corniche

[prettygoodword]

corniche (KAWR-nish, kawr-NEESH) - n., a coastal road, especially one cut into the side of a steep hill or cliff.


Also, in Arabic countries, particularly the Mediterranean coast, a seaside esplanade. Borrowed around 1835 from French route de/en/à corniche (all three prepositions were used at the time), route on a ledge, the key word having been borrowed from Italian cornice, which we also directly borrowed for the architectural senses.

---L.

Comments

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

You may not leave the classroom until you explain what this has to do with cornichons.

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

The cornice comes from Latin cornix, crow, which in its deep (i.e., PIE) root means a curved thing, referring to its beak. A cornichon is a "little horn," where the cor(o)ne or horn part is etymologically related as another curved thing.

---L.