Dictionaries

Patty

Patty

Is there a dictionary of the Origin of Words?  Our two high street bookshops didn't know.
Patty

Katy

Hi Patty. I've got a couple of books that might be of interest:
Dictionary of word origins by John Ayto, published by Bloomsbury, 1991 (the histories of over 8,000 words explained)
The life and times of the English language by Robert Claiborne, published by Bloomsbury, 1990 (the story of how English developed as a world language).

Patty

Thanks Katy.  I'll make a note of those two and order them in time for Christmas.
Patty

Jenny

We've got Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (the origins and development of over 25,000 English words) - our edition is 2001.

It's a fantastic book. It's also very heavy and could have a second use if you want to do any weight training!

Jay Mandal

There's probably a book by Melvyn Bragg - he did a series on television about the English language. Not sure if that's quite what you had in mind. On a light-hearted note, there's Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue.

Jenny

We've got the Melvyn Bragg book - it's very good although it isn't a dictionary. It describes how the English language has evolved with input from invaders and immigrants. Very enlightening!

Carol

I have Cassell's Dictionary of Word Histories, another thickish book, but worth having a look at. I find it useful to check when the word was used generally, and meanings at different time periods.

Jenny

Meanings of some words have changed completely - e.g. nice. And I think that merrie (as in Merrie England) used to have a different meaning - nothing to do with cheerful!

And it's odd that oldfangled turned into old-fashioned, yet newfangled has hung on.

Anyanka

I'm assuming you mean a dictionary of specific word origins rather than the history of language? Try Amazon and type in Etymology. The top result is the Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories, which should be good.

Alternatively, try this website:
http://www.worldwidewords.org/index.htm
But don't complain if you never get anything done again...

Patty

Thanks, comrades.  I'll print all this out so that my husband can choose the books for his birthday and Christmas.  He's a crossword fan.

Jenny

Hope you've got some strong bookcases!

Kangaroo

Here's an online one. www.etymonline.com I hope it helps!

Jenny

Online dictionaries are very useful if you're in a hurry because they go straight to the word you want.

Printed dictionaries have an advantage though. You can't help but get sidetracked by loads of fantastic words you've never heard of before!