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
... fact that the meanings of English words never seem to be at rest , because we who speak and write the language simply won't let them rest . We keep applying old words to new things and new situations , and we have done so as long as ...
... fact that the meanings of English words never seem to be at rest , because we who speak and write the language simply won't let them rest . We keep applying old words to new things and new situations , and we have done so as long as ...
Page vii
... fact , the words English and En- gland are derived from the name of one of these early Germanic peoples , the Angles . From its beginnings English has been gradually changing and evolving , as language tends to do , until the earliest ...
... fact , the words English and En- gland are derived from the name of one of these early Germanic peoples , the Angles . From its beginnings English has been gradually changing and evolving , as language tends to do , until the earliest ...
Page 3
... fact that news comes from " north , east , west , south , " which is certainly more colorful than its actual derivation from new ( possibly on the model of French nouvelles ' news ' , from nouvelle ' new ' ) . Such purported origins are ...
... fact that news comes from " north , east , west , south , " which is certainly more colorful than its actual derivation from new ( possibly on the model of French nouvelles ' news ' , from nouvelle ' new ' ) . Such purported origins are ...
Page 10
... fact or state of having been elsewhere at the time ' . These legal senses were included in Noah Webster's Dictio- nary in 1828 . By 1912 , alibi had also acquired in American English the generalized sense of ' an excuse , especially for ...
... fact or state of having been elsewhere at the time ' . These legal senses were included in Noah Webster's Dictio- nary in 1828 . By 1912 , alibi had also acquired in American English the generalized sense of ' an excuse , especially for ...
Page 11
... fact that influenced the naming of the amethyst . The Greeks believed that this violet - colored variety of quartz could protect its owner from harm and from drunkenness . The Greeks called this stone amethyst , which comes from the ...
... fact that influenced the naming of the amethyst . The Greeks believed that this violet - colored variety of quartz could protect its owner from harm and from drunkenness . The Greeks called this stone amethyst , which comes from the ...
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.