THE ETYMOLOGY NERD
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Infographics
    • Interactive Map
  • Videos
  • MORE
    • Cartoons
    • Retail Reviews
    • Resources
    • About
    • Accomplishments

ETYMOLOGICE

12/14/2020

2 Comments

 
There are a lot of English words ending in -ce. In most cases (think convince, advance, lenience​) they just come from Latin, but a small minority come from Old English and Proto-Germanic. Pretty much all of these Germanic words used to end in an s, but the spelling was changed to preserve the breathy sound of the sibilant. One well known example is the plural of die being dice, although it was originally dys. Here are some others:
  • Bodice is a plural of body because the garment came in two parts that went on either side of the body
  • Twice comes from Old English twies, which also meant "twice"
  • Once comes from Old English anes, the genitive of the word for "one"
  • Pence was originally a contraction of penies, an old spelling for "pennies"
  • Deuce, although originally French, was influenced by Germanic words to change its plural from dews
  • Hence comes from Old English hennes, with the -s indicating an adverbial genitive
  • Since replaced synnes in the sixteenth century
I thought that was pretty cool!
2 Comments
Best HGH Supplements- Buy Or Not link
1/26/2021 11:06:49 am

Thank for this post

Reply
Biosource labs Complex diet link
1/26/2021 11:09:05 am

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I truly appreciate your efforts

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    AUTHOR

    Picture
    Hello! I'm Adam Aleksic, a senior studying government and linguistics at Harvard University, where I co-founded the Harvard Undergraduate Linguistics Society. In addition to etymology, I also really enjoy trivia, politics, vexillology, geography, board games, conlanging, art history, and law. 
      If I don't cover it soon, I probably already did it
    Submit
    CONFUSED?
      

    Archives

    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016

    TAGS

    All
    Interview
    Satire

Picture

A lexophile's sanctum

CONTACT: etymologynerd@gmail.com
TWITTER • INSTAGRAM • YOUTUBE • REDDIT • LINKEDIN • RSS
Home • Blog • Infographics • Retail Reviews • Cartoons • Clarifications • Resources • Accomplishments
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Infographics
    • Interactive Map
  • Videos
  • MORE
    • Cartoons
    • Retail Reviews
    • Resources
    • About
    • Accomplishments