Encyclopedia > List of archaic English words and their modern equivalents
This is a list of archaic English words and their modern equivalents. These words and spellings are now considered archaic or obsolete within the current status of the English language. Given both the rapidity of change in modern English and the number of versions used by nations and cultures, it should be borne in mind that dates are approximate and that the information here may not apply to all versions of English. In language, an archaism is the deliberate use of an older form that has fallen out of current use. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
The evolution of the English language is characterized by three phases. The first period dates from approximately 450 (the settlement of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in England) to 1066 AD (the Norman Conquest). At this time the language made use of almost full inflexion, and is called Anglo-Saxon, or more exactly Old English. The second period dates from the Norman Conquest to probably c.1400 (though some books differ on when this period ends) and is called Middle English. During this time the majority of the inflections disappeared, and many Norman and French words joined the language because of the profound influence of the Anglo-Norman ruling class. The third period dates from about 1400 to today (2007), and is known as Modern English, though until recently it was called New English. During the Modern English period, thousands of words have been derived by scholars from the Classical languages. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 languages. ... English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers and Roman auxiliary troops from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the Northern Netherlands. ... Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon[1], Old English: ) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ... Norman is a Romance language and one of the Oïl languages. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...
The impact of dictionaries in the definition of obsolescent or archaic forms has caused the standardization of spelling, hence many variant forms have fallen into disuse. This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...
It should be noted that often poets and writers of prose with a very strong feel for the language may on occasion deliberately choose to use archaisms to emphasize a certain point or to create a mood.
Archaisms in the English language
Original word
Origin
Meaning
Example
Comments
an
unknown
historical form of if
used in Shakespearian/vulgar language
art
form of the verb 'to be', from Old English eart.
present second-person singular form of the verb be. "Are".
…Who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry? (Psalm 76:7)
used in Biblical/Shakespearian/poetical language
astonied
past participle of 'astony' from Middle Englishastonien < Old French estoner < Vulgar Latin *extonare = 'to thunder'
to stun, amaze, or astonish; astound or bewilder
…and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice. (Ezra 9:4)
used in Biblical/Shakespearian/poetical language
aye
unknown, possibly similar to yay(see below)
yes
Still common in Scotland, some Commonwealth countries.
betwixt
from Old English betweohs or dativebetweoxum (between)
between
…He shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.(Song of Solomon 1:13)
used in Biblical/Shakespearian/poetical language, also used in some Southern and Appalachiandialects of the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries.
an obscure and seldom used word for a short sword.
Ha, thou mountain-foreigner! Sir John and Master mine, I combat challenge of this lattenbilbo. Word of denial in thy labras here! Word of denial: froth and scum, thou liest! (William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor (Act1, Scene 1)
Bilbo is one of the Basque words for Bilbao, formerly called Bilboa in English.
Possibly related to the widespread minting of counterfeit coins in the 18th cent.
a counterfeiter
Enjoy your perch up there, Mister Newton, because Jack the Coiner has come back to London-town, and he aims to knock you down; the game has begun and may the best man win! (Neal Stephenson, The Confusion)
Used in 14th Century. A remnant survives in the phrase "cracked and crazed", also in ceramics where a glaze that has fine lines like cracks is called a craze. A modern usage would be in "crazed paving".
The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue. (Proverbs 25:23)
used in Biblical, Shakespearian and poetical language.
drab
unknown
a prostitute
Finger of birth-strangled babe, ditch-delivered by a drab. (Shakespeare's Macbeth)
dream
A part of the root stock of the OE vocabulary.
joy
Under the influence of Old Norse speakers in England, the word dream changed its meaning from ``joy, festivity, noisy merriment" to ``a sleeping vision". Died out before the 13th century.
ducats
A bullion coin (not legal tender) used in international trade
used in the vulgar language, compare to German nichts
over the broomstick
unknown
to be married in a folk ceremony and not recognized by the law. Still commonly used as part of the ceremony in modern Pagan weddings by Wiccans, Witches and other alternative spiritualities.
"Then if somebody been wantin' to marry they step over the broom and it be nounced they married" (Slave NarrativesBetty Curlett of Hazen, Arkansas).
Thou art my God, and I will praise thee:thou art my God, I will exalt thee. (Psalm 118:28)
"Thee" is used when it is the grammatical object, "thou" when it is the subject. "Thy" and "thine" are both genitives, but "thine" is only used in front of an initial vowel or h. Still used in Biblical/Shakespearian/poetical language. Also still used in northern dialects of British English e.g. Yorkshire.
past-tense second person singular of be, used with thou
If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous. (Job 8:6)
The original form was "were", which underwent analogical reformation in Early Modern English. Shakespeare used the form "wert," while the King James Bible used "wast" for the indicative, and "wert" for the subjunctive.
Used in the vulgar language. Not to be mistaken for the similarly-spelt term yeah, which has a different pronounciation.
zounds
corrupted form of "God's wounds"
expletive
Still used occasionally in British English, but its taboo has disappeared. It was originally a very offensive exclamative, often considered immensely blasphemous. Used often in Shakespearian literature, alongside 'sblood (which has a similar meaning).
Phonological history of the English language vowels:short A ·low back vowels ·high back vowels ·high front vowels ·diphthongs · changes before historic l · changes before historic r consonants: rhoticity ·flapping · l-vocalization ·consonant clusters ·wh ·fricatives and affricates · th-alveolarization ·th-fronting · th-glottalization · th-stopping · then-thyn split Within each section, changes are in approximate chronological order. ... // Phonological history of the low front vowels æ-tensing Bad-lad split Trap-bath split Phonological history of the low back vowels Main article: Phonological history of the low back vowels Father-bother merger Lot-cloth split Cot-caught merger Phonological history of the high back vowels Foot-goose merger and... // Trap-bath split The trap-bath split is a vowel split that occurs mainly in southern varieties of English English (including Received Pronunciation), in the Boston accent, and in the Southern Hemisphere accents (Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English), by which the Early Modern English phoneme was lengthened... // The father-bother merger is a merger of the Early Modern English vowels and that occurs in almost all varieties of North American English (exceptions are accents in northeastern New England (such as the Boston accent) and New York-New Jersey English. ... Most dialects of modern English have two high back vowels: the close back rounded vowel found in words like goose, and the near-close near-back rounded vowel found in words like foot. ... The high front vowels of English have undergone a variety of changes over time, which may vary from dialect to dialect. ... Note: This article deals sound changes involving English-language diphthongs. ... // Salary-celery merger The salary-celery merger is a conditioned merger of (as in bat) and (as in bet) when they occur before , thus making salary and celery homophones. ... The English language has undergone a number of phonological changes before the historic phoneme . ... // H-cluster reductions The h-cluster reductions are various consonant clusters beginning with /h/ that have in the occurred in the history of English that have lost the /h/ in certain dialects. ... English pronunciation is divided into two main accent groups, the rhotic and non-rhotic, depending on when the phoneme (the letter r) is pronounced. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... In linguistics, l-vocalization is a process by which an sound (a lateral consonant) is replaced by a vowel or semivowel sound. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... The hole-whole merger is the replacement of with before the vowels and which occurred in Old English resulting in the following pronunciations: who - whom - whole - whore - hole and whole became homophonous. ... // H-dropping is a colloquial term used to describe the omission of initial in words like house, heat, and hangover in many dialects of English, such as Cockney and Estuary English. ... Th-alvealarization is a process that occurs in some African varieties of English where the dental fricatives /ð, θ/ merge with the alveolar stops /z, s/. In African varieties with the merger, the following words are homophonous: zen, then zees, these sink, think sinks, thinks sinking, thinking sing, thing sings, things sank... TH fronting is a merger that occurs (historically independently) in Cockney, Newfoundland English, and African American Vernacular English (though the details differ among those accents), by which Early Modern English merge with . ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Th-stopping is the realization of the dental fricatives as stops, which occurs in several dialects of English. ... The then-thyn split was a phonemic split of the Old English phoneme /θ/ into two phonemes /ð/ and /θ/ occurring in Early Middle English which resulted in then and thyn (thin) starting with different inital consonant, /ð/ and /θ/. In Old English, the phoneme /θ/ had two allophones, one voiced and one voiceless, which were...
English is descended from the language spoken by the Germanic tribes, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes (Vikings), that began populating the British Isles around 500 AD.
ModernEnglish, the language described by this article, began its rise around the time of William Shakespeare and its grammar and pronunciation has been essentially the same since that time, with the most important changes being in the large increase of vocabulary.
English is the most widely used "second" and "learning" language in the world, and as such, many linguists believe, it is no longer the exclusive cultural emblem of "native English speakers", but rather a language that is absorbing aspects of cultures worldwide as it grows in use.
English is descended from the language spoken by the Germanic tribes, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, that began populating the British Isles around 500 AD.
English is the first language in Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Guyana, Jamaica, New Zealand, Antigua, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
English grammar is based on that of its Germanic roots, though some scholars during the 1700s and 1800s attempted to impose Latin grammar upon it, with little success.
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