An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language

Walter William Skeat

Clarendon Press, 1910 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 780 pages

A detailed reference to the definitions, history and etymology of frequently-used primary words.

Contents

• DICTIONARY OF ETYMOLOGIES I: 732
• DISTRIBUTION OF WORDS ACCORDING TO THE LANGUAGES FROM: 761
• SUPPLEMENT: 777

About the author

Walter William Skeat, English philologist, was born in London on November 21,1835, and educated at King's College School (Wimbledon), Highgate School, and Christ's College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow in July 1860. His grandsons include the noted palaeographer T. C. Skeat and the stained glass painter Francis Skeat. Skeat's principal achievement was his Etymological English Dictionary. While preparing the dictionary he wrote hundreds of short articles on word origins for the London-based journal: Notes and Queries. Skeat is responsibel for coining the meaning of a "ghost word" --- a meaningless word that came into existence or acceptance, not by being derived through long-standing usage, nor by being coined at need, but only as the result of an error. His other works include: A Concise Dictionary of Middle English (1888), in conjunction with A. L. Mayhew; A Student's Pastime (1896), a volume of essays; The Chaucer Canon (1900); and A Primer of Classical and English Philology (1905). Skeat died in 1912.

Bibliographic information

• Title: An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language
• Author: Walter William Skeat
• Edition: 4, reprint, revised
• Publisher: Clarendon Press, 1910
• Original from: Northwestern University
• Digitized: Aug 29, 2012
• ISBN: 0198631049, 9780198631040
• Length: 780 pages
• Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / Etymology; Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / Historical & Comparative; Reference / General