Other Words
- andwurde, andwyrde: 'to answer'. A combination of the prefix and- ('against', related 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 By the end of the 12th century, andwurde had been replaced by andswerian ('answer'), (containing swear, probably Common Germanic, attested at least before 900).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 very common words with many extant compounds, these words exists in Modern English only in the Germanic loanwords edelweiss and Adelaide. The Latin-derived terms noble and gentle (in its original English meaning of 'noble') both appeared in English around 1230. Compare with German edel, Dutch edel.
- ge-: a prefix used extensively in Old English, originally meaning 'with', but later gaining several other usages, such as being used grammatically for the perfect. It has only survived in the archaic gemot ('meeting', compare with Witenagemot) and yclept (with later form y-). 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", it mainly survived in English with meanings related to speech ('tell', 'tale'). Meanings related to numbers can be found in several Germanic cognates. Compare with English teller, German Zahl, Dutch getal, Swedish and Danish tal and Norwegian tall. (See worn.)
- hæmed, 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 is possibly an intentional archaism. By the end of the 14th century, mid had been superseded by with. If the beginning part of midwife is a reflex of this ancient preposition (and neither OED or AHD affirm this derivation), it is the only trace of the with meaning left in Modern English. The word probably originally derived from an Indo-European root meaning 'middle' and is related to the English prefix mid- and Latin medium. It is likely to be related 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 derived from Latin numerus and it first appeared in English as noumbre in around 1300. The word appears to have come from a French term, but its use was no doubt 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 little-used Ember days, a Christian event. The Germanic loanwords ombudsman and umlaut come from the same Germanic root. It is also related more distantly to Latin words starting with ambi- and Greek words starting with amphi-. Compare with German um, Dutch om, Common Scandinavian om, but Icelandic um.
- wīġ: 'war', 'combat', 'martial power'. There were many words of this base in Old English: wīgan, ġewegan ('to fight'), wīġend ('warrior'). This group was used used extensively in Old English poetry, due in part to the frequent alliterative need for a word starting with 'w'. It is from the same base as Latin vincere ('to conquer'). Other than the archaic, Old Norse-derived wight, this group of words is lost to Modern English. Compare with Swedish envig ('holmgang').
Read more about this topic: Changes To Old English Vocabulary
Famous quotes containing the word words:
“One can describe a landscape in many different words and sentences, but one would not normally cut up a picture of a landscape and rearrange it in different patterns in order to describe it in different ways. Because a photograph is not composed of discrete units strung out in a linear row of meaningful pieces, we do not understand it by looking at one element after another in a set sequence. The photograph is understood in one act of seeing; it is perceived in a gestalt.”
—Joshua Meyrowitz, U.S. educator, media critic. “The Blurring of Public and Private Behaviors,” No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior, Oxford University Press (1985)
“Touch me not.”
—Bible: New Testament Jesus, in John, 20:17.
Spoken to Mary Magdalene, after Jesus has risen from the dead and made himself known to her. The words are best known in the Latin form in which they appear in the Vulgate: Noli me tangere.