Page:Stories from Tagore (IA storiesfromtagor00tago).pdf/233

Rh Kailas Babu confessed to being poor. It was also the first and last time in his life that he forgot, if only for a single moment, the ancestral dignity that belongs to the Babus of Nayanjore.

landholder. This method of forming compound words from two original English words should be studied. Compare the the following words which have “ land ” for one of their parts: landlord, landowner, landlady, landslip, landfall. When the second word is not very closely attached to the first word, a hyphen is put between, thus land-grabber, land-shark.

extinct. From the Latin “ stinguere,” to quench. Compare distinct, instinct, extinguish, distinguish.

cheque. This word is the same as “ check,” — only in this case the original French form has been kept. The verb to "check" came into English originally from the game of chess. In Eastern lands when the chess king was in danger the word “ Shah! ” was called out, and when the chess king could not move, “ Shah mata!” These were corrupted into “Check!” and “Checkmate!”

bankrupt. This word is a curious mixture of the old French “ banque ” (compare bench, banquet) and the Latin “ rumpere,” to break (compare corrupt, disrupt). It is thus a hybrid word in modern English.

filigree. From two Latin words, “ filum,” a thread, and “ granum,” a grain.

otto-of-roses. A corruption of attar. The word is originally Arabic and Persian.

turban. This word has now taken its place in most of the European languages. It has come to Europe from the Turkish “ tulbend ” and the Persian “ dulband.”