Outline of the history of the English language and literature by Anonymous

Author:Anonymous [Anonymous]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781539743828
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: CreateSpace Publishing
Published: 2016-10-26T00:00:00+00:00

6. WORDS DERIVED FROM NAMES OF PLACES.

Table of Contents

Academy, a school; from Academia, the name of the gymnasium where Plato, the Greek philosopher, taught his pupils.

Attic, an upper room; from Gr. Attikos, Athenian. In Athens the houses are said to have been built with a low upper story.

Bayonet, a kind of dagger, from Bayonne, in France.

Bedlam, a lunatic asylum; from Bethlehem, a monastery in London, which was afterwards used as a madhouse.

Calico, a kind of cotton cloth; from Calicut, in India.

Cambric, fine linen; from Cambray, in French Flanders.

Canary, a bird, and a kind of wine; from Canary Islands, whence these things were brought.

Canter, from Canterbury. The pilgrims to this shrine are said to have ridden at an easy pace.

Cashmere, Cassimere, or Kerseymere, a rich kind of woollen cloth; from Cashmere, a province among the Himalayas, in the north of India, noted for the manufacture of fine woollen fabrics.

Cherry, from Cerăsus, on the Black Sea, whence the fruit was introduced into Europe.

Copper, a metal; from Cyprus, an island in the eastern part of the Mediterranean.

Currant, from Corinth, in Greece, where these small dried grapes were first produced.

Damson, Damask, from Damascus, in Syria.

Dollar, from St. Joachim’s Thal or valley, in Bohemia. These coins were first made there about 1518, and were called thalers or talers: whence dollars.

Florin, a coin; from Florence, in Italy.

Gin, an alcoholic liquor; from Geneva, in Switzerland. (Gin, a trap, is an abbreviation of engine.)

Guinea, a coin worth twenty-one shillings; from Guinea (or Gold Coast) in Africa, whence the gold of which these coins were first made was brought.

Gypsy, from Egypt, whence these people were supposed to have come. They really came from India.

Holland, a kind of linen cloth; Hollands, a kind of gin; from Holland.

Indigo, from India.

Jersey, a woollen jacket; from Jersey, one of the Channel Islands.

Magnesia, Magnet, from Magnesia, a town in Asia Minor.

Mantua, a lady’s gown; from Mantua, in Italy.

Meander, to wind about; from Mæander, a river in Asia Minor, which had a very winding course.

Milliner, from Milan, in Italy.

Morocco, leather prepared in a certain way; from Morocco, in North Africa.

Nankeen, a kind of cotton cloth; from Nankin, in China.

Port, a dark red wine; from Oporto, in Portugal, whence great quantities of it are shipped.

Sherry, a light-coloured wine; from Xeres, in Spain.

Spaniel, a kind of dog; from Spain.

Turkey, a large domestic fowl; from Turkey, whence the bird was supposed to have come.

Worsted, woollen yarn; from Worsted, the name of a village near Norwich.

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