Interesting, c_b. I would have guessed that usage would be much older. Now I'm wondering about hippopotamus. Must go look up when that came into common usage...
Edit: About 1300, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary.
Yes, I knew Potomac was an Algonquin name, that's why I thought the similarity was so striking. It seems like this word must really be much older. Mesopotamia makes sense.
Edit: Dictionary.com says "Origin: 1880–85; < Gk potam(ós) river + -ic." Not as old as I thought. OED says 1883, derived from Greek but of uncertain origin.
And I wonder about potable now. Here's that word's etymology, acc. to OED:
< Middle French, French potable fit or suitable for drinking (late 13th cent. in Old French) and its etymon post-classical Latin potabilis drinkable (4th cent.) < classical Latin ptre to drink (see POTATION n.) + -bilis -BLE suffix. Cf. Catalan potable (1460), Spanish potable (1424 or earlier), Italian potabile (late 15th or early 16th cent.).
My guess is that it and Mesopotamia have something in common. :-) My other guess is that since Potomac comes from an Algonquin Indian word, any similarity is probably just a coincidence...
Interesting, c_b. I would have guessed that usage would be much older. Now I'm wondering about hippopotamus. Must go look up when that came into common usage...
Edit: About 1300, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary.
Yes, I knew Potomac was an Algonquin name, that's why I thought the similarity was so striking. It seems like this word must really be much older. Mesopotamia makes sense.
Edit: Dictionary.com says "Origin: 1880–85; < Gk potam(ós) river + -ic." Not as old as I thought. OED says 1883, derived from Greek but of uncertain origin.
And I wonder about potable now. Here's that word's etymology, acc. to OED:
< Middle French, French potable fit or suitable for drinking (late 13th cent. in Old French) and its etymon post-classical Latin potabilis drinkable (4th cent.) < classical Latin ptre to drink (see POTATION n.) + -bilis -BLE suffix. Cf. Catalan potable (1460), Spanish potable (1424 or earlier), Italian potabile (late 15th or early 16th cent.).
My guess is that it and Mesopotamia have something in common. :-) My other guess is that since Potomac comes from an Algonquin Indian word, any similarity is probably just a coincidence...
Really? Wow! I had no idea this word existed. I wonder how/when/why it was coined, and why it is so close to "Potomac."
adj: of or pertaining to rivers