How "Far" Is It? Trivia Quiz

Answer: farrier

Historically, farriers were synonymous with blacksmiths - not surprisingly, since the word comes from the Middle French "ferrier" ("blacksmith"), derived from the Latin "ferrarius" ("ferrum" being Latin for "iron"). In more recent times, the job of a farrier has become exclusively focused on the care of the hooves of horses, mules, and donkeys - which also involves some veterinarian skills as well as the handling and fitting of shoes.

The word was first used in English in the 15th century in the form "ferrour": one of the Livery Companies (trade associations and guilds) of the City of London, the Worshipful Company of Farriers, was established in 1356. Incidentally, the Italian surname "Ferrari" (as in red sports cars) has the same origin.

Answer: fardel

The original meaning of "fardel", first attested in English in the 14th century, is "bundle". The word, borrowed directly from Old French, is a diminutive of "farde", believed to have derived from the Arabic "fardah" ("one of a pair", referring to the load carried by a camel) through the Spanish "farda" ("package").

In the more common figurative sense, "fardel" is synonymous with "burden", and has acquired the same connotation in some Romance languages, such as French and Italian. Probably the best-known occurrence of the word in English is in the celebrated "To be or not to be" speech in Shakespeare's "Hamlet", where it is used in the meaning of "burden".

Answer: farfalle

"Farfalla" (pl. "farfalle") in Italian means "butterfly", and these pretty pasta shapes indeed look like butterflies with spread wings - or, as per their English name, like bow ties with a ruffled edge. Interestingly, in Italian the bow tie is often called "cravatta a farfalla" ("butterfly-shaped tie"), a calque of the French "papillon", which also means "butterfly".

The etymology of "farfalla" is still uncertain: some believe it to be of onomatopoeic origin, mimicking the beat of the insect's wings.

The word "farfalle" was first used in English in the 1920s.

Answer: farandole

Of likely Greek origin, the farandole is one of the oldest dances of Provence, and one of the major cultural symbols of this historic region of southern France. It is an open-chain community dance, similar to other folk dances such as the jig and the tarantella, accompanied by flutes and drums with a strong, accentuated rhythm. The word, which is the French version of the Provençal "farandoulo", was first attested in French in the 1770s, and in English in the 1870s. Its etymology, however, is still unclear, and a number of possible derivations (some of them rather far-fetched) have been suggested.

Various 19th-century classical composers included farandoles in their works - the best-known being the one by Georges Bizet in his second "L'Arlésienne" suite (1979), incidental music written for a short story by Provençal author Alphonse Daudet.

Answer: farad

The SI unit known as "farad" was named after English scientist Michael Faraday (1791-1867), who made essential contributions to the fields of physics and chemistry. The word was coined in 1861 by electrical engineers Latimer Clark and Charles Bright in honour of Faraday, and first officially used as the name of the unit of electrical capacitance (the ability of a body to store electrical charge) in 1881.

Words derived from "farad" are the adjective "faradic", the noun "faradism" (i.e. the application of a faradic current of electricity for therapeutic purposes), and the verb "faradize" (treat by faradism).

Answer: farce

The word "farce" comes from the Latin "farcire", meaning "to stuff, cram" through the Old French "farcir" ("to stuff"); the English "forcemeat" is related to the original meaning of "farce". The word first appeared in English in the 14th century as a synonym of "stuffing"; the current meaning of "ludicrous satire" or "low comedy" came around the 1520s. The connection between drama and food is an intriguing one: a "farce" was originally an impromptu comic interlude in a religious play, which was "stuffed" (i.e. augmented) by the addition of said interlude.

In modern English, "farce" generally denotes a situation abounding in improbable or ludicrous aspects, though it can also be applied to plays, movies, or TV shows that feature that particular style of humour. The derived adjective is "farcical", probably modelled on "comical".

Answer: farouche

The adjective "farouche" was borrowed directly from French in the 18th century (first use in 1765). It is derived from the Latin "forasticus", meaning "living outside", which in turn comes from "foras", ("outdoors"). While in French it has the meaning of "wild" or "extremely shy", and is often applied to animals, when "farouche" was adopted in English it was mainly used to describe someone who was awkward in social situations, possibly because of their solitary or introverted nature. Another meaning of "farouche", though not as common as the previous one, is "unruly" or "stubborn"'.

Answer: farrago

Surprising as it may sound, "farrago" is related to "farina", which in Latin and some Romance languages simply means "flour", while in the US is a brand name for a hot breakfast cereal made from finely milled wheat. Both "farrago" and "farina" have their roots in the Latin word "far", the grain also known as farro, emmer, or spelt, which was a staple of the Ancient Roman diet.

In Latin, "farrago" originally meant "mixed cattle fodder", but later came to be used to mean just "mixture". When the word was adopted into English (first use dating from the early 17th century), it quickly became synonymous with "jumble", "hodgepodge", and similar words. The adjective for "farrago" is "farraginous", which is somewhat rarer than the noun.

Answer: farrow

"Farrow" can be both a noun (a litter of pigs) or a verb (to give birth to one such litter). The word comes from the Old English "fearh", meaning "young pig", through the Middle English "farwen": it is related to the Latin "porcus" and the Dutch "vark" (the second element in "aardvark"), both meaning "pig". The word was first used as a verb in the 13th century, and as a noun in 1577.

The adjective "farrow", first used in the 15th century in relation to cows to mean "not pregnant", is not related, as it comes from Old English "fearr", meaning "bull".

Answer: farthingale

In spite of appearances, the word "farthingale" has no etymological connection with "farthing" (which comes from the Old English for "fourth"), but derives from the Spanish "verdugado" through the French "verdugale", meaning "stiffened with rods of green wood". In fact, the Spanish farthingale was originally a hoop skirt stiffened with esparto grass, a perennial grass that grows in the Iberian Peninsula and in North Africa.

Farthingales became popular in the 16th and 17th century, though they were probably introduced earlier. The fashion of wearing farthingales to give shape to a skirt and enlarge the lower half of a woman's body is believed to have been brought to England by Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife. Many portraits of the Tudor era show court ladies wearing skirts shaped by farthingales. The word was first used in English in the 1550s.