I suppose, it probably came from Greek τέρας 'wonder, marvel, monster' and is a possible cognate of Greek θηρίον 'wild beast, monster'; cf. OE deor (Eng. deer); also
dragon (Lat. draco; Gr. δράκων). The connection between Gr. drakon and δέρκομαι 'to see clearly' doesn't seem plausible enough, because there is Gr. δορκάς/ζορκάς 'a kind of deer', which could be directly related to 'deer' and deor/Tier; cf. Gr. ταύρος 'bull', maybe even including Slav zver, tur (Old Slav. тоуръ
) and Lat ferus;
The suffix -sko (ski, ska) seems to be common among the Slavic and East Romance speakers (possessive nouns).
There is a lot of things that must be carefully
reviewed and precisely sorted out as far as the etymologies of the above-mentioned words are concerned. For instance, the opinion that dragon is derived from
derkesthai 'to see clearly' is similar as to say that Slavic zver/зверка/zveruška is related to the verbs зеркать/зарить (Cz. zírat 'stare'; Serbo-Cr. zuriti 'gaze, stare').
To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
From: josimo70@...
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:29:12 -0700
Subject: [tied] Tarasque mythical origin: Liguric?
Is there any theory explaining the name of monster Tarrasque, killed by Saint Martha in Medieval French legend, and the city Tarascon? Suffix -asco seems Ligurian, doesn't it?
JS Lopes
See all the ways you can stay connected
to friends and family