51吃瓜

More about Samhain

Samhain, 鈥渁n ancient Celtic winter festival,鈥� is a borrowing from Irish Gaelic. In Irish Gaelic, the consonant pair mh is often pronounced as 鈥渙o鈥� or 鈥渨uh,鈥� which is why the standard English pronunciation of Samhain is 鈥�sah-win鈥濃�攁nd, unlike what certain supernatural-themed TV series have claimed, is not 鈥�sam-丑别测苍.鈥� Samhain comes from Old Irish samain, which some linguists have proposed is a distant relative of English summer. Though it may be folk etymology, a similar proposal is that samain comprises Old Irish sam, 鈥渟ummer鈥� (compare modern Irish Gaelic samhradh), and perhaps fuin, 鈥渟etting, end.鈥� Perhaps instead of a summery connection, samain comes from a root meaning 鈥渢ogether鈥� or, by extension, 鈥渁ssembly, gathering.鈥� Samhain was first recorded in English in the late 1880s.

EXAMPLE OF SAMHAIN USED IN A SENTENCE

As the nights grew longer and chillier in Ireland, though snow had yet to fall, the winter festival Samhain was fast approaching.

More about preternatural

Preternatural, 鈥渙ut of the ordinary course of nature,鈥� comes from Medieval Latin 辫谤补别迟别谤苍腻迟奴谤腻濒颈蝉, of the same meaning, which is based on the Latin phrase praeter 苍腻迟奴谤补m, 鈥渂eyond nature.鈥� Praeter, 鈥渂eyond,鈥� is the comparative of prae, 鈥渂efore,鈥� giving praeter the literal sense of 鈥渕ore before,鈥� and it appears in English as the element preter- in words such as preterit (鈥済one beyond鈥�). 狈腻迟奴谤补尘 is the direct object of 苍腻迟奴谤补, 鈥渘ature, conditions of birth, quality,鈥� which is based on the verb 苍腻蝉肠墨 (stem 苍腻迟-), 鈥渢o be born.鈥� 狈腻蝉肠墨, in turn, is the source of cognate, innate, nascent, native, prenatal, puny, renaissance, and the name Natalie. Preternatural was first recorded in English in the 1570s.

EXAMPLE OF PRETERNATURAL USED IN A SENTENCE

The artist had a preternatural knack for using color, texture, and shading to create haunting images.

More about pishogue

Pishogue, 鈥渁n evil spell,鈥� is adapted from Irish Gaelic piseog, 鈥渃harm, spell,鈥� from Middle Irish 辫颈蝉别贸肠 or 辫颈蝉贸肠. Though these words are of uncertain origin, some linguists have suggested a derivation from Latin pyxis (stem pyxid-), 鈥渂ox, medicine box.鈥� Pyxis is a borrowing from Ancient Greek 辫测虫铆蝉, 鈥渂ox,鈥� which is also the source of English box as well as its French synonym 产辞卯迟别. The linguistic community is divided over the source of 辫测虫铆蝉, with some advocating for an origin in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and others suggesting an origin in the ancient Italian peninsula, specifically from a lost language that must predate Latin. Pishogue was first recorded in English in the 1820s.