Hmm...

[sleigh]

WHile doing my usual morning news browsing, I ran across this headline on the newsfeed for CNN: "NY TV station founder beheads wife." Not a headline I usually care about (nor a story I clicked on to read), but...

I found that the word "behead" bothered me. Shouldn't that be "dehead"? I mean, we use the prefic "de-" to indicate we're getting rid of something, as in "deveining" a shrimp... So why do we "be-head" someone rather than "de-head" someone?

Just wondering...

Comments

Wrong root! -- or barking up the wrong tree?

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

[Middle English biheden, from Old English behafdian : be-, away from; see be- + hafod, head; see head.] http://www.thefreedictionary.com/behead

Re: Wrong root! -- or barking up the wrong tree?

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

Yep, that. Old English was the land of prefixes, and "be-" was a special guy with lots of different roles. But be- in this case meant what de- does now... Like hádian, meaning "ordain," but behádian meant "defrock".

[mizzlaurajean.livejournal.com]

Tradition!

[wbm.livejournal.com]

behead = beliving ≠ be living

(couldn't resist)