412: rats, fishing-bait, and scarlet Jan 24, 2016

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What do rats, fishing-bait, and the color scarlet have to do with each other?–the Latin word 'vermis'. The word 'vermin' comes from Middle English when the word denoted reptiles and serpents, and is ultimately based on the Latin 'vermis' which means ‘worm.’ 'Vermilion'–which is a shade of scarlet–ultimately derives from the Latin 'vermiculus', which is diminutive of 'vermis' relating to the earthy color of vermilion. Perhaps surprisingly, 'worm' does not comes from Latin, but instead, the Old English, 'wyrm', though it is related through Indo-European to the Latin 'vermis', which connects the meaning of these words to the ground.

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