Etymology
The permit's genus name, Trachinotus comes from a fusion of the Greek words trachys (τραχύς), which means "rough", and noton (νωτον), meaning "back." The species name for the permit, falcatus, is a Latin adjective, which roughly means "armed with scythes." This serves as a reference to the permit's dorsal fin that occasionally protrudes from the water when schools of permit feed near the surface.
Read more about this topic: Permit (fish)
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)