Rain, Rain, Go Away….
So it has been a while since I took the time to look at words. I know–not always exciting but the etymology of commonly used words always intrigues me. Especially of where we got the meanings, usage and how it all changes over time. Like the word “gay”–10th century meaning “happy” but now it has a strong primary meaning of “a male in love with another male.” (i know-simplistic explanation) or (unfortunately) used as a insult or slur.
So I was thinking of a commonly used word and right now–the sky turned grey and dark. With the impending doom of “El Nino” expected to hit the califiornia coast this winter (still waiting i might add)… I thought I would look at the word RAIN.
Now a simple google search already shows you something interesting… “rain” the word while germanic in nature (english tends to get their meanings/words from this) actually has an association with the German and Dutch word regan. I was like “wow–Ronald Regan is rain?-what?” Of course I looked deeper. The Latin word rigo has a meaning related “to flow” while several other languages use it to refer to wet, drizzle or something related to water (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rain#Etymology)
Rain by itself is such a simple yet it can refer to the sprinkle, spitting, downpour and sheets of water that fall from the sky. Once again,I feel our English language lacking what other languages may use a more accurate term.
So here’s to more “rain” this year, helping our drought and our knowledge of where our words come from 🙂
Musings of An AfterThought 