=broker.= This word meant originally a "broacher," one who broached
or made a hole in casks of wine to test their value for sale.
Then it came to mean a middleman in a sale.
=attorney.= This word comes from the Old French "tourner" meaning to
turn. The original sense of the word is "one who turns or
transfers (property)," and thus it comes to mean one who is
appointed to do legal business in the name of another. Compare the
phrase "_power of attorney_."
=mortgage.= This comes from the two words "mort-" meaning "death" and
"gage" meaning "pledge,"--a death pledge. It is used for the
transfer of property as a pledge or guarantee that the debt will
be paid. Compare _mortuary_, _mortal_, _mortify_, _mortmain_; also
compare _engage_, _disengage_, _wage_, _wager_.
=repulsed.= From the Latin "puls-" meaning "to drive." This Latin root
has another form "pel," also meaning "to drive." We have thus two
series of words:--
_repel_, _impel_, _compel_, _expel_, _dispel_, and
_repulse_, _impulse_ (noun), _compulsion_, _expulsion_.
=amiability.= This word comes from the Latin "amicus" friend and is
the same in origin as "amicability." Compare _amicable_ and
_amiable_.
=salary.= This originally meant "_salt_-money" from the Latin "sal"
meaning "salt." First, it meant the "salt-money" given to
soldiers, then it meant a fixed pay. Compare the use of _namak_ in
India,--_namak khAenAe_,--which is somewhat similar.
=liliputian.= This word has come into the English language from a
famous story book called "Gulliver's Travels." "Liliput" was a
place where tiny people lived and "Brobdingnag" was a place where
giants lived. These two words are therefore sometimes used, in an
amusing manner, to represent respectively the land of dwarfs and
the land of giants.
=B.A. degree.= These titles were originally used in the old medieval
universities of Europe. The word "bachelor" was taken from its use
in chivalry, where it meant a young knight not yet fully qualified
or equipped. Then came the "Master," or fully qualified person. A
secondary meaning of bachelor, which is now the most common, is
"an unmarried person,"--a man not being considered fully qualified
or equipped till he is married.
=romance.= This word has a very interesting history. The Latin
language was the literary language of the South of Europe for many
centuries and the vernacular languages were despised. The word for
"vernacular" was "romanicus" as contrasted with "Latinus," i.e.
Latin. The old folk stories of the Middle Ages were written in the
vernacular or "romance" languages, and as these stories were
strange and mysterious, the word romance became used for this kind
of literature.
=pathetic.= From the Greek word "pathos" meaning "suffering." Compare
_pathos_, _sympathy_, _pathology_, _electropathy_, _allopathy_,
_homA"opathy_.
=dilapidated.= From the Latin "lapis" meaning a "stone." It probably
means to separate stone from stone. Compare _lapidary_,
_dilapidation_.
=intermediate.= From the Latin "medius" meaning "middle." Compare
_mediate_, _immediate_, _medium_, _mediocrity_, _mediator._
=police.= From the Greek "polis" meaning a "city." Compare _politics_,
_policy_, _metropolis_, _politician_.
=barrister.= From the word "bar." There was a bar in the law court,
from which the lawyer pleaded his case. So the pleader was called
a _bar_-ister. Compare the phrase _"called to the Bar."_
=obstacle.= From the Latin root "sta-" meaning to stand. Compare
_obstinate_, _station_, _status_, _statute_, _instant_,
_distance_, _constant_.
=dastardly.= A word of doubtful origin,--probably akin to the word
"dazed."
=reality.= From the Latin word "res" meaning a "thing." Compare
_real_, _unreal_, _realize_, _republic_, _really_, _realization_.
=alternated.= From the Latin "alter" meaning "other." Compare
_alteration_, _alternative_, _alter_, _altercate_.
=infinity.= From the Latin "finis" meaning "end." Compare _finish_,
_finite_, _definite_, _confine_.