Wake
Glen asked how the wake
of a ship and a wake for a dead person are connected. The short answer: they’re
not.
As far as a ship goes,
its wake is the smooth track it leaves on the surface of the water as it passes
through. That wake came from an Old Norse word that meant a hole or a channel
in ice.
In the funeral sense, a
wake is connected to the word that means not sleeping. A wake in the original
sense was a vigil kept during the night by the deceased’s family and friends.
An old joke says that it was to make sure that the S.O.B. didn’t wake up, but
it was really a religious observance. This wake came from Germanic/Scandinavian
terms that meant a night-watch.
There is a third noun
spelled w-a-k-e, and it comes from a completely different source. It is an
obsolete name for a North African bird. The name was an attempt to imitate the
sound that the bird makes as it flies.
SIDEBAR:
Dies Irae
Available from McFarland & Co.: Word Parts
Dictionary, 2nd edition
Now available as an ebook
Now available as an ebook
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