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#86255 11/08/02 07:58 PM
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"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. "


#86256 11/10/02 07:51 AM
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Please, who's Caroline, and which is the relationship with "insectum"?


#86257 11/13/02 01:57 PM
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I'd also like to know.


#86258 11/13/02 02:41 PM
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#86259 11/14/02 12:47 AM
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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"?


#86260 11/14/02 02:15 AM
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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.


#86261 11/14/02 02:22 AM
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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!




#86262 11/14/02 11:37 AM
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Virginia Algonquian, tamahaac, tamohake: Proto-Algonquian temah- (unattested), to cut off by tool + -aakan, (unattested), noun suffix.

As per AHD



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