Talk:prestige

etymology of prestige

Is there a reason why prestige and prestidigitator/prestidigitation have different etymologies? It would seem that they come from the same root (since prestige once had the meaning "delusion, illusion, trick", according to its entry), but I might be wrong. Please enlighten me :) --Waldir 06:45, 13 May 2010 (UTC)

• They don't come from the same root at all; the resemblance is coincidence. The root of prestige is Latin praestringere (“to bind”), which was used in the sense of ‘to blindfold; to dazzle or confuse someone’. The prest- in prestidigitation goes back to Latin praestō (“ready”), in Romance languages indicating speed (compare presto). The two words probably ultimately share a use of the Latin prefix prae- (“pre-”), but that's about it. Ƿidsiþ 06:56, 13 May 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the clarification. Would you please add this information to the entries? Namely the "to blind" sense of 'praestringere' isn't mentioned. And maybe a note mentioning the similarity but unrelatedness of the words... --Waldir 07:15, 13 May 2010 (UTC)

Nevermind, I did it. Please check if it's ok. --Waldir 13:10, 30 August 2010 (UTC)