The Romance of Words (4th ed.)

gs it seems natural to deal first with the less interesting aspect, phonetics, the physical processes by which sounds are gradually transformed. Speaking generally, it may be s

se to deal, but a few simple examples will serve to ill

ed. The anxious class was also represented. A Latin epigrammatist[42] remarks that since Arrius, prophetic name, has visited the Ionic islands, they will probably be henceforth known as the Hionic islands. To the disappearance of the h from Vulgar Latin is due the fact that the Romance languages have no aspirate. French still writes the initial h in some words by etymological reaction, e.g., homme for Old Fr. ome, and also at one time really had an a

TIC L

a common device in French when a word of Germanic origin begins with two consonants. Cf. Fr. dérive, drift, Eng. drive; Fr. varech, sea-weed, Eng. wrack. Harangue, formerly harengue, is Old High Ger. hring, Eng. ring, the allusion bein

of all Latin words which began with sc, sp, st, e.g., scola > escole (école), spongia > esponge (éponge), stabulum > estable (é

s, which appear to work in a more arbitrary fashion and bring about more picturesque resu

lso a lip consonant because it was easier to pronounce, and by the 17th century we generally find lime instead of line. We have a similar change in Lombard for Ger. lang-bart, long-beard, or, according to some, long-axe. For Liverpool we find also Litherpool in early records. If the reader attempts to pronounce both names rapidly, he will be able to form his own o

has been influenced by the medial ch. The m of the curious word ampersand, variously spelt, is due to the neighbouring p

h me my letters, which I learnt from big A

h, Dead Man's

work. Knew every letter

dge, In

A, B per se B," and so on to "and per se and." The

IMIL

opposite process. The

rfeit stone, not a riband, glass, pomander

's Tale

ied by the delicate. In this case one of the two lip consonants has been dissimilated. A like change has oc

e represented by the letters l, n, and r. Fr. gonfalon is for

housand ensigns

onfalons, 'twix

in th

e Lost,

me named Probus compiled, about the 3rd or 4th century, A.D., a list of cautions as to mispronunciation. In this list we find "flagellum, non fragellum." In the sense of switch, twig, fragellum gave Old Fr. freel, basket made of twigs, whence Eng. frail; while the correct flagellum gave Old Fr. fleel (fléau), whence Eng. flail. A Vulgar Lat. *mora, mulberry, from

Lat. *libellum, for libella, a plummet, diminutive of libra, scales. Old Fr. livel became by dissimilation nivel, now niveau. Many conjectures have been made as to the etymology of oriel. It is from Old Fr. or

Lat. flebilis, lamentable, from flere, to weep. Fugleman was once flugelman, from Ger. Flügelmann, wing man,

ATH

"kittle cattle," is identical with tickle; cf. Ger. kitzeln, to tickle. One theory for the origin of tankard is that it stands for *cantar, from Lat. cantharus, with which it corresponds exactly in meaning; e.g., canthar

a little bag. Shakespeare no doubt had in mind the wattles of

lls, whose throats

s of f

st, ii

fly. Tinsel is Fr. étincelle, spark, earlier estincele, which supposes a Lat. *stincilla for

silken scar

side an a

by, v

lass, Fr. coutelas (p. 126). Beverage is from Old Fr. bevrage, or beuvrage, now breuvage, Vulgar Lat. *biberaticum, from bibere, to drink. Here, as in the case of level (p. 58),

d people. Not long ago the writer was urged by a gardener to embellish his garden with a ruskit arch. When met

congs their

st applied to the rail, but to the bulging colonnettes on which it rests. Fr. balustre comes, through Italian, from Greco-Lat. balaustium, a pomegranate flower, the shape of which resembles the supports of a balustrade. Cotgrave explains balustres

l-suited m

d frounc't as

Attic boy

roso,

rlier fribustier, a corruption of Du. vrijbui

AGE OF

escoping which makes us very unintelligible to foreigners. This is seen in the pronunciation of names such as Cholmondeley and Marjoribanks. Bethlehem hospital, for lunatics, becomes bedlam; Mary Magdalene, taken as a type of tearful repentance, gives us maudlin, now generally used of the lachrym

(trouvé), or become assimilated to some familiar English ending, e.g., parish, Fr. paroisse, skirmish, Fr. escarmouche; cartridge, Fr. cartouche, partridge, Fr. perdrix. A good example of such shrinkage is the word vamp,

harge

at have revolt

may seem to

him

d Cleopatr

te vaunt-couri

s and thought-

of oak-cleaving

, iii

anatomy we find atomy, for a skeleton or scarecrow figure, applied by Mistress Quickly to the constable (2 Henr

en, I'll pea

y IV.,

at Cambridge are properly students in receipt of certain allowances called sizings. With painters' size we may compare Ital. assisa, "size that painters use" (Florio). We use the fo

e all cates-and

me, Kate of m

f the Shr

usted with purchasing was called an acatour or catour (whence the name Cator), later cater, now extended t

queezed out by the

e warder o

e, and the rec

beck

eth,

ier bittacle, from Lat. habitaculum, a little dwelling. It may have come to us through Fr. habitacle or Port. bitacola, "the bittacle, a frame of timber in the steerage, where the compass is placed on board a ship" (Vieyra, Port. Dict., 1794). As King of Scotland, King George has a hou

HE

dodge, "eschew," ultimately cognate with Eng. shy, spice from espice (épice), sprite from esprit, stage from estage (étage), etc. In some cases we have the fuller form also, e.g., esquire, eschew; cf. sample and example. Fender, whether before a fireplace or sl

oison thee wi

ce, l.

le, i.e., something put before

tre, to grow again, is still feminine, like many other military terms which were originally abstract or collective. Cotgrave has recreu?, "a supplie, or filling up of a defective company of souldiers, etc." We have possum for opossum, and coon for racoon, and this for arrahacoune, which I fin

HE

, famed for its three tailors, formerly Saint Olave Street, and tawdry. This latter word

a tawdry lace, and a

's Tale

. envier, to challenge, Lat. invitare, whence the phrase à l'envi l'un de l'autre, "in emulation one of the other" (Cotgrave); c

ath, odsbodikins, etc., there is probably a deliberate a

uns!' quoth he;

, the priest let

the Shrew

r par Dieu, and Ge

in a French song of the 14th century, intentio

e tans que Glais v

ng for belonging, while such forms as billiments for habiliments and sparagus for asparagus are regular up to the 18th century. Children keep up the national practice when they say member for reme

llables appears in wire for telegram, the Artful Dodger's wipe for the clumsy pocket handkerchief, soccer for association, an

or the rest. Of comparatively modern formation are pub and Zoo, with which we may compar

PED

tain. It may be an illiterate attempt at Ital. puntiglio, which, like Fr. pointe, was used of a verbal quibble or fine distinction. Most of these clipped forms are easily identified, e.g., cab(riolet), gent(leman), hack(ney), vet(erinary

iver and the fir

rigand. Wag has improved in meaning. It is for older waghalter. Cotgrave has baboin (babouin), "a trifling, busie, or crafty knave; a crackrope, waghalter, etc." The older sense survives in the phrase "to play the wag," i.e. truant. For the "rope" figure we may compare Scot. h

a crack, no

y IV.,

eper. We have the Dutch form in horse-coper, and also in the word coopering, the illicit sale of spirits by Dutch boats to North Sea fishermen.[50] Merchant was used by the Elizabethans in the

nt, far less than Guse Gibbie,

rtality

, a corruption of Fr. genièvre, Lat. juniperus, with the berries of which it is flavoured. The history of grog is more complicated. The stuff called grogram, earlier grograyne, is from Fr. gros grain, coarse grain. Admiral Vernon (18th centu

PED

ky for usquebaugh, Gaelic uisge-beatha, water of life (cf. eau-de-vie), so that the literal meaning of whisky is very innocent. It has a dou

rfection; and whereas we drink it here in aqua vit? measures, it g

ll, 1

lgrims riding to the shrine of St Thomas. John

The Pegasus of Pope, like a Kentish po

iminaries to

Lat. buculus, a diminutive of bos, ox, we have perhaps rat

ere a little, while a

en you want me, sound

sley

o doubt for

e, you, with

beads and p

on, vi

ade of that stone makes it very probable that the al

d, e.g., bus for omnibus, loo for lanterloo,

51] that Kings and

armies in the

the Lock,

hants or ships travelling together, "also of late corruptly used with us for a kind of waggon to carry passengers to and from London" (Blount, Glossographia, 1674). Wig i

(see p. 172) was once common for Isabella, while the modern language prefers Bella; Maud for Matilda

e every day by addressing her son

nett, The C

ase, Fr. tante, from ante-ante, Lat. amita, the baby word has prevailed. In a reduplicated form only one half as a rule needs to be explained. Thus seesaw is from saw, the motion suggesting two sawyers at work on a log. Zigza

t me say m

or mammy ta

ke haste,' says

lled out his

Little Bil

ike "cut and thrust." It is usually ment

pointed knife about him; which makes the Hollander, who is us'd to snik and

ter from Flo

snee, representing the Dutch verbs steken, to thrust, snijden or snijen, to

ie custome onely

ne, The H

arlier pickpack, from pack, bundle. The moder

ED CON

pfelgrau, and Ital. pomellato, "spotted, bespeckled, pide, dapple-graie, or fleabitten, the colour of a horse" (Florio), that it is hard not to believe in an unrecorded *apple-gray, especially as w

TNO

4

tilla metueba

fertur nuntiu

, postquam ill

ios esse, s

llus,

stitute -m for -n, e.g. grogram for grogran (see p. 68). In the fam

change in the family

smoking of beef in the West Indies. The name comes from a native word boucan, adopted into French, and

desman with a station or stall. Costermonger illustrates the converse process. It meant originally a dealer i

t at the French and Celtic u; cf. brisk from

irm, screen (cf. Regenschirm, umbrella), which, passing through Italian and French, has given us skirmish, scrimmage, scaramouch (see

al est tr

attaque, il

s come when the Engli

' haven, the numerous Swedish place-names ending in -k?pi

s. The name was also g