[friendociate]

Etymonline is a site by Douglas Harper, a scholar who tracks a lot of his scholarship on Etymonline (basically, he's "not an etymologist"; but he's read many of 'the places words come-from' (a.k.a. books, but also articles, encyclopedias, movies, plays, TV-shows, radio, songs, etc.) and he shares what he's learned (when he's not teaching or doing something else).

The name Etymonline is a portmanteau of "Etymology (or maybe Etymological Dictionary or maybe Etymon)" & "Online."

The word Online (meaning "Directly Connected to a Peripheral Device") is built of the words "On" & "Line."

The word "On" (related to OnTo AddOn CarryOn ClipOn GetOn GoOn HandsOn HangOn HardOn HeadOn Hereon IronOn Logon OffAndOn On- Onboard Oncoming Ongoing Onlooker Onrush Onset OnSite Onslaught Onward PutOn SideOn Thereon TurnOn Upon WalkOn Whereon) comes from a wordroot that means "In, Into, Upon, Down-from."

Line (related to Lines Lined Lining Liner Liners BeeLine Baseline Borderline ClothesLine Curvilinear Linear Delineate Inline Interline Lineage Lineal Linear Lineo- MainLine Outline Pipeline Rectilinear Streamline Underline Underlined Underlining Reline Relined Relining)

... comes from a wordroot that means "Linen Cord" (a word which also means "Boundary-Mark, Limit, Goal, Bloodline (line of Descent)").

[Fergal]

Interesting site, I feel that understanding the history of words could help improve my vocabulary and comprehension. I looked up coin there and the response was:

c. 1300, "a wedge, a wedge-shaped piece used for some purpose," from Old French coing (12c.) "a wedge; stamp; piece of money;" usually "corner, angle," from Latin cuneus "a wedge," which is of unknown origin.

Interesting, given that people sometimes talk about a wedge of cash.

[friendociate]

Interesting site, I feel that understanding the history of words could help improve my vocabulary and comprehension. I looked up coin there and the response was:

c. 1300, "a wedge, a wedge-shaped piece used for some purpose," from Old French coing (12c.) "a wedge; stamp; piece of money;" usually "corner, angle," from Latin cuneus "a wedge," which is of unknown origin.

Interesting, given that people sometimes talk about a wedge of cash.

"Coin" is also the word for when someone 'starts a word or phrase' (and we say they "Coined the term" or "coined the phrase"), arising from the process of stamping metal to forge coins.