Table Of ContentETYMOLOGICAL
DICTIONARY
ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
BY THE REV.
WALTER W. SKEAT
Litt.D., LL.D., D.C.L., Ph.D.
EL.RINGTON AND BOSWORTH PROFESSOR OF ANGl..O-SAXON IN
THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
"Were man to live co-eva I with the sun,
The patriarch-pupil would be leaming still."
YOUNG, Nillh, Thoullh,s, vii. 86
..
CONCISE
ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY
OF THE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
A CONCISE
ETYMOLOGICAL
DICTIONARY
OF THE
English Language
II
BY THE REV.
(
WALTER W. SKEAT I
LITr.D., LL.D., D.C.L., PH.D.
A PERIGEE BOOK
Perigee Books
are published by
G.P. Putnam's Sons
200 Madison Avenue
New York, New York, 10016
First Perigee Printing, 1980
SBN: 399-50049-9
Ninth Impression
Manufactured in the "lnited States of America
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTIO VlI
KEY TO THE GENERAL PLAN OF THE DICTIONARY Xl
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Xli
CONCISE ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY
OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
APPENDIX:
1. LIST OF PREFIXES 624
II. SUFFIXES 630
III. SELECT LIST OF LATIN WORDS II /632
I 644
SELECT LIST OF GREEK WORDS
• I J
IV. DISTRIBUTION OF ,,yORDS ACCORDING TO THE
LANGUAGES FROM WHICH THEY ARE DERIVED 647
INTRODUCTION
THE first edition of my 'Concise Etymological Dictionary of the
English Language' was published in 1882, and it has since passed
through several editions.
Each successive edition contained several corrections and additions,
in order that the work might be, to some extent, brought up to
date.
Meanwhile, numerous and important contributions have been
made, by many writers, to the study of Indo -germanic philology;
more exact methods of analysing phonetic changes have been
adopted, and important advances have been made at many points.
Such works as Kluge's Etymological Dictionary of German, Franck's
Etymological Dictionary of Dutch, Godefroy's Dictionary of Old
French, the Modern French Dictionary by Hatzfeld and Darmesteter,
in addition to other highly important books such as the Comparative
Grammar of the Indo-germanic languages by Brugmann, have all
contributed to a much clearer and more exact view of the science of
comparative philology. Hence the time has come when partial
emendations of my Concise Dictionary, however diligently made,
have (as I fear) failed to keep pace with the requirements of
the present day; and I have accordingly rewritten the book from
beginning to end, making improvements in nearly every article,
whilst at the same time introducing into the body of the work
words which have hitherto necessarily been relegated to a con
tinually increasing Supplement. The result is less a new edition
than a new book.
Since the year 1882 above-mentioned, a great advance has been
made in English lexicography. An entirely new edition of Webster
appeared in 1890, and The Century Dictionary, of which the publication
viii INTRODUCTION
was begun in 1889, was completed in 1891. In both of these works my
name appears in the 'List of Authorities cited'; though it is seldom
expressly mentioned except in cases of considerable difficulty, where
the writer preferred not to risk an opinion of his own. But the chief
event during this period has been the publication of The New
English Dictionary on Historical Principles, the unique value of
which is even now too little understood and respected by /the
general public. The first part of this great national work appeared
in 1884.
The chief difference between the second and later editions of my
Concise Etymological Dictionary and the present one can now be
readily explained. The former editions were mainly reproduced from
the first edition, at a time when, from the nature of the case, little
help could be had from the works above-mentioned, owing to the
fact that they either did not exist or could not be much utilised.
But in the present work, I have endeavoured to glean from them all
their most important results. The work has been collated with the
Century Dictionary throughout, and with the New English Dictionary
from A to H (excepting a small portion of G). I have endeavoured
to make good use of Kluge, Franck, Brugmann, and other autho
rities; and have gladly adopted a large number of corrections. In
particular, I have now marked the quantities of all the vowels
in Latin words, as this often throws much light upon Romance
phonology. And in many cases where the result is tolerably certain
I have given the primitive types of Teutonic and even of Indo-germanic
words.
In all former editions, I endeavoured, by help of cross-references,
to arrange derivative words under a more primitive form. Thus
ex-cile, in-cile, re-cile and rems-cil-ale were all given under Cile.
But experience has shewn that this endeavour was more ambitious
than practical, often causing needless delay and trouble. Hence the
only truly practical order, viz. an alphabetical one, has been here
adopted, so that the required word can now be found at once. But
in order to retain the chief advantages of the old plan, I have pre
pared two lists, one of Latin and one of Greek words, which account
for a large number of derivatives. These will be found in · the
Appendix, § III, at pp. 632 and 644.
I have much pleasure in mentioning two more circumstances by
which I have been greatly assisted and encouraged. Some few years
INTRODUCTION ix
ago, my friend the Rev. A. L. Mayhew was so good as to go patiently
through every word of the Concise Etymological Dictionary, making
hundreds of suggestions for improvement; and finally sent me the
copy in which all these suggestions were entered. They have all
been carefully considered, and in a very large number of instances
have been fully adopted. Again, while the revises were passing
through the press, they were read over by Mr. H. M. Chadwick, M.A.,
FeUow of Clare CoIlege, Cambridge, author of 'S!::Jies in Old
English' published by the Cambridge Philological Society in 1899;
and his exact knowledge of Indo -germanic phonology has been
suggestive of many improvements. I have only to add, in justice to
these scholars, that they are not responsible for all the results here
given. In some few cases I have held to my own preconceived
opinion; perhaps not always wisely. Still it was best that the final
form of each article should be left to the author's decision; for the
reader is then sure as to where he must lay any blame.
Many articles which, in former editions, appeared only in the
Supplement have now been incorporated with the rest, so that the
number of words now explained (in alphabetical order) amounts to
more than 12,750.
Considerable pains have been taken to ensure accuracy in the
printing of the forms cited; and I have received much help from the
care exercised by the press-reader. At the same time, I shall be
thankful to any reader who will kindly send me a note of any error
which he may detect. I have myself discovered, for example, that
under the word Cemtlery the 'Skt. fi' is an error for the 'Skt. fi:
A few belated corrections appear at pp. 662-3.
As I frequently allude to the ordinary vowel-changes in the course
of the work, I may note here those which are the most elementary
and common. They deserve to be learnt by heart at once.
ANGLO-SAXON. The most usual vowel-change is that produced
by the occurrence of an i or j (which often disappears by a subsequent
contraction of the word) in the following syllable. Owing to this, we
