that have
passed through Arabic may be mentioned _talisman_, not a very old word
in Europe, from Arab. _tilsam_, magic picture, ultimately from Gk.
{telein}, to initiate into mysteries, lit. to accomplish, and _effendi_,
a Turkish corruption of Gk. {authentes}, a master, whence Lat.
_authentic_.

_Hussar_ seems to be a late Latin word which passed into Greece and then
entered Central Europe _via_ the Balkans. It comes into 16th-century
German from Hungar. _huszar_, freebooter. This is from a Serbian word
which means also pirate. It represents medieval Gk. {koursarios}, a
transliteration of Vulgar Lat. _cursarius_, from _currere_, to run,
which occurs also with the sense of pirate in medieval Latin. _Hussar_
is thus a doublet of _corsair_. The immediate source of _sketch_ is Du.
_schets_, "draught of any picture" (Hexham), from Ital. _schizzo_, "an
ingrosement or first rough draught of anything" (Florio), whence also
Fr. _esquisse_ and Ger. _Skizze_. The Italian word represents Greco-Lat.
_schedium_, an extempore effort.

_Assassin_ and _slave_ are of historic interest. _Assassin_, though not
very old in English, dates from the Crusades. Its oldest European form
is Ital. _assassino_, and it was adopted into French in the 16th
century. Henri Estienne, whose fiery patriotism entered even into
philological questions, reproaches his countrymen for using foreign
terms. They should only adopt, he says, Italian words which express
Italian qualities hitherto unknown to the French, such as _assassin_,
_charlatan_, _poltron_! _Assassin_ is really a plural, from the
_hachaschin_, eaters of the drug _haschish_, who executed the decrees of
the Old Man of the Mountains. It was one of these who stabbed Edward
Longshanks at Acre. The first _slaves_ were captive _Slavonians_. We
find the word in most of the European languages. The fact that none of
the Western tribes of the race called themselves _Slavs_ or _Slavonians_
shows that the word could not have entered Europe _via_ Germany, where
the Slavs were called Wends. It must have come from the Byzantine empire
_via_ Italy.

Some Spanish words have also come to us by the indirect route. The
_cocoa_ which is grateful and comforting was formerly spelt _cacao_, as
in French and German. It is a Mexican word. The _cocoa_ of _cocoa-nut_
is for _coco_, a Spanish baby-word for an ugly face or bogie-man. The
black marks at one end of the nut give it, especially before the removal
of the fibr