Everyone knows a few obvious examples of words that come from mythology, like
hypnosis and
chronological, but what about other words, other mythologies? Let's look into some words that stem from lesser-known gods and cultures.
1. Cloth/Clothing
This one's pretty obvious once it's pointed out. Clotho was one of the Three Fates, or Moirai, in Greek mythology--she spun the thread of life that would later be passed to her sister Lachesis, who dispensed the thread, and finally to Atropos, who cut it, ending an individual's life. In Ancient Greek, "Clotho" translates to "spinner," so it makes sense why we call fabric "cloth."
Fun fact: the Roman names of Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos are Nona, Decuma, and Morta, respectively.
2. Avatar
The word "avatar" is related to the Hindu dashavatara, which is a representation of a deity on Earth. Translated into English, "dashavatara" means "incarnation" or "manifestation." Next time you're designing an avatar for a game, remember the word's magical origins.
Fun fact: Vishnu, one of the three major deities in Hinduism, has ten dashavatara.
3. Cereal
Pretty much everyone knows that Demeter is the Greek goddess of grain and the harvest, but her Roman form, Ceres, is much less recognized, despite being the name of a dwarf planet in our solar system. However, it's Ceres that a common breakfast food is named after: cereal. It would be funny if it was called "demetereal."
Fun fact: Ceres had her own festival in Ancient Rome, called Cerealia. It took place in April and lasted seven days.
4. Friday
This one comes from the Norse goddess of love and beauty, Freya (also spelled Freja or Freyja). The Vikings called Friday "frjádagr." It later transformed into the Old English "Frigedæg" before becoming the word we know today.
Fun fact: Modern Norwegians call the fifth or sixth day of the week "fredag."
5. Mentor
When I think of the word "mentor", the first thing that comes to mind is Haymitch from The Hunger Games. But long before Suzanne Collins started writing or even existed, Homer coined the term in The Odyssey. "Mentor" was the name of the man who taught Odysseus's son.
Fun fact: There's a lot of mythological stuff in The Hunger Games. For example, in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, there were twins named Diana and Apollo, just like in Roman mythology.
Thanks for reading!
Sources:
“Fate.” Edited by Amy Tikkanen et al., Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1998, www.britannica.com/topic/Fate-Greek-and-Roman-mythology.
“Friday in Old Norse.” Glosbe Bird, en.glosbe.com/en/non/Friday.
Mandal, Dattatreya. “15 English Words With Intriguing Mythological Origins.” Realm of History, Realm of History, 11 Nov. 2019, www.realmofhistory.com/2019/11/11/english-words-mythological-origins/.
Miller-Wilson, Kate. “29 English Words With Origins in Greek Mythology.” Reference, YourDictionary, reference.yourdictionary.com/resources/roots-english-words-greek-mythology.html.
Steward, Medieval, et al. “The Origin of English Days of the Week - DiscoverMiddleAges.” DiscoverMiddleAges.co.uk, 29 Dec. 2020, www.discovermiddleages.co.uk/origin-of-english-days-of-the-week/.
