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Or, of course, Antony.
I've often seen the false etymology of "priceless" given as the "Latin" origin of Antonius. Where does it come from? My Latin's pretty rusty, but I can't think of any way "priceless" could possibly work.
Thanks!
I've often seen the false etymology of "priceless" given as the "Latin" origin of Antonius. Where does it come from? My Latin's pretty rusty, but I can't think of any way "priceless" could possibly work.
Thanks!
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Replies
The Latin word for priceless is "inaestimabilis", so it's highly unlikely that Anthony means "priceless". I've noticed that baby name books often try to appeal to parents and like to make up meanings as opposed to giving out the actual meaning.
Sometimes confusion with other names or words leads to false etymologies - that's probably why many people associate Anthony with the meaning "flower". There are numerous legitimate Greek names with the element anthos, such as, Anthea, Anthousa, Anthimos, Chrysanthe, Melanthe, etc.
This is a good article that explains why baby name books are often unreliable: http://www.namenerds.com/uucn/advice/namebook.html
Sometimes confusion with other names or words leads to false etymologies - that's probably why many people associate Anthony with the meaning "flower". There are numerous legitimate Greek names with the element anthos, such as, Anthea, Anthousa, Anthimos, Chrysanthe, Melanthe, etc.
This is a good article that explains why baby name books are often unreliable: http://www.namenerds.com/uucn/advice/namebook.html
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This is sort of a speculative half-answer. The |-ius| suffix usually means "son of..." If this is true for this name, it could mean "son of Antonus." The expected descendants of that name would be Antono, Antone & Anton. These are said to be variants of Antonius, but are more likely variants of its predecessor, like Julus vs. Julius, etc.
Restated, "Antonus" may yield a better lead for this etymology.
Restated, "Antonus" may yield a better lead for this etymology.
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I checked several sources, and the closest I can find is "tonus," meaning "sound."
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Right. But my subsequent search for the etymology of the name "Anton, son of Heracles" or then "Antonus, son of Hercules" was not successful, and neither did it lead to a hint about the origin of the "priceless" folk etymology.
Some more speculations can be found here:
http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/origin-of-the-name-antonia-antonio.2375252/
Some more speculations can be found here:
http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/origin-of-the-name-antonia-antonio.2375252/
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I checked by googling around for quite some time: The info itself is around everywhere - I saw it in English, in German, and in French. I saw it in books, with the help of Google Books search.
But nowhere any source for it, nor any indication which Latin word could be behind it.
The only interesting tidbit that I could come up with: The oldest book with the "priceless" meaning in it that I found is from 1967:
https://books.google.ch/books?id=94psAAAAMAAJ
So this certainly predates the usual baby names websites copy-and-paste nonsense that is often the source of questionable meanings.
But nowhere any source for it, nor any indication which Latin word could be behind it.
The only interesting tidbit that I could come up with: The oldest book with the "priceless" meaning in it that I found is from 1967:
https://books.google.ch/books?id=94psAAAAMAAJ
So this certainly predates the usual baby names websites copy-and-paste nonsense that is often the source of questionable meanings.
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Funnily enough, I first came across it in a children's book that was written by two English schoolgirls in the 1930s. A relative of mine gave me her very old copy as a curiosity. In it, there's a character named Anthony and one of his sisters buys a booklet with name meanings: Bridget and Frances are mentioned, with accurate derivations, and then there's this interesting dialogue: "What's Anthony?" "Priceless." "Shh, don't make jokes!"
I strongly doubt that a bit of random, giggly dialogue in a happy-kids-on-horseriding-holiday book long ago could have sparked a false etymology so they must, surely, have found it somewhere.
I strongly doubt that a bit of random, giggly dialogue in a happy-kids-on-horseriding-holiday book long ago could have sparked a false etymology so they must, surely, have found it somewhere.
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The Far-Distant Oxus! That's one of my favorites, and yes, I remember that dialogue.
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OT Anneza & Claudia
Did either of you ever read the sequels? I am still curious about Maurice. :)
Did either of you ever read the sequels? I am still curious about Maurice. :)
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All of them! And Crowns, which was different and excellent in a very strange way - don't remember much about it, except the effect it had.
When in later life I started reading Golden Age detective fiction, Albert Campion reminded me rather of Maurice. Both had very distinguished connections that they'd rather nobody knew about! So I rather assume royalty, perhaps at a couple of removes!
When in later life I started reading Golden Age detective fiction, Albert Campion reminded me rather of Maurice. Both had very distinguished connections that they'd rather nobody knew about! So I rather assume royalty, perhaps at a couple of removes!
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Not what I asked at all, but thanks anyway.
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My research on this issue revealed that FN Anthony/Antony is derived from the Roman name sexes Antonius and an ancient Roman "nomen gentile" resp. gender name, meaning unknown.
English variant/form Anthony
French variant/form Antoine
Italian variant/form Antonio/Antonello
German variant/form Anton/Antonius
Hungarian variant/form Antal
Czech variant/form Antonin
Slavic variant/form Ante/Antek
Bye
English variant/form Anthony
French variant/form Antoine
Italian variant/form Antonio/Antonello
German variant/form Anton/Antonius
Hungarian variant/form Antal
Czech variant/form Antonin
Slavic variant/form Ante/Antek
Bye
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Not what I asked at all, but thanks anyway.
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