I Love Words
I thought it apropos to delve into the etymology of a word being used a lot lately...
Quarantine
In the 14th century, the bubonic plague (Black Death) was ripping through the Europe. The disease wiped out an estimated one-third of the population between 1347-50. This resulted in one of the biggest death counts in human history - and was a driving force to take action.
Officials in the Venetian-controlled city of Ragusa (now Dubrovnik, Croatia) passed a law establishing ”trentino” - a 30-day period of isolation for ships arriving from plague-affected areas. No one was allowed to visit those ships and, if someone broke the law, they too would be isolated for the mandatory 30 days.
Within a century, cities extended the isolation period from 30 to 40 days, and the term changed from “trentino” to “quarantino” - the root of the English word quarantine that we use today.
Quarantine
In the 14th century, the bubonic plague (Black Death) was ripping through the Europe. The disease wiped out an estimated one-third of the population between 1347-50. This resulted in one of the biggest death counts in human history - and was a driving force to take action.
Officials in the Venetian-controlled city of Ragusa (now Dubrovnik, Croatia) passed a law establishing ”trentino” - a 30-day period of isolation for ships arriving from plague-affected areas. No one was allowed to visit those ships and, if someone broke the law, they too would be isolated for the mandatory 30 days.
Within a century, cities extended the isolation period from 30 to 40 days, and the term changed from “trentino” to “quarantino” - the root of the English word quarantine that we use today.
