Nice story but in modern Greek the attic is σοφίτα or υπερώο. How / when did “attic” make its way from the buildings of Attica to the English word?
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Greek for the period that meant “city” was/is “πόλις” (polis) How/when did “polis” made its way to “police” ? The word for the person not taking part in the democratic process was “ιδιώτης”(idiotis). How did that word went south in English while keeping its meaning in Greek ? Languages are alive
may 17, 2025, 10:44 am • 2 1 • view
In the 1560s it was already being used as an architectural term for a type of column, but the "decorative facade" sense came about sometime before 1700. Then as the meaning shifted to mean the space behind that facade, it morphed from being "the attic story" and became just "attic" by the 1800s.
may 16, 2025, 4:01 pm • 6 1 • view
The classification of columnar orders is fairly well known. I'm trying to fix the origins of the "decorative facade" and "attic story" senses of "attic." Were they first found in English, Greek, or another language?
may 16, 2025, 6:54 pm • 0 0 • view