SIERRA

[Dr. Goodword]

• sierra •

Pronunciation: see-e-rê • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. A mountain range with a jagged line of peaks or ragged profile. 2. A west coast Spanish mackerel.

Notes: Today's word is a beautiful Spanish gift to English used by speakers who probably are unaware of its meaning in many American geographical names. Sierra in Spanish originally referred only to the cutting tool, a saw. But the jagged blade of a saw lent its name metaphorically to the jagged ridges of mountains, like the Sierra Nevada, the snow-covered saw, in Spain. (Yes, Nevada means "snow-covered" in Spanish—an odd name for a state that shares Death Valley and the Mojave Desert with California, no?)

In Play: The African nation of Sierra Leone, the lion saw, the Sierra National Forest which contains much of the California Sierra Nevada, and the Sierra Club came along after the metaphor had become the second meaning of the word. The same is true of the Sierra Madre mountain range in Mexico, the Mother Range, and the setting of the 1948 Humphrey Bogart classic, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, directed by John Huston.

Word History: Sierra is the Spanish descendant of Latin serra "saw". The adjective from this word was serratus "like a saw, saw-shaped", which gave English its adjective serrated, referring to knife blades that are toothy, like a saw.

[skinem]

...also it's "military-speak" for the letter 'S'.

...seemingly heard most often with the word "Bravo" before it...

[bnjtokyo]

Dear Dr. Goodword,

The photo that accompanies the Goodword "sierra" shows the Grand Tetons (in Wyoming), not John Muir's beloved Sierra Nevada. "teton" is a loan word from another language (French) the meaning (translation?) of which many modern american speakers are blithely unaware.

[Slava]

"teton" is a loan word from another language (French) the meaning (translation?) of which many modern american speakers are blithely unaware.

See: http://www.alphadictionary.com/bb/viewt ... highlight=

[Stargzer]

It figures that the Spanish would see something utilitarian (a saw) whilst the French would see something more amorous. Hey, they'd been out trapping a looooooonnnnnnngggg time.

Go to Systranet, select French and English, type in Grand Tetons in the French column, and click Translate.