Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
This is a list of English words inherited and derived directly from the Old English stage of the language. This list also includes neologisms formed from Old English roots and/or particles in later forms of English, and words borrowed into other languages (e.g. French, Anglo-French, etc.) then borrowed back into English (e.g. bateau, chiffon, gourmet, nordic, etc.).
The dialects of Old English c. 800 CE. Just as Modern English is not monolithic, Old English varied according to place. Despite the diversity of language of the Germanic-speaking migrants who established Old English in England and southeastern Scotland, it is possible to reconstruct proto-Old English as a fairly unitary language.
The time of dialect use covered is, by and large, the Late Modern English period (1700–1903), [2] but given Wright's historical interest, many entries contain information on etymological precursors of dialect words in centuries as far back as Old English and Middle English.
Generally, words coming from French often retain a higher register than words of Old English origin, and they are considered by some to be more posh, elaborate, sophisticated, or pretentious. However, there are exceptions: weep , groom and stone (from Old English) occupy a slightly higher register than cry , brush and rock (from French).
The meanings of these words do not always correspond to Germanic cognates, and occasionally the specific meaning in the list is unique to English. Those Germanic words listed below with a Frankish source mostly came into English through Anglo-Norman, and so despite ultimately deriving from Proto-Germanic, came to English through a Romance ...
The Latin-derived words noble and gentle (in its original English meaning of 'noble') were both borrowed into English around 1230. Compare with German edel, Dutch edel, English athel. ge-: a prefix used extensively in Old English, originally meaning 'with', but later gaining other usages, such as being used grammatically for the perfect tense.
Anglo-Saxon runes or Anglo-Frisian runes are runes that were used by the Anglo-Saxons and Medieval Frisians (collectively called Anglo-Frisians) as an alphabet in their native writing system, recording both Old English and Old Frisian (Old English: rūna, ᚱᚢᚾᚪ, "rune").
This is a select list of Cornish dialect words in English—while some of these terms are obsolete others remain in use. [1] [2] Many Cornish dialect words have their origins in the Cornish language and others belong to the West Saxon group of dialects which includes West Country English: consequently words listed may not be exclusive to Cornwall.