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DarkJedi
01-22-2006, 02:40 AM
Found this at two sites...thought it was pretty cool. Taken from the fine folks at our sister community, The Wonderful World of Harry Potter.

This is really interesting!

Azkaban:
This is really doesn't explain the meaning of Azkaban, but it's pretty interesting. Someone (Mitchell) told me that Azkaban and Alacatraz are both similar because they're both prisons on islands, and they're both 3-syllable words that sounds the same. Alcatraz is a famous prison off the California coast that used to jail members of the Mob, but is now closed. You can tour it though, that is if you're crazy enough to.

Beauxbaton:
"Beaux-Baton"="Beautiful Stick" in French!

Sirius Black:
Sirius, also called the Dog Star, is the brightest star in the sky!

Fleur Delacour:
Fleur Delacour is a girl from Beauxbatons. Fleur-de-la-Cour, it means "Flower of the court" in French!

Albus Dumbledore:
Dumbledore=bumblebee in Old English! J.K. Rowling says that it "seemed to suit the headmaster, because one of his passions is music and I imagined him walking around humming to himself." Albus also means "white" in latin. Maybe because he has a white beard?

Argus Filch:
Argus is a creature from Greek Mythology who has a hundred eyes and is very watchful. (Wow! So is our Argus, never misses a thing that happens at Hogwarts.)

Hermione Granger:
J.K. Rowling says that she wanted Hermione (Her-my-uh-nee) to have an odd name so that real-life little girls wouldn`t be teased because they were know-it-alls like Hermione and shared the name.

Rubeus Hagrid:
If you were "Hagrid" in old English, it means that you're having a bad night. Since Hagrid is a big drinker, he must have had tons bad nights.

Hedwig:
In a recent interview, Ms. Rowling said that Hedwig is the name of a medieval saint. Someone E-mailed me this very helpful site that has very good info on St. Hedwig. (Thanx!) St. Hedwig had seven children and was married several times. She cared for the sick and supported the poor. There's a school named for her, this school provides education for abandoned and ophan children. Do you see a connection here? Hedwig, the owl cares for Harry who is orphaned, and this school named after St. Hedwig cares for the orphaned.

Hermes:
Percy`s owl, Hermes is also the name of the Greek messenger God to the Gods!

Knockturn Alley:
Knockturn Alley=nocturnally. Well, to be nocturnal is to be active during the night, so since many of the Dark Arts are performed during the night, it seems reasonble that JK Rowling named it Knockturn Alley. This is so cool! I discovered the definition of this myself!

Gilderoy Lockhart:
Lockhart is an Australian town near Wagga Wagga, remember, Lockhart defeated a werewolf? "Composed a poem about my defeat of the Wagga Wagga Werewolf"

Remus Lupin:
Stories said that there was a boy named Remus who was abandoned when he was just a baby, (aww) but was found by wolves who nursed him and raised him. Also Lupin means wolf-like in Latin.

Draco Malfoy:
1.)In ancient Greek days, Draco was a cruel Athenian lawmaker. That's how we get the expression "draconian laws", meaning unnecessarily harsh laws. Also, 'Mal foi' means 'bad faith' in French.
2.)Draco in Latin means "Snake" or "Dragon" both of which are very devious creatures - A Dragon (in mythology) lulls you with it's voice so you'll tell it any thing and it will usually extract important secrets from you. Snakes - A serpent is the Slytherin mascot and snakes were evil and cunning creatures - A basilisk is a snake and it's very deadly.

Narcissa Malfoy:
(She's the mother of Draco Malfoy) Her name is pretty similar to the term narcissism which means "self-love" or people who think that they are more important and superior than other people. So could this be a description of her character?

Minerva McGonagall:
Minerva is the name of the Roman goddess of Wisdom. Can that mean that our strict transfiguration teacher is also wise???

Mirror of Erised:
"erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi" if you read the inscription backwards it's "I show not your face but your heart's desire" Neat huh?

Peeves:
To peeve is to irritate or annoy. (Doesn't that sound like our Peeves, he sure does get on everyone's nerves!)

Tom Marvolo Riddle:
If you rearrange all the words in "Tom Marvolo Riddle", you get...what else?? "I am Lord Voldemort"!!

Severus Snape:
Severus, maybe he's so severe to his students, (especially Harry) that J.K. Rowling named him Severus.

Professor Sprout:
This is kinda obvious, she's the Herbology professor who teaches about plants, which "sprout".

Veritaserum:
In the fourth book, it was the potion that Snape threatened to use on Harry and Dumbledore also gave the potion to Mr. Crouch's son at the end. Well, I did some research, I found that "Verity" means truth and "serum" means fluid. So Veritaserum is a fluid that makes people tell the truth. You get it?

Voldemort:
There are many rumors saying that the name Voldemort came from an evil wizard named Voldermortist, which means "Lord of Evil" or "Dark Lord". They even went far on to say that Voldemort once tried to kill Merlin, but was caught and fed to a monster with many heads. -OR- Lord Voldemort may be taken from Edgar Allan Poe's character M. Valdemar, who died under hypnosis and came back as a squishy mass of rotting flesh, which is what Voldermort was like, until he regained his human form in the 4th book.
NOTE: "Vol de mort" means "Flight of Death" in French. But....... J.K. Rowling said that she made the name up!

Ron Weasley:
Ron Weasley, in another language, is called "Running Weasel." Running Weasel was a warlord in the 6th Dynasty. He was a stratigist, and never lost a game of chess!! (That sounds just like Ron!) Unfortunately, he died when a rat that had been dyed yellow (Scabbers!!) by his soldiers for fun, knocked over a lamp in his palace, burning it to the ground, and killing Running Weasel.

Charms

Expelliarmus (disarming charm):
'expel' means to force out, and 'armus' means arms or weapons. This curse forces the wand out of someone else's hands.

Lumos:
'light' in Latin. Used to ignite fire at the tip of one's wand to provide light. Counter-charm of Nox.

Nox:
'night' in Latin. Used to extinguish fire at the tip of one's wand. Counter-charm of Lumos.

Accio:
Comes from the Latin word 'accipio' which means 'receive'. Used to force an object to come to you.

Avada Kedavra:
Arabic for 'let the things be destroyed', led to the saying of Abra Kadabra. It's one of the deadiliest curse known, causes the instant death of a living thing. It was the curse used by Voldemort to kill Harry's parents.



Expand to it if ya want to. :D ;)

DarkJedi
01-23-2006, 03:08 AM
More origins copied and pasted from our fellow posters from long ago at the Potter community.:winks:



Sturm = storm
Drang = urge
(German)


Crookshanks: an old-fashioned way of saying bent legs (remember JKR described CS as bandy-legged).

Crucio/Cruciatus: Latin "to torture or torment"

Cedric: Celtic name meaning "battle; war chief"

Bagman (Ludo Bagman): Someone who collects money from illegal activities.

Auror: "Aurora" means light or dawn in Latin, in effect 'the first light of the day'
Since Voldemort's forces are often refered to as the dark side, an Auror would be "the light that ends the darkness".

Apparecium: Appareo in Latin means to make things visible, to appear, to manifest.

Anigmagus: in Latin "mind of a wizard" or "I am an animal wizard".

Dedalus: Dedalus is the father of Icarus who is careless with the laws of nature. (Hence the shooting stars when Voldemort is destroyed the first time).

Deletrius: means to delete; to remove by striking out.

Dementor: possible play word on 'demented', or crazy, thus a Dementor makes you demented.

densaugeo: in Latin dens means 'tooth' and augeo means to increase or enlarge.

Diagon Alley: a play on diagonally, from angle to angle (thus Diagon Alley means 'Crooked' Alley, hence all it's curves).

Dobby: is a very old-English name for a benevolent elf who would anonymously perform household tasks in the night, like the elves and the shoemaker.

Draco: - Latin for 'dragon'
- A Greek tyrant known for his severity such as being hanged for stealing a loaf of bread, hence 'Draconian laws'.
- Athenian lawyer also known for his severity.

Dudley: play on a 'dud' or boring person.

Dumbledore: d'or French for gold. (you already know the bumblebee stuff).

Dursley: small town in Britain.

Expecto Patronum: in Latin 'release protector'

Fawkes: named after Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up the English houses or Parliament 400 years ago with gun powder. Every year on the anniversary of the gunpowder plot children burn an effigy of him on a bonfire, sing and let of fireworks.

Filch: to 'filch' means to 'steal'

Firenze: Italian word for city of Florence. Florence is the resting place of Galileo Galilei one of the greatest astronomers ever lived.

Flitwick: town in Britain outside of London.

Gilderoy: "golden King" PAH AHAAHAH!

Hagrid: a god thrown out of Olympus but Zeus allowed him to stay and be the keeper of the animals.

Hedwig: Old Swedish - Hed: moore Wig: agile
"hedwig" someone you can trust.

Hermione: means eloquence. Daughter of Helen of Troy in a Shakespearean play. Was an example of "dignity without pride, love without passion, and tenderness without weakness".

Hogwarts/Hogsmeade: may be a derivitive of the Celtic tradition of Hogmanay: the fire and flame of the Hogmanay brings the light of knowledge from one year to the next.

Impedimus: Latin for 'hinder'.

Imperius: meaning domineering or overbearing.

kappa: Japanese water demon.

Krum: German 'krumm' means crooked or bent.

Ludo: latin for 'i play' also 'to fool around, lose (money) in gambling, to deceive'.

Malfoy: 'mal foi' - 'bad faith' or 'bad trust' in French.

Mandrake: a mediterranean herb with a large forked root resembling a human. Used to bring about the unconsciousness or to purify.

Maxime: french for 'principle'.

Minerva: Roman Goddess of academics.

Mundungus: a vile and bad smelling tabacco.

Nagini: snake in Hindu.

Mrs Norris: taken from Jane Austin's Mansfield Park, a nosy preacher's wife.

Padma: Hindu name meaning lotus. Lotus is the Hindu symbol for wealth.

Parvati: Hindu name meaning 'gentle'.

Patronus: Latin for protector and also derived from 'pater' which means 'father'.

Pensieve: pensive meaning 'deep in thought'. Also French 'penser' means 'think'.

Poppy (Poppy Pomfrey): one of the oldest medicinal plants. Contains opium a known pain killer.

Remus: Remus and Romulus were twins abandoned as babies and raised by a she-wolf and later founded the city of Rome. Romulus killed his twin.

Rubeus: Latin for bramble; of brambles.

Salazar: Antonio Salazar was the fascist dictator of Portugal who believed in ethnic purity and thus ruthlessly put down ethnic uprisings from his country's colonies in Africa. (tell me that ain't like Slytherin)

Sinistra: Latin for 'left'. Sinistral means 'left-handed' or 'counter-clockwise'. The solarsystem moves in a counter-clockwise direction. Pro. Sinistra is the astronomy teacher.

Skeeter: and uncommon American term for a mosquito. Common belief that 'paparazzi' means 'little insect' in Italian but this is not so.

Sybil (Trelawney): sybils were ancient prophetesses who foretold the future at the Oracles at Delphi.

Viktor: a boys name of Latin origins meaning 'victorious; a conquerer'

Wronski (feint): Wrona polish word for raven and ski can be translated into the English suffix of -ish. Personally I think Feint could be derived from the word 'feign' meaning to pretend. Remember the Wronski Feint was a fake dive to make the other seeker think you've seen the snitch.


Aragog - Appearently, Gog was a giant spider, I don't know in what mythology. Plus the word "aracne", which means spider, we get Aragog.

Sinistra - It means "sinister", "evil", in portuguese. Can it be a clue to something that might happen, or it just refers to obscured, as the night?

Lupin - "Lupin" means "wolf", in french.

Expecto Patronum - "Expecto" means something like "ghost", "patronum", means "protector", A ghost protector?

Sybill Trelawney - "Sybill" seems "sibilar", which, in portuguese means "to hiss", "to sibilate".

Godric - Old English, meaning Divine Ruler, or Rules with God.
People named Godric have a strong sense of family and are known for their descretion (sounds strangely appropriate). They are influenced by emotion and have a thirst for knowledge. They are hopeful, trusting, and protective of others, and are regarded as sophisticated (also accurate based upon what we know).


Crabbe and Goyle- If you switch the first consonants, it's what a snake does to their prey; grab (grabbe) and coyle (coil)

slickchick
07-29-2006, 06:42 AM
That's pretty awesome, thanks for sharing.

Rowanberry
07-31-2006, 10:06 PM
The name Sybil /Sybill means "Prophet". It's been derived from Sibylla, which in Greek mythology was a title for women who could see in the future.

KingVoyeur
08-01-2006, 05:32 AM
So in an upcoming movie should we expect her to randomly go "the people the people the people the people"? :D :lol: