Marcie Sundaram
LightNews LightNews
banner
alliterative.bsky.social
Marcie Sundaram
@alliterative.bsky.social
1.7K followers 250 following 1.1K posts
Interdisciplinarian, historical linguist, philologist, medievalist; I make videos & podcasts about words, history, and literature. Married to @AvenSarah. She/her
Posts Replies Media Videos
alliterative.bsky.social
The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is HEGEMON/SEEK/FORSAKEN #wotd #hegemon #seek #forsaken #MarkCarney #WEF #cndpoli
In his speech at the World Economic Forum, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney eloquently pointed out that the middle powers of the world can no longer rely on hegemons like the United States and must instead seek more diversified trading alliances, since America has forsaken a rules-based world order. Hegemon, meaning “a leading power; a dominant state”, is borrowed directly from Greek hegemon “leader, commander, chief” from the verb hegeisthai “to lead” with the original sense “to track down” from Proto-Indo-European *sag-eyo- a suffixed form of the root *sag- “to seek out”, with PIE /s/ regularly becoming Greek /h/. That original /s/ was preserved in the Germanic branch with the suffixed form *sag-yo- leading to Proto-Germanic *sokjan, Old English secan or seocan “to seek”, and Modern English seek. The zero-grade form of this root *səg- also came into Old English, as sacan “to disagree, quarrel; fight; lay legal claim to; blame, accuse”, which when combined with the intensifying prefix for- “completely” formed OE forsacan “refuse; give up, relinquish; deny” and Modern English forsake.
January 26, 2026 at 6:09 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
ICYMI
January 23, 2026 at 9:34 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
ICYMI
alliterative.bsky.social Marcie Sundaram @alliterative.bsky.social · 7d
I’m on strike at my university, so the #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is union/university! (For more info about the strike: linktr.ee/lufappul) #wotd #union #university #strike
Why do universities need unions? Etymology! It’s probably clear that both words come from Latin unus “one”. A union is a collection of workers. You might have thought that the word university reflects the idea of universal education or the universal coverage of subjects, but in fact it’s short for universitas magistrorum et scholarium, the union of teachers and students. The university started out as a kind of scholastic guild to protect their interests against outside, non-academic forces, reducing the financial barriers to education and protecting the livelihood of the teachers.
January 23, 2026 at 9:34 PM
Reposted by Marcie Sundaram
spartan-the-artist.bsky.social
“Agrarian Revolution Pig”
January 22, 2026 at 11:57 AM
alliterative.bsky.social
The surprisingly connected origins of "cable", "heave", and "heavy".

#etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #cable #heave #heavy

youtube.com/shorts/9ZC6b...
Cable/Heave #Etymology
YouTube video by Alliterative
youtube.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:52 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
I’m on strike at my university, so the #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is union/university! (For more info about the strike: linktr.ee/lufappul) #wotd #union #university #strike
Why do universities need unions? Etymology! It’s probably clear that both words come from Latin unus “one”. A union is a collection of workers. You might have thought that the word university reflects the idea of universal education or the universal coverage of subjects, but in fact it’s short for universitas magistrorum et scholarium, the union of teachers and students. The university started out as a kind of scholastic guild to protect their interests against outside, non-academic forces, reducing the financial barriers to education and protecting the livelihood of the teachers.
January 19, 2026 at 10:10 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
ICYMI
January 16, 2026 at 10:01 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
ICYMI
January 16, 2026 at 10:01 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
The surprisingly connected origins of "secret", "police", "political", "quasi", "unethical" and "concern".

#etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #secret #police #political #quasi #unethical #concern

youtube.com/shorts/cd73k...
Secret/Police #Etymology
YouTube video by Alliterative
youtube.com
January 14, 2026 at 5:24 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is VIRUS/WOOZY #wotd #virus #woozy
If you’re feeling woozy, you might want to check to see if you’ve caught a virus, at least that’s what the etymology suggests. The word woozy, an American English colloquialism first recorded in 1897, seems to be an alternation of oozy “muddy”. There are in fact two separate words ooze, one meaning “mud, slime” and the other “to flow, leak out slowly”, the second from the Proto-Indo-European root *wes- meaning “wet”, and the first, from which woozy seems to come, from the root *weis- meaning “to flow”, and from this root probably comes the Latin word virus meaning “poison”, which was the original sense of the English word virus in the 14th century before it developed it’s modern sense related to infectious diseases over the 18th and 19th centuries.
January 12, 2026 at 6:31 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
ICYMI
January 9, 2026 at 9:48 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is ORNAMENT/ORDER #wotd #ornament #order #TwelfthNight
January 6th is Twelfth Night, a day when many people take the ornaments off their Christmas tree and store them in an orderly fashion for next year, and etymologically this only makes sense. Ornament comes from Latin ornare “adorn” which comes from the Proto-Italic root *ord- “to arrange”, which also leads to Latin ordo “arrangement” and English order.
January 5, 2026 at 6:00 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
ICYMI
January 2, 2026 at 10:24 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
ICYMI
January 2, 2026 at 10:23 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
Hmm, I think that was more last year. How much more intrepid can I be!?
January 1, 2026 at 8:31 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
The surprisingly connected origins of "pyrotechnic" and "firework". #etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #pyrotechnics #firework #NewYearsEve
www.youtube.com/shorts/uHZe3...
Pyrotechnic/Firework #Etymology
YouTube video by Alliterative
www.youtube.com
December 31, 2025 at 4:47 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is RESOLUTION/LOSE #wotd #resolution #resolutions #lose #NewYear #NewYearsEve #NewYearsResolution
Making any New Years resolutions tonight, like to go to the gym more often and lose a few pounds? Well that only makes sense, etymologically speaking. Resolution comes from Latin re- “again” + solvere “loosen, untie” from the Proto-Indo-European *se-lu- made up of the prefix *se- “apart” and *leu- “loosen, divide, cut apart”. This root through the Germanic branch gives us English lose.
December 29, 2025 at 5:58 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
ICYMI
December 26, 2025 at 10:58 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
ICYMI
December 26, 2025 at 10:58 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
Watching Home Alone for the first time. Already enjoying the John Williams soundtrack
December 25, 2025 at 2:11 AM
alliterative.bsky.social
The surprisingly connected origins of "wassail" and "health". #etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #wassail #health #toast youtube.com/shorts/HnAlm...
Wassail/Health #Etymology
YouTube video by Alliterative
youtube.com
December 24, 2025 at 5:13 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is YULE/JOKE #wotd #Yule #Yuletide #joke #cracker #ChristmasCracker #Christmas #Christmas2025
Over the Yuletide season, you may sit down to dinner and pull one of those Christmas crackers, which in addition to their bang will give you a tissue paper crown, a small trinket, and a terrible joke. And you know what, that joke may be etymologically the perfect thing for Yule. Because you see, Yule, which originally referred not to Christmas but a pagan Germanic midwinter fertility festival, may ultimately descend from the Proto-Indo-European root *yek- “to speak”, from which we also get words such as joke, juggle, and jewel, probably through the notion of festivity. Unless Yule comes from the root *kwel- “to turn” because of the turning of the year that happens at that time.
December 22, 2025 at 6:00 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
ICYMI
December 19, 2025 at 9:13 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
ICYMI
December 19, 2025 at 9:12 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
The surprisingly connected origins of "vice" (as in vice-president) and "weak". #etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #vice #vicepresident #weak

youtube.com/shorts/fn-gk...
Vice/Weak #Etymology
YouTube video by Alliterative
youtube.com
December 17, 2025 at 5:15 PM