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35 Answered Questions for the topic etymology

Etymology Arabic Alphabets Semitic Languages

03/18/19

Arabic word for door from root d-l-t or d-l-th?

I know that the Hebrew letter 'daleth' originates from the word for 'door', indeed the Modern Hebrew word for door is 'dalet'.Is there an Arabic word for door from this same root - d-l-t or d-l-th?... more

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Etymology Anatomy Human Anatomy Terminology

03/18/19

When is an anatomic entity named "laterale" vs. "lateralis"?

I'm trying to learn the latin names of anatomical entities and I have a hard time remembering whether it's "Os cuneiforme laterale" or "Os cuneiforme lateralis". In that case it's "laterale". But... more

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Etymology Grammar Italian

03/14/19

How come there are two gender forms, "tavola" and "tavolo"? Which one is proper?

I noticed that in Italian usually there is only one gender for one word, but there are some exceptions I thought were because of "bad native speakers". One of this exception is "tavolo" / "tavola".... more

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Etymology German Idioms German To English

03/14/19

Meaning and origin of 'Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof'?

What does the following sentence mean and what is its origin?> Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof.I've heard this expression from some friends – I guess it's what you say when you don't really understand... more

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Etymology English Writing Proofreading

03/14/19

Why does an ellipsis have three dots?

It might be an odd question, but I'm trying to comprehend why do we use three dots in an ellipsis. Wouldn't two dots suffice? An ellipsis serves a dual purpose, it can be used to either denote an... more

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Etymology German Meaning

03/14/19

Why does "Leidenschaft" mean "passion" while "leiden" means "to suffer"?

The word "Leidenschaft" strikes me as having a quite weird construction. The [Wiktionary entry](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Leidenschaft) simply states its etymology to be "Leiden" + "schaft".... more

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