Customer Reviews

Etymological Dictionary of Modern English (A-K)

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Weekley published his first work of etymology in 1912, The Romance of Words. This edition is a reprint of Weekley's 1921 dictionary. It is a genuine work of scholarship, reflecting the language discoveries of the Victorians in Sanskrit and other ancient languages; it is also replete with citations from English, American and Continental writers--usually major literary figures or literary works. The citations are easy to read and intended for the general reader. The Dover edition is sturdy--in sewn signatures--and inexpensive. Although I wouldn't want to have this as my only etymological dictionary, it is certainly as distinguised as many other dictionaries on the market today. Here's the etymology Weekley gives for that word which so perplexed Stephen Dedalus and made him question his use of the oppressor's tongue: "funnel. ME. fonel, Prov. founhil, enfounhil, L. infundibulum, from fundere, to pour; cf. Sp. fonil, Port. funil. A word from the southern wine-trade, the F. term being etonnoir (see tun). Tunnel is used in same sense in dial. entonnoir: a funnell, or tunning-dish (Cotg.)." Barnhardt adds only a reference to Thomas Nashe in his entry. Skeats' entry is comparable. The OED organizes the information differently but adds nothing. I think this is a useful tool for the money, and I wish I'd owned a copy as an undergraduate.