A History of English in Its Own WordsLanguage not only defines the way we express ourselves, but also shapes the way we think. Here is a unique look at the English language, combining an informal narrative of the history of the language with a collection of more than 750 word histories, arranged chronologically in six chapters corresponding to the generally accepted "periods" in the development of English. They tell intriguing and insightful stories of the life and times of each period, full of interesting details, odd facts and colorful anecdotes that pepper the history of our language and civilization.--From publisher description. |
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Page 64
... late Middle English pe- riod ( c . 1475 ) , humor or humour was extended to the general sense " temperament or mental disposition " ( " Thus I'll curbe her mad and headstrong humour , " 1596 , Shakespeare , Taming of the Shrew ) and ...
... late Middle English pe- riod ( c . 1475 ) , humor or humour was extended to the general sense " temperament or mental disposition " ( " Thus I'll curbe her mad and headstrong humour , " 1596 , Shakespeare , Taming of the Shrew ) and ...
Page 74
... Late Latin . CRIMSON ( a . 1400 ) . Though VERMILION , both the original dye and the word , is from worms , crimson is from a semantic " worm " of a different color . Indo - European * kwrmi- ( worm ) became Sanskrit krmi- , which when ...
... Late Latin . CRIMSON ( a . 1400 ) . Though VERMILION , both the original dye and the word , is from worms , crimson is from a semantic " worm " of a different color . Indo - European * kwrmi- ( worm ) became Sanskrit krmi- , which when ...
Page 244
... late 1920s . The verb meaning " to reproduce asexu- ally " appeared in the late 1950s , and by the late 1970s , clone had escaped its scientific confines and meant “ an exact du- plicate or carbon copy " ( " Both blond and blue - eyed ...
... late 1920s . The verb meaning " to reproduce asexu- ally " appeared in the late 1950s , and by the late 1970s , clone had escaped its scientific confines and meant “ an exact du- plicate or carbon copy " ( " Both blond and blue - eyed ...
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Common terms and phrases
abbreviated adjective adopted altered American English ancient Anglo-Saxon appeared Arabic became bird British bushwhack called Chaucer cognate coined common compound dance derives dope Dutch earlier early eighteenth century England English borrowed English dialect English word etymologists etymology expression extended fawney fellow folk etymology French word gave English glasnost googol Greek hence High German horse humor Indian Indo-Euro Indo-European Indo-European root influence Irish Italian John King known language late later literally lord meant Medieval Latin metaphor Middle Dutch Middle English nineteenth century Old English Old English period Old French Old High German Old Norse one's person phrase play popular probably pronunciation Proto-Germanic ragman roll Roman Sanskrit Scandinavian Scottish seventeenth century Shakespeare shortened sixteenth century skin slang sound Spanish spelled suffix survived teenth century term Thomas tion trans transferred ultimately from Latin usually variant verb William woman Zilch