Thursday, March 13, 2025

you wanna know the etymology for steward?!

 Well too bad you're gonna get it! Strap on your learning pants!

You're probably sitting over there thinking it has something to do with STEW and ARD. Stew being a delicious hearty soup and ARD being a pejorative intensifier. Meaning something like, 'way too much nasty soup!'

No. You're wrong. Steward doesn't mean that.

It's more like STE- and -WARD. And the 'ste' comes from 'stig' which means house or hall. And the ward means ward which is related to the word 'guard'. So it's a 'house ward' somebody who runs the house, typically like a large estate where there are lots of servants and staff and such. 

I do not wish to be an adventurer or explorer or conqueror! The people who would use the world up. I wish only to be a steward. To look after what came before me and leave it for the people who will come after. 

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