Subject
[NABOKOV-L] From Eros,Sore and Rose (festering ressentment and
"draoncles")
"draoncles")
From
Date
Body
A link bt.Victor Fet's information about the botanical and zoological "dracunculi" (ADA), that leads into Sklyarenko's "rankle" (LATH) which might deserve an annotation in Brian Boyd's AdaOnline!
Proto-Indo-European *derḱ- "to see" became Greek δέρκομαι "to see clearly", and δράκων "dragon, serpent" - "from his supposed sharp sight" says Skeat. Δράκων was borrowed into Latin as dracōnem becoming French dragon.
Δράκων was borrowed into Arabic as طرخون ṭarẖwn, a name for tarragon, also known as dragonwort, Latin name Artemisia dracunculus. This was borrowed back into Greek as ταρχών, then into Latin as tarchon, tragonia, then into English as tarragon.
Latin dracōnem became dracunculus, dranculus "small dragon", then Old French drancle, then Anglo-Norman rauncle "festering sore" and rauncler "to fester". The "festering sore" meaning is the earliest meaning of rankle in English.
In Sanskrit *derḱ- became दर्शनं darśanaṃ "seeing, meeting". Darshan refers to a sight or glimpse of a holy personage, such as a guru.
Posted by goofy bradshaw of the future: dragon, tarragon, rankle, darshan
And another confirmation from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.: ran·kle (rngkl)
v. ran·kled, ran·kling, ran·kles
v.intr.
1. To cause persistent irritation or resentment.
2. To become sore or inflamed; fester.
v.tr.
To embitter; irritate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Middle English ranclen, from Old French rancler, alteration of draoncler, from draoncle, festering sore, from Latin dracunculus, diminutive of drac, dracn-, serpent; see dragon.]
Word History: A persistent resentment, a festering sore, and a little snake are all coiled together in the history of the word rankle. "A little snake" is the sense of the Latin word dracunculus to which rankle can be traced, dracunculus being a diminutive of drac, "snake." The Latin word passed into Old French, as draoncle, having probably already developed the sense "festering sore," because some of these sores resembled little snakes in their shape or bite. The verb draoncler, "to fester," was then formed in Old French. The noun and verb developed alternate forms without the d-, and both were borrowed into Middle English, the noun rancle being recorded in a work written around 1190, the verb ranclen, in a work probably composed about 1300. Both words had literal senses having to do with festering sores. The noun is not recorded after the 16th century, but the verb went on to develop the figurative senses having to do with resentment and bitterness with which we are all too familiar.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/
