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Update
Hi all,
Sorry it's been so long. I was in the hospital for a week, and right now I'm going through an outpatient recovery program. It may be awhile before I get back to word_ancestry. My apologies, but I have to take care of myself first right now or I'll just end up back in the hospital. Hope you're all doing well and staying word-conscious. :)
-gwoman -
jolly
jolly, adj. [jol-ee, jŏl-ē]
-We first see jolly around 1300 CE as Middle English joli 'full of good humor, cheerful.' It was adopted from Old French jolif 'festive, merry, pretty, amorous (see French jolie),' from unknown origins. Some scholars think that the French word and Italian giulivo 'merry pleasant' may be related to an unknown Germanic ( Read more... ) -
present
present, n., adj., & v. [noun and adjective: prez-uhnt, prěz-ənt; verb: pri-zent, prĭ-zěnt]
-After the lovely gift-giving season, what better word is there to look at than present? But what about the verb present 'to give, to show,' the noun present 'the here and now, this moment,' and the adjective present 'happening here and now, immediate?' ( Read more... ) -
tree
tree, n. [tree, trē]
-Today's word is very old, and its similarity in so many different languages reflects how important this symbol and physical object was and is. In English, modern tree is a carry-over from Middle English tree, which came from Old English treo, treow 'tree, wood.' This - along with Old Frisian and Old Norse tre, Old Saxon trio ( Read more... ) -
stuff and nonsense
stuff and nonsense
-Used as a singular phrase meaning 'rubbish, nonsense,' this expression was first recorded in an 1827 issue of the British newspaper The Times. It appeared in an article about a parliamentary debate, which said: "He had at once to declare, that all notions of concerting and of dictating to the King in the exercise of his ( Read more... ) -
It's a balmy Christmas night where I live, so here's a festive word for us all
Christmas, n. [kris-muhs, krĭs-məs]
-This holiday is both ancient and modern, religious and secular. It first appears in our language during the time of Old English, when it was simply called the Cristes mæsse 'Christ's mass or festival,' a mass being the religious service performed by a priest in front of (later involving) the community members ( Read more... ) -
yesterday
yesterday, n. [yes-ter-dey, yěs-tər-dā]
-Though the requester correctly noted that yesterday and yeast have similar pronunciations and spellings, they are not in fact related. Yesterday is first seen as a single word in a document from about 1250 CE, being spelled as yisterdai. It was formed from the Old English compound noun geostran dæg ' ( Read more... ) -
yeast
yeast, n. [yeest, yēst]
-Though we now consider yeast to be any fungi of the genus Saccharomyces (especially S. cerevisiae), which reproduces by budding and from ascospores and is capable of fermenting carbohydrates, Middle English yest, yeest specifically referred to the froth of fermenting beer. The Middle English term was developed from Late ( Read more... ) -
curmudgeon
curmudgeon, n. [ker-muhj-uhn, kər-mŭj-ən]
-Such a lively word, rich with meaning and imagery! Unfortunately, scholars have absolutely no idea where curmudgeon comes from, though there are a few theories. As the definition is 'a cantankerous, ill-tempered, and difficult person,' some scholars think that the cur- in curmudgeon might refer to ( Read more... ) -
fine
fine, adj. & n. [fahyn, fīn]
-Depending on its part of speech, fine can have seemingly very different definitions, though their histories meet up in one common ancestor. Starting with the adjective, fine 'of high quality, superior' was first recorded in English around 1250 CE as Middle English as fin 'free of blemish, refined, pure.' It was ( Read more... )