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 78
Page xi
... began as ' a craving for opium or other narcotic ' and later developed the sense ' a strong desire or propensity ' , clearly shows the forces of generalization at work but could also be considered to exemplify amelioration and a gen ...
... began as ' a craving for opium or other narcotic ' and later developed the sense ' a strong desire or propensity ' , clearly shows the forces of generalization at work but could also be considered to exemplify amelioration and a gen ...
Page 2
... began life as an acronym : thus radar ( radio detecting and ranging ' ) . Sometimes a form wavers between the two treatments : CAT scan pronounced either like cat or like C - A - T . ( 3 ) The furthest state of blending in with the non ...
... began life as an acronym : thus radar ( radio detecting and ranging ' ) . Sometimes a form wavers between the two treatments : CAT scan pronounced either like cat or like C - A - T . ( 3 ) The furthest state of blending in with the non ...
Page 10
... began to be used as a noun in legal contexts for ' the plea of having been at the time of the commission of an act elsewhere than at the place of commis- sion ' . It was then also applied to ' the fact or state of having been elsewhere ...
... began to be used as a noun in legal contexts for ' the plea of having been at the time of the commission of an act elsewhere than at the place of commis- sion ' . It was then also applied to ' the fact or state of having been elsewhere ...
Page 13
... began a mutual slaughter until only five remained . With these five men Cadmus founded his new city of Thebes . The ancient citadel of Thebes was named Cadmea in his honor . It was in this Greek city that the ancients first discovered ...
... began a mutual slaughter until only five remained . With these five men Cadmus founded his new city of Thebes . The ancient citadel of Thebes was named Cadmea in his honor . It was in this Greek city that the ancients first discovered ...
Page 14
... began life with the same meaning , which remains in its base guile , but it has added the sense ' charm , entertain ' , a meaning which now predominates exclusively in the adjective beguiling . Divert , which in its adjectival form ...
... began life with the same meaning , which remains in its base guile , but it has added the sense ' charm , entertain ' , a meaning which now predominates exclusively in the adjective beguiling . Divert , which in its adjectival form ...
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.