Etymological Suspicions

  Aim (v.) is said to come originally from Latin aestimare "appraise, determine the value of", coming to English through Old French aesmer and esmer as well as Old North French amer, all still meaning "to value, rate; count, estimate".   Etmonline says the English meaning "apparently" developed from similar senses, i.e. "calculate" and so forth.  I find it interesting that it also points out (but then seems to disregard) that the "Intransitive sense 'intend, attempt' (late 14c.) was used by Shakespeare but is now considered colloquial".  This could indicate that it may have been used in a way similar to (and might also explain the origins of) colloquial "cowboy" usage, e.g. "I aim to go fishing tomorrow."   The clear meaning of that sentence is that the speaker intends to go fishing.  The modern Swedish verb ämna means both "intend" and in other situations "aim".  Norstedt's explanatio...

The reason for creating this blog is to have a place to organize and store etymological 'musings' I have had from time to time, especially during these last nine years since I began learning Swedish.  I have no special qualification or education in this field.  I do, however, occasionally question some of the etymologies I encounter.  This is where I will record my reasons for it.  My main and likely only primary sources will be etymonline.com and Norstedts etymologiska ordbok (2008).