YJ02
Well Known GateFan
yes, with the Latins,i am guessing that "free, freedom, liberty) etc-all with much more shallower meanings then of ours today-probably shared "roots" in relativity of standing in society.That logic is not always as straightforward as you think. In Spanish, the word "libro" beans BOOK. It has nothing to do with freedom, but does share the Latin root liber which looks the same but means something entirely different. I think the genitives are different for each meaning.
Soooooo.....how did we get off topic here?
I mean, in ancient Latin society (and going that far back, Latin does not always mean Roman) who could buy and read books (parchments)? Who had the "free time" or the money? Who had the standing in society with the ability to devote time to writing or reading--free men, rich men, those who did not need to work.
Just like with "Equites" another example of how ancient latins associated social standing with what one could do or have the power or money to do.
the latin word for horse is equo/equus--a land and horse owner, one who had to serve in the ancient Latin tribal and then Roman militias, was capable of going to muster with not only his own weapons and armor but could do so on horseback
the class of equites was born in the social standings of the Latins/Romans. It later translated to political actions/classes as political rights were given in accordance with land/property ownership.
so from that we get equine and equestrian but not what some think-equality
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if you want to read a good book that may be a challenge to read (I "tuned in" after about 12 or so pages) that uses no LATIN derived English words and only old english ones or "edited" old english for easier understanding, words, read THE WAKE by Kingsnorth
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and we are not that far off of SW's when talking about words and their meanings-just look at all of the "latin-ish" names and germanic names used by Lucas--Darth Vader, Darth Sidius, Darth Tyrannus, etc
and then there Nute Gunray and his bud Lott Dod--both plays on the US political scene of the time; Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott