Illustrated Etymology

Note that all words derive from much simpler origins in ancient language. This makes sense if one imagines language to be an evolving process. The first human to utter a word probably wanted to talk about the bear or tiger lurking in the woods and abstract conceptions about reality didn’t enter into the fold until many centuries later when those same terms were adapted. A word like “Nature” comes from simpler words meaning “birth”. It is then abstracted out to refer to all of reality. Or “universe” from unus “one” + versus, pp. of vertere “to turn”. Ancient languages that lacked these forms of linguistic abstraction still relied on simpler-familial terms to relate to abstract intuitions about reality.

[deleted]

I’ll send you a private email Alex. You can delete my last comment if you think its inappropriate. But you should understand that I have no desire to engage in flame wars. I will explain myself in email a bit later.