The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word HistoriesA gold mine of fascinating word histories! This engaging and informative book reveals the origins of 1,500 words from "abigail" to "zombie", tracing in terms from the mythology of ancient Greece to the comic strips of the 20th century. This delightful volume will help you discover how a skimpy bathing suit came to be called a "bikini" and what "serendipity" has to do with Horace Walpole. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 84
Page v
... ancient Greeks ( see volcano in this book and money and hypnosis ) , while another can be traced to twentieth - century American so- cial reality ( see yuppie ) , and still another was just made up out of nothing by an ordinary person ...
... ancient Greeks ( see volcano in this book and money and hypnosis ) , while another can be traced to twentieth - century American so- cial reality ( see yuppie ) , and still another was just made up out of nothing by an ordinary person ...
Page vii
... ancient Romans . But although the Romans made a few visits to Britain in the first century a.d. , long before the English were there — before there was even an England — English is not a Romance language . In terms of its genetic stock ...
... ancient Romans . But although the Romans made a few visits to Britain in the first century a.d. , long before the English were there — before there was even an England — English is not a Romance language . In terms of its genetic stock ...
Page 5
... ancient Greece the word aigis was used literally of something that offered physical protection . In Greek mythology the aegis in one sense was a thun- dercloud , housing the thunderbolts that Zeus wielded as his signature weapon . In ...
... ancient Greece the word aigis was used literally of something that offered physical protection . In Greek mythology the aegis in one sense was a thun- dercloud , housing the thunderbolts that Zeus wielded as his signature weapon . In ...
Page 6
... ancient Greeks were fond of celebrations that included games and athletic contests . From their verb agein ' to lead , celebrate ' , the Greeks derived the noun agōn to denote a public gathering for such cele- brations . The struggle to ...
... ancient Greeks were fond of celebrations that included games and athletic contests . From their verb agein ' to lead , celebrate ' , the Greeks derived the noun agōn to denote a public gathering for such cele- brations . The struggle to ...
Page 11
... ancient Greeks and the ancient Romans called several aromatic - leaved plants ambrosia , but modern botanic use of the name is less appropriate . Ambrosia is the scientific name of a genus of plants , the ragweeds , which have neither ...
... ancient Greeks and the ancient Romans called several aromatic - leaved plants ambrosia , but modern botanic use of the name is less appropriate . Ambrosia is the scientific name of a genus of plants , the ragweeds , which have neither ...
Common terms and phrases
adjective akin to Gk akin to OHG alter American ancient animal appeared applied assumed attested back-formation became began bird borrowed into English called Church cognate common compound denote developed dialect Dictionary diminutive Dutch earlier earliest early eighteenth century England English borrowed English word etymology fascism fifteenth folk etymology fourteenth century French word gave rise German glish Gmc origin Goth Greek horse influenced Italian known language Late Latin later Latin verb Latin word LIEBFRAUMILCH literally meaning meant Medieval Latin Middle English Middle French Modern English neut nineteenth century noun Old English Old French Old High German Old Norse perh person phrase plural popular prob pronunciation refer Roman semantic seventeenth century Shakespeare similar sixteenth century song sound Spanish spelling synonym teenth century term tion trans translation turn verb Vulgar Latin WGmc writing
Popular passages
Page 142 - This is the excellent foppery of the world, that, when we are sick in fortune, often the surfeit of our own behaviour, we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars...
Page 37 - twould a saint provoke," (Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke ;} " No, let a charming chintz and Brussels lace Wrap my cold limbs, and shade my lifeless face : One would not, sure, be frightful when one's dead — And — Betty — give this cheek a little red.
Page 214 - And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Page 236 - Behold, we know not anything; I can but trust that good shall fall At last— far off— at last, to all, And every winter change to spring. So runs my dream; but what am I? An infant crying in the night; An infant crying for the light, And with no language but a cry.
Page 94 - There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind.
Page 6 - So I took thought, and invented what I conceived to be the appropriate title of " agnostic." It came into my head as suggestively antithetic to the " gnostic " of Church history, who professed to know so much about the very things of which I was ignorant...
Page 105 - We don't want to fight, but by jingo if we do, We've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money too.
Page 114 - THE Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.