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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread metier #119991 01/14/2004 10:58 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 In a Sherlock Holmes story, he calls his profession his "metier". This is of French origin, and I haven't seen it for quite a while. M'etier \M['e]`tier"\, n. [F.] Calling; vocation; business; trade. Not only is it the business of no one to preach the truth but it is the m['e]tier of many to conceal it. --A. R. Colquhoun Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: metier #119992 01/14/2004 11:27 PM Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 1,475 California jheem veteran jheem veteran Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 1,475 California From the Latin ministerium 'attendence, service' from minister from the comparative of minus which is already the suppletive comparative of parvus 'small'. The -ter is probably related to the -ster suffix in English. I especially like how French has eviscerated this Latin word. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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