17.207 Correus onomastically reconsidered

From: Humanist Discussion Group (by way of Willard McCarty willard.mccarty@kcl.ac.uk)
Date: Fri Aug 29 2003 - 01:15:13 EDT

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                   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
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