More about Samhain

Samhain, “an ancient Celtic winter festival,” is a borrowing from Irish Gaelic. In Irish Gaelic, the consonant pair mh is often pronounced as “oo” or “wuh,” which is why the standard English pronunciation of Samhain is “sah-win”—and, unlike what certain supernatural-themed TV series have claimed, is not “sam-heyn.” Samhain comes from Old Irish samain, which some linguists have proposed is a distant relative of English summer. Though it may be folk etymology, a similar proposal is that samain comprises Old Irish sam, “summer” (compare modern Irish Gaelic samhradh), and perhaps fuin, “setting, end.” Perhaps instead of a summery connection, samain comes from a root meaning “together” or, by extension, “assembly, gathering.” Samhain was first recorded in English in the late 1880s.

EXAMPLE OF SAMHAIN USED IN A SENTENCE

As the nights grew longer and chillier in Ireland, though snow had yet to fall, the winter festival Samhain was fast approaching.

More about preternatural

Preternatural, “out of the ordinary course of nature,” comes from Medieval Latin praeternātūrālis, of the same meaning, which is based on the Latin phrase praeter nātūram, “beyond nature.” Praeter, “beyond,” is the comparative of prae, “before,” giving praeter the literal sense of “more before,” and it appears in English as the element preter- in words such as preterit (“gone beyond”). Nātūram is the direct object of nātūra, “nature, conditions of birth, quality,” which is based on the verb nāscī (stem nāt-), “to be born.” Nāscī, in turn, is the source of cognate, innate, nascent, native, prenatal, puny, renaissance, and the name Natalie. Preternatural was first recorded in English in the 1570s.

EXAMPLE OF PRETERNATURAL USED IN A SENTENCE

The artist had a preternatural knack for using color, texture, and shading to create haunting images.

More about pishogue

Pishogue, “an evil spell,” is adapted from Irish Gaelic piseog, “charm, spell,” from Middle Irish piseóc or pisóc. Though these words are of uncertain origin, some linguists have suggested a derivation from Latin pyxis (stem pyxid-), “box, medicine box.” Pyxis is a borrowing from Ancient Greek pyxís, “box,” which is also the source of English box as well as its French synonym boîte. The linguistic community is divided over the source of pyxís, with some advocating for an origin in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and others suggesting an origin in the ancient Italian peninsula, specifically from a lost language that must predate Latin. Pishogue was first recorded in English in the 1820s.