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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread From Caroline's Corner #86255 11/08/2002 7:58 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 "The Latin word for insect is insectum, but the Romans did not "invent" this arthropodan term. The Greeks did. Insectum is actually the Latin translation of Greek entomon, which is from Greek [en- ("in") + tomos ("cutting")]. So, both the Latin and the Greek words for insect mean "cut into parts." Now you know why entomologists are people who study insects. You might recognize the Latin root sect in other "cutting" words like section, dissect, and vivisection. You might also recognize the Greek root tom- in words like atom ("un-cut-able"), tome (a word for a big book, which came from the fact that Greek books were made out of sections of papyrus), or appendecTOMy. (An appendectomy is an operation to cut out the appendix. There are lots of surgical operations with tom- as part of their names.) You might not realize it, but even the word tmesis, a grammatical term, has the root tom- hidden behind it. To find out how, check out the entries for tmesis and tome in Webster's Third. " Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Caroline's Corner : ??? #86256 11/10/2002 7:51 AM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 315 Italy - Perugia is a town with... emanuela enthusiast emanuela enthusiast Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 315 Italy - Perugia is a town with... Please, who's Caroline, and which is the relationship with "insectum"? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Caroline's Corner : ??? #86257 11/13/2002 1:57 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York I'd also like to know. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Caroline's Corner : ??? #86258 11/13/2002 2:41 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 http://www.spellingbee.com/cctoc.shtml Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: From Caroline's Corner #86259 11/14/2002 12:47 AM Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 6,296 Piedmont Region of Virginia, U... Wordwind Carpal Tunnel Wordwind Carpal Tunnel Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 6,296 Piedmont Region of Virginia, U... In reply to: You might recognize the Latin root sect in other "cutting" words like section, dissect, and vivisection. You might also recognize the Greek root tom- in words like atom ("un-cut-able"), ... Any connection to "tomahawk"? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: From Caroline's Corner #86260 11/14/2002 2:15 AM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 Careful, WW. You'll have tsuwm telling you the Indians didn't speak Greek and AS will be doing her horizontal dervish delirium endangering her fundament. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: From Caroline's Corner #86261 11/14/2002 2:22 AM Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 6,296 Piedmont Region of Virginia, U... Wordwind Carpal Tunnel Wordwind Carpal Tunnel Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 6,296 Piedmont Region of Virginia, U... Hey, I was just askin'! For all I know, tomahawk was never an actual term of the natives. But I would like to see the ASp do a dervish here! Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Tomahawk #86262 11/14/2002 11:37 AM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Virginia Algonquian, tamahaac, tamohake: Proto-Algonquian temah- (unattested), to cut off by tool + -aakan, (unattested), noun suffix. As per AHD 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 Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary 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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