A quiz on different words and their etymology. Sure that this would test the ends of your vocabulary. Prepared by Aman Singh.

1. Philology Quiz
9 August, 2019
Quizzing Club, IIT Tirupati
Quizmaster
Aman Singh

2. 1.
• Ancient Spartans were known for the economy of their speech. When
Philip of Macedon threatened them with, "If I enter ______, I will raze
it to the ground," the Spartans' replied, “If”
• The name of ancient Sparta rightfully became the source of word for
those who convey their meaning in a few words
• Identify the word
(5+10 marks)

3. Laconia, laconic

4. 2.
• This disease derives its name from the belief in older times that it was
caused by “unwholesome air, air contaminated with the poison producing
intermittent and remittent fever”
• Today we know better but the disease is still known by its ancient name
• Which disease?
(10 marks)

5. Malaria

6. 3.
• According to Greek mythology, when Theseus entered the Labyrinth
to kill the minotaur (a half-man, half-bull), he unraveled a X- a ball of
string - behind him, so he could find his way back
• The usage of the word Y begun in mid-1500s when people started to
vary the spelling of X
• Identify the words
(5+10 marks)

7. Clew, clue

8. 4.
• The word X derives from a secretive murder cult in the 11th and 12th centuries,
meaning Y eaters
• The name itself is from a possibly fabricated tale to explain how the leader of the
cult got his followers to be willing to be sent to their deaths so readily
• The leader of the cult would have men kidnapped and brought to his strong
hold. There, they were drugged up with Y and put into a hypnotic state. After this
trance-like state was induced, the men were offered sensual pleasures- beautiful
handmaidens and harem girls and made to believe they were in heaven. When
they came out of the trance, they were sent out on gangland-type missions
• Give X and Y
(10+5)

9. Assassin, Hashish

10. 5.
• When the word X first came into English in the early 1800s, it was used to refer to
a medieval mercenary who would fight for whichever nation or person paid them
the most. The earliest written evidence for this use is in Sir Walter Scott's novel,
Ivanhoe, where a feudal lord refers to the paid army he's assembled:
I offered Richard the service of my Y, and he refused them—I will lead them to Hull, seize on
shipping, and embark for Flanders; thanks to the bustling times, a man of action will always find
employment.
• The evocative word took root quickly, and also swiftly gained broader meanings:
one referring to a politician without political affiliation (who we'd call an
independent these days).
• Today, it’s a very popular word, even more so with students looking to earn a
quick buck. Identify the word
(10 marks)

11. Freelancer

12. 6.
• The mythic monarch X of Phrygia offended the ancient Greek gods. As punishment, he
was plunged up to his chin in water in Hades, where he had to stand beneath
overhanging boughs of a tree heavily laden with ripe, juicy fruit. But though he was
always hungry and thirsty, X could neither drink the water nor eat the fruit. Anytime he
reached for them, they would retreat from him
• The word Y is taken from the name of the eternally tormented king. Today it means,
“torment or tease (someone) with the sight or promise of something that is
unobtainable”
• The discoverer of element Z, a heavy transition metal, named it after King X as the
element would not react with any acid in his laboratory as if it were doomed to remain
thirsty
• Identify X, Y and Z
(5+5+10 marks)

13. Tantalus, Tantalize, Tantalum

14. 7.
• X is a generic word used to refer to confectioneries having a high sugar
content
• X has travelled a long way, in terms of the roots of its origin. Starting from
the Sanskrit Y, it journeyed to Persia and then made its way to France,
which then finally became X in English
• Identify X and Y
(10+10 marks)

15. Khanda, Candy

16. 8.
• The word X originates from the Greek word for uterus. The Greeks believed that
the uterus moves through a woman's body, eventually strangling her and
inducing disease. This suggests an entirely physical cause for the symptoms but,
by linking them to the uterus, suggests that the disorder can only be found in
women
• It was not until the 1890s when Sigmund Freud cleared the air about the disease
classifying it as culmination of stress-related symptoms arising from psychological
causes
• Identify the disease/psychological condition
(10 marks)

17. Hysteria

18. 9.
• The word X has its origin in the legal system of classical Athens. Most legal cases
of the time were brought by private litigants as there was no police force and only
a limited number of officially appointed public prosecutors
• By the fifth century BC this practice had given rise to abuse by X: litigants who
brought unjustified prosecutions. The word retains the same meaning
("slanderer") in modern Greek and French (where it can also mean "informer")
• In modern English, the meaning of the word has shifted to that of an “insincere
flatterer”
• Give X
(15 marks)

19. Sycophant

20. 10.
• In early 20th century, Ys were theatres where a commoner could watch a
movie for about 5 cents, much cheaper than the grander theatres around
• The word Y was a fusion of two words. The first word referred to the cost
of availing the experience while the second word was derived from the
ancient Greek word for a roofed over theater
• When the founders of a chain of Ys embarked into the telecasting business,
they named their channel Y. Channel Y happens to be among the earliest
channels dedicated to children and continues to do business up until today
• Give Y
(20 marks)

21. Nickelodeon

22. 11.
• Ancient Greeks thought that X collected information from the entirety
of a man’s body and was thus able to carry forward the information
about every aspect of his constitution
• This belief gave rise to the word Y which, even today, is used to
denote a person’s most influential work that had a great impact on
the future developments in the field
• It also conveys the meaning that the man literally gave it everything,
the entirety of his essence, to bring it to fruition
• Identify the word
(10 marks)

23. Seminal

24. 12.
• The term X comes from a satirical comic strip Li’l Abner, which was immensely
popular in the 1940s and 50s. It referred to a dilapidated factory located on the
outskirts of Dogpatch, Kentucky
• Its current meaning of ‘an experimental laboratory or department of a company
or institution’ arises from a Lockheed Martin facility located adjacent to a
malodorous plastics factory where one of the engineers started referring to the
facility as X as the term connotated an odorous environment
• Since then, the facility has achieved a legendary status in aviation circles owing to
the aircrafts designed there
• Provide the term
(20 marks)

25. Skunkworks