Sage counsel on the herb szałwia
The origins of the English and Polish names for this herb go back to the Latin for healing, salvia. Both the Polish szałwia and the Old English salvie hold close to the original Latin. After the Norman Conquest, the French influence was apparent in Middle English with sauge which, over time, became sage. The French, sauge, itself coming from the Latin, salvia. I was looking at the herb sage, but I couldn't help wonder about it's wider use in English. A sage being a wise person or sage used adjectivally for wisdom. I had always committed the etymological sin of making an assumption about the origin of the word without any evidence. I got it into my head that sage was believed to be good for the brain, hence its use to mean wisdom. It seems, however, that we get it from the Old French for wisdom, sage, which comes from Gallo-Roman sabius and back to Latin. This time, not to salvia for healing, but to sapere, to have good taste or discernm...