Monday, October 18, 2010

New Words from Middle Ages - Government

The Middle Ages was a time of linguistic re-expression, where languages mixed over the course of a few centuries. The most well known of these mixings is the one between French and English. 
crown - ME coroune (1125-75), originally “wreath, garland”
state - ME stat, variation of estat (1175-1225) - "circumstances, temporary attributes of a person or thing, conditions"
royal - ME (1325-75) - a form of describing a “king”
authority - ME autorite (1200-50) - "book or quotation that settles an argument"
majesty - ME majeste (1250-1300) - “greatness, glory”
tyrant - ME tirant (1250-1300) - “absolute ruler”
parliament - ME: discourse, consultation, Parliament (1250-1300) - originally “speaking, talk”
treaty - ME trete (1350-1400) - “treatment, discussion”
tax - ME taxen (1250-1300) - “tax, appraise”
revenue - ME (1375-1425) - “income from property or possessions”

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