O.E. =E6ces, later =E6x, from P.Gmc. *akusjo (cf. O.S. accus, O.N. ex, O.Fris. axe, Ger. Axt, Goth. aqizi), from PIE *agw(e)si- (cf. Gk. axine, L. ascia). Meaning "musical instrument" is 1955, originally jazz slang for the saxophone; rock slang for "guitar" dates to 1967. Figurative verbal sense of "discharge (someone) from office," especially as a cost-saving measure, is from 1922, probably from the notion of the headman's axe. To have an axe to grind is from an 1815 essay by U.S. newspaper editor Charles Miner, in which a man flatters a boy and gets him to do the chore of axe-grinding for him, then leaves without offering thanks or recompense. "The spelling ax is better on every ground, of etymology, phonology, and analogy, than axe, which became prevalent during the 19th century; but it is now disused in Britain." [OED]
Okay, not the greatest source - it doesn't even have an entry for "cittern". On 2 Nov 2006, at 15:13, Brad McEwen wrote: > James: > > I used to think so, but a friend of mine, Leigh Cline, who lived > in the Greek speaking areas of Asia on the Black Sea (legendary > Colchis) says that tar is Persian, meaning string. Seh-tar is > three stringed. I knew that, but the Greek Kithara is broken up as > Kith-ara, which means that it has a differnt linguistic origin. > > On another note, there are some intersting instruments at the > Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. I can't find any pics on their > site, but if I get there sometime, I'll se if I can't take some > myself. > > There is a cittern dated to the 1700s and stated to be either > English or Dutch. It has 10 strings in seven courses..the top > single, the next three in pairs and three single basses. It has > friction pegs. I have a photo of it in one of three calendars of > musical instruments that they produced in the early '90's. > > Brad > > James A Stimson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > Dear All: > Aren't all of these words derivations of the Greek "kitara?" Guitar, > guittar, gittern, quintern, cittern, cetra, citole, setula, zither, > plus > the Persion zetar, the Indian sitar, and probably many others all > seem to > come from one linguistic root. So it's no wonder there's some > confusion > about names here. > Cheers, > Jim > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > --------------------------------- > Access over 1 million songs - Yahoo! Music Unlimited Try it today. > -- > Doc Rossi Le Grand Domain (24) Blvd des Dames 26 13002 Marseille France www.magnatune.com/artists/docrossi.html [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] --
