A fashionable image, a spicy vegetable, a hand weapon - all this is called the word "onion". It is often found in our daily lives, and sometimes without context it is difficult to understand what exactly is being discussed. Let's try to figure out the origin of this word.
Healthy vegetable
Onion is one of the most famous food plants! In Latin, its name sounds like Állium. The author of the name is Karl Linney. A scientist from Sweden back in 1753 described more than 30 species of this spicy vegetable. Among them were several decorative varieties. To date, the number of varieties known to man exceeds four hundred! Scientists say: the homeland of onions is Southwest Asia. There he began to grow about six thousand years ago. From Asia, onions came to Egypt, Rome and Greece.
Etymology
Scientists are still arguing about the origin of the word "onion". Most experts believe that this word came to us from the Old Slavonic language. According to this hypothesis, the basis of the word can go back to the Old German language. The meaning of the word "onion" is a vegetable belonging to the family of lily, having a pungent smell and pungent taste. But this is not the only option.
Onion - a plant of the gods: beliefs and traditions
The plant of the gods was called the onion by the Egyptians. In addition, they were confident that earthly life was structured exactly on the model of an ordinary bulb. Onion was considered a symbol of eternal life and energy, so the Egyptians used it in huge quantities. Every day fed onions slaves who built the pyramid of Cheops. This gave them strength, performance and endurance.
Roman gladiators were fond of an unusual massage - with onion oil. Thanks to useful substances, their muscles became more elastic. Legionnaires made the bow fearless, and the Olympians - indefatigable. But the Greeks used onions exclusively as a medicine. They did not dare to eat it because of the too pungent odor. In Russia, onion has long been considered the best cure for disease.
Interesting Facts
World champions onion eating - residents of Libya. Every citizen of this country eats more than thirty kilograms of onions annually! About twenty kilograms of onion per one resident of Senegal. In third place, the British - according to the UN, every resident of England eats about ten kilograms of onions. By the way, it was here that the largest bulb was grown - its weight was six kilograms. It is worth noting that onions contain much more sugar than pears or apples. In order for the vegetable to become sweet, it is necessary to fry it.
Look: what does it eat with?
Popularity in the modern world has acquired another meaning of the word “bow” - a fashionable image. There is a peculiarity - a bow is called how a person looks at this very moment. Simply put, this is a complete image in which makeup, clothes, hairstyle, shoes and accessories are selected. A bow is a kind of demonstration of one’s personality. This phenomenon is mainly characteristic of street fashion. A bright bow allows you to surprise or even delight others, and for this it is not necessary to appear at social events or fashion shows. Just go for a walk.
Mesolithic weapons: how did throwing weapons come about?
Digging out the Mesolithic sites, archaeologists discovered huge bows. Their height exceeded human height. They were made from elm. The tree was not chosen by chance - elm is characterized by hardness and elasticity. In addition, this tree lends itself perfectly to processing. Scientists believe that originally bent sticks were used for household purposes and only ten thousand years ago became weapons. The bow allowed people to hunt wild animals at the safest distance.
Bow - weapon: etymology
The common Slavic root "onion" in modern language can be translated as "bend". Linguists suggest that this word is associated with the Old Prussian language. “Curved pitchforks” - this is how lanktis can be translated. There is a hypothesis that claims that “onion” is a derivative of the Latin lanx, meaning “bowl of scales”.
Types of onions
There are three main types of onions.
- Simple . Usually such a weapon is made of one material - wood.
- Layered . This type is made of several layers of similar materials.
- Composite bow. This is a weapon consisting of three or more materials. Such a bow is considered the most powerful.
By the way, the maximum distance that an arrow fired from a composite bow is able to cover exceeds 300 meters.