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and sagen, to say, is a corruption of O. H. Ger. wizago, = A. Sax. witiga, a prophet, "wizard," "witch," Icel. vitki, a wizard.

WILDSCHUR, a German word for a furred garment, as if compounded of wild, wild, and schur, a shearing, and so the "fur of a wild-beast," is a corruption of the Slavonic word wilczura, a wolf's-skin coat (Andresen). The word undergoes a further disguise in Fr. vitchourra.

WINDBRAUS, "Wind-bluster," a Tirolese corruption of Ger. Windsbraut (q. v.).-Andresen.

WIDERTHON, the German name of the plant maiden-hair or Venus' hair, as if from wider, against, and thon, clay, is a corruption of the older forms wedertam, widertat, of uncertain origin. Another popular corruption of the same is widertod, as if from tod, death (Andresen).

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WIEDEHOPF, withe-hopper," the German name of the hoopoe, Mid. High Ger. witchopfe, as if the "woodhopper," from O. H. Ger. witu = Eng. wood, and hüpfen. It is probably a corruption of Lat. upupa, Gk. epops, Fr. huppe (Andresen).

WILDBRET, a German word for game, as if wild, game, dressed for the table, bret, is a modern and incorrect form of wildbraten, from braten, to roast, Mid. High Ger. wiltpraete.

WINDHUND, German words for the WINDSPIEL,greyhound and coursing, as if denoting swift as the wind. The first part of the word, however, Mid. High Ger. wint, itself denotes the greyhound, and the compound windhund is a pleonastic uniting of the species with the genus, as in maulesel, mule-ass, walfisch, whalefish (Andresen).

WINDSBRAUT, "Wind's-bride," a German word for a squall or gust of wind, Mid. High Ger. windesbrût, is from windes sprout, from spröuwen (= sprühen), spargere (Andresen).

WITTHUM, a German word for a dowry, so spelt as if of a common origin with witwe, a widow, wittfrau, a widow-woman, wittmann, a widower (just as "dower," Fr. douaire, is con

ZETTO VARIO

nected with "dowager"). Witwe, however, is from Lat. vidua, while witthum is another form of widum, from widem, a jointure (Andresen).

WOLFSBOHNE, i.e. Wolf's-bean, the German word for the lupine plant, seems to have originated in a misunderstanding of Lat. lupinus as being a derivative of lupus, a wolf. However, as Pictet points out, the Russian volcii bobu, Illyr. vucji bob, are synonymous with the German word (Origines Indo-Europ. i. 286).

WÜTHENDE HEER (Ger.), "the wild host," wild huntsman, as if from wüthen, to be mad (old Eng. wood), is a corruption of Wuotanes her, i.e. Wodan's or Odin's army, as shown by the Swabian expression for an approaching storm, "'s Wuotes Heer kommt" (Andresen).

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Wodan was originally a storm-god, his name akin to Sansk. wata, the wind. (See Kelly, Indo-Europ. Trad. p. 267; Pictet, ii. 685; Carlyle, Heroes, Lect. i.)

Z.

ZANDER, the German name of the fish we call pike, as if so called from its formidable teeth, Prov. and Mid. High Ger. zand, a tooth, Ger. zahn, is otherwise written sander, as if from sand, sand.

ZEEHOND (Dut.), "sea-dog," the seal, looks like a corruption of Dan. sælhund, "seal-hound," Swed. sjal-hund (Icel. selv, O. H. Ger. selah, A. Sax. seol, the seal).

Eng. seal was formerly regarded as a contraction of "sea-veal," a sea-calf.

The sea Calfe, in like maner, which our country me for breuitie sake call a Seele, other more largely name a Sea Vele, maketh a spoyle of fishes betweene rockes and banckes, but it is not accounted in the catalogue or nuber of our Englishe dogges, notwithstanding we call it by the name of a Sea dogge or a sea Calfe.-A. Fleming, Caius of Eng. Dogges, 1576, p. 19 (repr. 1880).

ZETTOVARIO (It.), an Indian plant with a bitter medicinal root, so spelt as if compounded with vario, variegated, is a corrupt form of zedoaria, Sp. zedoaria, Portg. zeduaria, Fr. zédoaire, all from Arab-Pers. zedwar, or jedwar (Devic).

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ZWIEBEL

so from its small size (zarerg, a dwarf, is a corruption of quarkkäse (with the common change between qu and 20, from quark, curd, Mid. High Ger. tware; the form twarg still being found in West Prussia (Andresen).

ZWIEBEL, a German word for s species of onion or chives, as if to denote its twofold bulb (from zwei, zwi-, two), like the plant-name zweiblatt, bifoil; and so the Mid. High Ger. word zaribolle, “double-bulb,” as if from bolle, a bulb. All these, however, are corruptions of It. cipolla, =Lst. cepula, from cepa, our chives." Perhaps there may have been an oblique reference, in the way of contrast, to Lat. unio, from unus, the single but (whence Fr. oignon, our "onion ").

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A LIST OF PROPER NAMES OF PERSONS AND

PLACES CORRUPTED BY FALSE

DERIVATION OR MISTAKEN

A.

ANALOGY.

ABBÉ HEUREUX, a Fr. place-name, is a popular corruption of Abéourou (L. Larchey, Dict. des Nommes).

ABBEY, a surname, is probably identical with Abo (in Domesday), old Ger. Abbi, Abbo, Ibba, Frisian Abbe, Dan. Ebbe, Ebba, A. Sax. Ibbe, all perhaps from aba, a man (R. Ferguson, English Surnames, p. 340).

ABEL, TOMB OF, 15 miles N. of Damascus, shown by the Arabs, is probably a mere misunderstanding of the name of the ancient city of Abila, the ruins of which are close at hand (Porter, Giant Cities of Bashan, p. 353).

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ABERHILL, in the county of Kinross, is an English corruption of the Gaelic Abhir-thuill, which means The confluence of the holes or pools" (Robertson, J. A., Gaelic Topography of Scotland, p. 72).

ABERLADY, in the county of Haddington, is a corruption of the old spelling Aberlevedy, Gaelic Abhir-liobh-aite, "The confluence of the smooth place" (Robertson, Gaelic Topography of Scotland, p. 94).

ABERMILK, in the county of Dumfries, is a corruption of the old name Abermele or Aber-mile, Gaelic Abhir-milleach, 'The confluence of the flowery sweet grass" (Robertson, Gaelic Topography of Scotland, p. 75).

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ABERSKY, in Forfarshire, a corrupt form of the Gaelic Abhir-uisge, “The confluence of the water or stream

(Robertson, p. 96).

ABLEWHITE, an Eng. surname, is another form of the name Hebblewhite, Hebblewaite, or Hebblethwaite, originally of local signification, the thwaite, or clearing, of one Hebble or Hebel (Ferguson, 342).

ABOO-SEER, the modern Arabic name of the ancient Busiris (perhaps Egyp tian Pa-hesar, "the [abode ?] of Osiris"), corrupted into a new meaning (Smith, Bible Dict. vol. ii. p. 578).

ACHTERSTRASSE, the name of a street in Bonn, as if "Back-street," was originally Akerstrasse or Acherstrasse, the street that leads to Achen (Andresen).

ACRE, in St. Jean d' Acre, is evidently a corruption of its ancient name in Hebrew 'Hakko (or Accho, Judges, i. 31), Egyptian 'Hakku, meaning "Hot sand," now Akka.

ACUTUS. Verstegan mentions that there was to be seen in Florence the monument and epitaph of an English knight Joannes Acutus, and some, he

says,

Have wondered what John Sharp this might bee, seeing in England they never heard of any such; his name rightly written being indeed Sir lohn Haukwood, but by omitting the h in Latin as frivolous, and the k and w as

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unusuall, he is heere from Haukwood turned unto Acutus, and from Acutus returned in English againe unto Sharp.-Restitution of Decayed Intelligence, 1634, p. 302.

Some account of this Sir John Hawkwood, who died in 1394, and also had a tomb in Sible Heveningham Church, Essex, is given by Weever, who says :—

The Florentines in testimony of his surpassing valour, and singular faithfull seruice to their state, adorned him with the statue of a man of armes, and a sumptuous Monument, wherein his ashes remaine honoured at this present day. Funerall Monuments, 1631, p. 623.

ADDERVILLE, a place-name in Donegal, is a corruption of Ir. Eadar baile, "central town," Middleton (Joyce, Irish Names of Places, 2nd Ser. p. 417).

ADDLEHEAD, a surname, seems to be corrupted from O. Sax. and O. H. Ger. Adelheid (nobleness), whence the Christian name Adelaide (Ferguson, 263).

ADDLE STREET, near the Guildhall, London, is believed to owe its name to a royal residence of Athel-stane, which once stood there (Taylor, 284).

'ADELPHOI, "Brothers," is the form that the ancient Delphi has assumed in modern Greek.

ADELSCHLAG, the name of a Bavarian village, as if "Nob e Blow," was originally Adaloltesloh (Andresen).

ADIABENE, a Greek river-name, as if the "impassable," from a, not, and diabaino, to cross, is said to be a perversion of its proper name Adiab or Zab (Philolog. Soc. Proc. v. 142).

ENEAS, a personal name in Ireland, is a corruption, under classical influence, of Ir. Aengus (from aen, single, and gus, strength), Angus (O'Donovan). In Scotland it stands for Aonghas (excellent valour), in Wales for Einiawn (just).-Yonge, Christian Names, i. 176.

AGUE, a surname, is supposed to be the same as old Ger. Aigua, Ageuus (Ferguson, 376).

AIR, Eng. surnames, are probably AIRY, from old Ger. names Aro, Ara, Icel. Ari, a common proper name, from Icel. ari, an eagle, O. H. Ger. aro, Goth. ara.

AIRSOME, a place-name in the Cleveland district, Yorkshire, is a corrupted

ALMOND

form of the ancient Arusum, Aregın, Danish Aarhuus in S. Jutland.

AIRSOME, a surname in Yorkshire, is a corruption of the old name Arhusus (Aarhuus).-N. & Q. 4th S. ii. 231.

AKE MANNES CEASTER, or Acemannesburh, the Anglo-Saxon name of Bath as if the aching man's, or invalid's city, seems to be due to a misunderstanding of its old Roman name Aq (Taylor, Words and Places, 2nd ed. p. 465). Compare Ger. Aachen (= Fr. Aix la Chapelle), of similar origin.

AKENSIDE, an Eng. surname, seems to have been originally a local name, the side or possession of Aikin; compare Icel. name Aki, and Achi in Domesday (Ferguson, 192).

ALE, an Eng. surname, probably corresponds to old Ger. Aile, Al, Agilo; Mod. Ger. Eyl; A. Sax. Argil, Icel. Egil (Ferguson, 374).

ALEMAN, a surname, is a corrupt form of old Eng. Almaine or Almayne, a German (Bardsley, Romance of Losdon Directory, p. 116). Hence also

Allman.

ALEXIA, a Latinized form of the name of Alice, found in medieval doenments, stands for Adelicia, Adeliss! and are variants of Adelaide, Frankish Adalheit, "noble cheer" (Yonge, Christ Names, ii. 398).

ALKIMOS,"valiant," the Greek name of a Jewish priest (1 Macc. vii. 14), is the Grecized form of Eliakim (Heb Elyakim), "God hath set up."

ALLCOCK, a surname, probably stands for Hal-cock, "little Harry," like Hancock, little Hans or John, Jeff-cock, little Jeffrey, But-cock, little Bat or Bartholomew, Glas-cock (for Clas-cock, little Nicholas, Simcock, little Simon, Luckock, little Luke, Wilcock, little William.

ALLCORN, an Eng. surname, is a corruption of the original local name Alchorne (Lower).

ALLÉE BLANCHE, a Fr. perversion of La Laye Blanche, "white milk," the name of a glacier on Mont Blanc (L Larchey, Dict. des Nommes).

ALMOND, the name of three rivers in Scotland, is a corruption of the old

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name Awmon, Gaelic Abhuinn, a river (Robertson, Gaelic Topography of Scotland, p. 123).

ALMOND, an Eng. surname, is probably from A. Sax. name Alhmund, Icel. Amundr, from mund, protection (Ferguson, 195).

ALTAVILLA. This classical looking name of a place in Limerick is an Anglicized way of writing Ir. Alt-a-bhile, "The glen-side of the old tree" (Joyce, Irish Names of Places, vol. i. p. 374).

ALTMÜHL, a German place-name, as if "old-mill," Mid. High Ger. altmule, O. High Ger. altmuna, are from the Keltic Alemona (Andresen).

AMAZÓN (Greek), "the breastless," the name given to the female warriors who were fabled to have destroyed the right breast that it might not impede their use of the bow, as if from a, not, and múzos, the breast, is said to have been a corruption of an Asiatic word, meaning a lunary deity (Tcherkes, Mazu, the moon).-Ristelhuber, in Revue Politique, 2nd S. v. 712.

The legend of a tribe of Northern Amazons or kingdom of women is supposed to have originated in a confusion between the word Qvens, the name given by the Finns to themselves, and Swed. quinna, a woman or "quean” (Taylor, 395).

AMAZONENBERG, the form which mapmakers have given to Matzonaberg (Andresen).

ANNA or Hannah in Ireland is often a representative of the native Ainė (joy). -Yonge, History of Christian Names, i.

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ARCHIPELAGO

river." Its original name was "Alltreu," conferred on it by Henry, Duke of Bohemia (Busk, Valleys of Tirol, p. 375).

ANTHENAI, "The Flowery," is the modern Greek name of Athini, Athens (Sayce, Principles of Comp. Philology, p. 362). This, however, is only a recurrence to the primitive meaning, if they be right who regard Athine as meaning Florentia, "The Blooming," from a root ath, whence also anthos, a flower (Curtius, Griechischen Etymologie, vol. i. p. 216, vol. ii. p. 316).

ANTWERP, originally, no doubt, the town which sprang up "at the wharf (Taylor, p. 393; compare Dut. aun, at, and werf, wharf), has long been popularly regarded as having had its name "of hands being there cut off and cast into the river of Skeld" (Verstegan, Restitution of Decayed Intelligence,1634, p. 209), owing to its approximation in sound to Flemish handt werpen, hand throwing. A giant named Antigonus cut off the right hands of strangers who withheld their toll and threw them into the river; hence the two "couped" hands in the heraldic cognizance of the city (Illust. London News, May 25, 1872).

APHRODITÉ, the Greek name for Venus, so called as if for the reason that she sprang from the foam, áphros, of the sea. It is supposed that the Phoenician name of the goddess, Ashtoreth, would by Grecian lips be pronounced Aphtorethe, and that this was altered so as to give a Greek sense.

APPLEBY, a place-name in Westmoreland, appears to have been formed from the Roman Aballaba (Ferguson, 194).

APPLECROSS, in the county of Ross, is a corruption of the older name Abercroisean, Gaelic Abhir-croisean, "The confluence of troubles" (Robertson, J. A., Gaelic Topography of Scotland, p. 98).

Skene gives the Gaelic name in the form Aplrorcrosan.

ARCHIPELAGO, as if the "chief sea," is said to be a corruption of its Greek name Aigaion pelagos, the Ægean Sea.

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