The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word HistoriesMerriam-Webster, 1991 - 526 pages A 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 viii
... example , some verbs ( called " weak " ) formed their past tense and past participle by adding an ending with -d or -t while oth- ers ( called " strong " ) did this by changing a vowel . Nouns belonged to one of three genders ...
... example , some verbs ( called " weak " ) formed their past tense and past participle by adding an ending with -d or -t while oth- ers ( called " strong " ) did this by changing a vowel . Nouns belonged to one of three genders ...
Page ix
... examples can be given here . From Modern French we have words like bikini , cliche , and discotheque , from Dutch , easel , gin , and yacht , from German , delicatessen , pretzel , and swindler , and from Swedish , ombudsman and ...
... examples can be given here . From Modern French we have words like bikini , cliche , and discotheque , from Dutch , easel , gin , and yacht , from German , delicatessen , pretzel , and swindler , and from Swedish , ombudsman and ...
Page xi
... example , meant ' foolish ' . Its present meaning , of course , is quite different , and the attitude it conveys seems to have undergone a complete reversal from contempt to approval . Pioneer now has over- whelmingly favorable ...
... example , meant ' foolish ' . Its present meaning , of course , is quite different , and the attitude it conveys seems to have undergone a complete reversal from contempt to approval . Pioneer now has over- whelmingly favorable ...
Page 5
... example , in the poetry of Thomas Gray and Lord Byron . Zeus , especially in poetical contexts , is identified by his Homeric epithets " aegis- bearer " and " aegis - bearing . " By the eighteenth century the word aegis was being used ...
... example , in the poetry of Thomas Gray and Lord Byron . Zeus , especially in poetical contexts , is identified by his Homeric epithets " aegis- bearer " and " aegis - bearing . " By the eighteenth century the word aegis was being used ...
Page 10
... example of this appeared in the dialogue of a baseball player in Ring Lardner's 1915 story " Alibi Ike " : " He's got the world beat , " says Carey to Jack and I. " I've knew lots o ' guys that had an alibi for every mistake they made ...
... example of this appeared in the dialogue of a baseball player in Ring Lardner's 1915 story " Alibi Ike " : " He's got the world beat , " says Carey to Jack and I. " I've knew lots o ' guys that had an alibi for every mistake they made ...
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 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...