Dear Keith,
The web site from which you derived the etymology you posted seems to be dedicated to esoteric learning supported by a mélange of confused scholarship.
I’ll respond a bit later to the substantive portion of your post – I think it adds value to the thread. The etymological notes are problematic.
The etymology of the word “normal” is not related to the etymology of the words “gnomon” or “know.”
The Latin word “normalis” refers to measures and right angles. The Greek word gnomon has to do with the carpenter’s square. The Greek word gnomon and the Latin word normalis both refer to the same kind of object, the square measure.
In contrast, they are not linked in etymology, and the Latin word normalis is not linked to the word “know.”
The Latin word that is etymologically related to the word know is “cognoscere.” This word is related to the Indo-European “gno” root and the Greek word gnomon. are linked to English words such as “cognoscenti,” “connoisseur,” and “know.”
The author of the Constellations of Words web site is doing pop scholarship. The site unearths some interesting sources and materials. Some are reasonable, some are not, but the site treats them all with equal value, and makes some significant errors claiming historical truth for myth or building etymological links for words that are not linked.
The author of the site builds etymology and meaning on coincidence. For example, on the home page, she writes, “Words have energy and vibrate at different frequencies. I envisage each of the 88 modern constellations having its own specific key note, as on the modern piano there are 88 keys. If certainty could be achieved in allocating the correct words to the constellations we would recognize the harmony and have no doubts.”
If the author of this passage had been a concert pianist with a Bosendorfer, we’d need 97 constellations! While the roots “norma” and “gno” may seem related to the author of this web site, they are not.
The Oxford English Dictionary provides robust etymologies for the words “normal,” “gnosis,” “gnomon,” and “know.” The etymology of the word “know” is massive, so I will not append it, and the Greek letters may not make it across. This etymology shows nearly 1,800 words in variant lines of descent, linked and related words, and unrelated words with overlapping meanings. It is one of the more complex etymologies in the OED. There are no links to the Latin word “normal.”
Many readers on this list have access to the online OED through a university library, so the etymology of these words is available. Should anyone wish, I will post the etymologies.
Yours,
Ken
Professor Ken Friedman, PhD, DSc (hc), FDRS | University Distinguished Professor | Swinburne University of Technology | Melbourne, Australia | [log in to unmask] | Phone +61 3 9214 6102 | http://www.swinburne.edu.au/design
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