Serenity (Word of the week)

Serenity is a state of calm and peacefulness, something we all wish for but so rarely achieve.  The meaning of this word has changed.  Originally, in the fifteenth century, it was a title of honour, such as "his most serene highness", and is still occasionally used today.  Before 1460, the word serenity was used to mean fair weather and clear skies, taken from the Middle French serenite and the Latin serenitatem which meant clearness and calmness.
If only we could be as clear headed and calm as this.  In order to achieve serenity, some people meditate, some pray.  Heave you ever heard of the Serenity Prayer?

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

The origin of this prayer is cause for debate, but the theologian Dr. Rheinhold Niebuhr is generally credited with its authorship, when he used it in a sermon in the 1930s.  It was printed on cards for US troops during World War Two and has since been used by many self-help groups, including Alcoholics Anonymous since the 1940s.

So next time you feel stressed and overwhelmed by life's problems, try saying this prayer.  Because when you talk to Him, God listens.

Sources:
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (1988), Chambers.
The Origin of our Serenity Prayer (1992) [online]. Available from: http://www.aahistory.com/prayer.html (Accessed 12th January 2011).

Juliana

Cumberbatch

I like to discover unusual names, and Benedict Cumberbatch, star of the new BBC series Sherlock, has one of the best I've come across in a while.  When he appeared on Alan Carr's chat show Chatty Man recently, they discussed his name, and Benedict admitted to being teased about his surname.

This led me to wondering: what did Cumberbatch mean?  Where did this name come from?

There is a village near Chester named Comberbach which is found on one of John Speede's maps from 1610.  It is located in a hollow near a brook.  This name is a literal description, as comber or cumber means dweller in a valley.  A combe is a small valley, much like cwm is in Wales.  There are other, more well-known combes in the UK - such as Ilfracombe and Babbacombe in Devon, Castle Combe in Dorset, etc.  Bach or batch means dweller near a stream.  The word comes from the Old English bache or baece.  So the name Cumberbatch means dweller in a valley near a stream.  Hardly likely to apply to Benedict Cumberbatch today, though.

The earliest known reference to a man named Cumber is in Sussex in 1332, before that a William le Combere was mentioned in Cambridgeshire in 1260.  Batch, however, appears even earlier, as de Bache in 1212 in Lincolnshire.

So Benedict Cumberbatch may have a very unusual name, one that got him teased as a child, but it has a long history and one he should be proud to own.

Sources:
Cumberbatch, Robert (2010) Cumberbatch Surname Origin [online] www.cumberbatch.org/Surname%20Origin.htm (Accessed 29 January 2011).
Reaney, P.H. (1997) A Dictionary of English Surnames, rev 3rd ed., Oxford University Press.
Images:
Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock (2010) [online] BBC publicity photo (Accessed 17 February 2011). 


Juliana

Cucumiform (Word of the week)

A really short entry for word of the week this time round. Its not a really old world, nor a mysterious word but its a word that made me grin a lot yesterday when I came across it in the dictionary. I'm not sure why I found it amusing exactly, although I expect there's something of a 'nudge nudge, wink wink' double entendre in there that caught my attention. So, without any more ado. This week's word is:

cucumiform
which originates from the Latin cucumis + form and is an adjective meaning - to have the shape of a cucumber.

That's it, that's all there is to it, but I just love the fact that there's a word which means that!

To make this a tiny bit longer for us all, I'll just explain that the word cucumber (first seen around 1440s) and before that cucumer without the b, can be traced back through Old French cocombre, to the Latin cucumis, which was used for cucumbers or for a similar looking sea plant.

The word form also originates in Latin and means shape, sort or type.

Sources:

Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, 2010
Chambers Concise Dictionary, 1989

Von

Saint Dwynwen

We're coming up to Saint Valentine's Day on the 14th February.  You all know about him, so I want to introduce you to his Welsh rival, Saint Dwynwen.

This 5th century saint, like many female saints, had a problem with a man.  Although she was in love with Prince Maelon Dafodrill, when he tried to seduce her she rejected his advances and he attacked her.  Very upset, she prayed to God for her love for Maelon to be erased.  She was given a sweet potion to drink and all her hurt and anguish disappeared and Maelon was turned into a block of ice.  She then asked for and was granted three wishes - that Maelon was made whole again; to be allowed to remain celibate for the rest of her life; and to be able to intercede on behalf of other lovers.

Saint Dwynwen's Well and the ruins of her church are found on Llanddwyn Island, a peninsula off the South West corner of Anglesey.  It was a popular place of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages.  A cross was erected in the early 20th century and her cult was revived, with special events held all over Wales on the 25th January, Saint Dwynwen's Day.  Besides curing people with aching bones and lung disease, the waters from the well are also believed to foretell lovers' fortunes.  Apparently, one should place a hankerchief on the surface of the water and watch and wait for the eels that live in the well.  Their movements will give clues to the lovers' fate.  Another ritual for lovers is to stick pins in a cork and throw it into the well as they make a wish.  Quite what the eels think of this, I don't know.

Llanddwyn is now part of the National Nature Reserve with fantastic views and wildlife.  Lovers still make the pilgrimage to the Holy Well to get Saint Dwynwen's advice and blessing.  So if you want to do something special with your loved one this year, take a trip to Llanddwyn Island, enjoy the solitude and scenery.  And maybe Saint Dwynwen will smile upon you.

Sources:
Stevens, Catrin (2005) Santes Dwynwen/Saint Dwynwen, Gwasg Gomer, Llandysul, Ceredigion.

Images:
Saint Dwynwen (date unknown) [online] http://www.anglesey-hidden-gem.com/st-dwynwen-day.html (Accessed 11 February 2011).

February - the month of mud

A little later than planned, here's our blog about the origins of the word February.

The second month of the year in the Gregorian calendar February is the shortest month and also the only month that varies in length, being either 28 days long, or 29 days long in a leap year.

The word comes from the latin Februa, which was the name of a Roman festival of purification held on 15th February.

The month first appeared round about 750BC when the Romans decided to give the Winter some months. Originally their calendar consisted of 10 months, with Winter deemed to be a monthless period.

February took over from the old English solmanath which literally meant mud month. In the Northern hemisphere February has long been associated with metling snow, rain and mud and was sometimes referred to as February fill-dyke.

The Finnish have a much more romantic word for February - helmikuu - which means month of the pearl. This is because as snow melts and then refreezes it creates pearls of ice on tree branches. The Japanese language sticks to its numbering theme with February being ni-gatsu (which means 2nd month). In Polish February is Lutego and in Tagalog it is Pebero.

Sources:
Shorter Oxford Dictionary (2 volumes) 6th edition, 2007 
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, 2010
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February

Von

Tarantism (Word of the week)

This week's word originates from the southern Italian city Taranto, near where large spiders could be found - hence the word tarantula.

Tarantism was supposedly a nervous disorder which resulted in the sufferer needing to dance in a mad, whirling way (hence the dance tarentella). The illness was frequently reported in Southern Italy from the 15th to 17th centuries.

Tarantism was reportedly either caused by the bite of a tarantula or alternatively was cured by a tarantula's bite.

Sources:
Shorter Oxford Dictionary (2 volumes) 6th edition, 2007
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, 2010 

Von

Bellwether (Word of the week)

This week's word is bellwether. That's wether, not weather as this word does have something to do with bells but nothing to do with meterology.

Bellwether has two possible meanings:-

• The leading sheep of a flock, identified by a bell hung from its neck.

• A person who leads the way. A ringleader or someone who sets a trend or standard.

The first part of the word bell has a nice obvious, literal meaning. The second part is an old english word originating in old norse - wethervedr, meaning ram and can be found in old Frisian - withar, old Saxon - wibar and old high German - widar.

Wether basically means sheep, although more specifically it means a ram (particularly a castrated ram) and in the mid 16th century was used as a noun meaning a eunuch.

Other words origating from wether include:

• grey wethers - large boulders which look like sheep when seen from a distance or through fog and mist.
• wether head - a sheep's head or a stupid person.

Sources:
Shorter Oxford Dictionary (2 volumes) 6th edition, 2007
Chambers Concise Dictionary, 1989
Troublesome Words by Bill Bryson, Penguin Books 1997 (2nd edition)


Von