countenance
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:07 pm
The noun and verb versions of this word do not seem to share the same origin. Although if you think of this word as meaning face, it fits in nicely with both.
Why do you say they have different roots?
Here is what etymonline has to say:
countenance (v.) late 15c., "to behave or act," from countenance (n.). Sense of "to favor, patronize" is from 1560s, from notion of "to look upon with sanction or smiles."
countenance (n.) mid-13c., from Old French contenance "demeanor, bearing, conduct," from Latin continentia "restraint, abstemiousness, moderation," literally "way one contains oneself," from continentem, present participle of continere (see contain). Meaning evolving Middle English from "appearance" to "facial expression betraying a state of mind," to "face" itself (late 14c.).
A good word for the Agora, though.