After the death of his mother, Saint Augustine of Hippo writes:

Quote:
It seemed also good to me to go and bathe; because I had heard that bath (balneum) was derived from the Greek word balaneion, for the reason that it dispelled anxiety from the mind.

—Confessions (400) [Longmans, Green, and Co. Translation, 1897.]


Obviously, he is speaking about the etymology of the Latin word for bath. The English word "bath" is no help, because it is of Germanic origin.

Can anyone explain Augustine's comment? And why is the Latin word for "bath" so similar to the English word? Do they have the same ultimate origin in the Greek?

Last edited by Hydra; 03/05/2007 6:24 AM.