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Yep. Old English word for spear was "gar". One vegetable was related to the leek, but they described the clove as spear-shaped: the gar-leek. https://www.etymon
by acheron 5y ago
Yep. Old English word for spear was "gar". One vegetable was related to the leek, but they described the clove as spear-shaped: the gar-leek. https://www.etymonline.com/word/garlic https://www.etymonline.com/word/garlic
- throwaway894345 5y agoPeople in this thread might be interested in the History of English Podcast. I highly recommend it if you're interested in etymology and/or history: https://historyofenglishpodcast.com https://historyofenglishpodcast.com
- mellavora 5y agoAnd interestingly enough, the Swedish word for the fish which is called "pike" in English is "gär". Lots of Nordic words in old English.
- kjs3 5y agoAlso interesting is we (US, at least) have a fish called a 'gar' that looks similar to a pike, but isn't technically. Pike are family Esocidae and gar are family Lepisosteidae.
- bivargen 5y agoNo, it’s not, the fish is called ”gädda”. The swedish cognate to gar would be ger, which has the same meaning of acute angle/point.
- jmkb 5y agoHah. I assume the English were looking at the budding shoot (aka "garlic scape" [0]) when they named it, whereas the Germans were looking at the knobby root (Knoblauch = knob leek). [0] https://ediblejersey.ediblecommunities.com/recipes/garlic-scapes https://ediblejersey.ediblecommunities.com/recipes/garlic-sc...