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A Cape Cod Notebook can be heard every Tuesday morning at 8:45am and afternoon at 5:45pm.It's commentary on the unique people, wildlife, and environment of our coastal region.A Cape Cod Notebook commentators include:Robert Finch, a nature writer living in Wellfleet who created, 'A Cape Cod Notebook.' It won the 2006 New England Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Radio Writing.

Combing Beaches and Dictionaries for a Word with Multiple Histories

nd-nʎ / flickr

The nomenclature of the beach is a rich and sometimes confusing one. Take, for instance, the word “comber” – C-O-M-B-E-R. It can be applied to both “a breaking wave,” as in “the foam-flecked combers raced toward the shore,” and to one who scours the beach for found treasure, as in “beachcomber.” Both uses refer to something that is found on the beach, and so one would think the linguistic connection between the two words would be obvious. But, in fact, it’s not. Bear with me, then, while I do a little etymological sleuthing.

The Oxford English Dictionary (or OED) does list “comber” in the sense of “a long breaking wave.” But oddly, it doesn’t list “beachcomber,” in our sense of beach scavenger. The American Heritage Dictionary does list “beachcomber,” as “one who scavenges along beaches or in wharf areas.” Then, as a supplemental meaning, it defines a beachcomber as “a seaside vacationer” (probably because all seaside visitors indulge in beachcombing at some point), but it gives no origin for the term. This suggests to me that “beachcomber” is of relatively recent American coinage. But this still leaves us with the question of why the same term, “comber,” was applied to two seemingly different things: a breaking wave and a beach scavenger.

To answer this, we have to look at a third definition of “comber,” namely, one who combs or cards wool or other fibers. This is a fairly old English word that predates the first two definitions by centuries. According to the OED, it was first used in print by Sir Thomas Browne in 1646 who wrote of “comers of wooll.” The word “comb” itself goes back to the ancient Sanskrit/Indo-European root gemph- -G-E-M-P-H- which means “tooth or nail,” and therein lies the connection with both “beachcombing” or scavenging, and breaking waves.

At least, here is my hypothesis. In the days before metal detectors, scavenging for jewelry or coins on the beach was usually done with a rake or other toothed implement, in other words, a comb. Moreover, anyone who has ever watched a breaking wave cannot have failed to notice how the receding wave seems to comb, or card the beach as it retreats. I would suggest, then, that both “comber” and beachcomber” have a common origin in the ancient act of “combing.” And if I’m right, then both terms are not only of relatively recent  origin, but also probably originated on a sandy shore – since rocky shores are not “combed” with rakes, nor do the waves on such shores “comb” the beach. And, finally, since “wrecking,” or scavenging wrecked vessels – another form of “beachcombing” - was so common on Cape Cod in the old days, perhaps both terms actually originated – right here.

Well, I don’t know about you, but all this dry lexicographical speculation has left me rather thirsty, so I think I’ll head out to the fourth, and very local, definition of the word “comber” - namely, Wellfleet’s Beachcomber Restaurant and Bar at Cahoon Hollow Beach. Appropriately enough, the Beachcomber is housed in what was formerly an old Life Saving Station, from which patrolmen combed the beach for wrecked ships and sailors. 

Robert Finch is a nature writer living in Wellfleet. 'A Cape Cod Notebook' won the 2006 New England Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Radio Writing.