From France to your dictionary

Hey, etymology lovers! Here are 10 words that traveled from the French

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Did you know that many of the words we use every day actually have their roots in French? English is part of the Germanic language family, while French is a Romance language. At first glance, one would think that they don't have much in common, right? But this is not the case; French has influenced our language in many ways, including our vocabulary. Today, we are going to discover 10 common English words that have origins in the language of love. Allons-y!

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While denim has been a part of our daily lives for many, many years now, the story of how this word came to us is quite interesting.

"Denim" originally came from the French term Serge de Nîmes. Nîmes is a city in southern France, and serge refers to a type of fabric with a twilled weave. Thus, the term Serge de Nîmes was originally used to describe this particular fabric made in the French city.

But how did we go from Serge de Nîmes to "denim"? Well, when the fabric gained popularity in other countries, English speakers had trouble pronouncing the whole term, so it was gradually simplified, first to something like "serge deNîm" and finally to just "denim."

By the 19th century, the English term we know today was fully integrated into our language.

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"Honesty," Billy Joel's beautiful song, might not be the same without the French contribution to our language.

"Honesty" comes from the Old French word honesté, which refers to something noble, virtuous, or respectable. In turn, the French word derives from the Latin honestus, which was used to describe something honorable.

Between the 12th and 15th centuries, the Middle English took the term honesté from the French, retaining its meaning. However, by the 16th century, the English word had evolved into "honesty" and broadened its meaning. It came to represent not just honor and good morals but also truthfulness, sincerity, and genuine intentions.

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We have all given and received advice throughout our lives, but do you know where the word "advice" comes from?

The English word "advice" has quite a long history, originating from the Latin advisum, which meant "considered" or "deliberated." This term evolved into the Old French noun avis, meaning "opinion" or "point of view."

The Old French avis was borrowed into Middle English around the 13th century, and the expression at avis (meaning "in my opinion") emerged. Over time, it transformed into "advice." By the 16th century, its meaning had shifted, evolving from simply an opinion to a suggestion offered by someone else.

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Personal care and beauty have been an important issue for people since ancient times. A very clear example of this is the word "manicure."

What's interesting about this term is how little it has changed over time. The Latin words manus (hand) and cura (care) came together to give rise to manicura, which was later adapted into French as manucure.

Around the 17th century, the tradition of hand care became more refined in Europe, especially among the privileged classes, making the term more widely known. By the 19th century, "manicure" was already present in the English language, without changing its form and retaining its meaning to this day.

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Today, the word "table" has several meanings: it can refer to the piece of furniture we use for dining, the flat surface where we chop vegetables, or even more abstract concepts like organizing data into rows and columns.

But to get to all this, the word had a long journey, starting with Latin. The term tabula in Latin meant simply "a flat piece of wood," "board" or "plank."

Tabula passed into Old French as table, maintaining at first its original definition. By the 12th century, Middle English adopted the term "table," preserving its form while expanding its meaning.

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In ancient times, armies and soldiers were a central part of life, so it's no wonder that many of our military-related words have their origins there.

The Latin word arma meant "weapons," plural. It was this form of the word that passed into Old French as armé, an adjective meaning "armed," referring to a group of people armed for war. From armé, the noun armée arose, referring to the military force.

In the 13th century, armée passed into Middle English as armye, retaining its meaning. With the passage of time, the term evolved into "army."

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The exchange of goods and money has been part of human interactions for as long as history can remember, and this is evident in the evolution of the language.

Moneta was Latin for "coins." This term was adapted in different ways to the Romance languages. For example, Spanish hardly modified the form, resulting in the present Spanish word moneda. The case of Old French was a little different, but not by much.

Moneta evolved into Old French as moneie, which then transitioned into Middle English as moneye around the 13th century. By this time, the word had expanded its definition, referring not only to coins but also to currency in general. Eventually, modern English modified the pronunciation of moneye, which ended up with the current "money."

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Solidus was a Latin word that designated a specific type of gold coin used in the Empire. But what do coins have to do with soldiers?

As we already know, Latin evolved into Romance languages, and this word passed into Old French as soudee, which specifically designated a payment given to a soldier. Over time, the French word changed in both structure and definition. Soudee transitioned to soudier, which referred to a soldier who fought professionally in an army, meaning he was paid for his service.

Middle English took that term from French, and its spelling eventually changed to "soldier."

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The word "debut" appears in many contexts: sports, cinema, theater, television, literature, and more. While this might surprise many, it has a very ancient origin.

What's more interesting about this word is that its meaning has not changed much throughout history. In Latin, debutare already meant "to begin" or "to start."

The term evolved into Old French as début, where its connotation shifted to something closer to a first performance or the first time in a particular practice. By the 19th century, the word was already in English as we know it today.

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If you are a fan of meat (or etymology), you won't want to miss the journey that the word "beef" took to become part of our language.

Latin used the word bovem to refer to cattle. Over time, this term evolved and was adapted to Old French as boef, which varied in meaning to specifically denote the meat from cattle.

In the 12th century, Middle English took boef and adapted it as befe or beef, refining its definition to refer to cattle meat prepared for consumption. By the 14th century, the word was well-established in our language.

COLORS IN MUSIC

Paint The Town Red With 10 Colorful Songs

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Music is a powerful tool that explicitly evokes all kinds of emotions. Colors, on the other hand, have a more subtle way of arousing feelings. Various theories have been developed to study the psychology behind colors and they all agree that they can be as powerful as music. So imagine what happens when you put those two things together. "Back to black" takes you right to the dark, low moments of life, while "Yellow Submarine" can already make you feel cheerful, doesn’t it?

Join us as we explore ten songs that have used colors to further express their messages.

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The first item in our list not only blends colors and music but also combines multiple music styles: rock, R&B, gospel, and orchestral music. Only Prince could have done it!

Purple Rain is a song from 1984, part of the album of the same name, written and performed by Prince with his backing band, The Revolution.

Now, what does it mean? Prince himself explained that it is a reference to the sky and it represents letting your faith guide you to be with the one you love, even when it seems impossible. Quite a profound start, isn’t it?

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Songs, lyrics, and music are filled with individual interpretations which can vary greatly. Yellow Submarine by The Beatles is quite representative of that. The song, written by the English band as part of their album Revolver in 1966 was subject to opinions and interpretations from the very beginning.

Some deemed it empty of meaning, while teenagers of the time embraced it to create their own chants of protest. And some even take it as a metaphor for how The Beatles perceived themselves as prisoners of their own fame. Whatever we take as the truth, nobody can deny it is a great song.

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Back to Black was written by English singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse in 2006 and instantly became an international success. Considering how short and troubled Winehouse’s life was, critics consider this song the purest expression of her complex mind.

It is her signature song and describes the difficult time she was going through at the time. Black is the color that best reflects how lonely life can get and how devoid of hope a person can get. Even in the most tragic ending, Winehouse still resonates with our society through this iconic song.

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Just another song that belongs in the greater leagues as it’s in the Grammy Hall of Fame, among other achievements.

Released in 1967,Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison describes, naturally, a romance of the past in the most nostalgic way. Innocence, youth, and happy memories are all implied in the lyrics and the upbeat rhythm completes the picture it paints.

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Many songs, like this one, are written specifically for film productions. Blue Hawaii for example, was written in 1937 by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger for a film called Waikiki Wedding.

However, that is not the only film featuring it, as it was so successful, that it received several covers in the following years. Probably, the most famous one was performed by Elvis Presley in the namesake film of 1961.

The color of the ocean and that dreamy location set the scene in a rather straightforward way and it makes us wish we were there, right?

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It is not uncommon to see hints of autobiographical notes in songs. Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road by Elton John and Bernie Taupin is said to contain elements from the latter’s childhood on the farm in Lincolnshire.

Whatever the truth is, this ballad reflects on the hardship behind fame and how the author longed for a simpler, more genuine life, away from the glamour.

Regarding Elton’s career, many critics go as far as saying this is one of his best songs, and the records it broke prove it!

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You may know Red Red Wine by UB40, but Neil Diamond originally wrote and performed this song in 1967.

Part of his second studio album, Just for You, the lyrics are easily relatable: Haven’t we all gone through a time when we thought a cup of red wine was somehow a way to forget about our troubles? Neil Diamond surely felt that when he wrote this song.

UB40 might have found it appealing as they re-recorded it 20 years later, which ultimately led to an overwhelming success for them.

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We don’t need to describe The Rolling Stones success, an over-40-years career speaks for itself. Among its many hits, Paint It, Black is the one that belongs in our article.

Originally writtenby Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the song explores themes of grief and despair. It is narrated from the point of view of a person who lost their loved one and wants everything in black to match their mood. It is worth mentioning that, as with most iconic songs, it has received different interpretations. In any case, the topics are universal and the song is a hit still today!

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Musicians don’t always have to resort to black to express intense feelings. When the experience needs to be energetic and powerful, other colors get to play. That was what Bruce Springsteen was thinking when he wrote Pink Cadillac in 1984.

Romantic attraction, desire, escapism, and more topics of the sort have raised some controversy around the meaning, but that wasn’t enough to keep it from the Billboard chart for 14 weeks straight.

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The new millennium brought amazing things and Coldplay the British band was one of them. Included as the second single of their debut album Parachute, the song gave the band its first top-five hit in the United Kingdom.

But that wasn’t it, thanks to this song, Coldplay reached international fame and popularity which only kept growing and growing. More than two decades later, Yellow and the topic of love and devotion still resonate with the crowds.