Thursday, November 8, 2012

Etymology: Sanitary and Sanity

The words "sanitary" and "sanity" sound similar, but the connection between the two seems tenuous; "sanitary" is generally used in reference to cleanliness, whereas "sanity" has to do with one's mind. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, both words share a root in the Latin word "sanus," meaning "healthy or sane."

Which came first, the sane egg or the clean one? The recorded use of "sanus" words in English describing mental health predates its use for describing physical health by 20 years, which is the etymological equivalent of one twin calling the other younger for being born second. Neither is more correct than the other, but it is interesting to know that two branches of words with quasi-related definitions came from a word that evidently meant both.

3 comments:

  1. Interesting that one word in Latin describes both healthy and sane. Good stuff!

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  2. I always though it related to sans http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sans

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  3. "though it" should have been "thought they"

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