The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories (Oxford Paperback Reference) (Paperback)

by Glynnis Chantrell (Editor)
Key Phrases: past participial stem, early recorded sense, prime current sense, Middle English, Old French, Old English (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Dictionaries of etymology and word histories differ greatly in what is increasingly being called "accessibility" or "user-friendliness." This new work from Oxford, which provides the histories of more than 12,000 words, is definitely on the accessible side. Virtually all of the words are common, "everyday" words--core words--with only a handful of the exotics to which editors of other collections of word histories are drawn. Chantrell discusses the words straightforwardly and with a bit more vivacity than might be expected. In addition, her information is undoubtedly fresher than anyone else's, drawn as it is from the database of ongoing research for the Oxford English Dictionary.

Each entry includes the date of first recorded use and a brief discussion of the term's origin and evolution. Prefixes are treated in boxed "Wordbuilding" features. A distinct gesture of friendliness on Chantrell's part is her decision to spell out words that would ordinarily be abbreviated in scholarly works and even in some nonscholarly dictionaries. T. F. Hoad's Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (Oxford, 1993), perhaps the most accessible of the scholarly choices, is prefaced by a list of almost 400 abbreviations, the use of which no doubt contributed substantially to its conciseness. In another nod to user-friendliness, many of the words abbreviated in Hoad--ablative, substantival, indeclinable, frequentative, and so on--are not to be found in Chantrell's word histories.

Still, within the zone of popular word histories, Chantrell sets herself against several formidable and well-established competitors, among them John Ciardi's Good Words to You: An All-New Dictionary and Native's Guide to the Unknown American Language (Harper, 1987), John Ayto's Dictionary of Word Origins (Arcade, 1993), and Adrian Room's A Dictionary of True Etymologies (Routledge, 1986). The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories is recommended for libraries that need to freshen or expand their collection of word history resources. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
This useful book explains the meaning of English words, but only in the course of giving a very concise history, uncluttered by quotations and examples of usage, of how they came to mean what they do. Look up 'egregious', for instance, and you discover that its current meaning of 'remarkably bad' has somehow morphed from an original meaning of 'remarkably good', probably via an ironic usage of the former. In general, it's fascinating to be reminded of how many English words have a root in Old English. And perhaps surprising to find how many 'slang' usages which seem very modern actually originate in the 1920s and 1930s ('funny money', and 'fuzz' meaning police, for instance). It's both a valuable resource for reference, and almost endlessly intriguing to dip into in a serendipitous way. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 582 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198608934
• ISBN-13: 978-0198608936
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #861,692 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Shallow Look At Dull Words, February 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories (Hardcover)

First off, the Editorial Review is somewhat misleading, as there are very few idioms ("say it with flowers" is not one of them) in this book. The book is mainly concerned with words originating from Middle or Old English -- that is, words whose origins are straightforward.

I was hoping for a book that would discuss modern words with unclear (like "hooker", "skyscraper", or "reefer"), and include idioms common in today's speech. This book seems to limit its entries to words with easy-to-trace origins, and idioms (like "spick and span") that don't see much usage in the books I read.

There must be a better reference out there.

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars completely redundant, November 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories (Hardcover)

Almost every entry here is a straightforward, unimaginative transcription of the short etymology feature included in ANY dictionary of the English language. A typical entry in this book reads (in full): "Slander: Slander is from Old French esclandre, an alteration of escandle, from late Latin scandalum 'scandal'." Which, as you can see, doesn't contain a single iota of information you couldn't find from the entry for "slander" in Webster, American Heritage, OED, or any halfway decent dictionary. This book is both a redundancy and a rip-off. Stay away.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Could have been better..., October 23, 2004

By	T. Burger (Chicago) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories (Paperback)

This is a slightly disappointing book. Not because it isn't a quality book, but because there's a non-Oxford book in publication that's better: John Ayto's Dictionary of Word Origins.

Here's an example of how they differ on entries. First is the Oxford entry, second is Ayto's.

PREY [Middle English] Early noun use included the sense 'plunder taken in war' (=that which is 'seized'); it comes from Old French preie, from Latin praeda 'boot'. The verb is from Old French preir, based on Latin praedari 'seize as plunder', from praeda. The verbal phrase prey upon is found from early times.

----

PREY Prey comes via Old French prei from Latin praeda 'booty' (from which was derived the word paredari 'plunder', source of English depradation and predatory). This was a contraction of an earlier praeheda, a noun formed with the prefix prae-'before' from the same base (*hed- 'saize', source also of English get) as produced the verb praehendere 'seize'. This has been a rich source of English vocabulary, contributing through different channels such a varied assortment as prehensile, prison, and prize 'something seized in war', not to mention prefixed forms like apprehend, comprehend, comprise, impgregnable, reprehensible, reprieve, and surprise. It is also the ancestor of French prendre 'take'.

Both are complete entries, but one is obviously more complete than the other.