Word Histories

1. Gold

As it refers to the elemental metal, gold is an English term that refers to element 79, Au (taken from the Latin term aurum).  The use of the term to describe the metal dates back to the Middle English period, around 1400.  Before gold had been used to describe a substance, however, it was used to describe a color similar to the shine of the metal.  The spelling of the word has remained mostly unchanged through the periods of English.  Gold has the pre-Germanic root gulth, derived from the Proto-Indo-European guelth­, used to describe a yellowish, greenish, and possibly shiny color.

2. Knight

Since the 12^th century, knight has carried with it a military connotation, first as a general term referring to any active follower of a king or leader until eventually being formalized as a rank during the 16^th century.  The Middle English period is also when the term gained its most recent spelling.  Prior to this time, cniht was used to broadly refer to boys or servants.  Although the word is similar to the Old Frisian kniucht, the Dutch knecht, and the German knecht, it is ultimately of unknown origin.  In An Etymology Dictionary of the English Language, Walter Skeat suggests that the word might come from a combination of the root for “kin” (cn) with an adjective meaning “stony” (iht)—possibly indicating the age at which a young person could join a tribe.

3. King

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary at www.etymonline.com, the roots of the word king make it a term of controversial origin.  King was spelled in Old English as cyning.  It was derived from the pre-Germanic word kuninggaz, similar to the Dutch koning and the Danish konge.  What makes the term controversial is that it is likely stemmed from the Old English word cynn, which refers to a family or race.  This root can also suggest a noble or divine birth, suggesting by the use of the term itself that the person it refers to was ordained by God to be powerful.

4. War

In pre-Germanic language there was no accepted term for what we currently know as “war.”  In the late Old English period, werre and wyrre were adopted from the Old French word werre (which can be heard in the Modern French word guerre).  While there were many words to describe conflict in Early Old English, the term gewin (“struggle”) was commonly chosen to translate the Latin bellum.    

5. Dog

Dog is one of the stranger words in the English language, at least in terms of its origin.  Prior to the 16^th century, English speakers preferred the Old English term hund.  Hund was forced out as the common term in favor of dogge, which itself came from the Old English docga.  The reason for this transition is unclear.  Docga was a late term, originally referring specifically to describe a strong, powerful canine.  The prefix –ga was commonly used to denote an animal, but how the root docce (“muscle”) came to describe canines remains a mystery.