Word Histories and Mysteries: From Abracadabra to Zeus (American Heritage Dictionaries)

Did you know that cats are related etymologically to caterpillars? Or that Thomas Edison played a key role in popularizing the use of the greeting “Hello”? Or that muscles were originally mice, since a flexed biceps looks like a little rodent scurrying under the skin? Word Histories and Mysteries provides a panoramic view of the unique richness of English, uncovering the origins of five hundred everyday words whose surprising and often amusing stories offer insights into the history of humankind. Arranged in convenient alphabetical order, the notes are written in a lively and entertaining style perfect for browsing. The reader can learn how some of the most recent words, such as the computer term wiki, were coined, or trace the origins of English back to the Indo-European language spoken long before the invention of writing. A short introduction outlines the techniques linguists use to trace the history of words, and a handy glossary explains the linguistic terms that describe the ways in which language changes over time. Photographs and drawings help familiarize the reader with the ancient objects or cultural practices from which our words have sprung. Fascinating and fun to read, Word Histories and Mysteries is an ideal gift for high school or college students interested in language and for anyone who wants to know more about the curious sounds we make to communicate every day. Cover Page 1 Title Page 4 ISBN 9780618454501 5 Table of Contents 6 Editorial and Production Staff 8 Introduction 10 A 18 abracadabra 18 accolade 19 acorn 19 acre 20 admiral 20 a-hunting 21 alcohol 22 alibi 23 aloof 24 Amazon 25 ambition 25 an 26 antenna 27 apron 27 arena 28 artichoke 29 asparagus 29 asset 30 atlas 31 attic 31 average 32 avocado 33 B 34 baby-sit 34 badger 35 ballot 35 banquet 36 barnacle 36 bayonet 37 bead 38 bed 38 beef 39 belfry 39 berserk 40 Betelgeuse 41 bigot 41 bless 42 blurb 42 book 43 boomerang 43 boutique 44 boycott 45 bridal 45 broker 46 buccaneer 46 buffalo 47 bumpkin 47 bury 48 bus 48 butterfly 49 bylaw 50 C 51 candidate 51 canter 52 cappuccino 52 caprice 53 caricature 54 carouse 54 catch 55 caterpillar 56 cattle 56 caviar 57 chagrin 58 chai 59 chameleon 60 chaperon 61 charming 62 chauvinism 63 check 64 child 65 china 65 chivalry 66 chortle 66 churl 67 ciao 68 cleric 68 cloud 69 clove 70 clue 70 coach 71 cockroach 72 cocoa 72 cologne 73 colonel 73 comet 74 comfort 74 coroner 75 costume 76 cot 76 coward 77 crayfish 77 crisscross 78 croissant 78 cuckold 79 curfew 80 cushy 80 cute 81 cynic 81 D 82 daisy 82 dandelion 83 debunk 83 deer 84 delight 84 delta 85 Democrat 86 derrick 87 dervish 88 desert 88 digitalis 89 dinner 89 dirge 90 disaster 90 dismal 91 ditto 92 dog 92 dollar 93 donkey 94 drench 96 dress 97 dunce 97 dungeon 98 E 99 easel 99 Easter 99 eavesdropper 100 economy 101 electricity 101 eleven 102 empty 102 encyclopedia 103 English 103 ennui 104 enthusiasm 104 envelope 105 ethnic 106 eureka 106 F 108 fan 108 farm 109 fascism 110 fawn 110 fee 111 fellow 111 female 112 fey 113 filibuster 113 film 114 fire 115 flour 115 flunky 116 fond 117 fool 118 fornication 118 frank 118 freeze 119 Friday 120 funky 121 G 122 galore 122 gangplank 123 garage 124 garlic 124 gauntlet 125 geezer 126 giddy 126 glamour 127 glitch 128 goatee 128 god 129 goodbye 130 gorilla 131 gossip 131 Gothic 132 gremlin 132 gringo 133 grog 134 guillotine 134 gun 135 guppy 136 guy 136 H 138 hamburger 138 hangnail 139 harlot 140 hearse 140 heart 141 heist 143 hell 144 hello 145 hermetic 146 hex 146 high muckamuck 147 hobby 147 hobnob 148 honcho 149 hooker 149 humble pie 150 husband 151 hussy 151 I 153 iconoclast 153 ignoramus 154 ilk 155 imp 155 impeach 156 inch 156 inkling 157 interloper 157 internecine 158 island 159 it 160 J 162 janitor 162 Japan 163 jaunty 164 jeans 165 jeopardy 165 journeyman 166 jukebox 166 jungle 167 junk 167 K 168 kale 168 kangaroo 169 ketchup 170 kidnap 171 kiosk 172 kith and kin 172 L 174 laconic 174 landscape 175 larva 175 lava 176 lawn 176 leap year 177 lemon 177 lemur 178 Lent 179 leprechaun 179 lewd 180 liberal 180 limbo 181 lingo 181 lion 182 litmus 183 loaf 183 lobster 184 long-lived 184 lucre 185 M 186 maharajah 186 mail 187 malaprop 187 malaria 188 mantis 188 marshal 189 mascot 189 mattress 190 maudlin 191 mayday 192 meat 192 menu 193 mesmerize 193 mess 194 metal 194 methinks 195 midwife 196 migraine 196 milquetoast 197 miniature 197 Mississippi 198 mob 199 modern 199 Monday 200 money 201 mortgage 201 mosquito 202 muscle 202 mutt 203 N 204 namby-pamby 204 nap 205 naughty 205 nausea 206 neighbor 206 nerd 207 nest 208 nice 208 nickel 209 nicotine 209 nightmare 210 niobium 211 noise 211 nonchalant 212 numb 212 O 213 obvious 213 October 213 oil 214 OK 215 ombudsman 215 one 216 opossum 217 orange 217 orgy 218 oscillate 219 outlaw 220 oxygen 220 oyez 221 P 222 pal 222 palace 223 pan out 223 pander 224 pants 225 parachute 225 paradise 226 pariah 227 pasta 227 patter 228 pawn 228 pay 230 pea 230 pedigree 231 pen 232 penicillin 232 peninsula 233 penthouse 233 period 234 petrel 235 pickle 235 plumber 236 poison 236 pompadour 237 poodle 238 porpoise 238 post 239 posthumous 240 prestige 241 pretzel 241 priest 242 prize 242 Procrustean 243 protean 243 prude 244 prune 244 pupil 245 Q 246 quahog 246 quaint 247 quark 247 queen 248 queue 249 quibble 250 quiche 250 quicksilver 251 quiz 251 R 252 racket 252 raid 253 rajah 253 rankle 254 read 254 reindeer 255 revamp 256 rhinestone 256 right 257 robot 257 rocket 258 role 259 romance 259 roster 260 rubber 261 rune 261 S 263 sack 263 salad 264 sandwich 264 sanguine 265 sarcophagus 265 satellite 266 satin 267 Saturday 268 saw 269 scan 270 scarce 271 scold 271 scuba 272 second 272 seersucker 273 sequoia 274 serendipity 274 shadow 275 sherbet 276 short shrift 276 skirt 277 slave 278 sleuth 279 slogan 279 smog 280 soccer 280 soldier 281 soothsayer 281 south 282 speak 282 spell 283 spoof 284 spree 284 starve 285 story 285 suede 286 sunbeam 287 Sunday 288 supercilious 289 surly 289 syphilis 290 syringe 291 T 292 taboo 292 tadpole 293 talent 293 tantalize 294 tattoo 295 tavern 295 tawdry 296 tea 296 telephone 297 temple 298 testis 299 testy 300 they 300 thimble 301 third 301 Thursday 302 ticket 304 tide 304 tithe 305 toady 306 Tokyo 306 tomato 307 tooth 308 torpedo 308 torte 309 travel 309 treason 310 trivial 311 Tuesday 311 tulip 313 turkey 313 tweed 314 tycoon 314 typhoon 315 U 317 ukulele 317 uncouth 319 unkempt 319 upholster 320 uranium 320 V 322 victual 322 villain 323 vixen 323 vogue 324 vulgar 324 W 326 walrus 326 war 327 warlock 328 water 328 wedlock 329 Wednesday 330 weird 331 went 332 werewolf 333 whiskey 333 whore 334 wiki 335 window 336 winsome 336 wizard 337 write 337 X 339 xenophobia 339 Xmas 341 x-ray 341 Y 342 yacht 342 Yankee 343 yoga 344 yolk 344 Yule 345 Z 346 za 346 Zen 347 zero 347 Zeus 348 zither 349 Glossary 350 ablative 350 accent 350 acronym 350 Anglo-Norman 350 Algonquian 350 article 351 alteration 351 attestation 351 Australian Aboriginal language 351 Austronesian 351 back-formation 351 Bambara 351 blend 351 borrowing 351 case 352 causative 352 clipping 352 clipped form) 352 cluster 352 cognate 352 coinage 352 compound 353 contamination 353 creole 353 derive 353 dialect 353 dialect borrowing 354 mixture) 354 diminutive 354 diphthong 354 dissimilation 354 doublet 354 etymology 354 false splitting 354 recutting) 354 family 355 feminine 355 folk etymology 355 gender 355 Germanic 355 Grimm’s Law 355 High German 356 Indo-European 356 Irish 356 Latin 356 loan translation 356 Low German 356 masculine 356 melioration 357 metathesis 357 Middle Chinese 357 neuter 357 New Latin 357 Old French 357 Old Norse 357 palatalization 357 parent language 357 participle 358 pejoration 358 pejorative 358 prefix 358 reconstruction 358 reduplication 358 respelling 358 Romance language 359 root 359 Saami 359 schwa 359 Scots 359 Scottish Gaelic 359 semantic change 359 Semitic language family 359 specialization 359 sound change 360 stem 360 suffix 360 suppletion 360 syllable 360 taboo avoidance 361 tone 361 Verner’s Law 361 vocative 361 voiced 361 voiced aspirate 361 voiceless 361 Vulgar Latin 361 Wolof 362 Yiddish 362 The Indo-European Family of Languages 363 Picture Credits 365 Back Page 366 ISBN-13:,9780618454501,ISBN-10:,0618454500 ISBN-13: 9780618454501,ISBN-10: 0618454500 "Language aficionados will discover the unexpected links between such seemingly unrelated words as guest, hostility, and xenophobia - hidden connections often dating back over six thousand years ago to Proto-Indo-European, the ancestor of English spoken long before the invention of writing. English has also borrowed extensively from a veritable Babel of the world's tongues, both ancient and modern, and readers can trace here all the surprising twists and turns that words have made on their way into everyday use. The techniques that linguists use to follow the history of words are carefully explained along the way, and dozens of photographs and drawings illustrate the eclectic pleasures of English etymology."--Jacket