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Re:Surprising Shared Word Etymologies by decuran on Friday June 11, 2021 @03:45PM (#27477612)
I love this! I had no idea about the Etymological Wordnet and it probably would have saved me a ton of time developing my app for finding "interesting" cognates: https://etymologyexplorer.com

I've always loved the same thing—finding hidden connections between everyday words. I recently did this with "vain". It comes from Latin vanus, meaning "empty". More obvious with the "in vain" meaning, but the modern day comes from the idea of an exaggerated self image, with no substance behind it. It has a ton of "empty" cognates: vanish, evanescence, vanity (table), vaunt, vacuous, vacuum, vacation, void, devastate, wanton, wane

Re:Surprising Shared Word Etymologies by thaumasiotes on Saturday June 12, 2021 @10:37AM (#27484781)
> It comes from Latin vanus, meaning "empty". More obvious with the "in vain" meaning

Fun fact: the Latin word for "in vain" is frustra.

Re:Surprising Shared Word Etymologies by carlob on Friday June 11, 2021 @05:52PM (#27478952)
I'm pretty sure that you can't have devastate in they list without mentioning waste.