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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Now there's a dandy word I haven't heard for a while. I had no luck trying to find etymology. Share and share alike.
Remember using logarithms, and having to find reciprocals?
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475 |
I had no luck trying to find etymology.
That's because its is a troubled one. From Latin reciproco 'to move backwards, or back and forth'. The re- prefix is familar, but the rest of the word is murky. Cf. Latin procer 'chief, noble'. But where did the -ci- come from? Some kind of strange reduplication? Anyway, re for 'back' and pro for 'forth' is about it.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Are we talking about symbiosis again?
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 79
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 79 |
But where did the -ci- come from?
How about from "cis" meaning "on this side" - e.g. "cis Taurum", "cis Alpes"? Which is apparently related to a Sanskrit stem "ki".
On the subject of "ki" - here's more Nostraticist fodder: ki means "who" in Hungarian and French. Coincidence? Probably.
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