Explore the etymology that Dendril is built on.
The ampersand was once the 27th letter of the alphabet
How “and per se and” collapsed into the word “ampersand” — and why the symbol itself is a 2,000-year-old shorthand for the Latin word for “and.”
A “clue” used to be a ball of thread
Follow a clue far enough and you end up in a Greek labyrinth. The word is literally the thread that led Theseus back out.
“Quarantine” literally means forty days
The word is hiding a number. It comes from the forty days Venice made plague ships wait offshore in the 1300s.
The “-mare” in nightmare is a demon, not a horse
The scariest part of “nightmare” isn't the night. It's the mare, an old word for a creature that sat on your chest while you slept.
No, “sabotage” isn't shoes in the machine
You've heard that saboteurs threw wooden shoes into the gears. It's a great story. It's also not where the word comes from.
A “muscle” is a little mouse
Flex your bicep and watch it move under the skin. The Romans thought it looked like a mouse, so that's what they named it.
Roman soldiers probably weren't paid in salt
The etymology of “salary” really does lead back to salt — but the famous story that Roman troops were paid in it is mostly a myth.
A “disaster” is a bad star
Before it meant catastrophe, disaster was an astrology word. It literally blamed your bad luck on the stars.
A “tragedy” is a goat song
Greek theater's most serious word translates, weirdly, to “goat song.” Nobody's totally sure why.
“Avocado” comes from a word for testicle
The Aztecs named the fruit after a body part it resembled. Which makes guacamole a very literal dish.
“Hazard” started as a game of dice
Before it meant danger, a hazard was a roll of the dice. The word may have wandered in from Arabic gaming tables.