What's In A Name? Mary, Patrick, Patricia
The name "Mary" goes back to Hebrew "Miryam," and it "may" have meant "bitter" or "bitterness," but with no degree of certainty, as it "might" be derived from "myrrh," the sap taken from a species of tree, which was then used to make medicines, and I "suppose," it must be bitter in taste. Greek borrowed the Hebrew name as "Mariam," but also in the abbreviated form "Maria," which is the form Latin took from Greek. French, a Latin-based language, often used the name as "Marie," and English speakers often spelled this as "Mary," but "Marie" and "Maria" are certainly common, but not likely recognized by everyone as really being the same name.
"Patrick" goes back to Latin "pater;" that is, "father," and this then gave Latin "patricius," * which meant, "from or of the nobility," from the notion of "elders, fathers," as in American usage of "Founding Fathers." So Patrick essentially means "noble, nobleman." The use of the name by the man who became Saint Patrick, who helped bring Christianity to Ireland, brought more widespread use to the name. "Patricia" is simply the feminine form of "Patrick," and therefore generally means, "noble, of the nobility."
I consulted the following, so for more information on any of the names, see, "A World Of Baby Names" by Teresa Norman, published by Perigee/Penguin Group, New York, 2003.
* Latin "patricius" is the ancestor of English "patrician," a word English borrowed from Latin-based French.
WORD HISTORY:
Gull-This word replaced long used English "mew" (see link below) as the general word for a common family of shorebirds. The ultimate origin of the word is unknown, and its history is sketchy, but it "seemingly" goes back to Celtic "vwellanna," which then later gave forms to its Brythonic branch (Welsh "gwylan" and "Cornish "guilan"); that is, the Celtic dialects carried to, and present in, Britain before the Germanic invasions. English borrowed the word as "gulle" circa 1600. Exactly why "gull" caught on enough to displace the original English word is unclear.
Note: For the history of "mew" see the "Word History": http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2014/11/whats-in-name-john.html
"Patrick" goes back to Latin "pater;" that is, "father," and this then gave Latin "patricius," * which meant, "from or of the nobility," from the notion of "elders, fathers," as in American usage of "Founding Fathers." So Patrick essentially means "noble, nobleman." The use of the name by the man who became Saint Patrick, who helped bring Christianity to Ireland, brought more widespread use to the name. "Patricia" is simply the feminine form of "Patrick," and therefore generally means, "noble, of the nobility."
I consulted the following, so for more information on any of the names, see, "A World Of Baby Names" by Teresa Norman, published by Perigee/Penguin Group, New York, 2003.
* Latin "patricius" is the ancestor of English "patrician," a word English borrowed from Latin-based French.
WORD HISTORY:
Gull-This word replaced long used English "mew" (see link below) as the general word for a common family of shorebirds. The ultimate origin of the word is unknown, and its history is sketchy, but it "seemingly" goes back to Celtic "vwellanna," which then later gave forms to its Brythonic branch (Welsh "gwylan" and "Cornish "guilan"); that is, the Celtic dialects carried to, and present in, Britain before the Germanic invasions. English borrowed the word as "gulle" circa 1600. Exactly why "gull" caught on enough to displace the original English word is unclear.
Note: For the history of "mew" see the "Word History": http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2014/11/whats-in-name-john.html
Labels: Celtic, English, etymology, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Mary, names, Patricia, Patrick
posted by Randy at 1:36 PM
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