I’m trying a new experiment today. I call it “etymology boomerang”. We’ll find a link between two current words by taking a detour through past history.
For instance, let’s take a term and trace back its evolution:
array (Modern English) < arrayen (Middle English) < arayer (Anglo-Norman) < arayer (Old French) < arrēdō (Medieval Latin) < *rēdum (Medieval Latin) < *reida (Frankish) < *raidaz (Proto-Germanic) < *reidʰ- (Proto-Indo-European)
And now, take that starting point and bounce back down a different path:
*reidʰ- (Proto-Indo-European) > *garaidijaz (Proto-Germanic) > ġerǣde (Old English) > ȝerād (intermediate form) > rædiȝ (Middle English) > ready (Modern English)
And that’s how both ready and array are linked through an ancestor meaning “make comfortable”.
Originally published in The blind mouse.