Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dr. Joel M. Hoffman" <joel AT exc.com>]

>>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?


-Joel M. Hoffman
 http://www.exc.com/JoelHoffman