this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
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Etymology

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This magazine is for discussions and articles about the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history.

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Most words ending with -vious are from Latin via, "road, way*, including "obvious" (in the way), "impervious" (no way thru), "devious" (off the way, cf. deviate), and "previous" (before on the way) (self.Etymology)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by Savirius to c/[email protected]
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The similarity of "envious" and "oblivious" is coincidental:

  • envious is just envy + -ous, where envy is from Latin invidia "envy".
  • oblivious is from Latin obliviosus, from oblivium "forgetfulness" + -osus "-ous".

Edit: changed the title from "previous" (ahead on the way) beacause I apparently forgot what pre- means lol

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