Fascinating Etymologies.....interesting Word-Origins

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you may use a word every morning in a coffee shop, yet not realise the full underlying meaning of your words.

Take a sentence : The Pontiff was elected by a conclave of Cardinals.

ie....The Bridge-builder was elected by a key-holding of Hinges.

The name Crawley is derived from Old English, meaning a "clearing frequented by crows" or "crow-infested wood". It originates from the words crāwe (crow) and lēah (woodland, clearing, or meadow). The West Sussex town developed from this, with early spellings like Crauleia appearing around 1203.

Chancellor....The original chancellors were the cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the cancelli (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separated the judge and counsel from the audience

The Chancellor of the Exchequer title stems from the medieval, 12th-century institution responsible for auditing royal revenues, derived from the Latin scaccarium (chessboard or checkered cloth). It describes the large checkered table used to calculate taxes, with "Chancellor" referring to the official supervising this accounting, often a clerk or advisor

And the Shah in Iran ? he lost at chess.
"Checkmate" derives from the Persian phrase shāh māt, meaning "the king is helpless," "the king is stunned," or "the king is abandoned," rather than the common misconception "the king is dead". It traveled through Arabic to Europe, where it was reinterpreted to signify a final, irrevocable defeat.


the Shah had a day of 'Reckoning'........a day of adding up the numbers.

Dandelion ...... Norman French for the flower that looks like the 'teeth of a Lion'


what others ?
 
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Point 1, in the chart below, ....na snamh i d'aonar...........never swim alone ( in solitude or loneliness).

Especially in ANERLEY





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And a trivial quiz.
a. What's the connection between a place of stony ground and a goat farm ? possibly even with a row of houses ? or a village on the River Lea ? Clue : Stony ground is good for supporting a sudden burden of weight imposed upon it.
Clue 2 : Savile Row is for suits, but not for men in blazers with peaked hats & sunglasses.
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b. wooded area characterized by willow trees, same as the wood used below.

 
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The word "Palace" originates from the Latin palātium, referring specifically to the Palatine Hill (Mons Palatinus) in ancient Rome. This hill was the site of the imperial residences built by Augustus Caesar and later expanded by emperors like Nero, making the location synonymous with grand, royal dwellings.
 
Londoners often refer to the square mile as 'in the city'. Somebody else got there first........

The name Istanbul is derived from the Medieval Greek colloquial phrase stin Póli👎 (στην Πόλι(ν)), meaning "in the city" or "to the city". This phrase was adapted into Turkish as Istanbul, reflecting how local Greek speakers referred to Constantinople as "The City" (Poli). It was not a sudden renaming but a gradual linguistic evolution
 
Great thread! Some examples which come to mind:

hippopotamus - "river horse" in Classical Greek (not be be confused with Arnie's exclamation in Minder - "it's the river filth").

crocodile - not 100% but believed to be from "croco" + "drilos". Again Greek meaning "pebbles/gravel worm" given how they rest on stones.

melancholy - from melas ("black") and kholos ("bile"). Greek again. Contemporary scientific beliefs included the idea sadness came from having an excess of bile in the body.

consider - from a Latin compound of words including "sidus" - a star. The idea of consulting/looking at the stars whilst pondering something. Speaking of which, "ponder" is derived from "pondus" - literally a "weight" and something which weighs down the mind or literally weighs something down eg Neil Shipperly is a ponderous fellow.
 
The word "Palace" originates from the Latin palātium, referring specifically to the Palatine Hill (Mons Palatinus) in ancient Rome. This hill was the site of the imperial residences built by Augustus Caesar and later expanded by emperors like Nero, making the location synonymous with grand, royal dwellings.
Further to my earlier contribution I thought I'd tie in the etymology of Crystal for good measure.

The word "Crystal" originates from the Ancient Greek word krustallos (κρύσταλλος), meaning "ice" or "rock crystal". It derives from kruos (κρύος), meaning "icy cold" or "frost," as ancient philosophers believed rock crystals were formed from water that had frozen intensely over long periods.

So Crystal Palace is clearly a cool, special place. Sounds like Selhurst Park to me.
 

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