Climbing the Tower of Babel, 4th Floor Quiz

Answer: Dictionary

Slovník is the term for dictionary in Slovak, as is woordenboek in Dutch, sanakirja in Finnish, Wörterbuch in German, lexikon in Swedish and vortaro in Esperanto. The English noun dictionary derives from the Medieval Latin dictionarium, which derives from the Latin dictio meaning to speak or say. Ambrose Bierce, in his "Devil's Dictionary" (1911), cynically describes it as "A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic".

Answer: Mirror

Spiegel is the Dutch word for mirror, as is specchio in Italian, mera in Maltese, lustro in Polish, ogledalo in Slovenian and drych in Welsh. The Modern English noun mirror derived from the Old French mireoir in the 13th Century or before. The French derived from the Vulgar Latin mirare meaning "to look at." Compare the German to the Danish spejl and the Swedish spegel.

The compound noun "mirror ball" arose in about 1968 and was made more popular in the US by "Dancing with the Stars" on television.

Answer: Whale

Walvis is the Dutch word for whale, as is vaal in Estonian, baleine in French, balieni in Maltese, hval in Norwegian, kit in Slovenian and velryba in Czech. There is some evidence that the Old English hwæl was used for both whales and walruses. It derived from the Proto-Germanic hwalaz from which many (Old Saxon, Swedish, Middle Dutch, Old High German) words for whale descended.

Answer: Gold

The Arabic word dhahab means gold as does the Swahili word dhahabu. The Latin term for gold is aurum, as is oro in Spanish, guld in Danish and chrysós in Greek. The Old English gold is of a Proto-Germanic family with the Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Old High German, Middle Dutch, Old Norse and Danish languages. Saint John Chrysostom (ca. 349-407) was Archbishop of Constantinople.

He was a well-known preacher which is how he gained the epithet chrysostomos which means golden-mouthed in Greek.

Answer: Raisin

Uvetta is the Italian word for raisin, as is rodzynki in Polish, passas in Portuguese, russin in Swedish, rozinka in Czech, stafída in Greek and rezen in Haitian Creole. The Anglo-French word for a dried sweet grape was raycin in around 1300. That noun descended from the Latin racimus which could refer to fresh berries as well as dried.

Answer: Sidewalk

Trottoar is the Swedish word for sidewalk, as is acera in Spanish, chodník in Slovak and Polish, fortauet in Norwegian, trottoir in French, vorera in Catalan and espaloia in Basque. Sidewalk is a quite recent addition to the English language, dating from 1739.

This is one of those instances where the United States and Britain are divided by a common language. What is a sidewalk in the US is a pavement in Great Britain.

Answer: Hand

Main is the French term for hand, as is mano in both Italian and Spanish, roka in Latvian, idejn in Maltese, tanana in Malagasy and ringa in Maori. The Old English hond meant the body part which occurs on the end of one's arm. It was related to all of the similar Proto-Germanic words for hand. The French main and the Italian and Spanish mano derive from the Latin manus which is also the source of the English word manual.

Answer: Scissors

Tisores is the Catalan noun for scissors, as is saks in Danish, les ciseaux in French, Schere in German, forbici in Italian) and foarfece in Romanian. The Old French noun cisoires (meaning shears) derived from the Vulgar Latin cisoria (meaning cutting implement) which derived from the Latin caedere (meaning to cut). The application to a kind of swimming kick dates from 1902.

Answer: Carrot

Gulerod is the Danish word for carrot, as is wortel in Dutch, cenoura in Portuguese, zanahoria in Spanish, moron in Welsh and sabzi in Uzbek. The English word carrot comes from the Middle French carrotte which comes from the Latin carota which comes from the Greek karaton.

The root is a reference to its horn-like shape. Carrots were considered by the ancients to be an aphrodisiac but this is of little interest to pre-adolescents compelled to eat overcooked carrots.

Answer: Church

Eliza is the Basque word meaning church, as is Kirche in German, église in French, templom in Hungarian, chiesa in Italian, igreja in Portuguese and kyrka in Swedish. The Old English form of the word is cirice or circe. Compare the Old Saxon kirika, the Old Norse kirkja, the Old Frisian zerke, the Middle Dutch kerke and the Old High German kirihha. The French église derives from the Latin ecclesia from which the English word ecclesiastic also derives.