Simple Python script to query EtymOnline from the command line.
It formats the output nicely, using bold for keywords and italic for foreign words.
Use --random if you have trouble choosing. Query from your terminal,
or set as a motd.
pip install etym
$ etym viking
Viking (n.)
Scandinavian pirate, 1801, vikingr, in "The History of the Anglo-Saxons"
by English historian Sharon H. Turner (1768-1847); he suggested the second element
might be connected to king: The name by which the pirates were at first
distinguished was Vikingr, which perhaps originally meant kings of the bays.
It was in bays that they ambushed, to dart upon the passing voyager. But this
later was dismissed as incorrect. The form viking is attested in 1820,
in Jamieson's notes to "The Bruce." The word is a historians' revival; it was
not used in Middle English, but it was reintroduced from Old Norse vikingr
"freebooter, sea-rover, pirate, viking," which usually is explained as meaning
properly "one who came from the fjords," from vik "creek, inlet, small bay"
(cf. Old English wic, Middle High German wich "bay," and second
element in Reykjavik). But Old English wicing and Old Frisian wizing
are almost 300 years older than the earliest attestation of the Old Norse word,
and probably derive from wic "village, camp" (large temporary camps were
a feature of the Viking raids), related to Latin vicus "village, habitation" (see villa).
The connection between the Norse and Old English words is still much debated.
The period of Viking activity was roughly 8c. to 11c. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,
the raiding armies generally were referred to as þa Deniscan "the Danes," while
those who settled in England were identified by their place of settlement.
Old Norse viking (n.) meant "freebooting voyage, piracy;" one would
"go on a viking" ( fara í viking).
Consider placing a call to this script with the --random option in your
~/.bash_logout file if you hop between machines frequently, e.g.:
# ~/.bash_logout (or ~/.bash_login, if you prefer)
etym --randomThe script will block your login for a moment, but the roundtrip is negligible:
$ time etym --random
cudgel (v.)
"to beat with a cudgel," 1590s, from cudgel (n.). Related: Cudgeled; cudgeling.
real 0m0.344s
user 0m0.137s
sys 0m0.032s
- List of words at
/usr/share/dict/words - An active internet connection.
MIT