English
farrago
Farrago comes from Latin farrāgō ‘mixed fodder’, from far ‘emmer, coarse meal, grits’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *fars ‘flour, grain’.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fars‘flour, grain’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfar‘emmer, coarse meal, grits’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfarrāgō‘mixed fodder’
- Englishearliest quotation 1775farrago
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fars‘flour, grain’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfar‘emmer, coarse meal, grits’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfarrāgō‘mixed fodder’
- Englishearliest quotation 1775farrago
Earliest quotation: 1775, The Rivals: “Yet do I carry every vvhere vvith me ſuch…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰers- ‘spike, prickle’
brush, beard, prod, braid, bristle, borscht, fash, 15 more
through Latin far ‘emmer, coarse meal, grits’
Today it means
noun A collection containing a confused variety of miscellaneous things.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *fars / farrago