of book did NOT mean the bound paper matter we associate with it today, but ANY written document. But by the Middle Ages, the meaning had narrowed to be applied to “writing that covers many bound pages.” It was also used to refer to a multi-volume set of writings. From there it could refer to the bound pages, whether written on or blank (think notebook). In the 1800s it was also used to refer to a magazine.

Ironically, not only was book used to refer to a multi-volume set, it could also be used to refer to a main section of a single volume–like a book of the Bible (itself a book). The Book of Life, as referencing the Lamb’s book with the names of those who are saved, is from the mid-1300s.

The phrase by the book (to do something according to the rules) is from the 1590s. In the 20th century, book was used to refer to the “sum of criminal charges” brought to court, hence the 1930s phrase throw the book at.

Word Nerds Merch!

The Collector of Burned Books releases tomorrow!! I’m super stoked…and thought in honor of this book all about the historic Library of Burned Books in Paris, we’d take a look at the history of the word library.

I’ve long known that library has liber (book) as its root, so I didn’t expect any surprises here. But…there are some lurking in the history! For starters, liber actually originally meant “the inner bark of a tree” or “the rind” of something, so the fact that we still have “leaves” associated with pages is totally appropriate. From there, Latin gave us librarium, which meant “a chest of books.”

By the medieval period, that Latin word had come to mean “a collection of books” and then “a bookseller’s shop.” In French and other Latinate languages, words that look like library are indeed still used for places were books are sold, while words like biblioteque (biblio- also meaning “book”) are used for places where books are borrowed. Library arrived in English around the year 1400.

When English-speakers begin to use it for a place from which books could be borrowed? The first appearance of a “lending library” appears in the 1500s, but it didn’t really catch on until the 1700s. Librarian dates from 1713.

But here’s one of my favorite associated factoids. Before the Latin word came into English via French, Old English had another word for collections of books–bochord. Literally “book hoard.” LOVE IT!

Word Nerds Merch!

A couple weeks ago, my husband asked, “Are gorgeous and gorge related?” I had no idea. But of course, this being us, we both immediately said, “Word of the Week!” and I vowed to look it up. 😉 

And it turns out…YES! Gorgeous and gorge are indeed from the same root, meaning “throat.” Which immediately makes sense for gorge, right? It’s from the idea of cramming food down your throat. But gorgeous? How does that track?

The history is a bit iffy, but etymologists think it’s linked to necklaces that adorn the throat. Jewelry would have been the first things to be called gorgeous, meaning “elegant,” and from there, “splendid, showy, sumptuously adorned”…like jewelry. The word dates from around 1500 in English, coming to us from French, which in turn came from Latin, which is thought to come from the Greek gorgias…Gorgias being a man famous for his rhetoric (hence his voice and things that come from his throat–anyone who’s read the Socratic dialogues will be familiar with him!)

Word Nerds Merch!

Is it getting hot where you live? Maybe so hot you’d call it a scorcher?

At first glance, you might not think that scorcher really needs a closer look. It obviously comes from the word scorch, meaning “to burn.” Which is true. But did you know that it’s been used to describe hot days since 1874? Or that it was used to describe harsh comebacks or rebukes in conversation since 1842? Or pretty girls since 1881? Or a line drive in baseball since 1900?

Even more fascinating is the history of that root word, scorch. Its technical meaning isn’t just “to burn” but “to burn superficially so as to change the color or texture.” Um…that seems pretty specific, am I right?

Turns out, that’s for a good reason. Scorch traces its roots to the Old French escorchier, which means “to strip the skin off; to flay.” So this type of burning is specific to a change in skin or the surface of something.

Suddenly makes sunburns on a scorcher of a day make sense, doesn’t it?

Word Nerds Merch!

I live in the Appalachians–a place with so many shades of green that a friend who moved here from Colorado reported she’d never seen so many in her life, LOL.

But all those trees and plant life means something else, too. It means we have a lot of humidity in the air, and in summer, that means things get INTENSE. A favorite word around here is muggy.

Muggy has been used to describe conditions that are “damp, close, warm and humid” since around 1746…but why? Where in the world did this word come from?

Turns out it’s from a now-obsolete word, mug, which meant “fog or mist,” which comes from Middle English mugen, “to drizzle.” This Middle English word is from the Old Norse mugga of the same meaning…but them there? Etymologists aren’t entirely sure but suspect it’s related to the root word meug- which means “slippery or slimy.” Which is where mucus comes from.

What do you think? Are muggy and mucus related? (My husband frequently describes a muggy day as “feels like the inside of a mouth out there,” so…not so far off! LOL)

Word Nerds Merch!

SPF might not seem terribly mysterious. Anyone who wears sunblock is accustomed to seeing the abbreviation, and it’s no mystery what it stands for “Sun Protection Factor.”

But did you know that the first sunblock was not, in fact, created for sunny summer days? Nope! It was invented by a Swiss chemist with a love of mountain climbing, named Franz Greiter. He was tired of getting sunburned during his treks up and down the mountains, so in 1946 he invented the first sunblock…which he called “glacier cream.”

I just love irony like that.

It didn’t take long for those who loved the sun to pick up on his invention and start to use it for other outdoor activities. By 1954, people were using the term sunscreen (already in existence for physical items that blocked the sun) for the lotion. In the 1960s, Greiter came up with the SPF rating for his lotions, and that rating system is still what we use today!

Well…sort of. The idea behind it is that however long a person can usually be in the sun without getting burned is your base number–so, say, 15 minutes or so. Then you factor in the lotion, and however long you can now go without being burned is your end number. So you divide to get the SPF. So if you can now go 30 minutes without a burn, then the SPF is 2 (which is fact what that original “glacier cream” was rated). Modern lotions with high SPFs still recommend you reapply more frequently than the rating would indicate. 😉

As for that original inventor? His company is still making sunscreen, and they specialize in high SPFs!

Word Nerds Merch!