Ten Words Whose Origins Will Surprise You

Originally referred to a mythical goblin or spirit (a "mare") believed to sit on people’s chests while they slept, causing bad dreams—not the dream itself.

Comes from the word clew, meaning a ball of yarn. In Greek mythology, Theseus used a thread (a clew) to navigate the Labyrinth—leading to the modern idea of something that helps solve a mystery.

Derives from salarium, the money Roman soldiers were paid to buy salt, which was highly valuable at the time.

Comes from the Latin musculus, meaning “little mouse,” because ancient anatomists thought flexed muscles looked like mice under the skin.

Comes from the Venetian word quaranta giorni (“forty days”), the period ships had to wait offshore during the plague before coming to port.

From the Arabic al-zahr, meaning “the dice,” introduced during the Crusades, reflecting the element of chance in games—and later, in life.

From Arabic al-kuḥl, originally referring to a fine powder used for eyeliner. Over time it came to mean any “distilled substance.”

Coined in 1920 from the Czech word robota, meaning “forced labor” or “drudgery,” in Karel Čapek’s play R.U.R.

Derived from the Hokkien Chinese kê-tsiap, a fermented fish sauce—nothing like the tomato condiment we know today.

Comes from Étienne de Silhouette, a French finance minister known for his cheapness; people mockingly called inexpensive shadow portraits “silhouettes” after him.