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
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Page ix
... became naturalized as a result of the Viking incursions over the years . The initial consonants sk- often reveal the Scandinavian ancestry of words like sky , skin , and skirt , the last of which has persisted side by side with its ...
... became naturalized as a result of the Viking incursions over the years . The initial consonants sk- often reveal the Scandinavian ancestry of words like sky , skin , and skirt , the last of which has persisted side by side with its ...
Page 5
... became an attribute . In the myths center- ing on Athena , the aegis became a goatskin mantle bearing the likeness of the Gorgon Medusa and fringed with serpents , actual or illustrated . In artistic representations Athena is shown ...
... became an attribute . In the myths center- ing on Athena , the aegis became a goatskin mantle bearing the likeness of the Gorgon Medusa and fringed with serpents , actual or illustrated . In artistic representations Athena is shown ...
Page 12
... became known as Ammon . His chief temple and oracle were at an oasis in the Liby- an desert near Memphis . It is said that near this temple a cesspool was lo- ampersand 13 cated , where the urine of camels was 12 Amish.
... became known as Ammon . His chief temple and oracle were at an oasis in the Liby- an desert near Memphis . It is said that near this temple a cesspool was lo- ampersand 13 cated , where the urine of camels was 12 Amish.
Page 18
... became inte- gral to an anthem . By the seventeenth century , the established meaning of anthem was a musical composition designed to be sung by a choir , gen- erally for liturgical performance , and having an English text taken from ...
... became inte- gral to an anthem . By the seventeenth century , the established meaning of anthem was a musical composition designed to be sung by a choir , gen- erally for liturgical performance , and having an English text taken from ...
Page 19
... became known as anthems because they were in typical circumstances sung chorally and at the conclusion of sol- emn occasions . Today an anthem is any inspirational musical composition that serves to symbolize or identify a nation , a ...
... became known as anthems because they were in typical circumstances sung chorally and at the conclusion of sol- emn occasions . Today an anthem is any inspirational musical composition that serves to symbolize or identify a nation , a ...
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.