Wiktionary:Etymology scriptorium/2011/October

гусеница

I'm looking for the etymology of Polish gąsienica, Russian/Croatian гусеница, Slovene gosenica, Bulgarian гъсеница, Ukrainian гусениця, Macedonian гасеница, Slovak husenica and Czech housenka. Maro 19:09, 5 October 2011 (UTC)

aviary

Can someone add the etymology for this word? It seems to be quite straight-forward - from Latin aviarium, from [[avis][ ("bird"). ---> Tooironic 12:55, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

• Done! Ƿidsiþ 14:25, 27 October 2011 (UTC)

  Benigne dicis. ---> Tooironic 11:54, 30 October 2011 (UTC)

Hold the ring

Anyone know the etymology of hold the ring (and can add it to the entry)? — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 14:15, 28 October 2011 (UTC)

The original expression was "keep the ring", meaning to keep order amongst the spectators at a fight, first cited in Sporting Magazine, October 1828, but it was also used with the meaning of retaining a title. The OED's first cite of "hold the ring" is from 1928: "... the State ought not to meddle with industry, ... but should confine itself to holding the ring while the disputants fight out their differences.". Dbfirs 13:14, 29 October 2011 (UTC)