Scientists, intellectuals and inventors have routinely plundered the vast treasure chests that are Latin and Greek to pilfer words that they can use to name their new inventions, ideas and discoveries. Yet how many of us know what they actually mean? Well, here are a few with their literal translation into English. Hope you enjoy wandering through them and maybe you can try them on others and show how damned erudite you are, old chaps (and chapesses).
ocean –
swift-flow
television –
far-sight
helicopter –
screw-wing
bicycle –
two-wheel
astronaut - star-sailor
aeroplane - air-wanderer
electricity - amberness
petroleum - rock-oil
automobile - self-mover
telephone - far-voice
monarchy - single-rule
democracy - people-power
omnibus - for-all
aristocracy - best-power
dinosaur - terrible-lizard
oxygen - acid-born
atom - uncut
microscope - small-look
energy - in-work
hydrogen - water-born
geography - earth-writing
psychology - mind-word
archaeology - very-old-word
astronomy - star-law
economy - house-law
technology - art-word
thermometer - heat-measure
philology - love-word
philosophy - love-wisdom
photography - light-writing
autobiography - self-life-writing
That's enough for now, but you should be able to work out some other ones for yourselves. I'll put up some more tasty morsels later. Sooner than six months for definite.
