Etymology
The northern pike gets its name from its resemblance to the pole-weapon known as the pike (from the Middle English for pointed). The genus name, Esox, comes from the Greek and Celtic for "big fish" and "salmon" (see Esox: Name). Various other unofficial trivial names are: American pike, common pike, great northern pike, Great Lakes pike, grass pike, snot rocket, slough shark, snake, slimer, slough snake, northern, gators (due a head similar in shape to that of an alligator), jack, jackfish, Sharptooth McGraw, Mr. Toothy and other such names as Long head and Pointy nose. Numerous other names can be found in Field Museum Zool. Leaflet Number 9.
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Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)