Pecorino is an Italian sheep's cheese that goes well with fava beans. The word comes from Italian pecora "ewe, sheep", from Latin pecus "cattle". The Proto-Indo-European root is *peḱu- "wealth, movable property, livestock".
In Proto-Germanic, *peḱu- became *fehu, then Old English feoh "cattle, goods, money", and then English fee.
The suffixed form *peḱu-l- became Latin pecūlium "riches in cattle, private property", borrowed into Middle English as peculier "personal", becoming English peculiar.
The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots has an interesting note on *peḱu-. The Indo-Europeans differentiated between two-footed and four-footed wealth: *wī̆-ro- "man" referred to slaves, and *peḱu- referred to livestock. The two words were used together to refer to one's total movable wealth. Sanskrit वीरप्श vīrapśa "abundance of men and livestock" (from earlier *vīra-pśva from *wīro-pḱw-o-) corresponds to Latin pecudēsque uirōsque "both men and livestock", Umbrian uiro pequo "men and livestock", and Avestan pasu vīra "men and livestock".
In Proto-Germanic, *peḱu- became *fehu, then Old English feoh "cattle, goods, money", and then English fee.
The suffixed form *peḱu-l- became Latin pecūlium "riches in cattle, private property", borrowed into Middle English as peculier "personal", becoming English peculiar.
The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots has an interesting note on *peḱu-. The Indo-Europeans differentiated between two-footed and four-footed wealth: *wī̆-ro- "man" referred to slaves, and *peḱu- referred to livestock. The two words were used together to refer to one's total movable wealth. Sanskrit वीरप्श vīrapśa "abundance of men and livestock" (from earlier *vīra-pśva from *wīro-pḱw-o-) corresponds to Latin pecudēsque uirōsque "both men and livestock", Umbrian uiro pequo "men and livestock", and Avestan pasu vīra "men and livestock".
2 comments:
So that's why the Brits call arugula "rocket". It still tastes yucky.
Incidentally, the word "vee" is still used in Dutch to denote cattle.
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