Interesting. Today we have the sense that the word auxiliary means a stand by, something to be used as a last resort, a sport coat you hate but will wear if everything else is at the cleaners, a generator for when the power is out.
I have a little feature from the folks at Oxford English Dictionary called Word of the Day, and today’s (Wednesday’s) word is auxiliary. The feature also includes the first known usage of the word. For auxiliary it is
1601 “They maintaine three sorts of soldiers… the third are Auxiliaries, which serve for pay”
Pretty funny.
Up until the 30 Years War getting combatants usually involved, say, King Edward III picking up the phone and calling his dukes, barons, counts, etc., and saying I’m throwing a little shindig over in France and I need some troops and the troops would show up.
That model worked less and less well until the Middle Ages thing wobbled and then fell over and took the idea of liege lords and fealty with it. During the transition the powers that were starting using some troops that demanded (gasp!) money.
The soldiers you’d use only when you absolutely had to would be those who required payment. The auxiliaries. The pants that don’t quite fit, the generator that gobbles gas and makes a lot of noise, the sport coat with the 100 decibel window-pane check. The auxiliaries.
The word hung around after the system that created it was gone and found a niche to fill. Like a migrant farm worker who doesn’t want to go home.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Tags: word meanings
