Re: Refrigerator

Bob Cunningham wrote:
> (Crossposted to alt.usage.english.)
> 
>  On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:22:08 +0100, Frederick Williams
> <frederick.williams2@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote [in alt.languages.english]:
> 
>> What is the significance of the prefix "re" in the word "refrigerator"?
> 
> As you probably know, the prefix "re-" occurs in quite a few English
> words where its meanings of "again, back" or "away" don't seem to
> offer a satisfactory reason.
> 
The fact that the current meaning of a word doesn't contain the concept 
of "again-ness" doesn't mean that it didn't originate from the latin 
root meaning repitition. An example is the word "reduce" . Today there 
is no sense of repetition here but originally it did come from a Latin 
word meaning "to lead back".

Regards. Einde O'Callaghan