Dig Into History – April 2019

26

WORD ORIGINS

Wife A simple word to be sure and one

that is used often in the English language.

But, while its Old English roots —wifand

wyf— are quite close to its present spelling,

its meaning has changed. Centuries ago, the

Anglo Saxons usedwifto refer to a “woman”

and not necessarily to a woman who was

also a wife. For a “widow,” the Anglo Saxons

usedwiduwe—still quite close to the

present-day spelling.

WORD STORIES

EtymologyWhat a great word! It was

used in the late 14th century to mean

“facts of the origin and development of a

word.” While its spelling at that time was a

bit different —ethimolegia— its meaning

has remained the same. Looking a bit more

closely at the word, we see that it traces

its history through the Latinetymologiato

the Greeketymologia, which translates as

Artist Tom Lopes has incorporated several of the

words/expressions highlighted in this section into

his illustration. We have labeled one. Can you find

others? See page 53 for the answers.

FUN WITH

WORDS

ŃDQDO\VLVRIDZRUGWRğQGLWVWUXHRULJLQń

Great, don’t you think? This is especially true if

you dissect the Greek root. It is a combination

of etymos (“true”) and logos (“word, speech,

study of”). So, “etymology” is a word that

GHğQLWHO\GLGQRWVWUD\WRRIDUIURPLWV URRWV

— back more than 2,000 years ago!

CAN YOU BELIEVE

THESE?

Check out these really long English words

that trace their origins to Old English, the

language of the Anglo-Saxons:

notwithstanding Records show that this

word dates to around 1400 Ƌƍ, when it was

spelled notwithstondinge. A synonym wo

be: in spite of.

untholemoodness Here’s a word that

longer used. It means “impatience,”

and it “died” around the end of the

15th century. Originally it was spelled

untholenodness.

ould

isno

d

Ealdor