Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 17, No. 207.
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
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Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2003 06:09:46 +0100
From: "Jim Marchand" <marchand@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: Correus
In for a dime, in for a dollar. The various postings on the name
Correus are interesting. The etymology given (con + reus `equally
guilty, under joint obligation'), though it may have been that of
Caesar, is wrong, since the name is doubtless of Celtic origin,
Correus being an error for Corrius (fem. Corria), probably Celtic
Corri, with a Latin ending. Cf. Alfred Holder, _Alt-Celtischer
Sprachschatz_, vol. 1 (Leipzig: B.G. Teubner, 1896), 1134. Since
the original question concerned the name mainly, look there for
other examples. Unfortunately, Holder offers no etymology. I note
that Edward MacLysaght, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: The
Irish University Press, 1973), p. 59, working on (O) Corr, Corry,
etc., truthfully says: "There are so many words from which this may
be derived that it is impossible to make a definite statement." It
could be connected with corr `crane', since the Celts were so fond
of cranes, or one could push corri/ `rival king'. Everybody knows
what Pseudo-Voltaire said about etymology, and the etymology of
names is even more notorious.
Dr Willard McCarty | Senior Lecturer | Centre for Computing in the
Humanities | King's College London | Strand | London WC2R 2LS || +44 (0)20
7848-2784 fax: -2980 || willard.mccarty@kcl.ac.uk
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