Dictionary of Word Origins: The Histories of More Than 8,000 English-Language Words. Dieser Artikel ist nicht verfügbar.Dictionary of Word Origins: The Histories of More Than 8,000 English-Language Words

With over 8000 entries, and written for the general market, this volume uncovers the often surprising connections between words. Written in a clear and informative style, the dictionary describes the Indo - European origins of English and includes many new words and coinages adopted each year.

An alphabetical listing of some 8000 English words with their histories, this book omits other dictionary features such as pronunciation, part of speech, and, in most cases, definitions. It is interesting to explore the sometimes surprising groups of related words; under doctor , for example, we are referred to 11 other entries, ranging from dainty to paradox . The date of a word's first appearance in the language is indicated by century or by "OE" for Old English. The author is English, so Americans will miss some typically American words such as raccoon , ranch , or stoop (porch). Like Craig M. Carver's recent (and smaller) History of English in Its Own Words ( LJ 6/15/91), this book is not a reference acquisition for any library owning the OED or Webster's unabridged, but it makes interesting reading for the public library patron or the linguistics or English student.
- Catherine V. von Schon, SUNY at Stony Brook
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.