Etymology
The word "trident" comes from the French trident, which in turn comes from the Latin tridens or tridentis: tri "three" and dentes "teeth". Several Indian languages use a similar word for "trident", trishula (tri-three + shool-thorn), derived from Sanskrit, meaning "triple spears". It is also very similar to the Sanskrit word "Tri" - ( त्रि - Three ) "Dunt" ( दंत - Tooth ). The same meaning has the Cyrillic Тризуб (Trizub) which is a combination of two words Tri (three) and zub (tooth). Tryzub is the Coat of Arms of Ukraine which takes its roots to the Medieval princely family of Kievan Rus, descendants of Rurik. The Greek equivalent is τρίαινα (tríaina), from Proto-Greek *trianja (threefold), cognate with the Latin triens. The "trident" of Poseidon is his weapon'.
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Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)