A concise etymological dictionary of the English language PDF
Preview A concise etymological dictionary of the English language
ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY ENGLISH LANGUAGE BY THE REV. WALTER W. SKEAT Litt.D., LL.D., D.C.L., Ph.D. EL.RINGTON AND BOSWORTH PROFESSOR OF ANGl..O-SAXON IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE "Were man to live co-eva I with the sun, The patriarch-pupil would be leaming still." YOUNG, Nillh, Thoullh,s, vii. 86 .. CONCISE ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE A CONCISE ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE English Language II BY THE REV. ( WALTER W. SKEAT I LITr.D., LL.D., D.C.L., PH.D. A PERIGEE BOOK Perigee Books are published by G.P. Putnam's Sons 200 Madison Avenue New York, New York, 10016 First Perigee Printing, 1980 SBN: 399-50049-9 Ninth Impression Manufactured in the "lnited States of America CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTIO VlI KEY TO THE GENERAL PLAN OF THE DICTIONARY Xl LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Xli CONCISE ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE APPENDIX: 1. LIST OF PREFIXES 624 II. SUFFIXES 630 III. SELECT LIST OF LATIN WORDS II /632 I 644 SELECT LIST OF GREEK WORDS • I J IV. DISTRIBUTION OF ,,yORDS ACCORDING TO THE LANGUAGES FROM WHICH THEY ARE DERIVED 647 INTRODUCTION THE first edition of my 'Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language' was published in 1882, and it has since passed through several editions. Each successive edition contained several corrections and additions, in order that the work might be, to some extent, brought up to date. Meanwhile, numerous and important contributions have been made, by many writers, to the study of Indo -germanic philology; more exact methods of analysing phonetic changes have been adopted, and important advances have been made at many points. Such works as Kluge's Etymological Dictionary of German, Franck's Etymological Dictionary of Dutch, Godefroy's Dictionary of Old French, the Modern French Dictionary by Hatzfeld and Darmesteter, in addition to other highly important books such as the Comparative Grammar of the Indo-germanic languages by Brugmann, have all contributed to a much clearer and more exact view of the science of comparative philology. Hence the time has come when partial emendations of my Concise Dictionary, however diligently made, have (as I fear) failed to keep pace with the requirements of the present day; and I have accordingly rewritten the book from beginning to end, making improvements in nearly every article, whilst at the same time introducing into the body of the work words which have hitherto necessarily been relegated to a con tinually increasing Supplement. The result is less a new edition than a new book. Since the year 1882 above-mentioned, a great advance has been made in English lexicography. An entirely new edition of Webster appeared in 1890, and The Century Dictionary, of which the publication viii INTRODUCTION was begun in 1889, was completed in 1891. In both of these works my name appears in the 'List of Authorities cited'; though it is seldom expressly mentioned except in cases of considerable difficulty, where the writer preferred not to risk an opinion of his own. But the chief event during this period has been the publication of The New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, the unique value of which is even now too little understood and respected by /the general public. The first part of this great national work appeared in 1884. The chief difference between the second and later editions of my Concise Etymological Dictionary and the present one can now be readily explained. The former editions were mainly reproduced from the first edition, at a time when, from the nature of the case, little help could be had from the works above-mentioned, owing to the fact that they either did not exist or could not be much utilised. But in the present work, I have endeavoured to glean from them all their most important results. The work has been collated with the Century Dictionary throughout, and with the New English Dictionary from A to H (excepting a small portion of G). I have endeavoured to make good use of Kluge, Franck, Brugmann, and other autho rities; and have gladly adopted a large number of corrections. In particular, I have now marked the quantities of all the vowels in Latin words, as this often throws much light upon Romance phonology. And in many cases where the result is tolerably certain I have given the primitive types of Teutonic and even of Indo-germanic words. In all former editions, I endeavoured, by help of cross-references, to arrange derivative words under a more primitive form. Thus ex-cile, in-cile, re-cile and rems-cil-ale were all given under Cile. But experience has shewn that this endeavour was more ambitious than practical, often causing needless delay and trouble. Hence the only truly practical order, viz. an alphabetical one, has been here adopted, so that the required word can now be found at once. But in order to retain the chief advantages of the old plan, I have pre pared two lists, one of Latin and one of Greek words, which account for a large number of derivatives. These will be found in · the Appendix, § III, at pp. 632 and 644. I have much pleasure in mentioning two more circumstances by which I have been greatly assisted and encouraged. Some few years INTRODUCTION ix ago, my friend the Rev. A. L. Mayhew was so good as to go patiently through every word of the Concise Etymological Dictionary, making hundreds of suggestions for improvement; and finally sent me the copy in which all these suggestions were entered. They have all been carefully considered, and in a very large number of instances have been fully adopted. Again, while the revises were passing through the press, they were read over by Mr. H. M. Chadwick, M.A., FeUow of Clare CoIlege, Cambridge, author of 'S!::Jies in Old English' published by the Cambridge Philological Society in 1899; and his exact knowledge of Indo -germanic phonology has been suggestive of many improvements. I have only to add, in justice to these scholars, that they are not responsible for all the results here given. In some few cases I have held to my own preconceived opinion; perhaps not always wisely. Still it was best that the final form of each article should be left to the author's decision; for the reader is then sure as to where he must lay any blame. Many articles which, in former editions, appeared only in the Supplement have now been incorporated with the rest, so that the number of words now explained (in alphabetical order) amounts to more than 12,750. Considerable pains have been taken to ensure accuracy in the printing of the forms cited; and I have received much help from the care exercised by the press-reader. At the same time, I shall be thankful to any reader who will kindly send me a note of any error which he may detect. I have myself discovered, for example, that under the word Cemtlery the 'Skt. fi' is an error for the 'Skt. fi: A few belated corrections appear at pp. 662-3. As I frequently allude to the ordinary vowel-changes in the course of the work, I may note here those which are the most elementary and common. They deserve to be learnt by heart at once. ANGLO-SAXON. The most usual vowel-change is that produced by the occurrence of an i or j (which often disappears by a subsequent contraction of the word) in the following syllable. Owing to this, we
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