What's the difference between Labyrinth and Maze? Although both maze and labyrinth depict a complex and confusing series of pathways, the two are different. A maze is a complex, branching (multicursal) puzzle that includes choices of path and direction, while a labyrinth is unicursal, i.e., has only a si...
This could just be due to usage change over time, similar to how “literally” can mean the same thing as “figuratively” now a days. But I’m not an etymologist.
I would guess that it’s actually a jargonification of extant words.
Merriam Webster includes a neat etymology section on the definitions I linked, that traces both words to the Renaissance (ish). The entry for “maze” does note an alternate definition as a neurological test with at least one dead end, but (1) that doesn’t match the claim OP’s article headline makes and (2) scientific jargon is not common English.
(If jargon WERE common English, we’d have an entirely different argument about tomatoes being fruits or vegetables.)
This could just be due to usage change over time, similar to how “literally” can mean the same thing as “figuratively” now a days. But I’m not an etymologist.
I would guess that it’s actually a jargonification of extant words.
Merriam Webster includes a neat etymology section on the definitions I linked, that traces both words to the Renaissance (ish). The entry for “maze” does note an alternate definition as a neurological test with at least one dead end, but (1) that doesn’t match the claim OP’s article headline makes and (2) scientific jargon is not common English.
(If jargon WERE common English, we’d have an entirely different argument about tomatoes being fruits or vegetables.)