Pronunciation and Etymology
Her surname is pronounced as two syllables. Eunice Lipton points out that the name is much more commonly spelled Meurant or Meurend in France. In French, the noun endings in -ent are always pronounced . Meurent is only a different spelling of the two others (different spellings for a name was very common in the 19th century in France).
It is a derivative name from Morand, which itself comes from Latin's name Maurandus based on the Latin noun Maurus which mean Moor.
There is no relation with the third person plural of "to die" meurent (i.e. "they die") even if it's the same spelling. It is never pronounced like the verb.
Read more about this topic: Victorine Meurent
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“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.”
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