Unraveling Word Origins: from Villain to Muscle

Speak Your Mind! 🎯 “Word Origins” by Dan Manolescu

The English language of today is living and growing. Whether it’s the power of the written word, or whether it’s the choice of the right adjective in an articulate speech, or whether it’s simply playing with the proper verbiage, the English vocabulary has a remarkable history. If we look at the origin of some English words, we may find surprising twists and turns that display the vivacity of a language in a continuous change and development. Here are some examples prompted by everyday questions:

Villain   What was the original definition of villain?

“The word villain actually come from the Anglo-French term villein, which means ‘farmhand.’ The phrase referred to those who were bound to the land and were therefore of a less genteel status. This came to simply mean ‘not chivalrous’ and a term of abuse that implied the corrupt character of rapists and criminals, eventually acquiring its modern meaning. Shakespeare refers to the original meaning of the word in As You Like It, when he writes, ‘I am no villain; I am the youngest son of Sir Rowland de Boys; he was my father, and he is thrice a villain that says such a father begot villains.’” (Alex Palmer, Literary Miscellany, New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2010, p. 132)  

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Black-out   How did we get the word black-out?

First used in theater in 1908, black-out referred to the extinguishing of lights while scenery is removed and changed. This term was also used by the playwright George Bernard Shaw in 1913. The figurative sense of ‘loss of memory or consciousness’ was added around 1934. In 1935 the same word was applied by the British during the war to the precautionary measures taken against air raids.  

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Sinister What is the underlying meaning of sinister?

Generally speaking, sinister is somehow related to evil or harmful. From Greek to Latin, sinister was then found in Old French in the 14h century meaning ‘contrary, false; unfavorable; to the left.’ Since ‘omens, especially bird flights, seen on the left hand were regarded as portending misfortune,’ in time sinister acquired a sense of ‘harmful, unfavorable, adverse.’ https://www.etymonline.com/word/sinister

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Fiasco How did a complete failure come to be called a fiasco?

“The making of a fine Venetian glass bottle is a difficult process – for it must be perfect. If, in blowing, the slightest flaw is detected the glassblower turns the bottle into a common flask –  called in Italian, fiasco.”  (Why Do We Say It? The Stories Behind the Words, Expressions, and Cliches We Use. 2017. United States: Book Sales.)

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Negotiate How did the verb to negotiate change its meaning?

Although its etymology remains unknown, the verb to negotiate can be found around 1590s meaning ‘to communicate with another or others in search of mutual agreement.’ Its two elements go back to Latin nec– (‘no’) and otium (‘joy’).  “Transitive sense of ‘arrange for or procure by negotiation’ is from 1610s. In the sense of ‘handle, manage, tackle successfully’ (1862), it at first meant ‘to clear on horseback a hedge, fence, or other obstacle’ and ‘originated in the hunting-field; those who hunt the fox like also to hunt jocular verbal novelties.’ [Gowers, 1965]. https://www.etymonline.com/word/negotiate

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Dominoes What is the history of dominoes?

“The word domino is most likely to be derived from the Latin, dominus (i.e. the master of the house). The vocative, domine, became the Scottish and English dominie (i.e. schoolmaster). The dative or ablative, domino, became the French and then the English domino. This word first referred to a type of monastic hood, then to a hooded masquerade costume with a small mask, then to the mask itself, and finally to one of the pieces in the domino set, namely the [1-1] tile.” https://www.pagat.com/domino/history.html

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Bias How did the word bias come to mean crooked?

When it entered English in the middle of the 16th century, bias meant an oblique or slanting line (a bias line). In bowling, a weight was placed within the ball to make it deviate from a straight line. It wasn’t until about the start of the 20th century that the idea of bias was introduced into statistics, defined as “a systematic distortion of an expected statistical result due to a factor not allowed for in its derivation; also, a tendency to produce such distortion” (OED). https://catalogofbias.org/2018/04/10/a-word-about-evidence-4-bias-etymology-and-usag/

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Muscle Where did we get the word muscle?

The noun muscle comes from Latin musculus meaning “a little mouse.” It was called so because of the shape and movement of some muscles that look like mice.

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Why do good things come in small packages?

“The earliest clear reference to the current saying came in a letter of 1877 written by the English novelist Benjamin Farjeon: ‘As the best things are (said to be) wrapped in small parcels (proverb), I select the smallest sheet of paper I can find … to make you acquainted with the … state of affairs.’ James Joyce mentioned the saying in Ulysses (1922) with ‘Fine goods in small parcels,’ while the current one “Good things come…’ was apparently not quoted in print until the 1960.” (p. 72)

Flexner, S. B., Flexner, D. (1993). Wise Words and Wives’ Tales: The Origins, Meanings and Time-honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings, Olde and New. United States: Avon Books.

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What is the etymology of etymology?

“Etymology derives from the Greek word etumos, meaning ‘true.’ Etumologia was the study of words’ ‘true meanings.’ This evolved into etymology by way of the Old French ethimologie. That’s all fairly straightforward, but there are many, many words in the English language that have unexpected and fascinating origins.” https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/an-introduction-to-etymology

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How did chaperon gain a final ‘e’?

A chaperone or chaperon is usually an adult who accompanies or supervises other people during social events, intending to prevent unacceptable behavior. The word can be traced to the Old French word chape meaning ‘head covering.’ Chaperon gained an extra ‘e’ in the mid-20^th century because some people think that a long vowel in a final syllable that ends with a consonant sound should have a final ‘e’. Other linguists think that chaperone (spelled with an ‘e’) was intended to be feminine, like in the French original source.

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How old is Practice makes perfect?

“The Greek ruler Periander wrote in Apothegm (c. 600 B.C.), ‘Practice is everything,’ and fellow Greeks in later centuries apparently also saw the value of practice in the learning of all manners of things. […] The exact wording of the modern version was recorded in the diary of John Adams in 1761 and was later repeated or adapted by, among others, Andrew Jackson (1831, in correspondence), James Fenimore Cooper (1848, in correspondence), Chares Dickens (1870, The Mystery of Edwin Drood), and James Joyce (1922, Ulysses).  (p. 151) Flexner, S. B., Flexner, D. (1993). Wise Words and Wives’ Tales: The Origins, Meanings and Time-honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings, Olde and New. United States: Avon Books. 

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When we put together all these intricate and fascinating stories of what certain words came to mean today, we get a better understanding of the wealth of information hidden behind the diversity and the linguistic changes continually at work in our language communication.

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About the Author

Dan Manolescu is a freelance ESL Instructor with 33 years of teaching experience. Dan is also a Contributing Editor of Verbalists Education & Language Network.

He is the award winning author of TIPS, A Guidebook for Teaching Excellence in ESL Published by Gatekeeper Press in 2019 and recently Memory and Imagination published by Book Writing Experts in 2022.

Dan has also published articles about language and the process of teaching in journals like Trends in Humanities and Social Sciences (“Experience Magic: Read”), The Middle Eastern Journal of Research and Social Studies (“The Magic and Mysteries of Teaching ESL”), the Journal of Practical Studies in Education (“The Quest for Knowledge,” “Why Read the Masters?”), as well as book reviews in the Journal of Critical Studies in Language and Literature (“Rabindranath Tagore’s Śāntiniketan Essays,” “The Book of William. How Shakespeare’s First Folio Conquered the World,” “The Invention of Nature. The Adventures of Alexander Humboldt,” “A Place for Everything. The Curious History of Alphabetical order.”)

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