7 pairs of words that turned out to be unexpected relatives

Many words, which in modern language, it would seem, have nothing in common, once in antiquity originated from the same root. Here are some interesting examples.

1. Krishna and black

The name of the ancient Indian god from Sanskrit is translatedSanskrit dictionary as "black, dark". However, it not only means the same as the Russian adjective, but also hasM. Vasmer. Etymological dictionary of the Russian language common roots with him.

Conventionally, we can say that "Krishna" and "black" are one and the same word in the ancient progenitor language, which through the centuries received two variants of pronunciation.

2. Short and damn

The Russian adjective "short" hasN. M. Shansky, T. BUT. Bobrov. School etymological dictionary of the Russian language common origin with Latin curtus - "circumcised". And in the ancestor of the noun "trait" there is an alternation characteristic of such words

M. Vasmer. Etymological dictionary of the Russian language "H" and "k". Old Russian chrѣsti is "to cut", and the original meaning of the word "devil" is "cut".

By the way, "kornat", "bark", "jacket", "snub-nosed" are formed from the same ancient root.

3. Fruit and tribe

The oldest literal meaning of the noun "fruit" is "born, baby." Here, the alternation of "o" with "e", which we seeM. Vasmer. Etymological dictionary of the Russian language in the word "tribe" (in its progenitor there was the letter "d", but eventually disappeared).

The meaning of the common root becomes clear if you compareN. M. Shansky, T. BUT. Bobrov. School etymological dictionary of the Russian language with the word "people": it is formed from the verb "to give birth" and literally meant "all who were born"; it's the same with the tribe - they are all born.

4. Wood and tear

The noun "tree" occursN. M. Shansky, T. BUT. Bobrov. School etymological dictionary of the Russian language from the same stem as the verb "to tear", and in ancient times it meant "torn or stripped." Our ancestors looked at things from a practical point of view and named the plant exactly the name that reflected what needs to be done with it.

By the way, the word “village” is also related to “tree” and “tear”. Its original meaningN. M. Shansky, T. BUT. Bobrov. School etymological dictionary of the Russian language - “a place cleared of forest”.

5. Canalya and Holidays

Both of these words go back to the Latin canis - "dog".

"Kanalya" borrowedN. M. Shansky, T. BUT. Bobrov. School etymological dictionary of the Russian language at the beginning of the 18th century from the Polish language, but traces its origin from the Italian canaglia - "rabble", which is derived from canis. That is, it is actually an abusive "dog".

The word "vacation" dates backM. Vasmer. Etymological dictionary of the Russian language to Latin canisula - "dog". The expression diēs canīculāres literally means "days of the dog." Orion's dog ancient Greeks called the star Sirius. She was clearly visible in the sky in summer, in July and August. The astronomical name for the hottest season gave us the name of a vacation from school.

6. Rust and light brown

The adjective "rusty" is formedN. M. Shansky, T. BUT. Bobrov. School etymological dictionary of the Russian language from the same basis as "puff", "ore", "red". The meanings of all these words are united by "red": to blush is to blush; red is orange, or reddish yellow; ore - red; and rust is brown with a reddish tint.

The word "fair-haired" occursN. M. Shansky, T. BUT. Bobrov. School etymological dictionary of the Russian language from the same base. Initially, the adjectives "fair-haired" and "red-haired" even had the same meaning, but over time there was a transformation "red → brown → light brown."

7. Space and cosmetics

The noun "space" has comeN. M. Shansky, T. BUT. Bobrov. School etymological dictionary of the Russian language to us from the Greek language. In the meaning of "world, universe" it is associated with the word "order".

Space is the opposite of chaos. Tidying up can be called a decoration process, because it is logical that the word "cosmetics" appeared, which leadsN. M. Shansky, T. BUT. Bobrov. School etymological dictionary of the Russian language its "ancestry" from the Greek kosmos.