# Why do etymologies just go to Latin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-etymologies-just-go-to-latin/667760 "2013-09-01T21:37:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-etymologies-just-go-to-latin/667760/41 "2013-09-05T18:46:15Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > Presumably their entire curriculum is different. But I suspect that either they either they cover it more than one half of one day, or vanishingly few people remember anything about it. I spent 5th through 9th grades in Canada, and 10th through 12th in the US. So I can compare their education systems to the extent that I can defintely say that their curriculums are indeed different. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-etymologies-just-go-to-latin/667760/42 "2013-10-14T03:21:30Z")
The OP may find this wiki page interesting: [List of English words of Etruscan origin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Etruscan_origin). See also the wiki article on the [Etruscan language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscan_language). The list appears to be speculative, but the basic point seems to be that there are some Latin words which do not appear to be native to Latin. They seem not to have been borrowed from Greek, which was a significant influence on Latin, and some may not even be Indo-European in origin. That suggests that they may have been borrowed from the Etruscan language, an early influence on the Latins which is believed not to have been an Indo-European language. Interestingly, one of the words believed to be derived from the Etruscan is “Rome” itself, from the Etruscan word Ruma. Some other candidates are “person” and “military”. ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-etymologies-just-go-to-latin/667760/43 "2013-10-14T03:51:09Z")
I’ve met HS students who had no idea that the Norman Conquest had an inflluence on the English language. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-etymologies-just-go-to-latin/667760.md?page=2)