Etymology
The English word smith is cognate with the somewhat archaic word, "smite", which means "to hit" or "to strike". Originally, smiths were craftsmen who shaped or formed metal with hammer blows. However, the old etymological guess of "smite" as the source of "smith" is without foundation. The word smith derives from an old Teutonic word, smeithan, to forge. The root is seen in the Greek word σμίλη, a burin.
As an English suffix, -smith connotes a meaning of specialized craftsmen — for example, wordsmith and tunesmith are nouns synonymous with writer or songwriter, respectively.
Read more about this topic: Metalsmith
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)