Cave and Jail - My Word Report

 

     What is the connection between a jail and a cave? Initially, I made the connection that both a cave and a jail are isolated places, but after reading their etymology in the Oxford Dictionary,  I realize they have many similarities.

     The word ‘cave’ had the largest amount of definitions. The word ‘cave’ can refer to

1. A hollow place opening horizontally underground (n)
2.  The ash pit of a glass-furnace (n)
3. A succeeding group of politicians (n) (The gentlemen retired to their political cave)
4.  A colloquial abréviation of cavalier (n)
5. An unwieldy toss of the head, or of a limb (v) (Normally referring to cows and oxen)
6. A fall in the earth: a cave-in (n)
7. A hollow spot (n) (Sometimes in reference to the moon)
8. To excavate or hollow out (v)
9. To fall clumsily (v) (Sometimes in reference to pottery)
10. To yield to outward pressure (v) (“My lungs caved in from the pressure.”)
11. To be morally or physically undermined (v) (“I caved in to the peer pressure.”)
12. To smash or bash in (v)
13. To separate chaff from the corn (v)
14. A signal or warning (n)  (“Keep cave!”) -  Used in the mid 19th century by schoolchildren to warn their friends that a teacher was coming.

   The word ‘jail’ does not have near as many definitions.

1. A place or building used for the confinement or persons accused of crimes. (n)
2. To put someone in confinement (v)

   While looking at the etymology, I concluded that jail is based on the Latin word “cave". The word came into English in two forms, “jail" from Old French and “gayole" from Anglo-Norman French: originally pronounced with a hard g, as in “gale”.  The word was first used in 1604 to articulate that a prisoner would be held captive for life: “jailed for life”.  The newest way that jail can be used was created in 1934 as “jail bait”.

   The word “cave” has its roots in the Latin word “cava", from “caves”. The word was first used in 1220 to describe an underground opening. The newest way that jail can be used was created in 1959 as “keep cave!”. This usage originated in schools so that children could warn their friends that the teacher was coming.

   I was surprised that there are so many definitions for cave, while there are not many at all for jail. A lot of the definitions for cave included the words “separate”,”undermined”, and ”hollow spot”. These are all words that I think about when I hear the word jail. Both cave and jail have to do with a separation, a divide, between two things. To be jailed means to be separated from the public, while to cave means to separate a piece of corn from its husk.