Page:Stories from Tagore (IA storiesfromtagor00tago).pdf/214

200 sense used, —“the twentieth part of one poor scruple.”

exuberant. From the Latin "uber," udder. Thus it comes to mean “flowing from the udder” and so “overflowing.”

handkerchief. “Kerchief” came from two French words “couvre,” to cover, and “chef,” the head. It meant a head cloth. Then a smaller cloth was used in the hand and this was called a hand-kerchief.

lunacy. From the Latin “ luna,” the moon. In former times Europeans used to think that madness was due some influence of the moon. Compare the word moonstruck.

algebra. This is one of the many words from Arabic beginning with “ al,” the. Compare alkali, albatross, alcohol, alembic, alchemy, alcove.

Euclid. This word was originally the name of a great Greek mathematical writer. His writings were called “Books of Euclid.” Now the subject is usually called Geometry.

absurd. From the Latin “surdus,” deaf. Deaf people generally appear stupid to those who can hear. So this word has come to mean foolish or ridiculous.

topsy-turvy. This probably is a shortened form of topside-turvy, — "turvy" being a colloquial corruption for "turned" or “ turned over.”