ENGLISH

Word Origins The Hidden Histories of English Words from A to Z 2nd Ed

By John , Ayto

Book information

Publisher
A&C Black Business Information and Development
Year
2006
ISBN
978-0-7136-7498-9, 0-7136-7498-9, 978-1-4081-0160-5
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
17 MB (17631319 bytes)
Edition
2nd ed
Pages
554\577
Time added
2017-08-15 11:00:00
English language -- Etymology -- Dictionaries;Etym

Description

The average contemporary English speaker knows 50,000 words. Yet stripped down to its origins, this apparently huge vocabulary is in reality much smaller, derived from Latin, French and the Germanic languages. It is estimated that every year, 800 neologisms are added to the English language: acronyms (nimby), blended words (motel), and those taken from foreign languages (savoir-faire). Laid out in an A-Z format with detailed cross references, and written in a style that is both authoritative and accessible, Word Origins is a valuable historical guide to the English language.

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