Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern EnglishThis etymological dictionary gives the origins of some 20,000 items from the modern English vocabulary, discussing them in groups that make clear the connections between words derived by a variety of routes from originally common stock. As well as giving the answers to questions about the derivation of individual words, it is a fascinating book to browse through, and includes extensive lists of prefixes, suffixes, and elements used in the creation of new vocabulary. |
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Common terms and phrases
adjj adopted by E adopted byE adoptedby agent akin to OFris akin to OHG akinto andthe anglicized aphesis asin becomes OFF cf OFris cf OHG cf the element cfthe cognates comes comesfrom con contr derivative ML derives from OE derivesfrom dial earlier echoic EFF etymon extn formation Frankish fromGr fromL fromMFF fromOE fromthe hasderivative hence hence n hencen henceto influenced isan late MFF later Lith MDD metathesis MFEF MHGG nhence obsol OFEF OFMF ofthe OHGMHG one’s OProv orig origa para1 para2 para3 para4 para5 para6 para7 perh akin perh cf ppof prec prefixcpds presp pron SciL Seethe 2nd sense suffix theadj theE trln varof varr via MFF Walshe Webster whence E whence F whence MFF whence‘to whencethe words yields