[go: up one dir, main page]
Advertisement

Origin and history of aqua

aqua(n.)

"water," late 14c., from Latin aqua "water; the sea; rain," from PIE root *akwa- "water." The Latin word was used in late Middle English in combinations in old chemistry and alchemy in the sense of "decoction, solution" (as in aqua regia, a mix of concentrated acids, literally "royal water," so called for its power to dissolve gold and other "noble" metals; also see aqua fortis, aqua vitae). As the name of a light greenish-blue color, by 1936.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to aqua

aqua fortis(n.)

also aquafortis, old commercial name for "diluted nitric acid," c. 1600, Latin, literally "strong water;" for the elements, see aqua- + fort. Also see aqua. So called for its power of dissolving metals (copper, silver) which are unaffected by other agents.

aqua vitae(n.)

also aqua-vitae, early 15c., Latin, literally "water of life," an alchemical term for unrefined alcohol. It was applied to brandy, whiskey, etc. from 1540s. For the elements, see aqua- + vital; also see aqua. Compare whiskey, also French eau-de-vie "spirits, brandy," literally "water of life."

*akwa-

*akwā-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "water."

It might form all or part of: aqua; aqua-; aqua vitae; aqualung; aquamarine; aquanaut; aquarelle; aquarium; Aquarius; aquatic; aquatint; aqueduct; aqueous; aquifer; Aquitaine; eau; Evian; ewer; gouache; island; sewer (n.1) "conduit."

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit ap "water;" Hittite akwanzi "they drink;" Latin aqua "water, the sea, rain;" Lithuanian upė "a river;" Old English ea "river," Gothic ahua "river, waters." But Boutkan (2005) writes that only the Germanic and Latin words are sure, Old Irish ab is perhaps related, and "the rest of the evidence in Pokorny (1959) is uncertain."

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    aquamarine
    1590s, agmarine, "bluish-green type of beryl," from French or Provençal, from Latin aqua marina "sea water," from aqua "water" (from PIE root *akwa- "water") + marina, fem. of marinus "of the sea" (from PIE root *mori- "body of water"). As a description of a bluish-green color, a
    turquoise
    greenish-blue precious stone, 1560s, from French, replacing Middle English turkeis, turtogis (late 14c.), from Old French fem. adjective turqueise "Turkish," in pierre turqueise "Turkish stone," so called because it was first brought to Europe from Turkestan or some other Turkish
    pluvial
    pertaining to rain," from French pluvial (12c.), from Latin pluvialis "of or pertaining to rain, rainy, rain-bringing," from (aqua...
    aquarium
    aquatic plants," noun use of neuter of Latin aquarius "pertaining to water" (also, as a noun, "water-carrier"), genitive of aqua...
    sluice
    Old French escluse "sluice, floodgate" (Modern French écluse), from Late Latin exclusa "barrier to shut out water" (in aqua...
    whiskey
    According to Barnhart, the Gaelic is probably a loan-translation of Medieval Latin aqua vitae, which had been applied to...
    sewer
    (source of Old French esseveur), from Latin ex "out" (see ex-) + aquaria, fem. of aquarius "pertaining to water," from aqua...
    blue
    "of the color of the clear sky," c. 1300, bleu, blwe, etc., "sky-colored," also "livid, lead-colored," from Old French blo, bleu "pale, pallid, wan, light-colored; blond; discolored; blue, blue-gray," from Frankish *blao or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *blæwaz
    cobalt
    1680s as the name of a type of steel-gray metal, from German kobold "household goblin" (13c.), which became also a Harz Mountains silver miners' term for rock laced with arsenic and sulfur (according to OED so called because it degraded the ore and made the miners ill), from Midd
    utopia
    1551, from Modern Latin Utopia, literally "nowhere," coined by Thomas More (and used as title of his book, 1516, about an imaginary island enjoying the utmost perfection in legal, social, and political systems), from Greek ou "not" + topos "place" (see topos). The current (since

    Share aqua

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near aqua
    Advertisement