<p>The surprisingly connected origins of "odour" and "altar".</p>
<p>#etymology #WordNerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #odor #altar #incense</p>

The surprisingly connected origins of "odour" and "altar". #etymology #WordNerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #odor #altar #incense

Odour/Altar #etymology

I'm a university prof with a PhD in Medieval Studies. I use language, literature, and history to explore the web of connections in the world around us.  Many of the videos on this channel start with a word as a jumping off point, with its history and etymology opening up a way to explore history and culture more widely. Others examine literary devices, cognitive science, myth, medieval literature, history of science, and a wide variety of other topics. The "endless knot" is a common visual motif of an interconnected knot with no beginning or end, found in many cultures around the world.  My use of the symbol is a reference to the 14th c. poem "Sir Gawain & the Green Knight", where it describes the pentangle which Gawain has emblazoned on his shield as a symbol of the interconnectedness of things.  Here it also gains significance from its comparison to the cognitive science hexagram or heptagram which shows the interrelated nature of various fields in cognitive science.

I'm a university prof with a PhD in Medieval Studies. I use language, literature, and history to explore the web of connections in the world around us. Many of the videos on this channel start with a word as a jumping off point, with its history and etymology opening up a way to explore history and culture more widely. Others examine literary devices, cognitive science, myth, medieval literature, history of science, and a wide variety of other topics. The "endless knot" is a common visual motif of an interconnected knot with no beginning or end, found in many cultures around the world. My use of the symbol is a reference to the 14th c. poem "Sir Gawain & the Green Knight", where it describes the pentangle which Gawain has emblazoned on his shield as a symbol of the interconnectedness of things. Here it also gains significance from its comparison to the cognitive science hexagram or heptagram which shows the interrelated nature of various fields in cognitive science.

I'm a university prof with a PhD in Medieval Studies. I use language, literature, and history to explore the web of connections in the world around us.  Many of the videos on this channel start with a word as a jumping off point, with its history and etymology opening up a way to explore history and culture more widely. Others examine literary devices, cognitive science, myth, medieval literature, history of science, and a wide variety of other topics. The "endless knot" is a common visual motif of an interconnected knot with no beginning or end, found in many cultures around the world.  My use of the symbol is a reference to the 14th c. poem "Sir Gawain &amp; the Green Knight", where it describes the pentangle which Gawain has emblazoned on his shield as a symbol of the interconnectedness of things.  Here it also gains significance from its comparison to the cognitive science hexagram or heptagram which shows the interrelated nature of various fields in cognitive science.

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Odour/Altar #etymology

Odour/Altar #etymology