words wholly unrelated

  • male & female:  Male is from the L. masculus “masculine, male” (cf. Prov. mascle, Sp. macho, It. maschio), dim. of mas (gen. maris) “male person or animal, male.”  Female is from L. femella “young female, girl,” dim. of femina “woman”.  In the late 14th century, the spelling was altered on mistaken parallel of male.
  • drafts & giraffes: actually, no one except James Nord thinks these words have anything in common. **Looking forward to dinner, James.**
wordjournal:
  • genius & ingenious: The former from gignere (to be born). The latter from ingenium (clever).
  • sacrilegious & religious: The former from sacra legere (to purloin sacred objects). The latter from religare (to bind).