Pulling troglodyte’s origin out of its hole
I had a couple of requests for etymologies at work last month, so I’m going to do one today and one tomorrow.
Today is troglodyte, which the American Heritage Dictionary defines as:
- 1a. A member of a fabulous or prehistoric race of people that lived in caves, dens, or holes.
- 1b. A person considered to be reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish.
- 2a. An anthropoid ape, such as a gorilla or chimpanzee.
- 2b. An animal that lives underground, as an ant or a worm.
Troglodyte came up at work in the sense of 1b.
Here’s the AHD etymology: “From the Latin Trōglodytae, a people said to be cave dwellers, from the Greek Trōglodutai, alteration (influenced by trōglē, meaning hole , and -dutai, meaning those who enter) of Trōgodutai.”
Webster’s New World gives a similar etymology, though some of the Latin and Greek words are slightly different: “From the Latin troglodyta, from the Greek trōglodytēs, meaning one who creeps into holes, cave dweller, from trōglē, meaning a hole, cave … and -dyein, meaning to creep in, enter.”
I like that phrasing, “one who creeps into holes.”
Posted on December 17, 2009 12:00 pm, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.
I am amused that I read this:
“1b. A person considered to be reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or BRITISH.”
Yes, British indeed.
Kaia,
Hahaha. My off-the-boat Irish great grandmother would love you for that.
I do not wish to sound picky, but Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable finds that the Troglodytes are “A people of Ethiopia,south-east of Egypt, so called from Gr. trogle, cave, duein, to go into, because they lived in cave dwellings, remains of which are still to be seen along the banks of the Nile. Hence applied to other cave-dwellers, and, figuratively to those who live in seclusion.There were troglodytes of Syria and Arabia also, according to Strabo, and Pliny…asserts that they fed on serpents” (Brewer, pp. 822-823). The troglodytes may not be as pre-historic and fabulous as some would expect.
If you do not own Brewer’s important book, you might check with your local Barnes & Noble. I picked up my copy at B&N’s pile of marked-down sale books for $8.98. Wordy people would have a difficult time putting this book back on the shelf.