# the value of etymology



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

This post from another thread got me to thinking:



progmatist said:


> And people still call the summer weather monsoon "season." Monsoon is Arabic for season, so they're really calling it season season.


I haven't checked that but I assume progmatist knows what he's talking about. What I wonder, though, is whether it is more correct to believe that the word "monsoon" really, essentially means "season," or is it more correct to believe that it means (or has meant) that in another time and place and now has a different meaning?

I guess we've all heard lots of examples of this kind of thing. There must be some merit to it -- if the accepted meanings of a word change too quickly, we will have an even harder time understanding each other, and knowing what a word has meant in the past can sometimes help us understand what people have meant by it.

On the other hand, it would be rather strange to insist that "tragedy" must somehow involve goats, or that someone who doesn't use hashish cannot truly be called an assassin.


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## Forster (Apr 22, 2021)

Re the etymology of 'monsoon'

https://tos.org/oceanography/article/blowing-in-the-monsoon-wind



> From Maswin (Arabic), to Monção (Portuguese), to Moesson (Dutch), to Monsoon (English), *the etymology of the word is not entirely clear*, nor is its definition precise, although these different terms all refer to seasonal changes in wind and rainfall, depending on where they occur.


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## Chilham (Jun 18, 2020)

The etymology of sayings and common phrases is fascinating. Hackney Carriage, flash in the pan, towing the line, spill the beans ...


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## Forster (Apr 22, 2021)

Chilham said:


> The etymology of sayings and common phrases is fascinating. Hackney Carriage, flash in the pan, towing the line, spill the beans ...


Toeing the line, surely?

And yes, it is fascinating.


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## Chilham (Jun 18, 2020)

Forster said:


> Toeing the line, surely?...


Exactly. ............


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Etymology is a very interesting subject that I find quite fascinating. I'm currently reading the biography of the late, eccentric jazz bandleader, Sun Ra. He was a voracious reader with a fascination for this area of study especially as it relates to the Bible, and the history of the black races in Egypt and other countries.


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## Luchesi (Mar 15, 2013)

Chilham said:


> Exactly. ............


and not Towing the line. or Died in the wool.

nor Won toke over the line.

ir-regardless, like, ya know what I mean.. like all intensive purposes..


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## Luchesi (Mar 15, 2013)

science said:


> This post from another thread got me to thinking:
> 
> I haven't checked that but I assume progmatist knows what he's talking about. What I wonder, though, is whether it is more correct to believe that the word "monsoon" really, essentially means "season," or is it more correct to believe that it means (or has meant) that in another time and place and now has a different meaning?
> 
> ...


The meaning in meteorology has been, a seasonal change in the prevailing flow resulting in a change of conditions (wet or dry). This happens seasonally due to the back up of high pressure as it loses its westerly push from the upper air streams (rivers of air). The returning sun weakens and dissipates the streams.


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