Hi Ya'll, Couldn't stay out of this one after all. While Bob Church may be able to readily look at sources of root words, one often finds that those roots are just parts of old words, not the words used. I studied Classical Latin, tis true. It is a dead language, so I feel safe in looking at wonderful Latin dictionaries like Oxford's for words. Oh and yes, I do cross check words in English and French as well, since I speak both of those also. Also you say? Yep, I learned not only to read Latin (which most people only learn the scientific version, which is considerably different from Roman Latin) but to speak and write it. I read, as required in my studies, several texts written in Latin throughout the Roman Empire, from beginning to end. You should read Ceaser's Gallic Wars in the original, quite entertaining. I have also read such things as Beowulf in the original language (old English in this case). I can also read Old and Middle English. French hasn't changed that much since the Norman invasion and actually English grammer is French based, as is much of our language. We also have many Latin and German words. In fact, Old English is more Germanic than anything else. I have checked my personal 2 volume copy of the Oxford dictionary and it does say that polecat *might* be from a French variation. However, the Oxford Latin dictionary does not list catus (I could find no variation that used cattus) as used in mammals, it is an adjective, meaning clever or sneaky. Feles, not Felis, is used to describe small carnivora which include martins and polecats. But Bob started out stating that we were wrongly assuming the modern French putois for polecat was related to the old French. Well Bob, in a copy of a NORMAN dictionary (old enough?), polecat is listed as Putois or Puthois. Actually, to be specific, it lists putois as meaning fulmart. Now remember some time ago when you where trying to say that the Welsh word ffwlbart meant ferret and I pointed out that it was actually polecat? Can you see the relationship between ffwlbart and fulmart (especially after considering that ffwlbart is pronounced foolbart?). And the older French version of cat is Chaton, not chat. And you recommended Follet's Latin dictionary by Levine? Well, it lists polecat as feles. Maybe you should recheck your own sources. And I hate to burst anyone's bubble with all the rhyming schemes with mustelidae, but to say the word ends in the "day" sound is a modern, more scientific way. In classical Latin, the spoken version, it would be pronounced "eye." I will heartily admit the possibility that maybe somewhere there is a word listed as poulchat. I can't find it though. But I don't want anyone to think that was the last word on it's origins. And I did try to find it, checked Latin, Old English, Norman, Anglo-Saxon dictionaries. I love words, I love language. But I also the love the careful use of terms. I have a dear friend on this list who, when we were children, would challenge any new word I used. We would randomly pick words out from an unabridged dictionary and force each other to use them. Started in grade school. We are both in the top 5 percentile of smarts in the US and vorascious readers (I read around 600 words per minute with 95% comprehension). Which means I read alot, only have to read things once to absorb them and therefore, have piled up a considerable amount of useless bits of archaic information in my little grey cells. So now, maybe with this long, rather meaningless post, I am finally as boring as Mo' Bob. I aim to please. Maggie Mae, in full wordsmythie mode, on Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park ----- If you have to ask what Jazz is, you'll never know. L. Armstrong [Posted in FML issue 2063]