I Say Arcana, You Say What? Trivia Quiz

Answer: French

The word tarot entered English in the late 16th century, as a direct import of the French word 'tarot', describing both a particular type of deck of cards, and the game played with it. Strictly speaking, the word tarot refers to the 22 cards with images on them, called the trump cards.

The tarot deck also contains four suits, each containing 14 cards, for a total of 78 cards in the complete deck. Tarot cards were used in Italy as early as the 14th century, both for playing games and for the telling of fortunes, which is the association most familiar to English-speaking people.

The French word 'tarot' is thought to have been derived from an Old Italian word, 'tarocchi', whose origins may have been related to the Arabic word 'taraha', referring to something that has been put aside.

Answer: Latin

The Latin word 'arcanum' refers to a secret or mystery; the plural form is 'arcana'. When describing a tarot deck, especially when it is being used as a divinatory agent, it is now common practice to use the phrase major arcana to describe the trump cards, and minor arcana to describe the cards in the four suits. I have found several different, apparently authoritative, statements as to who is responsible for introducing these terms, and choose to stay out of the ascription debate, but can tell you that it happened sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century.

Answer: Latin

This word comes straight from the Latin 'maior' (with a later substitution of j for i as occurred in a number of words), entering English use somewhere around 1300 CE. 'Maior' is the comparative form of the adjective 'magnus', which means large or great, so major describes something that is more significant than whatever it is being compared to.

When telling fortunes with a tarot deck, the trump cards in the major arcana are usually considered to be more significant in terms of what they convey than is the case for the suit cards in the minor arcana.

Answer: Latin via French

The word suit entered English around 1300 (also spelled sute, suete, suite and seute), with reference to a group of followers or court attendants, and also to the uniform worn by such a group. Starting with the Latin word 'secutus' (past participle of the verb 'sequere', meaning to follow), the word evolved into Late Vulgar Latin word 'sequitus', then to Old French 'sieute' or 'suite', then the Anglo-French 'siwete', all carrying reference to the act of following. By extension of the term to describe a set of matching items, the word suit came to be applied in the early 16th century to a division of a deck of cards which all carried the same fundamental symbol.

In a contemporary tarot deck, the suits usually follow the Italian-Spanish tradition of nomenclature and imagery: swords, cups, pentacles or coins and wands or clubs. Each suit has fourteen cards: one each for the numbers one through ten, then four court cards - page, knight, queen and king. Many other games use the French naming system for their suits: spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. In a French deck, the page and the knight are combined into the jack (or knave), so each suit only has 13 cards.

Answer: Proto-Germanic

The Proto-Germanic word 'swerdan' was derived from a PIE (Proto-Indo-European) root 'swer', meaning something that cuts or pierces. (PIE was the language, used between about 4500 BCE and 2500 BCE by a people who have left no written language records, but from whose language almost all modern Indo-European languages are believed to have evolved.) In England, it became sweord (Old English), swyrd (West Saxon) and sword. Many European languages use extremely similar words to describe this weapon.

In a tarot reading, cards in the suit of swords represent power and strength, but also possible violence and suffering. The suit is connected to the classical element of Air, and associated with the astrological signs of Aquarius, Gemini and Libra.

Answer: Late Latin

The Late Latin word 'cuppa' for a cup became the Old English cuppe, then cup. An older Latin word, 'cupa', referred to a larger container, along the lines of a cask or barrel, and itself comes from the PIE word 'keup', meaning a hollow.

When a tarot deck is used for predicting the future, cups is associated with the classical element of water, hence with the astrological signs of Cancer, Pisces and Scorpio. Cups may be interpreted as being related to emotional situations (love is always a favorite topic) or (due to being a symbol of the clergy in medieval times) spiritual issues.

Answer: Latin-Greek hybrid

The word pentacle entered the English language near the end of the 16th century, coming from the Medieval Latin word 'pentaculum' (referring to what we would now call a pentagram). This term is a hybrid of the Greek word for five ('pente') and the Latin suffix '-culum', used to form a noun that describes a tool or instrument from a verb. From the same origin, Italian developed the word 'pentacolo' to describe anything with five points.

When used in a divinatory context, the suit of pentacles (also called the suit of coins) is connected to the classical element of Earth, to material possessions, and to physical health. It is sometimes associated with the astrological signs of Capricorn, Taurus and Virgo.

Answer: Old Norse

Blame the Vikings, who brought the Old Norse word 'vondr', meaning a flexible rod or switch, to be turned into the word wand around 1200 CE. Interestingly, the word wall actually comes from a similar source, as it came from a reference to the formation of walls by weaving wicker canes together. By around 1400 CE the word was being used in reference to a magical item, and had lost the connotation of flexibility.

The tarot suit of wands represents the peasant or farmer, and is sometimes called staves because of this. It connotes nature, and a simplicity of life, as well as submission. It's associated with the classical element of fire (and hence to the astrological signs of Aries, Leo and Sagittarius). Since this association carries the idea of passion, there is some ambiguity about the meaning of wands when being interpreted!

Answer: Persian

The Persian word 'magush' referred to a magician; thence the Greek term 'magos' was used to describe Persian scholars and priests, and then Latin turned it into 'magus', to describe one wise in the ways of mystery and magic. Around 1200 CE it entered English, describing astrologers and magicians. The Magi in the Biblical nativity story are sometimes called the Wise Men, and are thought by some to have been astrologers.

In some tarot decks, the card called the Magus is given the alternative title of the Magician or the Juggler. In game playing, it is the first and lowest of the 22 trump cards. In divination, its significance depends a great deal on where and how it appears. It usually is interpreted to mean there are choices or decisions to be made, but it may seem to indicate reliance on one's own judgement, or acceptance of the advice of another. If the card is reversed (upside-down), it could suggest the presence of a manipulating influence, which may be either internal or external.

Answer: Greek

This word has been used since the late 17th century to describe one who explains sacred mysteries. It comes from the Greek word 'heirophantes', a combination of the root 'heiros' for sacred things and the verb 'phanein', meaning to reveal. In ancient Greece, this was the title given to the chief priest celebrating the Eleusinian Mysteries.

This religious link is also shown in the alternative name used in some tarot decks for the Heirophant, which is also called the Pope or the High Priest, and described as the Teacher of Wisdom. Despite this intimation of independent thought and seeking after truth, the card is also seen as showing conformity to established social practices. Such ambiguities of symbolism are what makes the practice of reading the tarot a highly subjective act, rather than a scientific one.