This Week’s Fun & Fancy Word: Widdershins!
This Week’s Fun & Fancy Word Is:
You could just say counter-clockwise. In a direction opposite to the usual. Or in a direction contrary to the apparent course of the sun. But that wouldn’t be nearly as much fun as saying widdershins… now, would it? And not nearly as steeped in superstition.[1]
Etymology
Origin Of Widdershins
The word comes to us from Middle Low German weddersinnes, which literally meant “against the way” or “in the opposite direction.” This combined wider (meaning against) and sinnen (meaning to travel, to go), the latter related to sind meaning “journey.”
The Old High German widar is related to the modern German wider (against) and widersinnig (absurd, contrary to sense). Despite appearances, the “sins” element has nothing to do with moral wrongdoing. Rather, it traces back to the Proto-Germanic root sinþaz, meaning “path” or “course.” [2]
The earliest recorded use of widdershins in English appears in a 1513 translation of Virgil’s Aeneid by the Scottish poet Gavin Douglas. Where it is found in the phrase, “Abaisit I wolx, and widdersyns start my hair.” In this sense, “widdershins start my hair” means “my hair stood on end.”[3] Which, of course, is the opposite direction of the one we would expect our hair to go.
By the mid-1500s, widdershins became more associated with its navigational role. It was especially common in Lowland Scots to describe walking counter-clockwise around a church — which was widely considered unlucky. This superstition was a leftover from pre-Christian sun-worshipping traditions. Where moving against the sun’s apparent path was seen as opposing the natural order.[4]
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Of Fun & Fancy Words Here.
Endnotes:
[1] “Widdershins: Turning Back The Clock. Tamboo.co.za
One Word A Day. Owad.de
[3] Oxford English Dictionary. Online edition.
[4] One Word A Day. Owad.de
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