The correct answer to this open question is the following.
You did not include the excerpt, text, or the name of the author so we can find the correct reference. However, we can help with the following general comment.
Some words are used so frequently that their origins are forgotten because in modern-day, people are not interested in researching the roots of the words in order to know their significance and how the word has developed through the pass of time to get its actual meaning.
People just get words and use them in their ordinary lives as something granted, which means that words have meanings and we use them in or daily vocabulary. But if we could show some interest in knowing their roots, we would be able to speak better English, with better terms to signify something more appropriate.
