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furciferous
Apr. 20th, 2021 07:43 amfurciferous (fur-SIF-ur-uhs) - adj., scoundrelly, villainous; (entomology) (of certain caterpillars) having a forked appendage.
So clearly we have a word with a physical meaning and a metaphoric extension, and it turns out the extending was done in the original Latin. The word comes from Latin furcifer, literally yoke-bearer but also scoundrel, from furca, which is from the same root that gives us fork, but also a yoke, which was a fork-shaped instrument of punishment + ferre, to bear. Someone who deserves to wear the the yoke is a scoundrel. Meanwhile, entomologists went back to the literal furca to describe anatomical features.
---L.
So clearly we have a word with a physical meaning and a metaphoric extension, and it turns out the extending was done in the original Latin. The word comes from Latin furcifer, literally yoke-bearer but also scoundrel, from furca, which is from the same root that gives us fork, but also a yoke, which was a fork-shaped instrument of punishment + ferre, to bear. Someone who deserves to wear the the yoke is a scoundrel. Meanwhile, entomologists went back to the literal furca to describe anatomical features.
---L.
