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  1. Word Family - Dragon

    Introduction

    Dragon tears.

    The etymology of dragon (Classical Greek δράκων drákōn) is not certain, but is traditionally linked to δέρκομαι dérkomai: "to see, to watch".

    "Derkomai…really?" Not so odd: The aorist active participle (m.) of δέρκομαι dérkomai is δρακών drakṓn—the only difference from δράκων drákōn is the placement …

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  2. Word Family - Penny

    Introduction

    The Mystery of the Penny.

    I've got three families, each a possible origin for West Germanic *panning: "penny", possible borrowings from either Latin patina: "pan" (via variants *patna, *panna), Latin pannus: "cloth, or—less realistically—Punic 𐤐𐤍 pene: "face".

    I prefer the explanation that the first pennies were small …

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  4. Word Family - Cook

    Teaser

    cook, coach, quiche, cake, kitchen, culinary, apricot, Pepsi, biscuit, Budapest

    Full Text

    • Early Proto-Indo-European
      • Anatolian *pekʷ- to pound, to crack grain
        • Hittite pakkušš- to pound, to crack, to crush, to grind
          • Hittite 𒉺𒀝𒋗𒉿𒀭 pa-ak-šu-wa-an cracked? ground? (of grain)
          • Hittite 𒉺𒀝𒆪𒍑𒋗𒅈 pa-ak-ku-uš-šu-ar a tool for crushing grain
        • Lydian 𐤥𐤹𐤡𐤠𐤲𐤶𐤫𐤯 wćpaqẽnt …
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  5. Word Family - Vicinity

    Teaser

    economy, vicinity, village, New York, sandwich

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *weyḱ- settlement, to settle
      • Proto-Indo-European *wiḱéti settles, joins settlement
        • Balto-Slavic
          • East Baltic
            • Lithuanian viešė́ti to visit [1]
        • Indo-Iranian *wićáti
          • Indo-Aryan *wiśáti
            • Sanskrit 𑀯𑀺𑀰𑀢𑀺 viśáti enters
      • Proto-Indo-European *wewóyḱe is settled, is part of a settlement stative
        • Indo-Iranian *wawáyća
          • Indo-Aryan …
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  6. Word Family - Brew

    September theme: Fire 🔥

    Teaser

    brew, broil, breed, ferment, burn, bourbon whiskey, broth, bread

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- to bubble, to boil, to brew
      • Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁ti primary verb
        • Albanian mbruaj to knead
        • Celtic
          • Old Irish bruithid boils, seethes, cooks
            • Irish bruith to boil, to bake, to burn
        • Germanic *brewwaną to brew …
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  7. Word Family - Thread

    May theme: Cloth 👘

    Teaser

    throw, dreidel, tribade, attrition, thresh, tour, turn, tournament, thread, detergent

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- to rub, turn
      • Proto-Indo-European *terh₁ti
        • Balto-Slavic
          • Lithuanian trinti to rub
          • Slavic *tèrti to rub
            • East Slavic
              • Russian тере́ть terétʹ to rub, to polish, to grind
            • South Slavic
              • Serbo-Croatian тр̏ти tȑti …
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