From an older english word

Другие языки

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of English words inherited and derived directly from the Old English stage of the language. This list also includes neologisms formed from Old English roots and/or particles in later forms of English, and words borrowed into other languages (e.g. French, Anglo-French, etc.) then borrowed back into English (e.g. bateau, chiffon, gourmet, nordic, etc.). Foreign words borrowed into Old English from Old Norse, Latin, and Greek are excluded, as are words borrowed into English from Ancient British languages.

A[edit]

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I[edit]

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L[edit]

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P[edit]

• paddock
• pathfinder
• peak
• pick
• pig
• pinfold
• pillow
• pitfall
• plight
• puff

Q[edit]

R[edit]

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V[edit]

• vane
• vat
• vixen

W[edit]

X[edit]

Xhenl
xhone
xex

Y[edit]

Z[edit]

• zax

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• Online Etymology Dictionary. [1]
• Dictionary.com. [2]

See also[edit]

• Lists of English loanwords by country or language of origin
• List of Germanic and Latinate equivalents in English
• Linguistic purism in English

На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать грубую лексику.

На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать разговорную лексику.

от старого английского

от древнеанглийского

It comes from an old English word, fēowertȳne niht, meaning fourteen night.

Она происходит от старого английского слова, fēowertȳne niht, что означает четырнадцать дней.

The name comes from an old English word, «balde,» meaning white.

Но на самом деле название происходит от старого английского слова «Балде», что означает белый.

Also known as cobb or clom, the name comes from an Old English term that refers to the way clumps of mud are layered on top of each other to form the thick walls.

Также известное как соЬЬ или clom, название происходит от древнеанглийского термина, который относится к тому, как комки грязи накладываются друг на друга, образуя толстые стены.

Twilight (from an Old English term probably meaning «half-light») is the dim light of the early morning and late evening, as well as those times of the day, though the term almost invariably refers to the latter period.

Twilight (от древнеанглийского термина, который, вероятно, обозначал «полусвет»), относится к тусклому свету раннего утра либо позднего вечера, хотя практически всегда он означает именно вечерние сумерки.

The idea of wearing «something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue» on your wedding day comes from an Old English rhyme.

Традиция носить в день свадьбы «что-то старое, новое, взятое взаймы и синее» происходит от старинного английского стишка.

The name Bury (also earlier known as Buri and Byri) comes from an Old English word, meaning castle, stronghold or fort, an early form of modern English borough.

Название Бери (англ. Bury, ранее также Buri и Byri) происходит из старого английского слова, означающего замок, цитадель или форт, то есть раннюю форму современного английского borough, нынче часто встречающегося в окончаниях названий английских городков.

An acre-which gets its name from an Old English word meaning «open field»-was originally the amount of land that a single farmer with a single ox could plow in one day.

Акр, получивший своё название от староанглийского слова, означающего «открытое поле», изначально относился к количеству земли, которое мог вспахать фермер при помощи одного вола за день.

The modern English word Earth developed from a wide variety of Middle English forms, which derived from an Old English noun most often spelled eore.

Современное английское слово Земля развилось от большого разнообразия форм среднеанглийского языка, которые произошли из древнеанглийского существительного, чаще всего записанного.

In 2015, the team tested out a 1,000-year old recipe from an Old English medical text called «Bald’s Leechbook.»

В 2015 году наша команда опубликовала экспериментальное исследование по рецепту тысячелетней давности под названием «Лысый» Лысый, «Старинный английский медицинский текст».

He writes that his father is from an old English family.

With only one difference: all Forrely proudly told the old residents that their father is from an old English family, known to historians since the XIV century.

С одним лишь отличием: все Форрелы с гордостью рассказывали старожилам о том, что их отец происходит из старинного английского рода, известного историкам с XIV века.

The word «worry» comes from an old English term «wyrgan» which means to «choke» or «strangle.»

Слово «беспокойство» (шоггу — англ.) происходит из устаревшего английского термина («wyrgan»), который означает «сковывать» или «удушать».

The phrase «sell in May and go away» is thought to originate from an old English saying, «sell in May and go away, and come on back on St. Leger’s Day.»

Считается, что фраза «продать в мае и уйти» происходит от старой поговорки английской аристократии: «Sell in May and Go Away, and Come on Back on St. Leger’s Day» («продать в мае и уйти и вернуться в день Сент-Леджера».

The name of the village comes from an Old English personal name, Aethel, meaning ‘a noble friend’.

Имя Алвин происходит от староанглийского имени Aetheiwine, значение — «благородный друг».

The term Welsh is derived from an Old English word meaning ‘foreigner’, referring to the old inhabitants of southern Britain.

Этот термин является староанглийским словом, означающим «иностранец», ссылаясь на «древних» жителей южной Англии.

It is the only planet whose name («Earth») does not come from Greek or Roman mythology, but rather from an Old English and Germanic name.

Земля — единственная планета, чье название происходит не из греческой или римской мифологии, а из старо-английского и немецкого языков.

The name Bury (also earlier known as Buri and Byri) comes from an Old English word, meaning castle, stronghold or fort, an early form of modern English borough.

Название Бери (англ. Bury, ранее также Buri и Byri) происходит из старого английского слова, означающего замок, цитадель или форт, то есть раннюю форму современного английского borough, нынче часто встречающегося в окончаниях названий английских городков.

Ничего не найдено для этого значения.

Результатов: 17. Точных совпадений: 17. Затраченное время: 81 мс

Documents

Корпоративные решения

Спряжение

Синонимы

Корректор

Справка и о нас

Индекс слова: 1-300, 301-600, 601-900

Индекс выражения: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200

Индекс фразы: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200

Many words that existed in Old English did not survive into Modern English. There are also many words in Modern English that bear little or no resemblance in meaning to their Old English etymons. Some linguists estimate that as much as 80 percent of the lexicon of Old English was lost by the end of the Middle English period, including many compound words, e.g. bōchūs (‘bookhouse’, ‘library’), yet the components ‘book’ and ‘house’ were kept.^{[citation needed]} Certain categories of words seem to have been more susceptible. Nearly all words relating to sexual intercourse and sexual organs as well as «impolite» words for bodily functions were ignored in favor of words borrowed from Latin or Ancient Greek. The Old English synonyms are now mostly either extinct or considered crude or vulgar, such as arse/ass.

Some words were forgotten while other near-synonyms in Old English replaced them (‘limb’ remains in common use, but lið remains only dialectally as lith). Many of these changes came with the introduction of Old Norse and Norman French words, while others fell away due to natural evolution.

AnimalsEdit

Modern English has no Germanic words for ‘animal’ in the general sense of ‘non-human being’. Old English dēor, gesceaft, gesceap, nēat and iht were all eclipsed by ‘animal’, ‘beast’, ‘creature’ and ‘critter’.

• ācweorna: squirrel. Displaced by Anglo-Norman esquirel and Old French escurel, from Vulgar Latin scuriolus, diminutive of scurius, variant of Latin sciurus, from Ancient Greek σκίουρος (skíouros). Compare German Eichhorn, Dutch eekhoorn, Icelandic ikorni, Swedish ekorre, Danish egern, Norwegian ekorn.
• āðexe: ‘lizard’. Lizard was borrowed into Middle English from Old French lesarde, from Latin lacertus.^[1] The earliest occurrence of the word (spelled lusarde) is in the poem Piers Plowman (written about 1360–1399). Old English āðexe does survive dialectally as ask (‘newt’, ‘eft’, ‘lizard’): cf. German Eidechse, Dutch hagedis.
• ælepūte: ‘burbot’. The Old French word borbote had replaced ælepūte by the Middle English period.^[2] ‘Burbot’ first occurred in English around 1475. Its modern descendant, ‘eelpout’, is occasionally used for the burbot, although it has come to define a different animal.
• cāwelwyrm: ‘caterpillar’ (see lēafwyrm).
• culfre: ‘dove’, ‘pigeon’ has survived dialectally as ‘culver’, which the AHD believes comes from Vulgar Latin colombula.^[1] The OED acknowledges this possibility, but asserts that it is more likely native. ‘Culver’ is first attested in English around 825 and ‘dove’ around 1200. The Middle English dove is thought to come from Old English, but the assumed form (*dūfe) is not attested, cf. dūfedoppa below. It is most likely to have been common Germanic.^[3]
• dēor: ‘animal’, ‘beast’. Dēor is the etymon of English ‘deer’, although dēor as ‘deer’ is attested as early as around 893 by Alfred the Great. At some point in the Middle English period the more specific meaning of ‘deer’ became common, with the original meaning becoming lost by the end of the period. Compare German Tier, Dutch dier, Swedish djur, Danish and Norwegian dyr, Icelandic dýr.
• dūfedoppa: ‘pelican’. The word pelican was borrowed into Middle English, ultimately from Ancient Greek.^[1]
• ened: ‘duck’, ‘drake’. ‘Drake’ first appeared around 1300 and ened was lost thereafter. The AHD says the origin is unknown.^[1] Old High German antrahho seems to be a combination of ant (cognate of Old English ened) and trahho (cognate of drake), but the OED holds that the conjectured cognate in Old English (unattested *andrake) «has no basis of fact». The word ened likely has a PIE origin, compare Latin anas, Lithuanian antis and Old Greek nēssa (‘duck’). ‘Duck’ comes from a theoretical Old English word *duce, presumably from the verb ducan (‘duck’, ‘dive’). Compare with the German Ente, Dutch eend, Common Scandinavian and.
• fifalde: ‘butterfly’. Old English had the word butorflēoge (of dubious origin, although the ultimately Greek word «butter» is the first element)^[1] as early as 1000 which overtook the Germanic fifalde. Compare with Old High German fîfaltarâ, German Falter, Old Saxon vivoldara, Southern Dutch vijfwouter, Old Norse fifrildi, Icelandic fiðrildi, Swedish fjäril.
• firgenbucca: ‘ibex’. ‘Ibex’ is borrowed from Latin ibex^[1] originally written ibecks in Edward Topsell’s «The historie of foure-footed beastes» (1607). It is a compound of firgen (‘wooded height’, ‘mountain’) (compare with Gothic fairguni (‘mountain’), Old High German Fergunna (‘Ore Mountains’)) and bucca (‘buck’) (compare with modern German Steinbock, Dutch (alpen) steenbok (‘ibex’), English stonebuck).
• gesceaft, gesceap: ‘creature’. Gesceap, the etymon of English ‘shape’, is documented as far back as around 1050. It had many meanings in Old English: ‘creature’, ‘creation’, ‘structure’, ‘form’, ‘figure’, ‘configuration’, ‘pudendum’, ‘decree’ and ‘destiny’. ‘Creature’, ultimately from Latin, was borrowed around 1300 before the borrowing of the word ‘create’.^[1] Gesceaft (‘creation’, ‘origin’, ‘constitution’, ‘nature’, ‘species’) has the same etymological root as gesceap. It is documented as early as 888 and occurs with this meaning in various forms as late as around 1579, as schaft. Compare to Dutch past participle geschapen for the verb scheppen (‘to shape’) German schaffen (‘to shape’), Geschöpf (‘creature’).
• hacod: ‘mullet’. The OED lists hacod/haked as a dialectal name for a large pike and has a citation as late as 1847, but it is not listed in any modern dictionary. ‘Mullet’ was borrowed into Middle English, ultimately from Ancient Greek.^[1] It is probably akin to haca (‘hook’). Compare with modern English hake, Dutch heek (‘hake’), German Hechte (‘esox’).
• hæferblǣte: ‘bittern’. ‘Bittern’ entered Middle English around 1000 as botor which was borrowed from Old French butor.
• higera: ‘jay’. The Old French word jai was borrowed into Middle English around 1310. The AHD states that it may come from the Latin forename Gaius, but it gives no reason for the semantic change.^[1] The OED does not address the Gaius theory, only stating that it cannot be identified with Old French gai (‘gay’).^[1] It instead acknowledges, that it is from Old High German gâhi (‘swift’, ‘quick’, ‘lively’) without mentioning the likelihood. Compare with German Häher.
• hwilpe: ‘curlew’. The Middle English form curleu was borrowed from Old French courlieu, which may be onomatopoeic.^[1] The OED also believes that it is probably onomatopoeic, but notes that it was assimilated with courlieu, curleu (‘courier’), which is ultimately from Latin currere (‘to run’).
• iht: ‘creature’. (See gesceap.)
• lēafwyrm: ‘caterpillar’, literally ‘leaf-worm’, ‘leaf insect’. Webster’s Dictionary (1897) lists ‘leaf-worm’ as «a caterpillar that devours leaves», but no modern dictionaries list it. The cawel in cawelwyrm was a loan from Latin caulis (‘cabbage’) and it was last attested around 1000, as cawelwurm. Mælsceafa (‘caterpillar’) is attested as far back as Old English (around 1000 in the writings of Ælfric) and as late as 1398, as malshaue. Mæl (meaning roughly ‘meal’ as in ‘mealworm’) is attested only in the compound mælsceafa, but it has many well-documented cognates in other Germanic languages, such as Old Icelandic and Swedish. The second component shares its root with ‘shave’. The ultimately Latin-derived caterpillar was first borrowed into English around 1440 as catyrpel.^[1]
• mǣlsceafa: ‘caterpillar’. (See lēafwyrm). Compare with Dutch meelworm (meel = flour, which it likes to eat and can be found in).
• mereswīn: ‘dolphin’, ‘porpoise’, literally ‘sea-swine’. It is attested in Bald’s Leechbook from the 10th century. The OED does not list ‘mereswine’ as archaic or obsolete, but the last citation given is by Frank Charles Bowen in his Sea Slang: a Dictionary of the Old-timers’ Expressions and Epithets (1929). The OED lists sea-swine (‘porpoise’) (the last citation being for 1884) as «obsolete except dialectic». Dolphin entered English in the 12th century: it is ultimately from Ancient Greek.^[1] Compare with Dutch meerzwijn (‘harbour porpoise’, lit. sea-swine) and German Schweinswal (‘porpoise’, literally ‘pig’s whale’).
• mūshāfoc: ‘buzzard’, literally ‘mouse-hawk’. It is not clear which bird of prey was being referred to. The meanings that the OED lists for ‘mouse-hawk’ are short-eared owl, hen harrier and rough-legged buzzard, but ‘mouse-hawk’ is an alternate name, not the main name. The Middle English word busard was borrowed around 1300, ultimately from Latin būtēo.^[1]
• ryðða: ‘mastiff’. The word mastiff was borrowed around 1387, ultimately from Latin.^[1]
• scræb: ‘cormorant’. Cormorant was borrowed around 1320 as cormerant, ultimately from the Latin words for raven and sea.^[1] Probably akin to (or a variant of) scræf (‘cormorant’). Compare with German Scharbe, Common Scandinavian skarv.
• sisemūs: ‘dormouse’. Dormouse (first attested in English around 1425) is not a combination of door and mouse. Some lexicographers, including the editorial staff of the AHD, believe that it came from Anglo-Norman dormeus (‘inclined to sleep’, ‘hiberating’), which is ultimately from Latin dormire (‘to sleep’).^[1] The OED, citing the Dutch words slaep-ratte (‘sleep rat’) and slaep-muys (‘sleep mouse’), acknowledges the possibility of this derivation, but also suggests that the first element is akin to Old Norse dár (‘benumbed’).
• wōrhana, wildhænn: ‘pheasant’. Pheasant was borrowed into English in 1299 as fesaund, ultimately from Ancient Greek.^[1]
• wyrm: ‘serpent’, ‘snake’, ‘dragon’, ‘insect’. The OED lists all entries of wyrm/worm with this meaning as archaic. The latest citation with this meaning is from William Morris’s book The Life and Death of Jason (1867). The modern sense of worm as goes back as far as 1000. Compare with Swedish orm, Nynorsk orm (‘snake’, ‘serpent’).

Body partsEdit

• earsgang: ‘anus’ (literally arse-exit). Anus did not enter English until 1658 and was adopted directly from Latin, with no intermediary. The OED says that arse (the ears of earsgang is its etymon) is «obsolete in polite use». The AHD tags ass as «vulgar slang».^[1] As late as 1704, Jonathan Swift wrote «after your Arse» in his book The Battle of the Books, which simply meant ‘behind you’. (See setl, ūtgang.).
• feorhbold, feorhhold, feorhhus: ‘body’. (See also: līc, līcfæt, līchoma.)
• hrēsel: ‘radius (bone). The word radius is Latin and its specific anatomical meaning was first used in English in 1615.
• līc: ‘body’,’trunk’. Līc (which was at various times spelled like, lich, lych, lyche and lyke) is attested as far back as around 900 and the last citation given with this more general meaning is from around 1400. However, the last citation with the meaning of ‘corpse’ is from 1895. The word is used in compounds such as lych-gate,^[1] lych-owl (so called because its screeching was thought to forebode death) and lyke-wake (the watch kept over a dead body at night). The word is etymologically akin to like, so its original meaning is thought to be ‘form’, ‘shape’.^[1] (See also: feorhbold, feorhhold, feorhhus, līcfæt, līchoma.) Compare with the following words in other languages for ‘corpse’: German Leiche, Dutch lijk, Swedish lik, Norwegian lik and Danish lig.
• līcfæt, līchoma: ‘body’. (See also: feorhbold, feorhhold, feorhhus, līc.) Compare with German Leichnam (‘corpse’), Dutch lichaam, Swedish lekamen, Nynorsk lekam and Danish legeme.
• lið: ‘joint’, ‘limb’. Lið (later spelled lith) is attested as early as around 900 and the latest citation in the OED is 1872. The OED considers all modern occurrences to be archaic or dialectal. However, the phrase «life and limb» may be an altered form of an earlier «lith and limb»; cf. «kith and kin». Compare with German Glied, Dutch lid, Swedish led, Danish led and Norwegian ledd.
• midhriðre: ‘diaphragm’.
• nebb: ‘face’. The OED gives the modern definitions of the Scottish, Irish English, Northern English for neb, such as ‘bird’s beak’ and ‘an animal’s nose’, but the last citation given with the meaning ‘a person’s face’ is from 1525. (See also: ondwlita, onsīen.) Compare English ness (‘promontory’), Dutch neb (‘beak’).
• ōcusta, ōxn: ‘armpit’. Armpit first appeared in English as arme-pytt around 1400. The former is now used dialectally as oxter (‘armpit’, ‘arm’), and it is probably akin to axle. Compare with German Achsel, Dutch oksel, Swedish axel (shoulder), Norwegian aksel (shoulder).
• ondwlita: ‘face’. (See also: nebb, onsīen.) Compare with German Antlitz, Swedish anlete.
• onsīen: ‘face’ (See also: nebb, ondwlita.) Compare with German (An)gesicht, Dutch aangezicht.
• ōxn: ‘armpit’. (See also: ōcusta.)
• setl: ‘anus’. (See also: earsgang, ūtgang.)
• teors: ‘penis’. (See also: wæpen.) Penis, which did not enter English until 1578, was borrowed directly from Latin.
• ūtgang: ‘anus’. Literally ‘exit’, ‘out-path’, (See also: earsgang, setl.) Compare German Ausgang, Dutch uitgang (‘exit’).
• wæpen: ‘penis’. (See also: teors.)
• wiðobān: ‘collarbone’.

ColoursEdit

• æppelfealu: ‘orange’. Literally ‘apple-pale’. (See also: geolurēad.)
• basurēadan: ‘purple’. Literally ‘purple-red’. (See also: weolucbasu.)
• geolurēad: ‘orange’. Literally ‘yellow-red’. (See also: æppelfealu.)
• weolucbasu: ‘purple’. Literally ‘whelk-purple’. (See also: basurēadan.)

Other wordsEdit

• andwurde, andwyrde: ‘to answer’. A combination of the prefix and- (‘against’, akin to Greek anti-) and wurde (‘word’). By the end of the 12th century, andwurde had been replaced by andswerian (‘answer’), (containing swear, probably Common Germanic, attested at least before 900). Compare with German Antwort, Dutch antwoord.
• æðele: ‘noble’; also æðelu: ‘noble descent’; æðeling: ‘hero’ and ēðel: ‘native land’, ‘home’. Once common words with many compounds, they are only in Modern English as the loanword edelweiss^[1] and some proper nouns such as Ethel (the same Germanic root gives the Ad- in Adelaide, Adolph and Albert). The Latin-derived words noble and gentle (in its original English meaning of ‘noble’) were both borrowed into English around 1230. Compare with German edel, Dutch edel, English athel.
• ge-: a prefix used extensively in Old English, originally meaning ‘with’, but later gaining other usages, such as being used grammatically for the perfect tense. In Middle English it became y or i, and it was still common in southern dialects in the 14th century (e.g. Canterbury Tales and Ayenbite of Inwit). In Modern English it survives in handiwork (OE handgeweorc), and in the archaic gemot (‘meeting’, compare with Witenagemot) and yclept (OE geclypod). It is also found in the rare German loanwords gemütlich and gemütlichkeit. Compare with German ge-, Dutch ge-.
• gerīm: ‘number’. (See worn.)
• getæl: ‘number’. A combination of the prefix ge- and tæl. Besides the phrase «to tell time»,^[4] it mainly survived in English with meanings related to speech (‘tell’, ‘tale’). Meanings related to numbers can be found in Germanic cognates. Compare with English teller, German Zahl, Dutch getal, Swedish and Danish tal and Norwegian tall. (See worn.)
• hæmed: ‘sex’.
• liger: ‘sex’.
• mid: ‘with’. Mid was used in Old English in nearly all instances where ‘with’ is used in Modern English. It is attested in early Old English manuscripts. The latest use cited in the OED is 1547, but this late example may be an intentional archaism. By the end of the 14th century, mid had been overtaken by with. If the first part of midwife is a reflex of this preposition (neither OED nor AHD affirm this derivation),^[1] it is the only trace of the with meaning in Modern English. The word probably originally derived from an Indo-European root meaning ‘middle’ and is akin to the English prefix mid- and Latin medium. It is likely to be akin to Greek μετα (‘meta’, ‘in the midst of’, ‘among’, ‘with’, ‘after’). Compare with German mit, Dutch met, Common Scandinavian med and Icelandic með.
• worn: ‘number’. Number is akin to Latin numerus which was borrowed as noumbre around 1300, seemingly from French, but its use was doubtlessly reinforced by its presence in other Germanic languages.
• ymb(e): ‘around’, ‘on both sides’. Ymbe was both a preposition and a prefix. The only Modern English word that derives directly from it is the seldom-used Ember days, which is a Christian event.^[1] The Germanic loanwords ombudsman and umlaut come from the same Germanic root.^[1] It is also related more distantly to Latin words starting with ambi- and Greek words starting with amphi-.^[1] Compare with German um, Dutch om, Common Scandinavian om and Icelandic um.
• wīġ: ‘war’, ‘combat’, ‘martial power’. There were many words of this root in Old English: wīgan, ġewegan (‘to fight’), wīġend (‘warrior’). This group was used extensively in Old English poetry, due to the alliterative need for a word beginning with ‘w’. It comes from the same root as Latin vincere (‘to conquer’). Other than the Old Norse-derived wight, this root is missing in Modern English.^[1] Compare with Swedish envig (‘holmgang’) and Dutch wijgand (‘warrior’).

See alsoEdit

• Linguistic purism in English
• List of Germanic and Latinate equivalents in English
• List of English words with dual French and Anglo-Saxon variations
• Inkhorn debate

ReferencesEdit

SourcesEdit

• The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Fourth ed.). 2000. ISBN 0-395-82517-2.

Further readingEdit

• Barney, Stephen A. (1985). Word-Hoard: An Introduction to Old English Vocabulary. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-03506-3.
• Pollington, Stephen (2010). Wordcraft: New English to Old English Dictionary and Thesaurus. Anglo-Saxon Books. ISBN 978-1-898281-02-3.
• «Oxford English Dictionary Online (paid membership)».
• Bosworth, Joseph, Toller, T. N. «An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary». Archived from the original on 2010-11-09. Retrieved 2010-08-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Internet Archive (1848 edition).

Etymological Survey of the Modern English Language.
According to the origin, the word-stock may be subdivided into two main groups: one comprises the native elements; the other consists of the borrowed words.

Native Words
The term native denotes words which belong to the original English stock known from the earliest manuscripts of the Old English period. They are mostly words of Anglo-Saxon origin brought to the British Isles in the 5th century by Germanic tribes.
Linguists estimate the Anglo-Saxon stock of words as 25-30 per cent of the English vocabulary. The native word-stock includes the words of Indio-European origin and the words of Common Germanic origin. They belong to very important semantic groups.
The words of Indio-European origin (that is those having cognates in other I-E. languages) form the oldest layer. They fall into definite semantic groups:
terms of kinship: father, mother, son, daughter, brother;
words denoting the most important objects and phenomena of
nature: sun, moon, star, water, wood, hill, stone, tree;
names of animals and birds: bull, cat, crow, goose, wolf;
parts of human body: arm, eye, foot, heart;
the verbs: bear, come, sit, stand, etc;
the adjectives: hard, quick, slow, red, white.
Most numerals belong here.
The words of the Common Germanic stock, i.e. words having cognates in German, Norwegian, Dutch and other Germanic languages are more numerous. This part of the native vocabulary contains a great number of semantic groups. Examples:
the nouns are: summer, winter, storm, ice, rain, group, bridge,
house, shop, room, iron, lead, cloth, hat, shirt, shoe, care,
evil, hope, life, need, rest;
the verbs are: bake, burn, buy, drive hear, keep, learn, make, meet,
rise, see, send, shoot, etc;
the adjectives are: broad, dead, deaf, deep.
Many adverbs and pronouns belong to this layer, though small in number (25-30 per cent of the vocabulary).
The Common Germanic words and the verbs of the Common Indo-European stock form the bulk of the most frequent elements used in any style of speech. They constitute not less than 80 per cent of the most frequent words listed in E.L. Thorndike and I. Lorge`s dictionary “The Teacher`s Wordbook of 30,000 Words, N.Y.1959, p.268).
Investigation shows that the Anglo-Saxon words in Modern English must be considered very important due to the following characteristics. All of them belong to very important semantic groups. They include most of the auxiliary and modal verbs (shall, will, should, would, must, can, may, etc.), pronouns (I. he, you, his, who, whose, etc.), prepositions (in. out, on, under), numerals (one, two) and conjunctions (and, but). Notional words of native (Anglo-Saxon) origin include such groups as words denoting parts of the body, family, relations, natural phenomena and planets, animals, qualities and properties, common actions, etc.
Most of native words are polysemantic (man, head, go, etc.)
Most of them are stylistically neutral.
They possess wide lexical and grammatical valency, many of them enter a number of phraseological units.
Due to the great stability and semantic peculiarities the native words possess great word-building power.

Borrowings (Loan Words)
A borrowed (loan) word is a word adopted from another language and modified in sound form, spelling, paradigm or meaning according to the standards of English.
According to Otto Jespersen loan-words are “the milestones of philology, because in a great many instances they permit us to fix approximately the dates of linguistic changes”. But they may be termed “the milestones of general history” because they show the course of civilization and give valuable information as to the inner life of nations.
Through its history the English language came in contact with many languages and borrowed freely from them. The greatest influx of borrowings mainly came from Latin, French and Old Norse (Scandinavian). Latin was for a long time used in England as the language of learning and religion. Old Norse and French (its Norman dialect) were the languages of the conquerors: the Scandinavians invaded the British Isles and merged with the local population in the 9th, 10th and the first half of the 11th century. After the Norman Conquest in 1066 Norman French was the language of the upper classes, of official documents and school instruction from the middle of the 11th century to the end of the 14th century.
Etymologically the English vocabulary is said to have a particularly mixed character. Therefore some linguists (L.P.Smith, I.H.Bradley) consider foreign influence to be the most important factor in the history of English. Other linguists (Ch.Hockett, J.A.Sheard) and our linguists, on the contrary, point out the stability of the grammar and phonetic system of the English Language and consider it necessary to examine the volume and role and the comparative importance of native and borrowed elements in the development of the English vocabulary.
The greatest number of borrowings has come from French. Borrowed words refer to various fields of social-political, scientific and cultural life. About 41 per cent of them are scientific and technical terms.
L.P.Smith calls English «half-sister» to the Romance languages.
The number and character of borrowings depend on many factors: on the historical conditions, on the nature and length of the contacts and also on the genetic and structural proximity of languages concerned. The closer the language the deeper and more versatile is the influence. Thus, from the Scandinavian languages, which were closely related to Old Eng¬lish, some classes of words were borrowed that could not have been adopted from non-related or distantly related languages: the personal pro¬nouns: they, their, them; also same, till, though, fro (adv).
Sometimes words were borrowed to fill in gaps in the vocabulary. Thus, the English borrowed Latin, Greek, Spanish words paper, tomato, potato when these vegetables were first brought to England and because the English vocabulary lacked words for denoting these new objects.
Borrowings enter the language in two ways: through oral speech and through written speech. Oral borrowings took place chiefly in the early periods of history, in recent times, written borrowings did. Words borrowed orally (L. Street, mill, inch) are usually short and undergo more changes in the act of adoption. Written borrowings (e.g. French communi¬que, belles-letres, naivete) preserve their spelling, they are often rather long and their assimilation is a long process.
The terms «source of borrowing» and «origin of borrowing» should be distinguished. The first denotes the language from which the loan was taken into English. The second denotes the language to which the word may be traced:
E.g. paper

Words like paper, pepper, etc. are often called by specialists in the history of the language «much-travelled words» which came into English passing through several other languages and not by means of direct bor¬rowing.
Though the borrowed words always undergo changes in the proc-ess of borrowing, some of them preserve their former characteristics for a long period. This enables us to recognize them as the borrowed element. Examples are:
the initial position of the sounds [v], [d], [z] is a sign that the word is not native: vacuum (Lat), valley (FR.), volcano (Ital.), vanilla(Sp.), etc;
may be rendered by «g» and «j» gem (Lat), gemma, jewel (O. Fr.), jungle (Hindi), gesture (Lat), giant (O.Fr.), genre, gendarme (Fr.);
the initial position of the letters «x», «j» «z» is a sign that the word is a borrowed one: zeal (Lat), zero (Fr.), zinc (Gr.), xylophone (Gr.);
the combinations ph, kh, eau in the root: philology (Gr.), khaki (Indian), beau (Fr.); «ch» is pronounced [k] in words of Greek origin: echo, school, [S] in late French borrowings: machine, parachute; and [tS] in native words and early borrowings.
The morphological structure of the word may also betray the for-eign origin of the latter: e.g. the suffix in violencello (Ital.) polysyllabic words is numerous among borrowings: government, condition, etc.
Another feature is the presence of prefixes: ab-, ad-, con-, de-, dis-, ex-, in-, per-, pre-, pro-, re-, trans- /such words often contain bound stems.
The irregular plural forms: beaux/from beau (Fr), data/from datum (Lat).
The lexical meaning of the word: pagoda (Chinese).

Assimilation of Borrowings
Assimilation of borrowings is a partial or total conformation to the phonetical, graphical or morphological standards of the receiving lan¬guage and its semantic structure.
Since the process of assimilation of borrowings includes changes in sound-form, morphological structure, grammar characteristics, meaning and usage, three types of assimilation are distinguished: phonetic, gram¬matical and lexical assimilation of borrowed words.
Phonetic assimilation comprises changes in sound form and stress. Sounds that were alien to the English language were fitted into its scheme of sounds. For instance, the long [e] in recent French bor¬rowings are rendered with the help of [ei:] cafe, communiquй, ballet; the consonant combinations pn, ps in the words pneumonia, psychology of Greek origin were simplified into [n] and [s] since pn and ps never occur in the initial position in native English words. In many words (especially borrowed from French and Latin) the accent was gradually transferred to the first syllable: honour, reason began to be stressed like father, brother.
Grammatical assimilation. As a rule, borrowed words lost their former grammatical categories and influence and acquired new grammati¬cal categories and paradigms by analogy with other English words, as for example: the Russian borrowing ‘sputnik’ acquired the paradigm sputnik, sputnik’s, sputniks, sputniks` having lost the inflections it has in the Russian language.
Lexical assimilation. When a word is taken into another language its semantic structure as a rule undergoes great changes. Polysemantic words are usually adopted only in one or two of their meanings. For ex¬ample the word ‘cargo’ which is highly polysemantic in Spanish, was bor¬rowed only in one meaning — «the goods carried in a ship». In the recipient language a borrowing sometimes acquires new meanings. E.g. the word ‘move’ in Modern English has developed the meaning of ‘propose’, ‘change one’s flat’, ‘mix with people’ and others that the corresponding French word does not possess.
There are other changes in the semantic structure of borrowed words: some meanings become more general, others more specialized, etc. For instance, the word ‘umbrella’ was borrowed in the meaning of ‘sunshade’ or ‘ parasole'(from Latin ‘ ombrella- ombra-shade’).
Among the borrowings in the English word-stock there are words that are easily recognized as foreign (such as decollete, Zeitgeist, graff to and there are others that have become so thoroughly assimilated that it is ex¬tremely difficult to distinguish them from native English words.(There words like street, city, master, river).
Unassimilated words differ from assimilated words in their pronun¬ciation, spelling, semantic structure, frequency and sphere of application. However there is no distinct borderline between the two groups. Neither are there more or less comprehensive criteria for determining the degree of assimilation. Still it is evident that the degree of assimilation depends on the length of the time the word has been used in the receiving language, on its importance and its frequency and the way of borrowing (words borrowed orally are assimilated more completely and rapidly than those adopted through writing). According to the degree of assimilation three groups of borrowings can be suggested: completely assimilated bor¬rowings, partially assimilated borrowings and unassimilated borrow¬ings or barbarisms.
The third group is not universally recognized, the argument being that barbarisms occur in speech only and not enter the language.
I. Completely assimilated words are found in all the layers of older borrowings: the first layer of Latin borrowings (cheese, street, wall, and wing); Scandinavian borrowings (fellow, gate, to call, to die, to take, to
want, happy, ill, low, wrong); early French borrowings (table, chair, finish, matter, dress, large, easy, common, to allow, to carry, to cry, to consider).
The number of completely assimilated words is many times greater than the number of partly assimilated ones. They follow all morphologi¬cal, phonetical and orthographic standards.
II. The partly (partially) assimilated words can be subdivided
into groups:
a). Borrowed words not assimilated phonetically: e.g. machine, cartoon, police (borrowed from French) keep the accent on the final syl¬lable; bourgeois, mйlange contain sounds or combinations of sounds that are not standard for the English language and do not occur in native words ([ wa:],the nasalazed [a]);
b). Borrowed words not completely assimilated graphically. This group is fairly large and variegated. These are, for instance, words bor¬rowed from French in which the final consonants are not pronounced: e.g. ballet, buffet, corps. French digraphs (ch, qu, ou, ete) may be re¬tained in spelling: bouquet, brioche.
c). Borrowed words not assimilated grammatically, for example, nouns borrowed from Latin and Greek which keep their original forms: crisis-crises, formula-formulae, phenomenon-phenomena.
d). Borrowed words not assimilated semantically because they de-note objects and notions peculiar to the country from which they come: sombrero, shah, sheik, rickchaw, sherbet, etc.
III. The so-called barbarisms are words from other languages used
by English people in conversation or in writing but not assimilated in any
way, and for which there are corresponding English equivalents, e.g.: Italian
‘ciao’ (‘good-bye’), the French ‘affiche’ for ‘placard’, ‘carte blanche’
(‘freedom of action’), ‘faux pas’ (‘false step’).

Translation Loans and Semantic Loans
Alongside loan words proper there are translation loans (or calques) and semantic loans.
Translation loans are words and expressions formed from the material already existing in the English language, but according to pat¬terns, taken from other languages, by way of literal morpheme-for-morpheme translation. One of the earliest calques in the vocabulary of the English language is ‘Gospel’ (OE god-spell-‘евангелие’ literally ‘благая весть’) which is an exact reproduction of the etymological structure of the Greek euggelion, ‘ благая весть’, borrowed into English through Latin. Other examples are: ‘mother tongue* from Latin ‘lingua materna’ (родной язык), ‘it goes without saying’ from French ‘cela va sans dire’ (само собой разумеется).
The number of translation loans from German is rather large:
‘chain-smoker’ from ‘Kettenrauchen’ (заядлый курильщик);
‘world famous’ from ‘weltberuhmt’ (всемирно известный);
‘God’s acre’ from ‘Gottesacker’ (кладбище literally божье по¬ле);
‘masterpiece’ from ‘Meisterstuk'(шедевр);
‘Swan song’ from ‘Schwanengesang’ (лебединая песня);
‘superman’ from ‘Ubermensoh’ (сверхчеловек);
‘wonder child’ from ‘Wunderkind’.
There are a few calques from the languages of American Indians: ‘pale-face’ (бледнолицый); ‘pipe of peace’ (трубка мира); ‘War¬path’ (тропа войны); ‘war-paint’ (раскраска тела перед походом).
They are mostly used figuratively.
Calques from Russian are rather numerous. They are names of things and notions reflecting Soviet reality:
‘local Soviet’ (местный совет);
‘self-criticism’ (самокритика);
‘Labour-day’ (трудодень);
‘individual peasant’ (единоличник);
‘voluntary Sunday time’ (воскресник).
The last two are considered by N.N. Amosova to be oases of explana-tory translation.
Semantic borrowing is the development of a new meaning by a word due to the influence of a related word in another language, e.g. the English word ‘pioneer` meant `первооткрыватель` /now, under the influence of the Russian word ‘пионер’ it has come to mean ‘член детской коммунистической организации’.
Semantic loans are particularly frequent in related languages. For example, the Old English ‘dwellan’ (блуждать, медлить) developed into ‘dwell` in Modern English and acquired the meaning ‘жить’ under the influence of the Old Norse ‘dwelja’ (‘жить’). The words ‘bread’ (‘кусок хлеба’ in OE), ‘dream’ (‘радость’ in OE), ‘plough’ (‘мера земли’ in OE) received their present meanings from Old Norse.

Etymological Doublets.
Etymological doublets are two or more words of the same lan¬guage which were derived by different routes from the same basic word, but differing in meaning and phonemic shape. For example, the word ‘fact’ (‘факт, действительность’) and ‘feat’ (‘подвиг’) are derived from the same Latin word ‘facere’ (‘делать’) but ‘fact’ was borrowed directly from Latin and ‘feat’ was borrowed through French.
In modern English there are doublets of Latin, Germanic and na¬tive origin. Many Latin doublets are due to the different routes by which they entered the English vocabulary: some of the words are di¬rect borrowings; others came into English through Parisian French or Norman French.
For example, the words ‘major’, ‘pauper’, senior’ are direct bor¬rowings from Latin, while their doublets ‘mayor’ (‘майор’), ‘poor’ (‘бедный’), ‘.sir’ (‘сэр’) came from French.
The words ‘chase’ (‘гнаться, преследовать’), ‘chieftain’ (‘вождь/клана’), ‘guard’ (‘охрана/стража’) were borrowed into Mid¬dle English from Parisian French, and their doublets ‘catch’ (‘поймать’), ‘captain’ (‘капитан’), ‘ward’ (‘палата/больничная’) came from Norman French.
The doublets ‘shirt’ (‘рубашка’) — ‘skirt’ (‘юбка’), ‘shrew’ (‘сварливая женщина’) — ‘screw’ (‘винт, шуруп’), ‘schriek’ (‘вопить, кричать’) — ‘screech’ (‘пронзительно кричать’) are of Germanic ori¬gin. The first word of the pair comes down from Old English whereas the second one is a Scandinavian borrowing.
Examples of native doublets are ‘shadow’ (‘тень’) and ‘shade! Both are derived from the same Old English word ‘sceadu’. ‘Shade’ is developed from the Nominative case, ‘sceadu’ is derived from oblique ease ‘sceadwe’. The words ‘drag’ and ‘draw’ both come from Old English ‘dragan’ (‘тащить’)
Etymological doublets also arise as a result of shortening when both the shortened form and the full form of the word are used:
‘defense’ — ‘защита’ — ‘fence’ — »забор’;
‘history’ — ‘история’ — ‘story’ — ‘рассказ’.
Examples of ETYMOLOGICAL TRIPLETS (i.e. groups of three words of common root) are few in number:
hospital (Lat.) — hostel (Norm.Fr.) — hotel (Par.. Fr.);
to capture (Lat.) — to catch (Norm. Fr.) — to chase (Par. Fr.).

Morphemic Borrowings
True borrowings should be distinguished from words made up of morphemes borrowed from Latin and Greek:
E.g. telephone< tele (‘far off) and phone (‘sound’).
The peculiar character of the words of this type lies in the fact that they are produced by a word-building process operative in the English language, while the material used for this formation is bor¬rowed from «another language)).
The word phonograph was coined in 1877 by Edison from the Greek morphemes phone (‘sound’)+grapho (‘write*).
Morphemic borrowings are mostly scientific and technical terms and international in character, the latter fact makes it difficult to deter¬mine whether the word was really coined within the vocabulary of English or not.

International Words
Borrowings or loans are seldom limited to one language. «Words of identical origin that occur in several languages as a result of simulta¬neous or successive borrowings from one ultimate source are called INTERNATIONAL WORDS». (I. V. Arnold).
Such words usually convey notions which are significant in the field of communication. Most of them are of Latin and Greek origin.
Most scientists have international names; e.g. physics, chemistry, biol-ogy, linguistics, etc.
Modern means of communication expand global contacts which result in the considerable growth of international vocabulary.
International words play a very prominent part in various spheres of terminology, such as vocabulary of science, art, industry, etc. The great number of Italian words, connected with architecture, painting and music were borrowed into all the European languages and became international: arioso, baritone, allegro, concert, opera, etc.
Examples of new or comparatively new words due to the progress of science illustrate the importance of international vocabulary: bion¬ics, genetic code, site, database, etc.
The international word-stock has also grown due to the influx of exotic borrowed words like bungalow, pundit, sari, kraal, etc.
The English language has also contributed a considerable number of international words to all the world languages. Among them the sports terms: football, hockey, rugby, tennis, golf, etc.
International words should not be mixed with words of the com¬mon Indo-European stock that also comprise a sort of common fund of the European languages. Thus, one should not make a false conclusion that the English ‘son’, the German ‘Sohn’ and the Russian ‘сын’ are international words due to their outward similarity. They represent the Indo-European element in each of the three languages and they are COGNATES, i.e. words of the same etymological root and not borrowings.

Practical

Etymological Survey of the Modern English Language
Exercise 1.
State the etymology of the given words. Write them out in three columns: a) completely assimilated borrowings; b) partially assimilated borrowings; c) unassimilated borrowings or barbarisms.
Torchère, wall, maharani, á la mode, datum, perestroika, gate, têtê-á- têtê, want, chalet, ad hoc, sheikh, parlando, nuclkeus, parquet, matter, bagel, á la carte, kettle, chauffeur, formula, pari-mutuel, shaman, finish, corps, alcazar, commedia dell’arte, money, souvenir, bacillus, pas de deux, ill, spahi, stratum, nota bene, spaghetti, ménage á trios, odd, memoir, parenthesis, hibakusha, padrona, incognito, thesis, coup de maitre, tzatziki, sabotage, ad libitum, stimulus, Soyuz, alameda, street, boulevard, criterion, déjà vu, torero, yin, Übermensch, macaroni, tzigane, sensu lato, hypothesis, bagh, pousada, shiatsu, shapka.

Exercise 2.
Write out international words from the given sentences:
1.    He gave a false address to the police. 2. I’ve seen so many good films lately. 3. Do you take sugar in your coffee? 4. Do you play tennis? 5. Arrange the words in alphabetical order. 6. Charlotte Bronte wrote under the pseudonym of Currer Bell. 7. He worked in radio for nearly 40 years. 8. Many people feel that their interests are not represented by mainstream politics. 9. We’ve visited the open-air theatre in London’s Regents Park. 10. I’m worried about my son’s lack of progress in English. 11. The government has promised to introduce reforms of the tax system. 12. He went on to study medicine at Edinburgh University.
Exercise 3.
Give the “false cognates” (false friends) in the Russian language to the given English words. State the difference in their meanings.
Model: argument
The false cognate of the word argument is Russian аргумент. The word argument means “an angry disagreement between people”, whereas the word аргумент has the meaning “reasoning”. 
Baton, order, to reclaim, delicate, intelligent, artist, sympathetic, fabric, capital, to pretend, romance. 

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• vurd (Bermuda)
• worde (obsolete)

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /wɜːd/
• (General American) enPR: wûrd, IPA^(key): /wɝd/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)d
• Homophone: whirred (accents with the wine-whine merger)

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English word, from Old English word, from Proto-West Germanic *word, from Proto-Germanic *wurdą, from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥dʰh₁om. Doublet of verb and verve; further related to vrata.

Noun[edit]

word (countable and uncountable, plural words)

1. The smallest unit of language that has a particular meaning and can be expressed by itself; the smallest discrete, meaningful unit of language. (contrast morpheme.)

   • 1897, Ouida, “The New Woman”, in An Altruist and Four Essays, page 239:

     But every word, whether written or spoken, which urges the woman to antagonism against the man, every word which is written or spoken to try and make of her a hybrid, self-contained opponent of men, makes a rift in the lute to which the world looks for its sweetest music.

   • 1986, David Barrat, Media Sociology, →ISBN, page 112:

     The word, whether written or spoken, does not look like or sound like its meaning — it does not resemble its signified. We only connect the two because we have learnt the code — language. Without such knowledge, ‘Maggie’ would just be a meaningless pattern of shapes or sounds.

   • 2009, Jack Fitzgerald, Viva La Evolucin, →ISBN, page 233:

     Brian and Abby signed the word clothing, in which the thumbs brush down the chest as though something is hanging there. They both spoke the word clothing. Brian then signed the word for change, […]

   • 2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37:

     Swearing doesn’t just mean what we now understand by «dirty words». It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – «profanity», «curses», «oaths» and «swearing» itself.

   1. The smallest discrete unit of spoken language with a particular meaning, composed of one or more phonemes and one or more morphemes

      • 1894, Alex. R. Mackwen, “The Samaritan Passover”, in Littell’s Living Age, volume 1, number 6:

        Then all was silent save the voice of the high priest, whose words grew louder and louder, […]

      • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

        Mr. Cooke at once began a tirade against the residents of Asquith for permitting a sandy and generally disgraceful condition of the roads. So roundly did he vituperate the inn management in particular, and with such a loud flow of words, that I trembled lest he should be heard on the veranda.

      • 2006 Feb. 17, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 4:

        I can’t believe you want me back.
        You’ve got Jen to thank for that. Her words the other day moved me deeply. Very deeply indeed.
        Really? What did she say.
        Like I remember! Point is it’s the effect of her words that’s important.

   2. The smallest discrete unit of written language with a particular meaning, composed of one or more letters or symbols and one or more morphemes

      • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

        Polonius: What do you read, my lord?
        Hamlet: Words, words, words.

      • 2003, Jan Furman, Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon: A Casebook, →ISBN, page 194:

        The name was a confused gift of love from her father, who could not read the word but picked it out of the Bible for its visual shape, […]

      • 2009, Stanislas Dehaene, Reading in the Brain: The New Science of How We Read, →ISBN:

        Well-meaning academics even introduced spelling absurdities such as the “s” in the word “island,” a misguided Renaissance attempt to restore the etymology of the [unrelated] Latin word insula.

   3. A discrete, meaningful unit of language approved by an authority or native speaker (compare non-word).

      • 1896, Israel Zangwill, Without Prejudice, page 21:

        “Ain’t! How often am I to tell you ain’t ain’t a word?”

      • 1999, Linda Greenlaw, The Hungry Ocean, Hyperion, page 11:

        Fisherwoman isn’t even a word. It’s not in the dictionary.

2. Something like such a unit of language:

   Hypernym: syntagma

   1. A sequence of letters, characters, or sounds, considered as a discrete entity, though it does not necessarily belong to a language or have a meaning

      • 1974, Thinking Goes to School: Piaget’s Theory in Practice, →ISBN, page 183:

        In still another variation, the nonsense word is presented and the teacher asks, «What sound was in the beginning of the word?» «In the middle?» and so on. The child should always respond with the phoneme; he should not use letter labels.

      • 2003, How To Do Everything with Your Tablet PC, →ISBN, page 278:

        I wrote a nonsense word, «umbalooie,» in the Input Panel’s Writing Pad. Input Panel converted it to «cembalos» and displayed it in the Text Preview pane.

      • 2006, Scribal Habits and Theological Influences in the Apocalypse, →ISBN, page 141:

        Here the scribe has dropped the με from καθημενος, thereby creating the nonsense word καθηνος.

      • 2013, The Cognitive Neuropsychology of Language, →ISBN, page 91:

        If M. V. has sustained impairment to a phonological output process common to reading and repetition, we might anticipate that her mispronunciations will partially reflect the underlying phonemic form of the nonsense word.

   2. (telegraphy) A unit of text equivalent to five characters and one space. [from 19th c.]
   4. (computing) A fixed-size group of bits handled as a unit by a machine and which can be stored in or retrieved from a typical register (so that it has the same size as such a register). [from 20th c.]

      • 1997, John L. Hennessy; David A. Patterson, Computer Organization and Design, 2nd edition, San Francisco, California: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc., §3.3, page 109:

        The size of a register in the MIPS architecture is 32 bits; groups of 32 bits occur so frequently that they are given the name word in the MIPS architecture.

   5. (computer science) A finite string that is not a command or operator. [from 20th or 21st c.]
   6. (group theory) A group element, expressed as a product of group elements.
3. The fact or act of speaking, as opposed to taking action. [from 9th c].

   • 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility:

     […] she believed them still so very much attached to each other, that they could not be too sedulously divided in word and deed on every occasion.

   • 2004 September 8, Richard Williams, The Guardian:

     As they fell apart against Austria, England badly needed someone capable of leading by word and example.

4. (now rare outside certain phrases) Something that someone said; a comment, utterance; speech. [from 10th c.]
   • 1945 April 1, Sebastian Haffner, The Observer:

     «The Kaiser laid down his arms at a quarter to twelve. In me, however, they have an opponent who ceases fighting only at five minutes past twelve,» said Hitler some time ago. He has never spoken a truer word.

   • 2011, David Bellos, Is That a Fish in Your Ear?, Penguin_year_published=2012, page 126:

     Despite appearances to the contrary […] dragomans stuck rigidly to their brief, which was not to translate the Sultan’s words, but his word.

   • 2011, John Lehew (senior), The Encouragement of Peter, →ISBN, page 108:

     In what sense is God’s Word living? No other word, whether written or spoken, has the power that the Bible has to change lives.

5. (obsolete outside certain phrases) A watchword or rallying cry, a verbal signal (even when consisting of multiple words).

   • 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III:

     Our ancient word of courage, fair Saint George, inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons!

   • c. 1623, John Fletcher and William Rowley, The Maid in the Mill, published 1647, scene 3:

     I have the word : sentinel, do thou stand; […]

6. (obsolete) A proverb or motto.

   • 1499, John Skelton, The Bowge of Court:

     Among all other was wrytten in her trone / In golde letters, this worde, whiche I dyde rede: / Garder le fortune que est mauelz et bone.

   • 1646, Joseph Hall, The Balm of Gilead:

     The old word is, ‘What the eye views not, the heart rues not.’

8. (uncountable) News; tidings [from 10th c.]

   • 1945 August 17, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 1, in Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC:

     Word had gone round during the day that old Major, the prize Middle White boar, had had a strange dream on the previous night and wished to communicate it to the other animals.

   Have you had any word from John yet?

   I’ve tried for weeks to get word, but I still don’t know where she is or if she’s all right.

9. An order; a request or instruction; an expression of will. [from 10th c.]

   He sent word that we should strike camp before winter.

   Don’t fire till I give the word

   Their mother’s word was law.

10. A promise; an oath or guarantee. [from 10th c.]

    I give you my word that I will be there on time.

    Synonym: promise

11. A brief discussion or conversation. [from 15th c.]

    Can I have a word with you?

12. (meiosis) A minor reprimand.

    I had a word with him about it.

13. (in the plural) See words.

    There had been words between him and the secretary about the outcome of the meeting.

14. (theology, sometimes Word) Communication from God; the message of the Christian gospel; the Bible, Scripture. [from 10th c.]

    Her parents had lived in Botswana, spreading the word among the tribespeople.

    Synonyms: word of God, Bible

15. (theology, sometimes Word) Logos, Christ. [from 8th c.]

    • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, John ]:

      And that worde was made flesshe, and dwelt amonge vs, and we sawe the glory off yt, as the glory off the only begotten sonne off the father, which worde was full of grace, and verite.

    Synonyms: God, Logos

Usage notes[edit]

In English and other languages with a tradition of space-delimited writing, it is customary to treat «word» as referring to any sequence of characters delimited by spaces. However, this is not applicable to languages such as Chinese and Japanese, which are normally written without spaces, or to languages such as Vietnamese, which are written with spaces delimiting syllables.

In computing, the size (length) of a word, while being fixed in a particular machine or processor family design, can be different in different designs, for many reasons. See Word (computer architecture) for a full explanation.

Synonyms[edit]

• vocable; see also Thesaurus:word

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

• Chinese Pidgin English: word, 𭉉

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

word (third-person singular simple present words, present participle wording, simple past and past participle worded)

1. (transitive) To say or write (something) using particular words; to phrase (something).

   Synonyms: express, phrase, put into words, state

   I’m not sure how to word this letter to the council.

2. (transitive, obsolete) To flatter with words, to cajole.

   • 1607, William Shakespeare, Anthony and Cleopatra, act 5, scene 2:

     He words me, girls, he words me, that I should not / be noble to myself.

3. (transitive) To ply or overpower with words.

   • 1621 November 30, James Howell, letter to Francis Bacon, from Turin:

     […] if one were to be worded to death, Italian is the fittest Language [for that task]

   • 1829 April 1, “Webster’s Dictionary”, in The North American Review, volume 28, page 438:

     […] if a man were to be worded to death, or stoned to death by words, the High-Dutch were the fittest [language for that task].

4. (transitive, rare) To conjure with a word.
   • c. 1645–1715, Robert South, Sermon on Psalm XXXIX. 9:

     Against him […] who could word heaven and earth out of nothing, and can when he pleases word them into nothing again.

   • 1994, “Liminal Postmodernisms”, in Postmodern Studies, volume 8, page 162:

     «Postcolonialism» might well be another linguistic construct, desperately begging for a referent that will never show up, simply because it never existed on its own and was literally worded into existence by the very term that pretends to be born from it.

   • 2013, Carla Mae Streeter, Foundations of Spirituality: The Human and the Holy, →ISBN, page 92:

     The being of each person is worded into existence in the Word, […]

5. (intransitive, archaic) To speak, to use words; to converse, to discourse.

   • 1818–1819, John Keats, “Hyperion, a Fragment”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, page 181:

     Thus wording timidly among the fierce: / «O Father, I am here the simplest voice, […] «

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Interjection[edit]

word

1. (slang, African-American Vernacular) Truth, indeed, that is the truth! The shortened form of the statement «My word is my bond.»

   «Yo, that movie was epic!» / «Word?» («You speak the truth?») / «Word.» («I speak the truth.»)

2. (slang, emphatic, stereotypically, African-American Vernacular) An abbreviated form of word up; a statement of the acknowledgment of fact with a hint of nonchalant approval.

   • 2004, Shannon Holmes, Never Go Home Again: A Novel, page 218:

     « […] Know what I’m sayin’?» / «Word!» the other man strongly agreed. «Let’s do this — «

   • 2007, Gabe Rotter, Duck Duck Wally: A Novel, page 105:

     « […] Not bad at all, man. Worth da wait, dawg. Word.» / «You liked it?» I asked dumbly, stoned still, and feeling victorious. / «Yeah, man,» said Oral B. «Word up. […] «

   • 2007, Relentless Aaron, The Last Kingpin, page 34:

     « […] I mean, I don’t blame you… Word! […] «

Quotations[edit]

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:word.

See also[edit]

• allomorph
• compound word
• grapheme
• idiomatic
• lexeme
• listeme
• morpheme
• orthographic
• phrase
• set phrase
• syllable
• term

Etymology 2[edit]

Variant of worth (“to become, turn into, grow, get”), from Middle English worthen, from Old English weorþan (“to turn into, become, grow”), from Proto-West Germanic *werþan, from Proto-Germanic *werþaną (“to turn, turn into, become”). More at worth § Verb.

Verb[edit]

word

1. Alternative form of worth (“to become”).

See also[edit]

• Appendix:Wordhood

Further reading[edit]

• word on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams[edit]

• drow

Afrikaans[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Dutch worden, from Middle Dutch werden, from Old Dutch werthan, from Proto-Germanic *werþaną.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /vɔrt/

Verb[edit]

word (present word, present participle wordende, past participle geword)

1. to become; to get (to change one’s state)

   Ek het ryk geword.

   I became rich.

   Ek word ryk.

   I am becoming rich.

   Sy word beter.

   She is getting better.

2. Forms the present passive voice when followed by a past participle

   Die kat word gevoer.

   The cat is being fed.

Usage notes[edit]

• The verb has an archaic preterite werd: Die kat werd gevoer. (“The cat was fed.”) In contemporary Afrikaans the perfect is used instead: Die kat is gevoer.

Chinese Pidgin English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• 𭉉 (Chinese characters)

Etymology[edit]

From English word.

Noun[edit]

word

1. word

   • 1862, T‘ong Ting-Kü, Ying Ü Tsap T’sün, or The Chinese and English Instructor, volume 6, Canton:

     挨仙㕭𭉉

     Aai1 sin1 jiu1 wut3.

     I will send you word.

     (literally, “I send you word.”)

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ʋɔrt/
• Rhymes: -ɔrt

Verb[edit]

word

1. first-person singular present indicative of worden
2. imperative of worden

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• wurd, weord, vord, woord, wourd, worde

Etymology[edit]

From Old English word, from Proto-West Germanic *word, from Proto-Germanic *wurdą, from Proto-Indo-European *werdʰh₁om. Doublet of verbe.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /wurd/, /woːrd/

Noun[edit]

word (plural wordes or (Early ME) word)

1. A word (separable, discrete linguistic unit)

   • a. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “Book II”, in Troilus and Criseyde, line 22-28:

     Ȝe knowe ek that in fourme of ſpeche is chaunge / With-inne a thousand ȝeer, and wordes tho / That hadden pris now wonder nyce and ſtraunge / Us thenketh hem, and ȝet thei ſpake hem so / And ſpedde as wel in loue as men now do

     You also know that the form of language is in flux; / within a thousand years, words / that had currency; really weird and bizarre / they seem to us now, but they still spoke them / and accomplished as much in love as men do now.

2. A statement; a linguistic unit said or written by someone:
   1. A speech; a formal statement.
   2. A byword or maxim; a short expression of truth.
   3. A promise; an oath or guarantee.
   4. A motto; a expression associated with a person or people.
   5. A piece of news (often warning or recommending)
   6. An order or directive; something necessary.
   7. A religious precept, stricture, or belief.
3. Discourse; the exchange of statements.
4. The act of speaking (especially as opposed to action)
5. The basic, non-figurative reading of something.
6. The way one speaks (especially with modifying adjective)
7. (theology) The Logos (Jesus Christ)

   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[1], published c. 1410, Joon 1:1, page 44r, column 2; republished as Wycliffe’s translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

     IN þe bigynnyng was þe woꝛd .· ⁊ þe woꝛd was at god / ⁊ god was þe woꝛd

     In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word.

8. (rare) The human faculty of language as a whole.

[edit]

Descendants[edit]

• English: word
• Scots: wird, wourd

References[edit]

• “wō̆rd, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 27 February 2020.

Old English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• ƿord
• wyrde

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /word/, [worˠd]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Proto-West Germanic *word, from Proto-Germanic *wurdą.

Noun[edit]

word n (nominative plural word)

1. word
2. speech, utterance, statement
3. (grammar) verb
4. news, information, rumour
5. command, request

Declension[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

• Middle English: word, wurd, weord
  • Scots: word, wourd
  • English: word

Etymology 2[edit]

Unknown. Perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥dʰos (“sweetbriar”). Compare Latin rubus (“bramble”), Persian گل‎ (gol, “flower”).

Noun[edit]

word ?

1. thornbush

Old Saxon[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-West Germanic *word, from Proto-Germanic *wurdą.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /wɔrd/

Noun[edit]

word n

1. word

Declension[edit]