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Margaret
/ˈmɑːrɡərət/feminine name meaning pearl
From Greek via Latin and Old French margarit (pearl).
from Greek margaritēs (lithos) "pearl," which is of unknown origin. OED writes, "probably adopted
from Late Latin Margarita , female name, literally "pearl,"
from Old French Margaret (French Marguerite )
Word Ancestry
from Greek margaritēs (lithos) "pearl," which is of unknown origin. OED writes, "probably adopted
from Late Latin Margarita , female name, literally "pearl,"
from Old French Margaret (French Marguerite )
This name began as a jewel box. In Greek, margaritēs meant a pearl, and Latin turned that sparkling noun into the female name Margarita, as if someone had simply said, “Wouldn’t it be lovely to call a child Pearl?” Medieval French reshaped it into Marguerite, and English borrowed it by around 1300, keeping the glint but changing the sound. The same pearl-root wandered into odd neighbors: margarine was once named for its pearly shine, and magpie picked up Mag, a nickname for Margaret, because the bird’s chatter seemed so much like a gossiping woman in old proverb-land. Even the chemist Margaret Todd got a word out of it — isotope — which means that this pearl of a name has left fingerprints on birds, butter substitutes, and nuclear physics. Not bad for a word that started life as something you might find tucked inside an oyster shell.
The Story
This name began as a jewel box. In Greek, margaritēs meant a pearl, and Latin turned that sparkling noun into the female name Margarita, as if someone had simply said, “Wouldn’t it be lovely to call a child Pearl?” Medieval French reshaped it into Marguerite, and English borrowed it by around 1300, keeping the glint but changing the sound. The same pearl-root wandered into odd neighbors: margarine was once named for its pearly shine, and magpie picked up Mag, a nickname for Margaret, because the bird’s chatter seemed so much like a gossiping woman in old proverb-land. Even the chemist Margaret Todd got a word out of it — isotope — which means that this pearl of a name has left fingerprints on birds, butter substitutes, and nuclear physics. Not bad for a word that started life as something you might find tucked inside an oyster shell.
Modern Usage
Urban Dictionary entries portray Margaret as a very attractive, witty, protective woman
Popularized by: user-generated slang on Urban Dictionary
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entries describing a 'Margaret' as sexy and beautiful
Kin & Kindred
From 'margarit'·pearl
Derived Terms
English words from this root