& FREE Returns

Temporarily out of stock.
Order now and we'll deliver when available. Details

Want it faster? The Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app.

[{"displayPrice":"$94.95","priceAmount":94.95,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"94","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"95","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"RP5iWiKMhiGc%2BnwJX2zAUkYsREULzdSY6uWCUgv0sHUg3RUDpzEV9HTiRkDbhwkaoDXnXNi9EUo54%2BXZ6eQiXUAS80%2Bp%2BzNRu%2BEwm3Dw3JnxUo0z8LMQ8pLLop6rt1Zn86WknIRWqGY%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW"},{"displayPrice":"$44.50","priceAmount":44.50,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"44","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"50","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"5D5lYy2CVRkSLZEN9GkUER3HNKVSBUcajA%2FF1fXQA23BvC4150rMybQLL4%2FCXsKry00QpZYMz9xfYV9h8U8D9cFpKIE671Lmn9XFM0fkiIdPw95UVYLNthrDW9QaX0uZUldx8K2AOs11aKKzmdNDuJc0o3kxbDkdIsccHf90a37rPrP%2FT7rZxA%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]

$$94.95 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Secure transaction

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Return policy: Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

FREE delivery Wednesday, August 24

Or fastest delivery Tuesday, August 23. Order within 16 hrs 23 mins

Select delivery location

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by Fast Prime Media

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Share <Embed>

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$103.00
& FREE Shipping

Sold by: TheProductsHub

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Follow the Author

Eric Partridge

Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English 1st Edition

by Eric Partridge (Author)

48 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$56.49

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$9.27

$31.56

$3.24

Paperback

"Please retry"

$94.95

$40.50

Enhance your purchase

This dictionary gives the origins of some 20,000 items from the modern English vocabulary, discussing them in groups that make clear the connections between words derived by a variety of routes from originally common stock. As well as giving the answers to questions about the derivation of individual words, it is a fascinating book to browse through, since every page points out links with other entries. It is easy to pursue such trails as the longer articles are written as continuous prose clearly divided up by means of numbered paragraphs and subheadings, and there is a careful system of cross-references. In addition to the main A-Z listing, there are extensive lists of prefixes, suffixes, and elements used in the creation of new vocabulary.

ISBN-10

0415474337
ISBN-13

978-0415474337
Edition

1st
Publisher

Routledge
Publication date

September 7, 1977
Language

English
Dimensions

6.1 x 2.1 x 9.1 inches
Print length

972 pages
See all details

John Ayto
597
Paperback
45 offers from $5.26
Robert K. Barnhart
128
Hardcover
70 offers from $7.44
C.T. Onions
280
Hardcover
44 offers from $41.79
Mark Forsyth
1,488
Paperback
57 offers from $4.95
Robert K. Barnhart
317
Hardcover
49 offers from $11.00

John Ayto
597
Paperback
45 offers from $5.26
Robert K. Barnhart
128
Hardcover
70 offers from $7.44
C.T. Onions
280
Hardcover
44 offers from $41.79

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 1st edition (September 7, 1977)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 972 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0415474337
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0415474337
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.25 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 2.1 x 9.1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,052,393 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #434 in Journalism
- #523 in Dictionaries (Books)
- #633 in Etymology (Books)

Customer Reviews:
48 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Eric Partridge

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

5 star		69%
4 star		14%
3 star		10%
2 star		3%
1 star		4%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

G. Johnson

Useful, Fun, even if you have other dictionaries

Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2011

Verified Purchase

I am an English teacher and have amateur interest in linguistics, languages, and the history of the English language/ European languages. I am not a professional linguist or grad student and do not have other experiences with other etymological dictionaries. I do own the giant two volume Oxford Shorter Dictionary. That all said, I really like this Origins book. It is very easy to use, all abbreviations are intuitively comprehensible, and if not, easily looked up. Words with similar/ same root/ origin are clearly cross-referenced and it is really fun to see the connections and development of the language over time. Especially of our English(Germanic) origins, which have been sacrificed in favor of Gr/Latin for hundreds of years. (One recent discovery, "free" comes from an old word for "love", also the origin of friend and Friday- love day). The OED Shorter has basic etymology, but Origins has a lot more information, and parallel words in many languages. I recommend getting it, even if you have another dictionary with some etymology, and even second hand.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Tom

The place where words come from.

Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2009

Verified Purchase

I found this difficult to read, at first, because of the abbreviations used (literally 100's of different ones throughout the book) in each definition, but caught onto them over time. You get used to flipping to check the key when an uncommon abbreviation comes up. Once I became accustomed to that....it really opened up a wealth of knowledge.

This is a great resource, and highly recommended for anyone deeply interested in Etymology. It contrasts nicely with the online Etymology dictionaries, since the information offered in the book is a bit more in depth. The book also does a better job of cross-referencing related words than any website could.

It's an older book (the author died in 1979), but the information in here never gets old. The new print is pricey, but you can pick up used copies for a fair price. It's a great addition to any reference shelf.

Highly recommended, if you are an Etymology geek.

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

K. Parent

Two (generous) stars for Kindle edition only

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2011

Verified Purchase

First of all, the text itself is great, and I have little doubt that the paper edition is unproblamtic. My comments here apply only to the Kindle edition. The people who edited this fine text for the Kindle must not be Kindle users themselves. I recently needed the etymology of the word 'much.' However, the only way to get there is to do a search for the word 'much,' and of course, this produces 30 pages of hits, each with six results, or 180 all together. For each, the Kindle displays limited context, so you can rule out some of them, but others looked like the possible entry. After a few false hits, I finally arrived at the actual entry (from the 15th page of results), only for it to refer me to the entry for 'master.' This dictionary is full of such cross-references, which is fine except that they are not hyper-linked, so you will have to do another search or try to find the correct hit amongst the current search results. Thus we have a dictionary with no proper way to look up words. It's an extremely small minority of dictionary-users who read the tome cover-to-cover, and it's unfortunate that the Kindle edition was prepared in such an effortless manner that only such people are inconvenienced.

I implore the publisher to take this into consideration. Kindle editions can be revised and re-downloaded at no cost to the user, and I request such a revision. Kindle dictionaries actually have a look-up function which was not used for this product.

Weigh this complaint against the fact that this is a US$60 purchase and not the $9.99 that most non-academic Kindle books are priced at. I don't mind paying more for scholarly work (and fortunately my purchase came out of grant money, which is the only reason I'm not returning it), but given that the author has been dead for over 30 years, this is an awful lot of money to be going to editors who didn't do enough work on the Kindle edition to justify their job titles.

If the dictionary is revised in such a way that looking up words is a task easily accomplished, I will happily remove this review and replace it with the glowing review that the text itself deserves. I certainly don't think that the ability to look up words in a dictionary directly is an unreasonable request nor do I think implementing such a method would be difficult for the publisher as it involves a function the Kindle already provides but which the publisher didn't use.

31 people found this helpful

Helpful

Chukwunenye

I love this classic

Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2014

Verified Purchase

I love this classic. Etymology dictionary should be in every home that speaks English. i grew up in a culture that speaks language with concrete idea, due to English translation, the ideas in the words have been lost. This has helped me to know the actual meaning to words in English and their origin.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

alwaysmprest

Partridge: always the best of the etymological dictionaries!

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2017

Verified Purchase

Nice, 40 year old copy of Partridge's Etymological Dictionary. As an official English Major, I've owned and tried out at least 4 etymological dictionaries, and several thesaurus/dictionary combinations. Most are dry as dust, but Partridge managed to go for the subtle information that underlies what words really mean, and how they started (and how the origins color the background emotional behind words. Best to get a used hardback in Very Good condition, because it will be in use for years. (I've had mine since the 1980's, and this is a present for a son-in-law who likes looking up words in the unabridged dictionary.)

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

steve

Wonderful resource

Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2020

Verified Purchase

Arrived on time and in great condition. A great addition to my library.

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2014

Verified Purchase

Fine print, lots of info, but not quite as "readable" a book as expected. I had thought I might browse through at times for misc. trivia of interest. Not really, but it's handy for reference.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Diana A. Hendricks

Three Stars

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2018

Verified Purchase

Actually expected something very different. Okay as a dictionary.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Bob Harvey

not brilliant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2013

Verified Purchase

This is a well-known book and I suppose I had very high expectations that it would contain more detailed and academically referenced definitions than it actually does. I found most of the content obvious or even dull, and cannot honestly say it helps me very much.

The book covers the obvious, not the difficult, particularly with place name elements.

Katherine van Haeften

Well received

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 1, 2015

Verified Purchase

Present for a young uni student at Cambridge

One person found this helpful

G. Martorana

A consulting book

Reviewed in Italy on June 6, 2017

Verified Purchase

I only consulted it a couple of times,but iy seems a good guide to the origins of English language words.

Genevieve Matte

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on October 3, 2017

Verified Purchase

What I expected, thank you.

caperucita

複数の単語を一網打尽にして覚えよう！

Reviewed in Japan on April 6, 2011

Verified Purchase

ここ数年「英単語を語源で覚えよう」というのが静かなブームですが、日本語で書かれた語源本のほとんどの底本が本書もしくは:

The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots

です。

American Heritageの方は価格も安く、サイズも小さく、持ち運びに便利ですが、内容が専門的過ぎ、文字がビッシリ細かく、無機的で、かなり使いづらいです（絶対に愛読なんてムリでしょう）。本格的に比較言語学をやられる方以外にとっては、こちらのOriginsの方が100倍ぐらい読みやすいし、役に立ちます（と言っても、もちろん、内容は十分専門的ですが）。単語別に語源を調べようとするのでなく、語根・語源別に複数の単語を「一網打尽にして覚えよう」という意図なら、絶対にこちらがおすすめ！です。

4 people found this helpful

Translate review to English

See all reviews