Two questions about English and roots

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-- Two questions about English and roots

Posted by SuspicionVandit on Dec-14-2007 18:37:

Two questions about English and roots

I stopped at a bookstore today and was glimpsing through Jon Stewart's Guide to America and saw the tidbit about the word Congress. Using roots "Pro" and "con", isn't the term 'Congress' the opposite of Progress? >\:?

also, about Male and Female. Does the FE in female mean anything?

Posted by MrJiveBoJingles on Dec-14-2007 18:48:

Re: Two questions about English and roots

quote:
Originally posted by SuspicionVandit
I stopped at a bookstore today and was glimpsing through Jon Stewart's Guide to America and saw the tidbit about the word Congress. Using roots "Pro" and "con", isn't the term 'Congress' the opposite of Progress? >\:?

The root "con" can also mean "together" or "with," as it does in "congress."

quote:
also, about Male and Female. Does the FE in female mean anything?

No. They both come from Latin, "male" coming from the same root as "masculine" and "female" coming from the same root as "feminine."

Posted by Lira on Dec-14-2007 18:51:

Firstly, let's talk about -gress:

congress: 1528, from L. congressus "a meeting, hostile encounter," pp. of congredi "meet with, fight with," from com- "together" + gradi "to walk," from gradus "a step".
progress:1432, "a going on, action of walking forward," from O.Fr. progres, from L. progressus. Figurative sense of "growth, development, advancement to higher stages" is from 1603. The verb is attested from c.1590 in the lit. sense, 1610 in the fig. sense.

The prefixes, in this case, aren't attached to the same word, reason why their meaning is completely different. As for female, the history behind this word is really interesting:

male: 1373, from O.Fr. masle (Fr. mâle), from L. masculus "masculine, male" (cf. Prov. mascle, Sp. macho, It. maschio), dim. of mas (gen. maris) "male person or animal, male."
female: c.1315, from O.Fr. femelle, from M.L. femella "a female," from L. femella "young female, girl," dim. of femina "woman" (see feminine). Sense extended in V.L. from humans to female of other animals. Spelling alt. late 14c. on mistaken parallel of male.

So, the fe- in female didn't really stand for anything, even though it now gives the impression that it turns a masculine word (male) into feminine. That happens quite frequently in language.

Anyway, if you want to know more about etymology in general, etymonline is a great resource

Posted by SuspicionVandit on Dec-14-2007 19:15:

excellent. thanks, you two.