haukipesukone
18-02-2010, 09:53 PM
I stumbled onto this little fact that there are a place called Lizard Point and Lizard Peninsula.
The name 'Lizard' is most probably a corruption of the Cornish name 'Lys Ardh', meaning 'high court';[1] it is purely coincidental that much of the peninsula is composed of a rock called serpentinite. The Lizard peninsula's original name may have been the Celtic name 'Predannack' ("British one") as during the Iron Age (Pytheas c. 325 BC) and Roman period, Britain was known as Pretannike (in Greek) and as Albion (and Britons the 'Pretani').
I'm going on a wild goose chase and stab in the dark to propose that maybe the words "lizard" and "high court" were synonymous once. From the etymology dictionary: lizard
"an animal resembling a serpent, with legs added to it" [Johnson], late 14c., from Anglo-Fr. lusard, from O.Fr. lesard (fem. laisarde), from L. lacertus (fem. lacerta) "lizard," of unknown origin, perhaps from PIE base *leq- "to bend, twist."
I'm not sure how much Celtic languages and Latin are related, but the "of unknown origin" strikes me as interesting.
Funny how it has to mentioned explicitly that it's a co-incidence the peninsula is composed of a rock called serpentinite. The Wikipedia article on serpentinite is full of incomprehensible scientific mumbo-jumbo, but then mentions: "The presence of traces of methane in the atmosphere of Mars has been hypothesized to be possible evidence for life on Mars. Serpentinization has been proposed as an alternative non-biological source for the observed methane traces."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizard_Point,_Cornwall
The Lizard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=lizard
Serpentinite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The name 'Lizard' is most probably a corruption of the Cornish name 'Lys Ardh', meaning 'high court';[1] it is purely coincidental that much of the peninsula is composed of a rock called serpentinite. The Lizard peninsula's original name may have been the Celtic name 'Predannack' ("British one") as during the Iron Age (Pytheas c. 325 BC) and Roman period, Britain was known as Pretannike (in Greek) and as Albion (and Britons the 'Pretani').
I'm going on a wild goose chase and stab in the dark to propose that maybe the words "lizard" and "high court" were synonymous once. From the etymology dictionary: lizard
"an animal resembling a serpent, with legs added to it" [Johnson], late 14c., from Anglo-Fr. lusard, from O.Fr. lesard (fem. laisarde), from L. lacertus (fem. lacerta) "lizard," of unknown origin, perhaps from PIE base *leq- "to bend, twist."
I'm not sure how much Celtic languages and Latin are related, but the "of unknown origin" strikes me as interesting.
Funny how it has to mentioned explicitly that it's a co-incidence the peninsula is composed of a rock called serpentinite. The Wikipedia article on serpentinite is full of incomprehensible scientific mumbo-jumbo, but then mentions: "The presence of traces of methane in the atmosphere of Mars has been hypothesized to be possible evidence for life on Mars. Serpentinization has been proposed as an alternative non-biological source for the observed methane traces."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizard_Point,_Cornwall
The Lizard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=lizard
Serpentinite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia