Lexico Etymology Series: quarantine + isolate
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| "Quarantena" area in Malta (credit: WellcomeCollection) |
quarantine
noun
“a period of time during which an animal or person
that might have a disease is kept away from other people or animals so that the
disease cannot spread”
verb
“to put an animal or person in quarantine”
from French – quarantaine (about forty)
from Italian – quarantena (quarantine of a
ship) / quarantino (forty days)
from Old French – quarante (forty) from Italian – quaranta
(forty)
from Latin – quadraginta (forty)
The English word quarantine as we know
it today is based on French spelling, with Italian and Latin roots. While the
current understanding of the word is defined above, Merriam-webster include an
illuminating list of the various meanings of quarantine throughout history,
from its current definition “a state of isolation” to the original “a period of
forty days”, and including the connecting origin story definition, which refers
to the regulation time that ships were held off shore when suspected of
carrying contagious diseases.
In 1343, Europe became ravaged by
bubonic plague, infamously known as the Black Death. A third of the continent’s
population is estimated to have perished, mostly during a particularly critical
period between 1347-1350. With no known medical cure, alternative measures were
required to stem the tide of new infections, which involved eliminating the
possibility of exposure. The origin of this practice and the current meaning of
quarantine begins here, in a place called Ragusa…
In 1377, officials in this Venetian-controlled port city (today’s
Dubrovnik, Croatia) passed a law requiring all ships arriving from
plague-infected areas (almost everywhere by now) to isolate off-shore (more on isolate
below) for a period of 30 days, known as trentino. Within
a century, Pisa, Marseille, Venice, Genoa and other cities had adopted the same
measure, which was eventually extended to forty days, or quarantino. The
reason for the 10-day extension is unknown, however some have suggested the 30
day period was insufficient to prevent disease spread, others relate it to the
religious significance of 40 days (Lent and spiritual purification) while some
ascribe it to the Ancient Greek principle of “critical days”, where contagious
disease appears 40 days after exposure.
·
The French quarantaine meaning
“about forty/fortyish”, is where we also get the word ‘dozen’ (twelve) from;
douzaine meaning “about twelve/twelvish”
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| A lazaretto in Naples, Italy (credit: WellcomeCollection) |
isolate
(isolated,
isolation, isolating)
verb
a “to
separate something from other things with which it is connected or mixed”
b “to
keep a person or animal separate from other people or animals by putting them
in a different place”
c “to
put a person, country, or organization in a situation where they are seen as
being separate”
Modern
English – isolated > isolate
18c.,
Middle English – isole’d “isolated”
from French
– isolé “isolated”
from
Italian – insolato/isolato “isolated”
from Latin
– insulatus “made into an island > islanded > isolated”
from Latin
– insula “island"
The modern-day link
between the words quarantine and isolate (erroneously used interchangeably*)
extends back to their origins too. During the Black Death in Europe, hospitals
were set up to treat the infected, with the first permanent one established in
Venice, 1423, on a local island called Santa Maria di Nazaret (Saint Mary of
Nazareth) and was known as nazaretto. At some point these hospitals
became broadly referred to as lazarettos, blended with the name
Lazarus, a biblical figure supposedly afflicted by leprosy and raised from the
dead by Jesus (lazarro becoming the term for ‘leper’ in Italian.)
Therefore, any sick and potentially contagious victims of the plague were
quarantined on the island hospital, or in effect, ‘islanded.’
*Current medical
usage distinguishes quarantine as: to separate and restrict the
movement of well persons who may have been exposed to a communicable disease to
see if they become ill” and isolate as: “to separate ill persons
who have a communicable disease from those who are healthy.”
·
same origin as ‘insulate’
·
another pertinent definition of ‘isolated’: “feeling
unhappy because of not seeing or talking to other people”
-
'atone' was originally 'at one' (because to
atone is to bring unity)
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'alone' was originally 'all one' and 'only' was
'onely'
-
an onion was a one-ion because it has a single
bulb
Keep visiting Lexico’s website or
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words and sayings from the English language (and beyond) including the next
edition: cabin fever and eavesdrop.