FOOTNOTES:

"Now mount who list,And close by the wristSever me quickly the Dead Man's fist."(Ingoldsby,The Hand of Glory.)

"Now mount who list,And close by the wristSever me quickly the Dead Man's fist."

(Ingoldsby,The Hand of Glory.)

It is simply a translation of Fr.main de gloire. But the French expression is a popular corruption ofmandragore, from Lat.mandragora, the mandragore, or mandrake, to the forked roots of which a similar virtue was attributed, especially if the plant were obtained from the foot of the gallows.

CONTAMINATION

Akin to folk-etymology is contamination,i.e., the welding of two words into one. This can often be noticed in children, whose linguistic instincts are those of primitive races. I have heard a child, on her first visit to the Zoo, express great eagerness to see thecanimals(camels×animals), which, by the way, turned out to be the giraffes. A small boy who learnt English and German simultaneously evolved, at the age of two, the wordspam(sponge× Ger.Schwamm). In a college in the English midlands, a student namedConstantine, who sat next to a student namedTurpin, once heardhimself startlingly addressed by a lecturer asTurpentine. People who inhabit the frontier of two languages, and in fact all who are in any degree bilingual, must inevitably form such composites occasionally. Thehaspirate of Fr.haut, Lat.altus, high, can only be explained by the influence of Old High Ger.hōh(hoch). The poetic wordglaivecannot be derived from Lat.gladius, sword, which has given Fr.glai, an archaic name for the gladiolus. We must invoke the help of a Gaulish wordcladebo, sword, which is related to Gaelicclay-more, big sword. It has been said that in this word the swords of Cæsar and Vercingetorix still cross each other. In Old French we findoreste, a storm, combined fromorageandtempeste(tempête). Fr.orteil, toe, represents the mixture of Lat.articulus, a little joint, with Gaulishordag. Abattledorewas in Mid. English a washing beetle, which is in Provençalbatedor, lit. beater. Hence it seems that this is one of the very few Provençal words which passed directly into English during the period of our occupation of Guienne. It has been contaminated by the cognatebeetle.

Cannibalis from Span.canibal, earliercaribal, i.e.Carib, thenbeing perhaps due to contamination with Span.canino, canine, voracious. It can hardly be doubted that this word suggested Shakespeare'sCaliban.Seragliois due to confusion between the Turkish wordserai, a palace, and Ital.serraglio, "an inclosure, a close, a padocke, a parke, a cloister or secluse" (Florio), which belongs to Lat.sera, a bolt or bar.

Anecdotageis a deliberate coinage ascribed to John Wilkes—

"When a man fell into hisanecdotage, it was a sign for him to retire from the world."(Disraeli,Lothair, Ch. 28.)

"When a man fell into hisanecdotage, it was a sign for him to retire from the world."

(Disraeli,Lothair, Ch. 28.)

ARBOUR—FRET

In some cases it is impossible to estimate thedifferent elements in a word.Arbourcertainly owes its modern spelling to Lat.arbor, a tree, but it represents also Mid. Eng.herbere,erbere, which comes, through French, from Lat.*herbarium. But this can only mean herb-garden, so that the sense development of the word must have been affected byharbour, properly "army-shelter," ultimately identical with Fr.auberge(p.164). When Dryden wrote—

"Tardy of aid,unsealthy heavy eyes,Awake, and with the dawning day arise."(The Cock and the Fox, 247.)

"Tardy of aid,unsealthy heavy eyes,Awake, and with the dawning day arise."

(The Cock and the Fox, 247.)

he was expressing a composite idea made up from the verbseal, Old Fr.seeler(sceller), Lat.sigillare, andseel, Old Fr.ciller, Vulgar Lat.*ciliare, fromcilium, eye-brow. The latter verb, meaning to sew together the eyelids of a young falcon, was once a common word—

"Come,seelingnight,Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day."(Macbeth, iii. 2.)

"Come,seelingnight,Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day."

(Macbeth, iii. 2.)

The verbfretis Anglo-Sax.fretan, to eat away (cf.Ger.fressen).Fretis also used of interlaced bars in heraldry, in which sense it corresponds to Fr.frettewith the same meaning; for this word, which also means ferrule, a Vulgar Lat.*ferritta(ferrum, iron) has been suggested. When Hamlet speaks of—

"This majestical rooffrettedwith golden fire,"(Hamlet, ii. 3.)

"This majestical rooffrettedwith golden fire,"

(Hamlet, ii. 3.)

is he thinking offretsin heraldry, or offretwork, or are these two of one origin? Why shouldfret, in this sense, not come fromfret, to eat away, sincefretworkmay be described as the "eating away" of part of the material? Cf.etch, which comes, through Dutch, from Ger.ätzen, the factitive ofessen, to eat. But the German forfretworkisdurchbrochene Arbeit, "broken-through"work, and Old Fr.fretorfrait, Lat.fractus, means "broken." Who shall decide how much ourfretworkowes to each of these possible etymons?

That form of taxation called excise, which dates from the time of Charles I., has always been unpopular. Andrew Marvell says thatExcise—

"With hundred rows of teeth the shark exceeds,And on all trades like cassowar she feeds."

Dr Johnson defines it as "a hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid," an outburst which Lord Mansfield considered "actionable." The name, like the tax, came from the Netherlands, where it was calledaccijs—

"'Twere cheap living here, were it not for the monstrousexciseswhich are impos'd upon all sorts of commodities, both for belly and back."(Howell,Letter from Amsterdam, 1619.)

"'Twere cheap living here, were it not for the monstrousexciseswhich are impos'd upon all sorts of commodities, both for belly and back."

(Howell,Letter from Amsterdam, 1619.)

In modern Dutch it has becomeaccijns, through confusion withcijns, tax (Lat.census;cf.Ger.Zins, interest). But the Dutch word is from Fr.accise, which appears in medieval Latin asaccisia, as though connected with "cutting" (cf.tallage, from Fr.tailler, to cut), or with the "incidence" of the tax. It is perhaps a perversion of Ital.assisa, "an imposition, or taxe, or assesment" (Torriano); but there is also an Old Fr.aceiswhich must be related to Latincensus.

When folk-etymology and contamination work together, the result is sometimes bewildering. Thusequerryrepresents an olderquerryorquirry, still usual in the 18th century. Among my books is—

"The Compleat Horseman, or Perfect Farrier, written in French by the Sieur de Solleysell,Querryto the Present King of France" (1702).

The modern spelling is due to popular association withLat.equus. But thisquerryis identical with Frenchécurie, stable, just as in Scottish thepostoften means thepostman. Andécurie, olderescurie, is from Old High Ger.scura[100](Scheuer, barn). The word used in modern French in the sense of ourequerryisécuyer, olderescuier, Lat.scutarius, shield-bearer, whence our wordesquire. Thisécuyeris in French naturally confused withécurie, so that Cotgrave definesescuyrieas "the stable of a prince, or nobleman; also, aquerry-ship; or the duties, or offices belonging thereto; also (in old authors) asquire'splace; or, the dignity, title, estate of an esquire."

PLEONASM

Ignorance of the true meaning of a word often leads to pleonasm. Thusgreyhoundmeanshound-hound, the first syllable representing Icel.grey, a dog.Peajacketis explanatory of Du.pij, earlierpye, "py-gown, or rough gown, as souldiers and seamen wear" (Hexham).On Greenhow Hillmeans "on green hill hill," andBuckhurst Holt Woodmeans "beech wood wood wood," an explanatory word being added as its predecessor became obsolete. The second part ofsalt-cellaris not the same word as inwine-cellar. It comes from Fr.salière, "a salt-seller" (Cotgrave), so that thesaltis unnecessary. We speak pleonastically of "dishevelledhair," while Old Fr.deschevelé, lit. dis-haired, now replaced byéchevelé, can only be applied to a person, e.g.,une femme toute deschevelée, "discheveled, with all her haire disorderly falling about her eares" (Cotgrave). The wordcheermeant in Mid. English "face." Its French originalchèrescarcely survives except in the phrasefaire bonne chère, lit. "make a good face," a meaning preserved in "to be of goodcheer." In both languages the meaning has beentransferred to the more substantial blessings which the pleasant countenance seems to promise, and also to the felicity resulting from good treatment. The true meaning of the word is so lost that we can speak of a "cheerfulface,"i.e., a face full of face.

UNEXPLAINED DISTORTIONS

But there are many words whose changes of form cannot be altogether explained by any of the influences that have been discussed in this and the preceding chapters. Why shouldcervelas, "a large kind of sausage, well season'd, and eaten cold in slices" (Kersey'sEng. Dict., 1720), now besaveloy? We might invoke the initial letters ofsausageto account for part of the change, but theoyremains a mystery.Cervelas, earliercervelat, comes through French from Ital.cervellato, "a kinde of dry sausage" (Florio), said to have been originally made from pig's brains. Forhatchmentwe find in the 16th centuryachement, and evenachievement. It is archaic Fr.hachement, the ornamental crest of a helmet, etc., probably derived from Old Fr.achemer, variant ofacesmer, to adorn. Hence both the French and English forms have an unexplainedh-, the earlierachementbeing nearer the original. Frenchomelettehas a bewildering history, but we can trace it almost to its present form. To begin with, anomelet, in spite of proverbs, is not necessarily associated with eggs. The origin is to be found in Lat.lamella, a thin plate,[101]which gave Old Fr.lamelle. Thenla lamellewas taken asl'alamelle, and the newalamelleoralemellebecame, with change of suffix,alemette. By metathesis (see p.59) this gaveamelette, still in dialect use, for which modern French has substitutedomelette. Theothen remains unexplained, unless we admit the influence of the old formœuf-mollet, a product of folk-etymology.

Counterpanerepresents Old Fr.coute-pointe, now corruptlycourte-pointe, from Lat.culcita puncta, lit. "stitched quilt";cf.Ger.Steppdecke, counterpane, fromsteppen, to stitch. In Old French we also find the corrupt formcontrepointewhich gave Eng.counterpoint—

"In ivory coffers I have stuff'd my crowns;In cypress chests my arras,counterpoints,Costly apparel, tents and canopies."(Taming of the Shrew, ii. 1.)

"In ivory coffers I have stuff'd my crowns;In cypress chests my arras,counterpoints,Costly apparel, tents and canopies."

(Taming of the Shrew, ii. 1.)

in modern English replaced bycounterpane. Mid. English has also the more correct formquilt-point, from the Old Normancuilte (pur)pointe, which occurs in a 12th-century poem on St Thomas of Canterbury. The hooped petticoat called afarthingalewas spelt by Shakespearefardingaleand by Cotgravevardingall. This is Old Fr.verdugalle, of Spanish origin and derived from Span.verdugo, a (green) wand, because the circumference was stiffened with flexible switches before the application of whalebone or steel to this purpose. Thecrinoline, as its name implies, was originally strengthened with horse-hair, Lat.crinis, hair. To return to thefarthingale, the insertion of annbeforegis common in English (see p.84,n.2), but the change of the initial consonant is baffling. The modern Fr.vertugadinis also a corrupt form.Isinglassseems to be an arbitrary perversion of obsolete Du.huyzenblas(huisblad), sturgeon bladder;cf.the cognate Ger.Hausenblase.

Few words have suffered so many distortions asliquorice. The original is Greco-Lat.glycyrrhiza,lit. "sweet root," corrupted into late Lat.liquiritia, whence Fr.réglisse, Ital.legorizia,regolizia, and Ger.Lakritze. The Mid. English formlicoriswould appear to have been influenced byorris, a plant which also has a sweet root, while the modern spelling is perhaps due toliquor.

FOOTNOTES:[89]Sack, earlier alsoseck, is Fr.sec, dry, which, with spurioust, has also given Ger.Sekt, now used for champagne.[90]Fr.chaise, chair, for olderchaire, now used only of a pulpit or professorial chair, Lat.cathedra, is due to an affected pronunciation that prevailed in Paris in the 16th century.[91]The fact that in Old French the final consonant of the singular disappeared in the plural form helped to bring about such misunderstandings.[92]Forhaggardsee p.108.[93]In Old French confusion sometimes arose with regard to final consonants, because of their disappearance in the plural (see p.118,n.). Ingerfaut, gerfalcon, for Old Fr.gerfauc, the less familiar final-cwas, as inboulevart, replaced by the more usual-t.[94]An unoriginalgoccurs in many English words derived from French, e.g.,foreign,sovereign, oldersovran,sprightlyforspritely, i.e.,sprite-like,delight, from Old Fr.delit, which belongs to Lat.delectare.[95]"Also, that no 'denizen' poulterer shall stand at the 'Carfax' of Leadenhall in a house or without, with rabbits, fowls, or other poultry to sell ... and that the 'foreign' poulterers, with their poultry, shall stand by themselves, and sell their poultry at the corner of Leadenhall, without any 'denizen' poulterer coming or meddling in sale or purchase with them, or among them."The wordcarfax, once the usual name for a "cross-way," survives at Oxford and Exeter. It is a plural, from Fr.carrefour, Vulgar Lat.*quadrifurcum(forfurca), four-fork.[96]This word is getting overworked,e.g., "The Derbyshire Golf Club links were yesterday thevenueof a 72-hole match" (Nottingham Guardian, 21st Nov. 1911).[97]Cf.Ger.schenken, to pour, and the Tudor wordskinker, a drawer, waiter (1Henry IV., ii. 4).[98]Perhaps it is the mere instinct to make an unfamiliar word "look like something." Thus Fr.beaupré, from Eng.bowsprit, cannot conceivably have been associated with a fair meadow; andaccomplice, forcomplice, Lat.complex,complic-, can hardly have been confused withaccomplish.[99]Lat.præposterus, frompræ, before, andposterus, behind.[100]This etymology is, however, now regarded as doubtful, and it seems likely that Old Fr.escurieis really derived fromescuyer. If so, there is no question of contamination.[101]We have a parallel in Fr.flan, Eng.flawn, Ger.Fladen, etc., a kind of omelet, ultimately related to Eng.flat—"The feast was over, the board was clear'd,Theflawnsand the custards had all disappear'd."(Ingoldsby,Jackdaw of Rheims.)Cotgrave hasflans, "flawnes, custards, eggepies; also, round planchets, or plates of metall."

[89]Sack, earlier alsoseck, is Fr.sec, dry, which, with spurioust, has also given Ger.Sekt, now used for champagne.

[90]Fr.chaise, chair, for olderchaire, now used only of a pulpit or professorial chair, Lat.cathedra, is due to an affected pronunciation that prevailed in Paris in the 16th century.

[91]The fact that in Old French the final consonant of the singular disappeared in the plural form helped to bring about such misunderstandings.

[92]Forhaggardsee p.108.

[93]In Old French confusion sometimes arose with regard to final consonants, because of their disappearance in the plural (see p.118,n.). Ingerfaut, gerfalcon, for Old Fr.gerfauc, the less familiar final-cwas, as inboulevart, replaced by the more usual-t.

[94]An unoriginalgoccurs in many English words derived from French, e.g.,foreign,sovereign, oldersovran,sprightlyforspritely, i.e.,sprite-like,delight, from Old Fr.delit, which belongs to Lat.delectare.

[95]"Also, that no 'denizen' poulterer shall stand at the 'Carfax' of Leadenhall in a house or without, with rabbits, fowls, or other poultry to sell ... and that the 'foreign' poulterers, with their poultry, shall stand by themselves, and sell their poultry at the corner of Leadenhall, without any 'denizen' poulterer coming or meddling in sale or purchase with them, or among them."The wordcarfax, once the usual name for a "cross-way," survives at Oxford and Exeter. It is a plural, from Fr.carrefour, Vulgar Lat.*quadrifurcum(forfurca), four-fork.

The wordcarfax, once the usual name for a "cross-way," survives at Oxford and Exeter. It is a plural, from Fr.carrefour, Vulgar Lat.*quadrifurcum(forfurca), four-fork.

[96]This word is getting overworked,e.g., "The Derbyshire Golf Club links were yesterday thevenueof a 72-hole match" (Nottingham Guardian, 21st Nov. 1911).

[97]Cf.Ger.schenken, to pour, and the Tudor wordskinker, a drawer, waiter (1Henry IV., ii. 4).

[98]Perhaps it is the mere instinct to make an unfamiliar word "look like something." Thus Fr.beaupré, from Eng.bowsprit, cannot conceivably have been associated with a fair meadow; andaccomplice, forcomplice, Lat.complex,complic-, can hardly have been confused withaccomplish.

[99]Lat.præposterus, frompræ, before, andposterus, behind.

[100]This etymology is, however, now regarded as doubtful, and it seems likely that Old Fr.escurieis really derived fromescuyer. If so, there is no question of contamination.

[101]We have a parallel in Fr.flan, Eng.flawn, Ger.Fladen, etc., a kind of omelet, ultimately related to Eng.flat—"The feast was over, the board was clear'd,Theflawnsand the custards had all disappear'd."(Ingoldsby,Jackdaw of Rheims.)Cotgrave hasflans, "flawnes, custards, eggepies; also, round planchets, or plates of metall."

[101]We have a parallel in Fr.flan, Eng.flawn, Ger.Fladen, etc., a kind of omelet, ultimately related to Eng.flat—

"The feast was over, the board was clear'd,Theflawnsand the custards had all disappear'd."(Ingoldsby,Jackdaw of Rheims.)

"The feast was over, the board was clear'd,Theflawnsand the custards had all disappear'd."

(Ingoldsby,Jackdaw of Rheims.)

Cotgrave hasflans, "flawnes, custards, eggepies; also, round planchets, or plates of metall."

Thelargest class of doublets is formed by those words of Latin origin which have been introduced into the language in two forms, the popular form through Anglo-Saxon or Old French, and the learned through modern French or directly from Latin. Obvious examples arecaitiff,captive;chieftain,captain;frail,fragile. Lat.discus, a plate, quoit, gave Anglo-Sax.disc, whence Eng.dish. In Old French it becamedeis(dais), Eng.dais, and in Ital.desco, "a deske, a table, a boord, a counting boord" (Florio), whence ourdesk. We have also the learneddiscordisk, so that the one Latin word has supplied us with four vocables, differentiated in meaning, but each having the fundamental sense of a flat surface.

Dainty, from Old Fr.deintié, is a doublet ofdignity.Agueis properly an adjective equivalent toacute, as in Fr.fièvre aigue. Thepaladinswere the twelve peers of Charlemagne'spalace, and a CountPalatineis a later name for something of the same kind. One of the most famous bearers of the title, Prince Rupert, is usually called in contemporary records thePalsgrave, from Ger.Pfalzgraf, lit. palace count, Ger.Pfalzbeing a very early loan from Lat.palatium.Trivet, Lat.tripes,triped-, dates back to Anglo-Saxon, its "rightness" beingdue to the fact that a three-legged stool stands firm on any surface. In the learned doubletstripodandtriposwe have the Greek form.Spice, Old Fr.espice(épice), is a doublet ofspecies. The medieval merchants recognised four "kinds" of spice, viz., saffron, cloves, cinnamon, nutmegs.

Coffinis the learned doublet ofcoffer, Fr.coffre, from Lat.cophinus. It was originally used of a basket or case of any kind, and even of a pie-crust—

"Why, thou say'st true; it is a paltry cap;A custard-coffin, a bauble, a silken pie."(Taming of the Shrew, iv. 3.)

"Why, thou say'st true; it is a paltry cap;A custard-coffin, a bauble, a silken pie."

(Taming of the Shrew, iv. 3.)

Its present meaning is an attempt at avoiding the mention of the inevitable, a natural human weakness which has popularised in America the horrible wordcasketin this sense. The Greeks, fearing death less than do the moderns, called a coffin plainlyσαρκοφάγος, flesh-eater, whence indirectly Fr.cercueiland Ger.Sarg.

The homelymangle, which comes to us from Dutch, is a doublet of the warlike engine called amangonel—

"You may win the wall in spite both of bow andmangonel."(Ivanhoe, Ch. 27.)

"You may win the wall in spite both of bow andmangonel."

(Ivanhoe, Ch. 27.)

which is Old French. The source is Greco-Lat.manganum, apparatus, whence Ital.mangano, with both meanings. The verbmangle, to mutilate, is unrelated.

SULLEN—MONEY

Sullen, earliersoleyn, is a popular doublet ofsolemn, in its secondary meaning of glum or morose. In the early Latin-English dictionariessolemn,soleyn, andsullenare used indifferently to explain such words asacerbus,agelastus,vultuosus. Shakespeare speaks of "customary suits ofsolemnblack" (Hamlet, i. 2), but makes Bolingbroke say—

"Come, mourn with me for that I do lament,And put onsullenblack incontinent."(Richard II., v. 6.)

"Come, mourn with me for that I do lament,And put onsullenblack incontinent."

(Richard II., v. 6.)

while the "solemncurfew" (Tempest, v. 1) is described by Milton as "swinging slow withsullenroar" (Penseroso, l. 76). The meaning ofantic, a doublet ofantique, has changed considerably, but the process is easy to follow. From meaning simply ancient it acquired the sense of quaint or odd, and was applied to grotesque[102]work in art or to a fantastic disguise. Then it came to mean buffoon, in which sense Shakespeare applies it to grim death—

"For within the hollow crownThat rounds the mortal temples of a king,Keeps death his court; and there theanticsits,Scoffing his state, and grinning at his pomp."(Richard II., iii. 2.)

"For within the hollow crownThat rounds the mortal temples of a king,Keeps death his court; and there theanticsits,Scoffing his state, and grinning at his pomp."

(Richard II., iii. 2.)

and lastly the meaning was transferred to the capers of the buffoon. From Old High Ger.faltan(falten), to fold, andstuol(Stuhl), chair, we get Fr.fauteuil. Medieval Latin constructed the compoundfaldestolium, whence our ecclesiasticalfaldstool, a litany desk.Revelis from Old Fr.reveler, Lat.rebellare, so that it is a doublet ofrebel. Holyoak'sLatin Dictionary(1612) hasrevells or routs, "concursus populi illegitimus." Its sense development, from a riotous concourse to a festive gathering, has perhaps been affected by Fr.réveiller, to wake, whenceréveillon, a Christmas Eve supper, or "wake." Cf. Ital.vegghia, "a watch, a wake, arevelling a nights" (Florio).

The very important wordmoneyhas acquired its meaning by one of those accidents which are so common in word-history. The Romanmintwas attached to the temple of JunoMoneta,i.e., the admonisher, frommonēre, and this name was transferred to the building. The Romans introducedmoneta, in the course of theirconquests, into French (monnaie), German (Münze), and English (mint). The French and German words still have three meanings, viz., mint, coin, change. We have borrowed the French word and given it the general sense represented in French byargent, lit. silver. The Ger.Geld, money, has no connection withgold, but is cognate with Eng.yield, as in "theyieldof an investment," of which we preserve the old form inwergild, payment for having killed a man (Anglo-Sax.wer). To return tomoneta, we have a third form of the word inmoidore—

"And fair rose-nobles and broadmoidoresThe waiter pulls out of their pockets by scores."(Ingoldsby,The Hand of Glory.)

"And fair rose-nobles and broadmoidoresThe waiter pulls out of their pockets by scores."

(Ingoldsby,The Hand of Glory.)

from Port.moeda de ouro, money of gold.

Sometimes the same word reaches us through different languages. Thuschargeis French andcargois Spanish, both belonging to a Vulgar Lat.*carricarefromcarrus, vehicle. In old commercial records we often find the Anglo-Norman formcark, a load, burden, which survives now only in a metaphorical sense, e.g.carking,i.e.burdensome, care. Lat.dominahas given us through French bothdameanddam,[103]and through Spanishduenna; while Ital.donnaoccurs in the compoundmadonnaand thedonahof the East End costermonger. Lat.datum, given, becomes Fr.déand Eng.die(pluraldice). Its Italian doublet isdado, originally cubical pedestal, hence part of wall representing continuous pedestal.Scrimmageandskirmishare variant spellings of Fr.escarmouche, from Ital.scaramuccia, of German origin (see p.64,n.). But we have also, more immediately from Italian, the formscaramouch. Blount'sGlossographia(1674) mentionsScaramoche, "a famous Italian Zani (see p.45), or mimick, who acted here in England, 1673."Scaramouchwas one of the stock characters of the old Italian comedy, which still exists as the harlequinade of the Christmas pantomime, and of which some traces survive in the Punch and Judy show. He was represented as a cowardly braggart dressed in black. The golfer'sstanceis a doublet of the poet'sstanza, both of them belonging to Lat.stare, to stand.Stanceis Old French andstanzais Italian, "astanceor staffe of verses or songs" (Florio). Astanzais then properly a pause or resting place, just as averse, Lat.versus, is a "turning" to the beginning of the next line.

FROM FRENCH DIALECTS

Different French dialects have supplied us with many doublets. Old Fr.chacier(chasser), Vulgar Lat.*captiare, forcaptare, a frequentative ofcapere, to take, was in Picardcachier. This has given Eng.catch, which is thus a doublet ofchase. Incater(see p.63) we have the Picard form of Fr.acheter, but the true French form survives in the family nameChater.[104]In late Latin the neuter adjectivecapitale, capital, was used of property. This has given, through Old Fr.chatel, ourchattel, while the doubletcatelhas givencattle, now limited to what was once the most important form of property. Fr.cheptelis still used of cattle farmed out on a kind of profit-sharing system. This restriction of the meaning ofcattleis paralleled by Scot.avers, farm beasts, from Old Fr.aver[105](avoir), property, goods. The history of the wordfee, Anglo-Sax.feoh, cattle, cognate with Lat.pecus, whencepecunia, money, also takes us back to the times when a man's wealth was estimated by his flocks and herds; but, in this case, the sense development is exactly reversed.

Fr.jumeau, twin, was earliergemeau, still used by Corneille, and earlier stillgemel, Lat.gemellus, diminutive ofgeminus, twin. From one form we have thegimbals, or twin pivots, which keep the compass horizontal. Shakespeare uses it of clockwork—

"I think, by some oddgimmals, or device,Their arms are set like clocks, still to strike on."(1Henry VI., i. 2.)

"I think, by some oddgimmals, or device,Their arms are set like clocks, still to strike on."

(1Henry VI., i. 2.)

and also speaks of agimmalbit (Henry V., iv. 2). In the 17th century we find numerous allusions togimmalrings (variously spelt). The toothsomejumble, known to the Midlands as "brandy-snap," is the same word, this delicacy having apparently at one time been made in links. We may compare the obsolete Ital.stortelli, lit. "little twists," explained by Torriano as "winding simnels, wreathedjumbals."

An accident of spelling may disguise the origin and meaning of a word.Tretis Fr.trait, in Old French alsotret, Lat.tractus, pull (of the scale). It was usually an allowance of four pounds in a hundred and four, which was supposed to be equal to the sum of the "turns of the scale" which would be in the purchaser's favour if the goods were weighed in small quantities.Traitis still so used in modern French.

METTLE—GLAMOUR

A difference in spelling, originally accidental, but perpetuated by an apparent difference of meaning, is seen inflour,flower;metal,mettle.Flouris theflower,i.e.the finest part, of meal, Fr.fleur de farine, "flower, or the finest meale" (Cotgrave). In theNottingham Guardian(29th Aug. 1911) I read that—

"Mrs Kernahan is among the increasing number of persons who do not discriminate betweenmetalandmettle, and writes 'Margaret was on hermetal.'"

It might be added that this author is in the excellent company of Shakespeare—

"See whe'r their basestmetalbe not mov'd."(Julius Cæsar, i. 1.)

"See whe'r their basestmetalbe not mov'd."

(Julius Cæsar, i. 1.)

There is no more etymological difference betweenmetalandmettlethan between the "temper" of a cook and that of a sword-blade.

Parsonis a doublet ofperson, the priest perhaps being taken as "representing" the Church, for Lat.persona, an actor's mask, fromper, through, andsonare, to sound,[106]was also used of a costumed character ordramatis persona.Mask, which ultimately belongs to an Arabic word meaning buffoon, has had a sense development exactly opposite to that ofperson, its modern meaning corresponding to the Lat.personafrom which the latter started.Parsonshows the popular pronunciation ofer, now modified by the influence of traditional spelling. We still have it inBerkeley,clerk,Derby,sergeant, as we formerly did inmerchant. Proper names, in which the orthography depends on the "taste and fancy of the speller," or the phonetic theories of the old parish clerk, are often more in accordance with the pronunciation,e.g.,Barclay,Clark,Darby,Sargent,Marchant.Posy, in both its senses, is a contraction ofpoesy, the flowers of a nosegay expressing by their arrangement a sentiment like that engraved on a ring. The latter use is perhaps obsolete—

"A hoop of gold, a paltry ringThat she did give me; whoseposywasFor all the world like cutler'spoetryUpon a knife: 'Love me and leave me not.'"(Merchant of Venice, v. 1.)

"A hoop of gold, a paltry ringThat she did give me; whoseposywasFor all the world like cutler'spoetryUpon a knife: 'Love me and leave me not.'"

(Merchant of Venice, v. 1.)

The poetic wordglamouris the same asgrammar,which had in the Middle Ages the sense of mysterious learning. From the same source we have the French corruptiongrimoire, "a booke of conjuring" (Cotgrave).Glamourandgramaryewere both revived by Scott—

"A moment then the volume spread,And one short spell therein he read;It had much ofglamourmight."(Lay of the Last Minstrel, iii. 9.)

"A moment then the volume spread,And one short spell therein he read;It had much ofglamourmight."

(Lay of the Last Minstrel, iii. 9.)

"And how he sought her castle high,That morn, by help ofgramarye."(Ibid., v. 27.)

"And how he sought her castle high,That morn, by help ofgramarye."

(Ibid., v. 27.)

For the change ofrtolwe have the parallel offlouncefor olderfrounce(p.60).Quireis the same word asquair, in the "King'sQuair"i.e.book. Its Mid. English form isquayer, Old Fr.quaer,caer(cahier), Vulgar Lat.*quaternum, forquaternio, "aquierwith foure sheetes" (Cooper).

EASTERN DOUBLETS

Oriental words have sometimes come into the language by very diverse routes.Sirup, orsyrup,sherbet, and (rum)-shrubare of identical origin, ultimately Arabic.Sirup, which comes through Spanish and French, was once used, liketreacle(p.75), of medicinal compounds—

"Not poppy, nor mandragora,Nor all the drowsysyrupsof the world,Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleepWhich thou ow'dst yesterday."(Othello, iii. 3.)

"Not poppy, nor mandragora,Nor all the drowsysyrupsof the world,Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleepWhich thou ow'dst yesterday."

(Othello, iii. 3.)

Sherbetandshrubare directly borrowed through the medium of travellers—

"'I smoke onsruband water, myself,' said Mr Omer."(David Copperfield, Ch. 30.)

"'I smoke onsruband water, myself,' said Mr Omer."

(David Copperfield, Ch. 30.)

Sepoy, used of Indian soldiers in the English service, is the same asspahi, the French name for the Algeriancavalry. Both come ultimately from a Persian adjective meaning "military," and the French form was at one time used also in English in speaking of Oriental soldiery—

"The Janizaries andSpahiescame in a tumultuary manner to the Seraglio."(Howell,Familiar Letters, 1623.)

"The Janizaries andSpahiescame in a tumultuary manner to the Seraglio."

(Howell,Familiar Letters, 1623.)

Tulipis from Fr.tulipe, formerlytulipan, "the delicate flower called atulipa,tulipie, or Dalmatian cap" (Cotgrave). It is a doublet ofturban. The GermanTulpewas also earlierTulipan.

The humblest of medieval coins was themaravedi, which came from Spain at an early date, though not early enough for Robin Hood to have said to Isaac of York—

"I will strip thee of everymaravedithou hast in the world."(Ivanhoe, Ch. 33.)

"I will strip thee of everymaravedithou hast in the world."

(Ivanhoe, Ch. 33.)

The name is due to the Moorish dynasty of theAlmaravidesorMarabouts. This Arabic name, which means hermit, was given also to a kind of stork, themarabout, on account of the solitary and sober habits which have earned in India for a somewhat similar bird the nameadjutant(p.34).

Cipherandzerodo not look like doublets, but both of them come from the same Arabic word. The medieval Lat.zephyrumconnects the two forms.Crimsonandcarmine, both of them ultimately from Old Spanish, are not quite doublets, but both belong tokermes, the cochineal insect, of Arabic origin.

The relationship betweencipherandzerois perhaps better disguised than that betweenfurnishandveneer, though this is by no means obvious.Veneer, speltfineerby Smollett, is Ger.fournieren, borrowed from Fr.fournir[107]and specialised in meaning. Ebers'German Dict.(1796) hasfurnieren, "to inlay with several sorts of wood, toveneer."

The doublets selected for discussion among the hundreds which exist in the language reveal many etymological relationships which would hardly be suspected at first sight. Many other words might be quoted which are almost doublets. Thussergeant, Fr.sergent, Lat.serviens,servient-, is almost a doublet ofservant, the present participle of Fr.servir. The fabric calleddrillordrillingis from Ger.Drillich, "tick, linnen-cloth woven ofthreethreads" (Ludwig). This is an adaptation of Lat.trilix,trilic-, which, through Fr.treillis, has given Eng.trellis. We may compare the oldertwill, of Anglo-Saxon origin, cognate with Ger.ZwilchorZwillich, "linnen woven with adoublethread" (Ludwig).Robe, from French, is cognate withrob, and with Ger.Raub, booty, the conqueror decking himself in the spoils of the conquered.Muskis a doublet ofmeginnutmeg, Fr.noix muscade. In Mid. English we findnote-mugge, and Cotgrave has the diminutivemuguette, "a nutmeg";cf.modern Fr.muguet, the lily of the valley. Fr.dîneranddéjeunerboth represent Vulgar Lat.*dis-junare, to break fast, fromjejunus, fasting. The difference of form is due to the shifting of the accent in the Latin conjugation, e.g.,dis-junáregives Old Fr.disner(dîner), whiledis-júnatgives Old Fr.desjune(déjeune).

BANJO—SAMITE

Admiral, earlieramiral, comes through French from the Arab.amir, an emir. Its Old French forms are numerous, and the one which has survived in English may be taken as an abbreviation of Arab.amir al bahremir on the sea. Greco-Lat.pandura, a stringed instrument,has produced an extraordinary number of corruptions, among which some philologists rankmandoline. Eng.bandore, now obsolete, was once a fairly common word, and from it, or from some cognate Romance form, comes the negro corruptionbanjo—

"'What is this, mamma? it is not a guitar, is it?' 'No, my dear, it is called abanjore; it is an African instrument, of which the negroes are particularly fond.'"(Miss Edgeworth,Belinda, Ch. 18.)

"'What is this, mamma? it is not a guitar, is it?' 'No, my dear, it is called abanjore; it is an African instrument, of which the negroes are particularly fond.'"

(Miss Edgeworth,Belinda, Ch. 18.)

Florio haspandora,pandura, "a musical instrument with three strings, a kit, a croude,[108]a rebecke."Kit, used by Dickens—

"He had a little fiddle, which at school we used to call akit, under his left arm."(Bleak House, Ch. 14.)

"He had a little fiddle, which at school we used to call akit, under his left arm."

(Bleak House, Ch. 14.)

seems to be a clipped form from Old French dialectquiterne, forguiterne, Greco-Lat.cithara. Cotgrave explainsmandoreas a "kitt, small gitterne." The doubletguitaris from Spanish.

The two pretty wordsdimityandsamite—

"An armRose up from out the bosom of the lake,Clothed in whitesamite, mystic, wonderful,Holding the sword."(Tennyson,Morte d'Arthur, l. 29.)

"An armRose up from out the bosom of the lake,Clothed in whitesamite, mystic, wonderful,Holding the sword."

(Tennyson,Morte d'Arthur, l. 29.)

are both connected with Gk.μίτος, thread.Dimityis the plural,dimiti, of Ital.dimito, "a kind of course cotton or flanell" (Florio), from Greco-Lat.dimitus, double thread (cf.twill, p.148).Samite, Old Fr.samit, whence Ger.Samt, velvet, is in medieval Latinhexamitus, six-thread; this is Byzantine Gk.ἑξάμιτον, whence also Old Slavonicaksamitu. The Italian form issciamito, "a kind of sleave, feret, or filosello silke" (Florio). The wordferetused here by Florio is from Ital.fioretto, littleflower. It was also calledfloretsilk. Florio explains the pluralfiorettias "a kind of course silke calledf[l]oretorferretsilke," and Cotgrave hasfleuret, "course silke,floretsilke." This doublet offloweretis not obsolete in the sense of tape—

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