Subscribe to Blog via Email
Archive:
Month: January 2016
How was the term “utopia” coined, and by whom?
The Sir Thomas More answer is correct. However, the 14th century Byzantine theologian Neophytus Prodromenus independently coined the term in his treatise Against the Latins [Catholics]. In his text, it was a variant of ἀτοπία “un-placed-ness”, which was the Greek word for absurdity, fallacy. Answered 2016-01-13 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/How-was-the-term-utopia-coined-and-by-whom/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]
Who coined the term ‘polity’?
the definition of polity 1530-40; < Latin polītīa < Greek polīteía citizenship, government, form of government, commonwealth, equivalent to polī́te-, variant stem of polī́tēs citizen Online Etymology Dictionary 1530s, from Middle French politie (early 15c.) or directly from Late Latin polita “organized government” (see policy (n.1)). Policy and Police ultimately derive from the same Greek […]
What is the answer to a multiplication problem called? Who coined the term?
Product (mathematics) . The Greek for it is the participle γενόμενον, “what has become, what has come into existence”, which I would assume was calqued into Latin as “what is produced”. The LSJ dictionary lists the participle “what has become” for product as being used in Euclid ; but the verb “becomes” for “adds up […]
Where is Minoa today?
Um. Per Minoa, there are several sites that have been known as Minoa, mostly in the Aegean. But in the sense Minoa is used on Quora, as a shorthand for “site of the Minoan civilisation”, that would be Crete. In fact, since the Classical survival of non-Hellenic Eteocretan language was in easternmost Crete, where I […]
How do words like “mouse” get their plural form?
Vowel change was a strategy for forming plurals in Old English. The process is shared among Germanic languages, and is Germanic umlaut. Ultimately it comes from –iz being a plural suffix in Proto-Germanic: the plural of *mūs was *mūsiz, and the plural of *fōts was *fōtiz. In time, *mūsiz went to mȳs in Old English […]
Will artificial languages help me with anything?
Will they improve my thinking, logic, though process or my communication skills or understanding? All language learning does, and so do artificial languages. I’d argue that you get to some of the interesting aspects of language learning—such as different approaches to semantics—quicker than you would learning natural languages. OTOH, there are some aspects of natural […]
Why does the Old Testament (in the English versions) use Greek names instead of Hebrew names?
Well, this won’t sound pleasant, but: The normative version(s) of English, as with most European languages, are culturally influenced by Christianity more than other religions. (Jewish Englishes will in fact use Hebrew names, just as Yiddish does. But standard English unsurprisingly uses Christian forms.) Christian knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures was mediated through the Septuagint, […]
What is a feminine diminutive?
A diminutive is “a word which has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment”: Diminutive . Well done there, Wikipedia. So not so much an element of speech, but a modification of […]
What was the original word for “bear”?
What the OP may (or may not) be getting at is the fact that lots of Indo-European languages use descriptive words for bear, rather than the original Indo-European. This makes linguists surmise that there was a taboo about naming bears, so that euphemisms took the word’s place. Thus, the Germanic words for bear ultimately mean […]
Why is ‘selfie’ use suffix -ie instead of -y?
Selfie is an Australian coinage: No, a Drunken Australian Man Did Not Coin the Word Selfie. (The article disputes only that the particular guy came up with it, not that it was coined in Australia.) The Australian suffix used to coin cutesy abbreviations of words (hypocoristics) is conventionally spelled as –ie, not –y—even when it […]