[b-hebrew] etymology
Stoney Breyer
stoneyb at touchwood.net
Mon Nov 21 08:57:07 EST 2005
>>One example I often use in discussing etymology is the English word
>>"patently." By definition, a "patent" must be non-obvious.
>>
>On the contrary, Joel. The original meaning of "patent" is "Obvious;
>[...]
>That's interesting, and it reinforces my point. If "patent"
originally meant "obvious," that etymological bit of knowledge helps
not at all in deducing that in the US today, a "patent" is awarded
only for something that's not obvious.
>Really, don't we all agree here that etymology doesn't tell you what a
word means?
I think we could all agree that etymology is a tool that must be used
with discretion; but it is not uninformative. For example, a 'patent' is
called a 'patent' because it was originally conferred by 'letters
patent' - that is, a document 'making visible' to all that the Crown had
invested so-and-so with such-and-such rights. The "patent theatres" in
Covent Garden and Drury Lane for a century and a half held under such
letters patent a rigorously enforced monopoly on public performance of
spoken drama, which is why their competitors had to push opera and
melodrama - and why today, even in the US, spoken drama is referred to
as the "legitimate" theatre.
Stoney Breyer
Writer/Touchwood, Inc.
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