Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Milliner or Haterer

Hi Dear Folk,

It popped into my head the other day, why is a maker of hats called a milliner and not a haterer, what does the word milliner have to do with hat, where did it come from?

Milliner or Millinery - a vendor of fancy wares and articles of apparel, especially of such as were originally of Milan manufacturers.  First definition 1530's "Milan bonnets," ribbons and gloves.

Bonnet from Frankish "bunne" (that which is bound), Latin "abbonis (ribbon of a headdress) also Frankish "obbuni" (above, over)

Hat, olde English "haett, German origin related to Norse "holtr" (hood)

Such are the wanderings of my mind.  I find word origins to be very interesting, they round out the depth of meaning of a word.

For instance to be "blunt" with someone, old derivation from Norse, means to "shut ones eyes" in other words you shut ones eyes to their feelings.

I could go on and on but I'm always looking up the derivation of a word and it is so simple now with all our electronic devices.

Christy

2 comments:

  1. That is very interesting. I love the meanings of words and names as you say it gives a greater understanding.

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  2. Word origins are very interesting, and there always seems to be a good reason for a name or term. Thanks for this!

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