Why is one of those spelled with a single L and not the other? For the etymology of Beryllium name it’s unclear but could be either Greek or Latin, and Helium is named after Helios (so Greek here). Answer As the comments have said, there isn’t any reason to expect these two different words to … Read more
I had cause to investigate the word trapeza in Greek and I was intrigued as to how it had evolved into the meaning of ‘trapeze’ as we use it in modern English. How did this happen ? Answer From tetra, four, and peza, ‘foot’ (in the sense of extremity) comes the Greek word trapeza meaning … Read more
English is troubled by what appears to be an unsystematic plethora of spelling rules, not to mention the rules for pronunciation. In general, there seems to be a consensus on how Greek and Latin is romanised in English, but now and then something pops up to remind us that it is not so simple. Greek … Read more
I have been looking in OED for a history that makes sense, yet, I just find crumbs, and I can not piece the history of this term. I am hitting a dead end researching the greek term to censor, named λογοκρίνω According to Oxford English Dictionary the word censure, n., is first documented in use … Read more
Eschatology is the study or philosophy of formation of ideas about the end of things, apparently derived from the Greek ἔσχατος meaning "last" and -λογία meaning "study of". What is the word for "the formation of ideas about the beginning of things? Edit: I’ve accepted "cosmogony" as the answer, but I also really liked "protology". … Read more
The paragraph: Our team conducts fundamental research in Philosophy, trying to push the boundaries of what is possible with new techniques, and also trying to understand and formalize some of the phenomenon observed in practice. Source My Greek instinct read phenomena instead of phenomenon… Am I correct? Or, in English it’s OK to use it … Read more
I think it starts with L (also maybe latin origin) For example I’m waiting to get a package but I’m not even sure package has been even sent. So package is in L… (maybe not best example, I’m not even sure true meaning of word) Answer Sounds like you’re looking for the word limbo. The … Read more
What is the term for an oligocratic/oligarchic political system—one in which power is held by a subset of the overall population—where the power allocation is based on one’s sex? A society run by men is an ‘androcracy’, and one run by women a ‘gynocracy’. I am looking for the hypernym of these terms, which would … Read more
I participate in other SE forums where it’s common practice for experienced or knowledgeable participants to simultaneously submit both a question and an answer. This can be very helpful in technical forums frequented by inexperienced users who tend to ask the same questions, but word their questions very differently. This practice is encouraged for all … Read more
Whenever I come across the word paradigm, I have to make a small conscious effort not to pronounce the letter ‘g’. In Italian, it is spelled paradigma and each letter is individually pronounced i.e. /pa·ra·dìg·ma/. But in English, paradigm is pronounced paradime, which is written phonetically as /ˈparədʌɪm/ (You can hear its pronunciation in this … Read more
