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Just by chance I sometimes come across a word that in nothing betrayed me it's meaning. Most of the time I have a guess in some direction, even if it proves to be the wrong one.
This one caught my eye on a random dictionary page ;
sidereal
1634, "of or pertaining to the stars," earlier sideral (1594), from Fr. sidereal (16c.), from L. sidereus "starry, astral," from sidus (gen. sideris) "star, constellation," probably from PIE base *sweid- "to shine" (cf. Lith. svidus "shining, bright").
I didn't see the starry or astral connection in any way. It looked like sidderaal, which in fact means 'electric eel'. but I knew that was nonsense. Surprised to see what it really means.
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words that don't betray
BranShea 04/13/2009 8:35 AM ![]()
Re: words that don't betray
Faldage 04/13/2009 10:32 AM ![]()
Re: semantic betrayals
zmjezhd 04/13/2009 12:29 PM ![]()
Re: semantic betrayals
Buffalo Shrdlu 04/13/2009 12:55 PM ![]()
Re: semantic betrayals
BranShea 04/13/2009 1:36 PM ![]()
Re: semantic betrayals
zmjezhd 04/13/2009 2:22 PM ![]()
Re: semantic betrayals
tsuwm 04/13/2009 3:20 PM ![]()
Re: semantic betrayals
BranShea 04/13/2009 7:25 PM
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