Thinking about Father Steve's 'question' sent me down a track that surprised me. See what all-y'all think...
So if I pursue my quarry in different guises, am I
a. hunting a square windowpane (derived from the Latin
quadrus)
b. hunting a hearty beast’s entrails (derived from the Latin
cor)
c. hunting a skinny animal’s entrails (derived from the Latin
corium)
d. hunting a hole in the ground (derived from the Latin
quadrum)
e. or some strange mishmash of conflicting etymology?!
quarry1
- noun (pl. quarries) an open excavation in the earth’s surface from which stone or other materials are extracted.
verb (quarries, quarried) 1 extract from a quarry. 2 cut into (rock or ground) to obtain stone or other materials.
— DERIVATIVES quarrier noun.
— ORIGIN Old French quarriere, from Latin quadrum ‘a square’.
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/quarry_1?view=uk
Quarry2
- noun (pl. quarries) 1 an animal being hunted. 2 a person or thing being chased or sought.
— ORIGIN originally denoting the parts of a deer placed on a hide for the hounds: from Old French couree, from Latin cor ‘heart’.
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/quarry_2?view=uk
quarry3
- noun (pl. quarries) 1 a diamond-shaped pane in a lattice window. 2 (also quarry tile) an unglazed floor tile.
— ORIGIN alteration of QUARREL2, which originally denoted a lattice windowpane
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/quarry_3?view=uk
Main Entry: 1quar•ry
Pronunciation: 'kwor-E, 'kwär-
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural quarries
Etymology: Middle English querre entrails of game given to the hounds, from Middle French cuiree, from cuir skin, hide (on which the entrails were placed), from Latin corium -- more at CUIRASS
(Etymology: Middle English curas, from Middle French curasse, from Late Latin coreacea, feminine of coreaceus leathern, from Latin corium skin, leather; akin to Old English heortha deerskin, Latin cortex bark, Greek keirein to cut ) (see
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=cuirass)
1 obsolete : a heap of the game killed in a hunt
2 : GAME; specifically : game hunted with hawks
3 : one that is sought or pursued : PREY
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=quarry
