I
35369
A HISTORY UK
FOREIGN WORD'S
IN ENGLISH
A HISTORY OF
FOREIGN WORDS
IN ENGLISH
BY
MARY S. SERJEANTSON
M.A, (Liverpool), D.PIul. (Orori). Keader in
English Language in the University of London .
NEW YORK
K, P. DUTTON & COMPANY
1930
CONTENTS
CHAP. TAG 33
PRKFACE vii
LUST OF AmmMvrATiONH .... ix
L INTRODUCTORY 1
IF. LATIN WORDS BKVGRK THK CONQUEST ... 11
Til. OTIIKR FORKKIN ELKMICNTS -UKFORN TIIW CONQOTST.
(A) THK (xRKiQK KLMMKNT. (B) TIIK CELTIC
KLKMKNT 51
IV. TlJK SCANDINAVIAN KhKMKNT . 61
V. TIIM KRMNCJH KLKMKNT 104
VL (jo\v (}MUMAN AND Hiuu (JJKRMAN . . 170
VI L THK ITALIAN KUMMNT . . J83
VFIL Ttiw KPANIHH KLMMKNT 195
IX. LOAN-WORDS KROM OTIIKR KUROIKAN JjANcurACJies.
(A) (JKi;ncJ. (H) PORTIWJUMHK. (0) SLAVONIC.
(D) IIUNOAHIAN. (K) MlHdMUiANMOCTK . - 203
X. LOAN-WORDS KUOMTUK KAST. (A)ARAio. (B) INDIAN
DiALFxms. ((}) PKKKIAN. (I 1 )) TURKIC. DIALKOTH. (B)
DRAVIDIAN, (V) HIOMITWI I)IAUT. ((3) TIBBTO-
OHINKHK (II) JAMNIOSK 213
XI. MAhAY-POLYNKHIAN AND AlWTRAMAN . . .241
XII. TIIK LANairACiKH OP AFRIOA 246
XII I. KUOM THK NKW Wow-i) 250
LATOR I^OAN-WOUDM FROM LATIN AND (]RKKK . 259
AlTKNUlK A. J^K-CONQUKHT LOAN-WOJKDH FROM
UTTK 271
vi CONTENTS
PAGE
APPENDIX B. NOTES ON THE PHONOLOGY OF LATIN
LOAN-WOBDS IN OLD ENGLISH .... 289
APPENDIX C. SCANDINAVIAN VOWKLS IN OLD AND
MIDDLE ENGLISH 203
APPENDIX D. NOTES ON THE PHONOMMI Y OK FUKNOH
LOAN-WORDS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH . . . 295
BIBLIOGEAPIIY 301
SUBJECT INDEX 303
WORD INDEX . 307
PREFACE
Tho first thing that is wrong in this book is the title. Very
many of the words dealt with arc certainly not now e foreign ',
but have boon complotoly naturalized in English for centuries.
But since thoy are in origin not of the common Germanic stock,
the phrase * foroign words * may stand, and will perhaps be
pro for rod by Homo to tho tochnical term c loan-words '.
In a volumo which has to cover so long a period as that of the
wholo history of tho English language, tho treatment must
noooswarily bo incomplete. Perhaps tho time has not yet come for
a roally comprehensive work it would need several volumes
on loan-words in KJnglish. A groat doal of spade-work on
individual languagos and problems remains to be done. The
groat Period DiotionarioH now being prepared in America, to
tho publication of which wo aro looking forward, will be of the
utmost value in supplementing the material afforded by the
(h-ford K'Hfll'ixh Dictionary ; and more material may be found in
still unpublished records and accounts of early travellers and
traders.
Tho present volumo does not limit its attention to foreign
words existing in English at tho present day. This would give
a wrong iw proton of earlier periods. It docs not, howevcr 3
attempt to trace tho history of loan-words in all tho local dialects
of Mnglish at all periods; thin requires separate study. Emphasis
has been laid throughout on the/w'/, introductions from individual
languagos and the fmt a[)poaran<'.os of individual words. The
groat ost amount of Hpac^o has boon dovotod to (surly loans from
Latin, French, and Scandinavian, since these, languagos aro the
most important sources of our adoptions. Kxatnplos of the words
in actual use (i.e. quotations from contemporary writers) are
given freely, especially in tho earlier periods.
In the sections on Old English, all tho most important literary
texts, glossaries, mid other documents have boon examined. For
Middle Knglwh only a comparatively small number of what it is
hoped urn roally representative, tuxta arc discussed ; tlwuw are of
vii
viii PREFACE
various types and from various areas. This seemed the best
method of dealing with the masses of material available. In
considering words from Middle English texts it is, of course,
safest to take the words as belonging to the time of the manuscript
used, and not necessarily to that of the original document,
if the former is a copy. There is obviously always the possibility
of changes and additions in copying.
Probably no two people would agree entirely as to what words
should be admitted to such a volume as this, especially when the
words in question come from the more remote languages such as
Chinese, Maori, and so on. Words which are quite familiar to
people who live or have travelled in the East, in Australasia,
in South America, may be quite unknown and of small interest
to those who are familiar only with other parts of the world.
My choice of words to be discussed in the sections on the modern
period may seem arbitrary, but I have tried to include those
which the ordinary English reader is most likely to come across
in not too specialized literature.
The appendices on the phonology of Latin, French, and
Scandinavian words give, as will be seen, only the main features,
and these very briefly ; they are merely intended for reference.
Discussion of controversial matters has been avoided, but
references will in some cases be found in footnotes to books or
articles dealing with individual points.
The Bibliography gives only the most important of the works
which have been consulted. I am most deeply indebted to the
Dictionaries mentioned in this list, and in particular to the
Oxford English Dictionary and the Shorter Oxford English
Dictionary, without whose help this book could certainly not
have been written.
I have to thank my colleague, Dr. E. C. Martin (Header in
Imperial History, University of London), for advice and help
in historical matters, and for her patience in answering questions.
I should also like to thank my family for much practical
assistance, and several generations of students who have helped
by asking questions.
M. S. S.
WESTHELD CO:LLEGE
(UmvEBsiTY OF LONDON).
January, 1935.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
A.-N.,
Anglo-Norman
M.L.G.,
Middle Low German
Ame.r.,
American
Mai,
Malay
Arab.,
Arabic
Med.Lat.,
Mediaeval Latin
Austr.,
Australian
Mex.,
Mexican
JSraz.,
Brazilian
Mod.E.,
Modern English
C.Fr.,
Central French
Mod.Gk.,
Modern Greek
Cawb.,
Caribbean
Mod.Lat. 9
Modern Latin
Ch.,
Chinese
N.F.,
Norman-French
Corn.,
Cornish
O.DU.,
Old Dutch
Dan.,
Danish
O.E.,
Old English
Du.,
Dutch
O.Fr.,
Old French
E.E.T.S.,
Early English Text
O.H.G.,
Old High German
Society
OJr.,
Old Irish
E.Mod.Du.
, Early Modern Dutch
O.N.,
Old Norse
E.Span,.,
Early Spanish
O.S.,
Old Saxon
Eng.,
fflem.,
English
Flemish
O. Span.,
O.W.,
Old Spanish
Old Welsh
French
Pers.,
Persian
Gak.,
Gaelic
Peruv.,
Peruvian
Germ.,
German
Port.,
Portuguese
Gh.,
Greek
Pr.O.N.,
Primitive Old Norse
Gmc.,
Germanic
Prov.,
Provencal
Goth.,
Gothic
Rom.,
Romance
Hait.,
Haitian
Russ.,
Russian
Heb.,
Hebrew
S.Amer.,
South American
Hind.,
Hindustani
Scand.,
Scandinavian
Hung.,
lr.,
Hungarian
Irish
Scrt. 9
S^nghal.,
Sanscrit
Singhalese
Ital.,
Italian
Slav.,
Slavonic
Jap.,
Japanese
Span.,
Spanish
Jav.,
Javanese
Sw&d
Swedish
L.G.,
Low Gorman
Turk.,
Turkish
Lai.,
M.DU.,
Latin
Middle Dutch
Vulg.Lat.,
Vulgar Latin
Middle English
Middle Flemish
w.,
W.Afr.,
Welsh
West African.
M.H.G.*,'
Middle High German
W.Flem.,
West Flemish
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
The English language has throughout its history accepted
with comparative equanimity words from other languages with
which it has been in contact, and though there have been periods
during which speakers and writers of English have made use
of foreign words to an exaggerated extent, it is probable that
most people will agree that the foreign element in normal English
usage has been of value.
Some languages avoid as far as possible the use of alien terms,
substituting for them, when an expression for a new object or
idea is needed, new words made up of native elements, but
England has always welcomed the alien, and many hundreds
of words of non-English origin are now part and parcel of our
vocabulary, indistinguishable from the native stock except to
those with some knowledge of etymology. The language of this
country has, it is true, been particularly open to foreign influence,
partly through the succession of invaders who came into contact
with English speakers during the Middle Ages ; partly through
the enterprise of the English themselves, who have carried their
language into the far corners of the world, where it has gathered,
like a snowball, new matter as it passed on its way. There are
few nations and few languages which have had as many
opportunities as the English for acquiring new words by the direct
influence of other tongues.
The adoption of foreign words in any dialect may come about
in different ways, and the extent to which foreign elements
become naturalized varies very considerably. Contact between
peoples of alien speech may be of several kinds ; they may meet
for instance through conquest, through colonization, through
trade, or through literature. When one nation subdues another
which speaks a different language, the conquerors, if their object
has been political power rather than settlement, may constitute
an authority, or ruling class, which is in point of view of numbers
2 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
much in the minority compared with, the whole body of the
conquered people. In a case like this, it is usually the native
language that survives, though the incoming dialect will very
probably transfer to the native vocabulary words which express
its own methods of government, and other cultural words,
This has happened in several instances in Western Europe in
the early Middle Ages : the Franks in Latin-speaking Gaul,
the Normans in France, the Norman-French in England. In
each of these some members of the ruling classes as well as of
the subject-classes must have been bilingual, and each in speaking
his own language would be liable to introduce into it words,
especially of a technical or specialized character, that he has
learnt from the other.
This is what takes place when the conquerors who form a
governing minority have established themselves in their new
country as a separate unity, and have retained little or no
connexion with their original home and the speakers of their
own language, or have become politically independent. If,
however, the conquered country or province does not become
an independent state under its new rulers, but is controlled by
the original government, so that the ruling class is in constant
contact with, and continually reinforced by, people speaking
their own language, it has usually happened that the dialect of the
rulers has won the day, and has spread throughout the community,
absorbing some words from the native speakers, chiefly such, as
concern local products, natural features, etc., but without
necessarily undergoing radical changes in itself- An example of
this is afforded by the relative positions of the Romans and Colts
in Gaul, where the Latin speech established itself after acquiring
a very small proportion of words from the native Gaulish dialect,
A different set of circumstances arises when the invasion is
for the purpose of settlement or colonization rather than merely
for the sake of political power. If the newcomers arrive in such
numbers as to form a majority over the native speakers, and in
such military or political strength as to acquire complete control
over these, or dispossess them, the dialect of the conquerors or
colonists will have the upper hand from the start, wherever they
establish themselves. They will, however, adopt from the natives
whom they displace words which denote native products, etc*,
INTRODUCTORY 3
and occasionally native customs, which may have been unfamiliar
before. This happened, for instance, when the Anglo-Saxons came
to England, eventually in numbers large enough to render the
Britons a minority of little importance, or in some areas perhaps
to oust them altogether. It has happened again in many areas
of European colonization (e.g. the English in Australia), where
the language of the newcomers has never shown any likelihood
of yielding to the native idiom.
Sometimes warfare aiming at conquest results in a type of
immigration, rather than colonization, as in the case of the
Scandinavians in this country, where conflict led finally to more
or less peaceful settlement, where the invaders established
themselves side by side with the natives without overwhelming
them or driving them out, and where the race, customs, and even
the language, of the two peoples were sufficiently alike to make
intercourse between the two, and the subsequent bilingualism,
easy and natural. Here the Englishman who acquired Scandinavian
(and no doubt also the Scandinavian who learnt English)
introduced the new terms into his own language, where they
remained even after English had established itself in all the
areas of the Nordic settlement, and Englishmen and Danes alike
had ceased to be bilingual.
Of course, immigration is not always preceded or accompanied
by hostility, and immigrants into a colony with an already
constituted authority will usually adopt the general speech of
the colony even if their own is an alien one. If the immigrants
come in a large enough body to form a small community of their
own within the greater one, they are likely to retain their own
speech, for a time at least, even though eventually yielding to
the pressure of the language spoken all about them. There are
many instances of this in the communities of different nationality
which have settled in the United States Jewish, German,
Norwegian, etc. and now are gradually giving up their own
dialects, though carrying into their newly acquired English some
part of their own vocabulary, some words from which may
spread to more distant fields.
For English speakers, trade has always been an important
factor in the introduction of new words and of new ideas. Even
before English had separated from its Germanic stock it was
4 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
trade almost as much, as conquest which brought into it its first
words from other languages, as will be seen in the following
chapter, in which the influence;of Latin on the Germanic vocabulary
will be dealt with. It was trade that in later times brought us
acquainted with the words of many another nation in the New
World as well as in the old. In this respect trade and scientific
exploration go hand in hand, and can hardly be separated ;
and the merchant-adventurer holds an important place in the
history of the English language.
So far we have considered words borrowed in actual speech.
Sometimes, however, loan-words will come into a language from
a written source ; in this case they usually pass first into the
written language, and thence may or may not pass into the spoken
language. Examples of this may be found in plenty in the
borrowings from Latin in the later Old English period, when
English writers and translators took over, from Latin originals
or models, Latin words to serve their purpose, sometimes retain-
ing their original inflexions, sometimes using the appropriate
English inflexion. Perhaps the majority of these words remain in
the category of what may be called " learned " words, and never
reach full currency with the average speaker, if indeed they roach
the spoken language at all. We may instance the Old English
aspide * asp ', sanct e saint ', lenticul ' lentil ', protomartyr,
imlite ' soldiery ', poknte, grammatic, tircul c circle ', anfiteatra,
termen ' fixed] point ', as various types of learned words ; and
as words which, introduced first from literature, became more or
less 'popular', cleric ' clerk, priest', qffrian 'to sacrifice',
apostel, non ' noon ', oucumere * cucumber ', turtur ' turtle-
dove '. In more modern times it is science rather than literature
that has been responsible for the introduction of words of a
learned type, and English dictionaries, of a general character
as well as purely scientific, contain hundreds of words formed
directly from Greek or Latin elements, which are never used
by the ordinary speaker and may never be seen or heard by him*
Here again, some of these words of scientific origin do pass into
popular speech, as has obviously happened in such eases as
telephone, telegram, telegraph, gramophone, and medical terms
such as appewlioitis, bronchitis, which are used by the layman
as well as by the specialist.
INTRODUCTORY 5
It happens frequently in the course of the history of our
language that a word is borrowed more than once from the
same source (or from developments of this source), perhaps
once as a popular word and again as a learned or technical
one. The Latin word undo, was adopted by Germanic (on the
continent) as a measure of length, and appears in Old English
as ynce, Modern English inch ; a few centuries later, English
borrowed the word again, this time in its Romance form, *unt$ia,
which becomes in Old English yntse (now obsolete), used as
a measure of weight ; the French descendant, unce, once, of
Romance *untsia, came into Middle English, again as a measure
of weight, and has become Modern English ounce ; all these were
popular loans ; but the final version, uncial, borrowed in the
seventeenth century from Latin undalis, the adjective of unda,
is definitely a learned loan.
English has a particularly large number of these * repeated '
loans (in some of which each of the pair or group is of a quite
ordinary popular type), owing to the fact of her numerous
borrowings from Latin in the Early Middle Ages followed by
even more plentiful adoptions from French, which developed
from Latin, and further by the continued contact between
English and French which has led to many more introductions
from French in recent times, by the English habit (renewed in
the Renaissance period) of adopting words from Latin, and
finally by the fact that even within the Middle English period
a word may be borrowed twice over, from different dialects of
French. Not very many original Latin words appear in all these
five forms in Modern English, since a new loan has often ousted
an earlier one, but a large number may be found in two or three
of these groups ; of. catch, chase, capt(ive) etc. ; mint, money ;
wine, vine(yard) ; drake, dragon ; master, magistrate) ; trivet,
tripod ; castle, chdteau ; corpse, corps ; and so on.
Some words have entered English, not by direct contact
with the language which is their source, but indirectly, through
an intervening language. In this way many of the earlier Italian
loans came to us through French, the Italian of the Renaissance
having reached France first, and thence having passed on to us.
In thiB way, too, the earliest loan-words from the east have come
to us through Latin, many of them having already passed through
6 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Greek before reaching Latin. Even in the early centuries of this
era, before communication became as simple and rapid as it is
to-day, words travelled thousands of miles, westwards from Asia
to Europe, across Europe from east to west and from south to
north, all round the shores of the Mediterranean, from nation
to nation and from generation to generation. Most of these
much-travelled words are objects of trade or culture. The word
pepper, for instance, came first from some eastern language into
Greek, thence into Latin and thence into English; elephant
was first Egyptian, then Greek, Latin, French, and finally English ;
camel was originally Semitic, and this too passed through Greek
and Latin before reaching our language. Albatross is based
ultimately on a* Phoenician word which drifted successively
into Greek, Arabic, and Portuguese, and then into English.
Apricot began a long history in Latin, from which it passed in
succession to Greek, Arabic, Spanish, French, and English.
Silk has been Chinese, Greek, Latin, and finally English. Carat
comes through Greek, Arabic, Italian, and French.
In recent times, English has partially adopted from distant
countries many words which are used chiefly or exclusively in
connexion with the countries from which they come, by people
who themselves know these countries, or in books describing
them, either of necessity (for lack of equivalent English terms), or
for the sake of local colour. The book about South America
will have its gauchos, lariats, vaqueros, ponchos, cordilkras, and
llanos; the Malayan its amboynas, copra, ihlang-ihlanfl,
mangosteens, krises, parangs, and sarongs ; to the Anglo-Indian,
his chota hazris, tiffins, chits, baksheesh, dhobis, punka/is, arc as
much a part of his everyday life as his chutney $ and curries,
When used by English speakers, such, words practically always
adopt English inflexions. It has indeed been usual all through
the history of loan-words in our language for thorn to become
rapidly acclimatized enough to be treated grammatically and
syntactically as English words. In modern times perhaps this
does not mean very much, since so many of the more recent
loans are nouns, and English nominal inflexions arc so few ;
but it holds good in the earlier periods, when verbs and
adjectives were adopted freely from Latin and French, though
occasionally in Late Old English some words of the learned type,
INTRODUCTORY 7
borrowed in the written language, may keep their Latin inflexions.
A few foreign plurals chiefly in more recent borrowings from
the classical languages have been retained in English, these
having become familiar, to many of those who use them, in the
course of a classical education ; such are agenda, desiderata,
data, magi, radii, gladioli, nebulae, criteria, crises, theses ; some
nouns have the foreign plural as well as a native form, sometimes,
though not always, with a distinction of meaning, e.g. appendixes,
appendices ; indexes, indices ; formulas, formulae ; funguses,
fungi ; geniuses, genii ; hippopotamuses, hippopotami ; and in
words other than Greek or Latin, cherubs, cherubim ; bandits,
banditti ; virtuosos, virtuosi. But classical words, even the more
recent adoptions, which have become entirely popular never have
foreign plurals ; we have irises, crocuses, drvuses, villas, spectators,
omens, nasturtiums, not wides, croci, circi, villae, spectatores,
omina, nasturtia.
Foreign words, when once adopted into English, have always
been used freely with native prefixes and suffixes. Adverbs
in -ly, adjectives in -ful, -less, abstract nouns in -ness, -ship,
are found with French first elements almost as frequently as
with English (e.g. nicely, pleasantly ; cheerful, beautiful, fruitless ;
gentleness, companionship, etc.) ; and so also the English
prefixes un-,fore-, over-, etc., may have foreign second elements
(e.g. unaided, unbar, unconscious, forecast, overcharge, overawe,
etc.). Hybrid compounds of noun plus noun, adjective plus
noun, etc., are not uncommon; such are salt-cellar (English
and French), heirloom (French and English), fainthearted (French
and English), longlegged (English and Scandinavian), blackmail
(English and Scandinavian), as well as the more recent scientific
words such as claustrophobia, Anglophile, and even television.
English has, moreover, adopted foreign (especially Latin) prefixes
and suffixes, and many of these are living elements which can
be used with words from any source (e.g. pre-, infra-, inter-,
-ism, -ize).
When a foreign word is borrowed, it may or may not retain
its original pronunciation in the adopting language. If each of
its sounds already exists in the latter, it will probably be adopted
in a pretty accurate form ; if, however, some of its sounds are
alien to the adopting language, each of these will be replaced by
8 HISTORY OP FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
the nearest native sound. Even if some speakers are familiar
with, and can pronounce, the dialect from which it comes, their
pronunciation will not be generally adopted. Thus there were
different pronunciations of some of the French words borrowed
in Middle English, the French nasal vowels, for instance, being
retained for a time at least by bilingual speakers, while those
who spoke only English substituted for them the English non-
nasal vowels. Sometimes a foreign word in English will be
partly anglicized, even by those who speak the language from
which it comes . For instance, the word garage is usually pronounced
with the first vowel as in English hat [], and not with the French
vowel, but retains the French [z] for the final consonant, though
this sound does not occur as a final consonant in native words.
Among some who do not speak Standard English, the word
is completely anglicized, the [z] being replaced by the group
[dz] (as in the second syllable of carnage), which is common in
English in this position. Similarly, the word voile, as the name
of a material, usually retains its French [wa], though somewhat
lengthened, but is sometimes heard, in shops, etc., with the
anglicized (spelling pronunciation) oi [voil] ; while French
words with 6, , or e have the vowel diphthongized to [oi] (e.g.
fete, fianct) since Modern Standard English has normally no
long [e]. Again, the Spanish II, which is an I made with the
middle of the tongue (in the same position as the consonant
y [j]) and not with the tip, has the ordinary English I substituted
for it, in words such as llama, llano \ and for the Spanish ft
(pronounced like the gn in French montagne) English people
will use the two consonants [nj], sometimes oven writing it ny,
e.g. in canyon (Spanish cafiori).
Once a word has become perfectly assimilated in the spoken
language, each of its sounds will follow all the fortxtnes of that
sound in the adopting language ; French 1 and e, for example,
borrowed in the Middle English period, undergo the same
developments as the English 1 and e of that period, the former
becoming [oi] as in Present-Day English, line, fine, the latter
[I] as in chief, brief.
Apart from the anglicizing tendency already referred to, the
more recently a word has been adopted in English, the more
likely it is to retain its original pronunciation, since it will have
INTEODUCTORY 9
been affected by fewer purely English changes changes which
have been going on continuously ever since English became an
independent language in the fourth or fifth century.
The principal languages which have affected the vocabulary
of English have been Scandinavian, French, and Latin, the last
most of all. Scandinavian words were borrowed most freely
between the ninth century and the twelfth, [French words during
the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, but Latin
words have been making their way into English, throughout
almost the whole period of its history, first into the spoken
language, later into written English (through religion, literature,
and science), though this latter form of borrowing has given
many words also to the spoken language.
During the Modern Period, that is to say after about 14=00,
the most important period of foreign borrowing was the latter
part of the sixteenth century, and the early seventeenth century.
Then, as will be seen, many different languages first become
represented in the English vocabulary, owing to the remarkable
increase in England's direct contacts with foreign countries
at this time, which led to direct borrowing from languages
which had previously affected the language only indirectly,
and also to the appearance of words from languages previously
unknown in England or even in Europe.
Before beginning an historical examination of the types of
words borrowed from each of the languages which have influenced
English, of the circumstances in which such borrowing began,
and of the character of the sources in which they are first recorded,
it will be well to consider some of the classes of what may be
reckoned as loan-words which are not dealt with here.
Phrases from foreign sources are not often folly acclimatized,
and are almost always used as aliens printed in italics, or in
inverted commas, and so forth ; such are many French phrases,
e.g. de trop, en rfyle, tout ensemble, femme de chambre, par excellence,
feu de joie, joie de vivre, and Latin phrases, e.g. non seqwitur,
a priori, ad hoc, sine die, sine qua non (though it is true that to
some people such Latin groups have a less foreign atmosphere
than the French ones, probably because they are usually
pronounced with entirely English sounds).
Secondly, names of places, when these are used as the names
10 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
of products, etc., without, however, the original sense being
fully lost. Some place-names have become so thoroughly
obscured (through early borrowing and consequently numerous
sound-changes, or by dissociation from an original place of
manufacture), that they have to be accepted as ordinary loans,
e.g. chest(nut), currant, cambric, calico, which should be compared
with such forms as Chablis, Moselle, Ohianti, and other names of
wines, Angora (wool), Morocco (leather), Nankin (china), etc.,
(some of which may be used either absolutely or attributively,
like the last three).
Then there are what are sometimes called ' translation-
loans ', especially common in the case of compounds in the older
periods of English, when a foreign word expressing a new idea
is represented by the nearest equivalent of each of its elements,
as when in Old English, for the Latin word uni-cornu$, the English
form cm-horn, = one-horn, is coined ; all-mihtig for Latin
omnipotens, god-spell (Gospel) for Latin evangelium (from Greek
eu-angelion ' good message ').
Another type of word not dealt with in the present volume
is to be found in forms borrowed by Standard English from other
dialects of English, e.g. words from American English ; or from
Scottish or Northern English, such as bairn, raid, hale, which have
a typically northern phonological development, or are known
to have been widely current in the north before they appear in
Standard English. (Words in Scottish, Irish, etc. of non-English
origin, are, however, included, since these are really foreign words.)
To conclude this chapter, it must be emphasized that the
c first recorded use ' of a word, especially in the earlier periods,
does not necessarily imply ' first use \ (a) because a word may
be in current use for some time before it appears in any written
document, and (b) because obviously many words may have
been recorded for the first time in documents no longer extant.
But in later periods the first occurrence in writing, particularly
of words from the more remote languages, or of purely ' learned *
loans, such as some of those mentioned in the concluding chapter,
may be in actual fact the first use of the word in English speech
or writing, or be almost exactly contemporary with this.
And so, leaving more general considerations, we must turn
to a more detailed study.
CHAPTER II
LATIN WORDS BEFORE THE CONQUEST
The history of Latin words in English begins in the continental
period before the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes crossed the North
Sea to settle in this country. From the time of Julius Caesar
onwards we have evidence from the Roman historians of contact
between the Germanic and the Latin peoples, which led to the
adoption of Germanic words into Latin, and of Latin words into
Germanic. The Roman armies included northern cohorts, and
their familiarity with Latin military terminology and with the
names of everyday objects in use in camp and town, served to
introduce Latin terms into the native dialects of these soldiers
from Nordic tribes. Tacitus mentions Germani who understood
Latin, but close acquaintance with it was perhaps not widespread
even among members of the legions, a limited, partly technical,
vocabulary of Latin words being sufficient for professional needs.
The interchange of words between Germanic and Latin speakers
for the first two or three centuries of this era took place in the
spoken language ; that is to say, it was not usually Classical
Latin which lent and borrowed but the widespread, popular,
Vulgar Latin, which was the ancestor of the modern Romance
languages, and which, even as early as the third century, was
beginning to split up into its different branches in different parts
of the Roman Empire. From our point of view the most
important of these was the Gallo-Roman, from which came the
majority of such early loans into English as show any dialectal
variation from Common Romance or Vulgar Latin.
Ihe words adopted from Germanic into Latin for the most
part show no particular dialectal characteristics, which indicates
that the borrowings date from an early period (perhaps before
A.D. 350~40), though some are not recorded until considerably
later, appearing for the first time in the individual Romance
languages (e.g. in French or Italian). Most of these words are
military terms ; there is, for instance, Iwrgus (cf. OJE. bwh
11
12 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
' fortified place, city ', ModJE. borough ; Goth, laurgs) in the
sense of ' small fort ; watch-tower ' (the modern French form
is bourg), which appears in second-century inscriptions, and is
used by Vegetius in the fourth, century. This writer, however,
implies that the word is not fully naturalized : castellum
parvulum, qu&m burgum vacant ' a little fort, which they call
burgus '. Isidore, more than two hundred years later, has a similar
phrase : burgos vulgo vacant ' they call them burgos in the vulgar
tongue '. Drungus ' a body of soldiers ' is used by both Vopiscus
and Vegetius in the fourth century. Carrago ' a barricade of
wagons ', from carr + Gmc. *hago ' hedge, barrier ', is recorded
by Ammianus Marcellinus about A.D. 400 as a Gothic word.
(The element carr, which, appears also in Latin as carrus ' wagon ',
is a Celtic word.) Among terms denoting articles of commerce,
Latin borrowed spelta, a kind of grain, ' spelt ' (first recorded
A.D, 301, see Walde, Lat. etymol. Worterbuch), sapo ' soap ' ; and
among names of animals alce($) 'elk' and urus 'wild ox'.
Further, Romance used the words brando ' sword ', helmo
6 helmet ', gonfakne ' standard ', mariscako ' farrier ', baldo
6 bold ', besides several nanies of colours, which are common to
a number of Romance dialects, and the adoption of which, it
has been suggested, was due to the habit of the Germanic tribes
(mentioned by Tacitus) of painting their wooden shields with*
colours. Thus Mod. French has blanc, brun, gris, bku, all o
Germanic origin. It happens not infrequently that a word
borrowed by Romance from Germanic, and established in the
French dialects, was later adopted by English among its loans'
from Anglo-Norman or Central French.
It has been indicated above that the first spread of Latin words
into Germanic was due to military influence. After the Roman
soldier came the Roman merchant. From the time of the first
establishment by Julius Caesar of an imperial province in the
neighbourhood of the Rhine, tlie trade of Italy turned in this
direction, and the inhabitants of the new province quickly learnt
to approve the new stuffis and household vessels, the plants and
their products, the ornaments and the games, which came to
them from the south. Roman coins became generally used, and,
when local miats were eventually set up, classical designs were
followed. Towards the north, beyond the limits of the Roman
LATIN WOEDS BEFOKE THE CONQUEST 13
province, the spread of objects and ideas, and the words which
accompanied them, was slower, and there is a not inconsiderable
number of early loan-words from Latin to be found in the southern
dialects of Germany, which apparently did not penetrate as far
as the shores of the Baltic and the North Sea, and therefore are
not found in Old English, or appear there only in a form which
makes it certain that they were borrowed after the settlement
in this country.
Since the earliest records of English date from the seventh
century only, it follows that our evidence for the earliest loan-
words from Latin is of an indirect character. Of the Latin words
which occur in Old English, a fairly large number occur also in
Old High German, in Gothic, in Old Saxon, in Dutch, or other
Germanic dialects, and their wide diffusion points to early
adoption. Sometimes, instead of or in addition to this, the form
which they have assumed in Old English indicates the date of
borrowing, since many of the sound-changes characteristic of
Old English can be fairly accurately dated, and the absence
of certain distinctively English developments in the borrowed
words shows the time of their introduction to have been
subsequent to such phonological changes. (Of. the [sk] of school,
O.E. scol, Lat. schola, and of scuttle, O.E. scutel, Lat. scutula,
'with the [/] of the earlier loan shrine, O.E. s&nn, Lat. scnwivm ;
when the two first were adopted the tendency for sk to become
[/] in English was at an end.) Further, the presence or absence
in the borrowed words of certain datable developments in Vulgar
Latin gives some indication of the date of borrowing ; for
instance, O.E. pipor ' pepper ' must have been adopted before
the time of the Vulgar Latin change of intervocalic p to 6, later
v (cf . Pr. poivre), or O.E. would have *pifer (f = v) ; on the other
hand, O.E. caefester ' halter ' (Lat. capistrum) represents Vulgar
Lat. cdbistrum or ccwistrum, and so must have been borrowed
after the period of this change.
After the English came to this country the chief source of
Latin loan-words was the Vulgar Latin used by the Romano-
Britons. It is sometimes impossible to distinguish between loans
of the later continental period (between 300 and 450) and those
of the first centuries of the settlement (450-650), and in some
cases, though these are in a minority, words included in, the
14 HISTORY OF FOBEIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
lists representing these two periods respectively (see App. A)
might be transferred from one to the other with equal probability
of correctness. After about 650, words are introduced which no
longer come under the influence of the early Old English sound-
changes ; now, too, the source of the loans is Classical Latin as
much as, or more than, Vulgar Latin or Romance, owing to the
western spread of Latin writings and scholarship. The intro-
duction of Christianity into England during the early seventh
century was the starting-point of this new influx, and since
much of the early prose of this country is of a religious
character, and is partly at least dependent on Latin sources,
many of the new Latin words which now appear are of
a religious character. Later, ' learned ' words relating to
scholarship in general appear in English works as the scope of
these is widened.
It will be seen that a large majority of the earliest loans are
nouns the names of concrete objects. Adjectives and verbs
are rare, and most of the latter are derivatives from nouns
(e.g. jnnian ' to punish, torment ', from the noun pm, from Lat,
pena, poena * punishment '). More verbs are introduced during
the third period (i.e. after 600-650), but even then arc less
common than nouns ; adjectives are still rare, and such as do
occur are often remodelled by the change of a Latin suffix to
an English one (e.g. mechanic-us ( mechanical ' appears as
mechanise, with the substitution of Eng. -isd, Mod. -ish,
for Lat. -ic-). Old English suffixes are used freely to
form derivative nouns, adjectives, and adverbs from Latin
nouns; e.g. papdom 'papacy', from Lat. papa and O.E,
-dam (as in kingdom) ; sacerdhad ' priesthood ' ; regolKte
* according to rule '. Hybrid compounds arc not un-
common, e.g. sealms&op 'psalmist' from Lat. psaJma and
O.E. scop ' poet '.
Not nearly all of the words borrowed before the Conquest
have survived to the present day. Many were replaced by intro-
ductions from French, which, though coining from tho same
Latin form as the Old English word, have acquired a distinctive
form in French itself. Thus Mod. Eng. gem is from Old French
gemne, from Lat. gemma ; the latter had been borrowed by
Germanic before the English settlement in England, a&d appears
LATIN WOEDS BEFORE THE CONQUEST 15
in Old English as gimm ; if this had survived it would have been
yim in Modern English. 1
The extent to which the individual words are used varies
considerably. Some words may be found in almost any Old
English text which is examined ; for our knowledge of others we
are dependent on a single occurrence, perhaps in a glossary of
the tenth or eleventh century, or in a medical prescription. This
fact probably does not in all cases reflect the frequency of use in
the spoken language, since the distribution of the words in writing
naturally depends on the subject dealt with, and the Old English
documents, though their scope is fairly wide, do not cover all
aspects of ordinary life.
A list of the Old English loans from Latin is given in
Appendix A for reference, with their Latin or Romance originals,
divided roughly into three periods and classified according to their
meaning. It should be noted that a number of words coming
into English from Latin were previously adopted into that
language from Greek ; this is often the case with words relating
to the arts and sciences ; the corresponding Greek forms are
given in the lists.
A glance at the list will show the changing character of the loan-
words in the different periods. In the earliest stratum there are
moderately large groups of military and official and of general
trade terms ; a longer list for dress and textiles (twenty-three
words), and equally long ones for vessels and receptacles, and
for towns, houses, and building. But words for plants and
agriculture form the largest group ; many of the plant-names
are ultimately of more remote origin than Latin (some are from
Egyptian and Asiatic sources) and imply the gradual introduction
into Western Europe of plants from the south and east. 2 A
number of the animal-names, too, are non-European, and indicate
the increasing acquaintance of Europe with the Eastern world.
Of the lists from the second period, the longest are provided
by vessels (again) and by plants and agriculture. The number of
1 In the chapters on Old English and in Appendix A the modern English
equivalent, if it is derived directly from the O.E. form, is given in small capitals.
If a modern denvative exists, though not exactly the same in meaning as the
O.B. word, it is added in brackets in small capitals.
* On early agriculture and horticulture in England see Hoops, Waldbdume
und Kutturpflanzen, especially ohs. xiii-zv.
16 HISTOEY OF FOEEIGN WOEDS IN ENGLISH
vessel-names from this and the earlier period implies a very
large variety of these used by Latin-speaking peoples, and only
a small number used by the Germanic peoples before they came
into contact with the south.. Some of these terms survive now
as very common words : cup, bin, chest, pan, pail, pot. The
etymology of many of their Latin or Vulgar Latin forms is
doubtful.
In the second period a new class is added : Learning and
religion. (For the earliest introductions under the influence of
Christianity see the section on Greek.) This includes such words
as MONK, NUN, and MINSTER, besides pinsian * to reflect,
consider ', gl&san ' to interpret, gloss ', grssf * a style for
writing '.
In the third section words relating to religion and learning
have very much increased in number. As has already been said,
many of these depend directly on written sources, and did not
always penetrate into the spoken language. It is not always
possible in the Old English texts to distinguish between the
foreign words which the writer accepted as English, and those
which he still considered foreign, and used, as it wore, in italics.
There is a fairly large group in this period of words relating to
music and poetry large, that is, when compared with the few
words for these in the native vocabulary. (The most important
Germanic instrument was the harp (O.E. hearpe), and the chief
words for * music > were gleo (Mod. Eng. glee], dream, hkopor,
and (ge)sang (Mod. Eng. song). The word poeta is not recorded
before the Conquest ; the native word was stop.)
For the large number of plant-names which are recorded in
Old English we are indebted in particular to throe books of
medicine, on which some notes will be given later. It is probable
that the plants named were not all grown in England at that
time ; some of them are impossible to identify with certainty.
We shall now discuss briefly the Latin clement of the chief
Old English documents, giving instances of the uses of the
foreign words.
BioHTH-OBNTtray GLOSSARIES
We may begin with a group of eighth-oontury glossaries :
the Corvus. Ewinal* and Erfurt Glossaries, lists of Latin words
LATIN WORDS BEFORE THE CONQUEST 17
with their Old English equivalents, of which the last two date
from about A.D. 700, and are often identical, while the first is
a little later and longer than the others, though certainly related
to them. Citations are from the Corpus Glossary x unless a special
reference to one of the others is given. The majority of the
Latin loan-words which appear in the Old English lists are from
the oldest stratum of loans ; some of them are actually the
English developments of the Latin words they translate :
luxus box (tree) (not in Ep^nal-Erfurt) 47 ; castanectr ciesten
(beam) ' chestnut ' 47 ; cerasius ciser-(beam) * cherry ' 49 ;
cokandrum cellendre * coriander ' 53 ; ekctrum elotr * lupin '
59 ; fimculus finugl c fennel ' 63 ; mentJia minte mint '
35 ; nap^s naep ' turnip ' 79. Among the more interesting
correspondences are the following : (A) (= oldest loans)
gladiatores cempan 67 ; dulvis sapa caeren (= ceren) * new
wine ' 57 ; caepa 6ipe, ynnelaec e onion ' 49 (ope also used to
gloss ascalonia ' shallot ' : scolonia cipe 95 ; coagolum cese-
(lyb) ' rennet ' 53 ; ferculum ' a dish of food ' dis6 63 ; also
paneta ( = patina) disd 85 ; ebor ' ivory ' elpend(baan)
(= elephant tusk) 59; nomisma mynit 'coin 9 [MINT] 81,
and numularius miyniteri * moneyer * 81 ; lenticula piose
* PEAS ' 75 ; popig glosses both papaver ' POPPY * 85 and
cucumis * cucumber ' 55 ; perpendiculum pundur ' plumb-
line ' 87 ; promulgarunt (pret. pi.) scribun * decreed '
87 ; bulla sifeil ' seal ' 45 ; appothecctr win(faet) * WTNE-
cask ' 41.
(B) Byden glosses the Latin words doleus ' a large globular
jar ' 35, and cupa * tub, cask ' 53 ; vestibulum caebrtuun
(=ceafortun *hall, court') 105; fellus catte 'CAT* 63;
capsis 6est c CHEST ' 47 ; luteum crohna c yellow ' 75 ;
conchar- musclan s6el e mussel shell ' 55 ; se&n is used for both
Idbarum 73 and vexiUa 105 ; aka teU (= toj/Z ' die '), akator
' gambler ' 39. Finally bis6op appears here, not primarily in the
ecclesiastical sense, but in the plant-name biscopuuyrt ' BISHOP-
wort ' 67, glossing hibiscwm.
(C) (= third period. Very few of these: culinia cocas
* COOKS ' 55 ; quaternio qtuatern (4 on dice) 91 ; porfyrio
feohder * bittern ' 87 ; immunes (== immanes) orceas ' evil
1 Ed. Sweet, Oldest English Texts, B.E,T.S., 83, from MS. o.o.o.cbg., oadiv.
18 HISTORY OF FOKEIGN" WORDS IJST ENGLISH
spirits ' 69 ; locwta lopust e locust ' 75 ; the last two are not
in Spinal or Erfurt.
An English word is added to the Latin loan in cyline * KILN ',
heorde ' hearth ', glossing fornacula 65. Cearricgge, from Lat.
carruca, a four-wheeled travelling-carriage, occurs in all these
three glossaries, but is not recorded elsewhere in Old English.
The Epinal Glossary has fax feetilaa c torch ' 62, which is not
in Corpus.
THE EABLTER VERSE z
Although almost the whole body of pre-Conquest poetry is
extant only in copies dating from the early eleventh century,
yet the originals of some are undoubtedly to be placed at least
as early as the eighth century, Widsith, probably the oldest,
has, apart from tribal names, only two Latin words : wiii-
(burga) * wmE-cities ' (i,e. rejoicing in wine) 20, and casere
* emperor ' 76. The latter word is used very commonly throughout
Old English for the Emperor of the East and the Emperor of
the West. 2 (It is also used once with reference to David : casere
creaftig * mighty emperor *, Psalm 1, Gr.-W., iii, 2, p. 231.)
In Beowulf, the other heroic poems, and the so-called ' elegiac '
poems, the Latin words are still of the popular type adopted
into the spoken language in the two earlier periods. They arc
not very numerous. They are used with no sense of strangeness,
but are perfectly jat home in the language. The following are
the chief ones found in Beowulf, with examples of their context :
ancor : stip on ancrefsest 303 * the ship fast at anchor ' ; camp :
in campe gecrong curribks hyrde 2505 * the guardian of the banner
fell in the fight ' ; toaster ' city ' 768 ; 6apian : matfma herd
grimme geceapod 3012 ' treasure dearly bought ' ; 6Iepaa ; dSofol
(see p. 52) : gegyrwed deqfies cr&ftum and dracanfellum 2888 ' (a
pouch) adorned with devil's skill and with dragon's skins ' : dis6
and ore : him big stodan bunan and orcas, / discos logon and dyre
sweord 3047-8 ' goblets and cups stood beside it, dishes lay there
and precious swords ; (of the treasure in tho dragon's cave) ;
draca, used for the dragon of the poem by the side of the native
1 References are to lines as given in Groin- Wttlcker, Biblfotfak dcr
sacfaidchen Poesie.
8 See B. W, Chambers, Widsith, pp. 102, 212.
LATIN WORDS BEFORE THE CONQUEST 19
wyrm ; glgant (one of the few late loans in this poem) : gigantas
pa wiSgode wunnon 113 c giants that fought with God ' ; giganta
weorc 1562 ' the work of giants ' (of a sword) ; gimm : heofones
gim glad ofer grundas 2072 ' heaven's jewel glided above the
fields ' ; ndl ; non ; scrifan : Sser abidan sceal . . . miclan
domes, / hu him scir metod scrifan wille 979 * there he must abide
the judgment how the Creator will pass sentence on Trim ; segn :
segn call gylden 2767 * a golden banner ' ; sigle ; street : street
WSBS stanfah 320 ' the road was paved with stones ' ; in com-
position with native words, lagu-strset, mere-stmt e sea highway '
(of the ocean) 239, 514 ; weall : wid d&s recedes weall 326
6 against the wall of the house ' ; ssensessas, windige weallas 572
e the sea headlands, windy cliffs ' ; wic ; win : druncon win
weras 1233 * the men drank wine '. Candel appears in Beowulf
in the phrase roderes candel 1572 c heaven's candle, the sun *,
and it is in such phrases and with this meaning that this word is
always found in Old English verse. Cf. godes condelle ( God's
candle ' (Phoenix 91) ; seo wlitige wuldres candel (Juliana 454)
6 fair candle of glory ' : heofonlic candel (Guthlac 1264) * heavenly
candle '. It is also used in the same sense in compounds : dseg-
condel (Riddle 88/26) ' day-candle ' ; friS-candel (Genesis 2539)
' lamp of peace ; , etc.
The other heroic and * elegiac ' poems have nothing to add to
these except for torr, which occurs in the Ruin : hrofas sind
gehrorene hreorge torras 3 'the roofs are fallen, the towers in
ruin'.
The early Biblical paraphrases Genesis, Exodus, Daniel
have further foreign contributions to make to the vocabulary
of English poetry : selmesse : syle SBlmyssan, wes ecvrmra hko
(Daniel 587) ' give alms, be the protector of the poor ' (A.V.
* by shewing mercy to the poor ') ; cluster : p&t lie up heonon
ute mihte cuman purh pas clustro (Genesis 416) ' that he might
go up hence through these bars ' (from the speech of Satan
in hell) ; culfre : ofer heah ws&ter haswe culfrm (Genesis 1451)
' a grey dove across the towering waves ' (of Noah's dove) ;
earc, in Genesis of Noah's ark, in Daniel of the Ark of the
Covenant ; ele(beam) ' olive-tree ' (Genesis 1473) ; en&el
' angel ' ; esol : onganpa his esolas l&tan (Gen. 2866) * (Abraham)
began to bridle his asses ' (the only occurrence of the word in
20 HISTORY OP FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
O.E. verse) : msessere e priest ', sScerd ' priest ' : bletsian pe
pine sacerdos, soSfsest cyning 9 milde m&sseras (Azarias 148-9)
6 Thy priests bless Thee, just King, Thy gentle ministers ' :
seguiau : he segnade earce innan (Gen. 1365) ' blessed the ark
within ' ; tempi : sunn Dauides getimbrede tempel (Exodus 391)
c the son of David built a temple '. Street is used for the way
across the Red Sea : wegas syndon dryge, haswe herestr&ta
(Exodus 284) e the ways are dry, the tawny highways '. The
tower of Babel is called a stiSlio stanton in Genesis 1700 (' strong
tower of stone '). Segn is used for the pillar of fire in Exodus
(127) ; the word appears elsewhere in the poem in the sense of
6 banner '. If the emendation kon for leor in Exodus 319 is correct,
as seems certain, this passage gives us the first instance of leo
in Old English poetry : h&fdon him to segne . . . bcacen ar&red,
gyldenne leon ' they had raised up a banner a golden lion for
a sign '. Ceaster is used frequently for * city '.
The collection of Riddles preserved in the Exeter Book may
include both eighth and ninth-century poems ; some may bo
even earlier. They contain few Latin words which do not occur
elsewhere in Old English verse, and few which are interesting
in other ways. The following are found in the Riddles only :
byden : bapedan mec in bydene 28/6 * bathed mo in a butt "
(with reference to the making of mead) ; cyrten : ful cyrtenn
ceorles dohter 26/5 ' a churl's beautiful daughter ' ; Hlie : pcah
pe Mie $y beorht on Uostman 41/27 * though the lily bo bright
of blossom'. All those, however, aro to bo found in proso. Line,
pa, and rose appear in the Riddles for the first timo in O.E.
verse ; cf. hildepilas 16/28 ' javelins ' ; ic com stence strengre
micle / ponne ricels oppe rose sy 41/24 * I am in scont far stronger
than is incense or the rose '. Gimm is used in tho senso of * jewel ' :
deora gimmum 84/36 * more precious than jewels '. Earc is used
for a box : ofte mec bikac . . . ides on earce 62/2 * often a woman
shut me (i.e. a helmet) up in a box '.
With the poems of Cynewulf and his school, which may bo
eighth or ninth century, we come to words of a moro distinctly
theological character, besides other new ones. The signed poems
of Cynewulf (Grist, Ekne, Juliana, Fates of the Apostles) have
the following words which, do not occur in the texts already
discussed : apostol : only in the compound apostolhad (Fates
LATIN WORDS BEFOKE THE CONQUEST 21
14) ' apostleship ', with English, suffix : the apostles are referred
to as aepelingas, pegnas ' heroes, thanes ' , and in other such terms ;
calend : on Maias Kalendas (Elene 1229) c in the month of
May ' : care- (ern) : Sa w&s mid clustre carcernes duru / behliden
(JuL 236) c then the prison-door was closed with a bar ' ; (be)-
clysan (<dus 'barrier') : geatu stondaS bedysed (Cnst 323)
* the gates stand barred ') ; cidpe : ne ic culpan in pe . . . sefre
onfunde (Crist 177) ' I have never found any fault in thee ' ;
mur : burston muras and stanas (Crist 177) ' walls and stones
burst asunder ' ; pundrian : eow sceal . . , apundrad weorcfan
(Elene 580) e shall be apportioned (i.e. weighed out) to you * ;
scrift, in the sense of c confessor ' : ne mseg purh paet flsesc se
$crift geseon on psere sawle (Crist 1306) * the confessor cannot see
through the flesh into the soul ' ; senod : past ge seonod-domos
rihte reccen (El. 552) * that you may report the decrees of the
synod correctly ' ; syfre : unsyfre folc (Crist 1232) c an
intemperate people '. Draca is used in Elene for the devil :
dreogap deap-cwale in dracan faeSme (El. 766) * endure the
torments of hell in the devil's embrace '. Rex is used twice in
Elene (e.g. ece rex, meotud milde 1042 * the eternal king, the kind
creator ? ) ; the word seems never to have been adopted into
English, and is probably used here deliberately as a foreign word,
though such usages are not found elsewhere in Cynewulf . (Ge)-
segnian means * mark with the sign of the Cross ' in Crist 1342.
The story of St. Andrew in the poem of Andreas has the words
martyr : martyra m&gen unlytel 878 * a great company of
martyrs ' (also in the verse life of St. Guthlac) ; marman-
(stan) : geher Su 9 marmanstan, meotudes r&dum 1500 * hear
thou, marble, the commands of the Creator ' (St. Andrew orders
the marble pillars to pour forth a flood) ; and ti&le : tigelfagan
trafu 844 ' buildings gay with tiles '.
The Phoenix, though partly dependent on a Latin original,
has not many Latin words, and hardly any which have not
appeared before. The bird itself is called fenix : fugel feprum
strong, se is Fenix haten 86 ' a bird strong in feathers, which is
called Phoonijc '. This word does occur elsewhere in Old English,
for instance in JSlfric's Grammar (c. 1000). Another bird-name
is pBa : (of the phoenix) sefugel is on hiwe . . . onlicost pean 312
* the bird is in colour . . . most like to a peacock '. Tapur, like
22 HISTOET OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
candel (see p. 19), is used with, reference to the sun : hwonne
swegles tapur ofer Twlm-pr&ce faedre Mice 114 e when the sun's
taper shines forth serenely over the tossing waves '. Solor is
used of the phoenix's nest : se fugel ofer heanne beam hus
getimbrep, and gewicap ftser sylfin Sam sokre 204 * the bird builds
a nest in a lofty tree, and dwells there in that upper room '.
The verse life of St. Guthlac has the words mynster, regol, and
mutian : under haligra hyrda gewealdum in mynsterum 387
* under the authority of holy pastors, in monasteries ' ; p&t
ic forbsBr rume regulas geongra monna 460 ' I preferred the lax
rules of young men ' : pas woruld-gestreon bemutad weorpacf 42
* the treasures of the world shall be changed '.
The rest of the Old English, verse will be dealt with later.
THE EARLY NINTH-OENTIIBY PROSE
In the legal documents of the late eighth and early ninth
centuries * we find a fair number of words of the commonest and
earliest type. Some, such as fatter, cheese, wine, taper, pound,
and also sester, occur in bequests : win : mittan fulne huniges
odda tuegen uwnes 37 (805-31) * a measure full of honey or two
of wine ' ; tapur : Uritig teapera, gifhit wintres deg sie 41 (835) ;
sester, butere : sester fulne huniges, sester fulm butran, sester
fulne saltes 41 (835) ' a jar full of honey, one of butter, and one of
salt ' ; 6ese : x hennfuglas and x pund caeses 37 (805-31) * 10
hens and 10 pounds of cheese ' ; selle mon uuege c&sa andfisces
and butran and aegera 37 (805-31) ' there shall be given a wey of
cheeses and fish and butter and eggs'. Ecclesiastical terms occur :
selmesse : ageofan hio pa ikan elmessan 45 (871-89) ' let them
give the same alms ' ; meesse : daet eghwik messepriost gesinge
fore osuulfes sawle twa wesson 37 (805-31) * that each mass-priest
should sing for Oswulf s soul two masses '. Diacon and passiSn
are both learned words : and aeghwilc diacon arede twa passione
fore his sawk 37 (805-31) ' let each deacon read two Passions
for his soul '. Port occurs in the compound portwwa * citizens '
24 (839).
The Kentish Glosses a of MS. Cotton Vespasian D VI, from the
first half of the ninth century, have little of interest for us, but
1 Quoted from Sweet, Oldest flnglwh Tescte, ref. number of charter and date.
* Wright-Wtilcker, Vocabularies, i. Ref, to column*
LATIN WOEDS BEFORE THE CONQUEST 23
they supply five words which do not occur in the earlier Corpus
Glossary : seced ' vinegar ' (glossing acetum) 66 ; pytt : puteus
angustus neare pyt 79 * narrow pit ' ; ssec = sacculum 62 ;
tsepped : tapetibus pictisgemetum tepedum 62 ' embroidered
carpets ' ; trif ot ' tribute ' : tribute trifetum, gafol 68 (gafol is
tlie native English word).
The Vespasian Psalter* an interlinear English version of the
psalms and canticles, from the first half of the ninth century,
has some examples of the earliest recorded occurrence of Latin
words in English, besides showing some interesting usages of
words we have already noted elsewhere. The writer shows little
inclination to use the words of Latin origin which correspond to
the Latin words he is translating, though it happens occasionally
in the case of the more exotic words such as timpane, ysope.
Assa appears in wilde assan = onagri 335 ; 6eafor-(tun) in in
midle ceafurtunes Sines = in medio atrio tuo 290 ' in the midst of
thy court ' ; calic : dryhten dael erfewordnisse miwre and celces
mines 202 the Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my
cup ' ; ceder : gebriceS dryhten ceder-beamas Ses miwtes
(= cedros Libani) 222 'the Lord breaks the cedar-trees of the
mountain ' ; cerubin, probably to be regarded as still a ' foreign 5
word : Su sites ofer cerubin 302 ' Thou sittest above the
cherubim * : cocer : gearwadon strelas heara in cocere (=in
faretra) ' they have prepared their arrows within the quiver * ;
culire : fi$ru swe swe culfran 261 ' wings like a dove ' ; gigant :
gefaeh swe swe gigant to earnenne on weg 209 ' rejoiced as a giant
to run his course ' ; gimm is used in ofer gold and gim ' above
gold and precious stone ', where the Latin has super aurum et
topazion 368 ; ISo : swe swe ka in bedckofan his 197 ' like a lion
in his den ' ; mill : swe swe hors and mul 227 * like horse and
mule ? ; munt : and geherde mec of munte Ssem halgan his 189
* and heard me out of his holy hill ' ; mirra : mirra and dropa
and smiringfrom kreglumfrom stepum elpanbaennum 249 ' myrrh
and " drops " and cassia from thy garments out of the ivory
steps ' ; palm : se rihtwisa swe swe palma &Zowd"321 ' the righteous
shall flourish like a palm-tree ' ; plant : beam din swe swe neowe
plant ek-trea 377 ' thy children like new olive-tree plants J ;
portic : o88&t ic ingse in godes haUg portic 289 (
1 Sweet, Oldest English Texts. Ref. page.
24 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
dei) ' until I go into the sanctuary of God ' ; sahn : noman
tfinum salm ic cweo&u 209 e I will sing a new song to thy name ' ;
tigle : adrugade swe swe tigule megen min 213 * my strength is
dried up like a tile ' ; torr : tor strengu from onsiene feondas 269
* a tower of strength in the presence of my enemies ? ; turtur :
speara gemoeted him Tms and turtur nest 307 ' the sparrow has
found him a house and the turtle-dove a nest ' ; ymen : niowne
ymen gode urum 241 * a new song unto our God ' ; ysope : Su
onstrigdes meo mid ysopan 257 * thou hast washed me with
hyssop'. (It will have been observed that a considerable
proportion of these words occur in similes.) Further, there is a
little group of musical instruments : timpana : in midle iungra
plaegiendra timpanan 279 * in the midst of the young ones playing
on the timbrels ' ; organa : in salum in midle hire we hengan
organan ure 385 on the willows in the midst of her we hung up
our instruments ' ; cymbala : hergaS hine in cymbalan wel
hleocfriendum 401 * praise him upon the well-sounding cymbals ' ;
citere : am wuldor min, aris hearpe and citere 265 * arise, my
glory, arise, harp and cither ' (= psalterium et cythara). All of
these words except culfre, gigawt, gimm, leo, ceafortun, seem to
be recorded first in English prose in the Vespasian Psalter.
There are naturally fewer of the ' every-day ' words in this text
than in some others, and more ' learned ' words.
THE PROSE OF KING ALFBED'S TIME
We must first consider King Alfred's own writings. Since
a considerable part of these consists of translations from Latin,
one might expect them to reflect the Latin vocabulary of the
originals. This does not, in fact, often happen ; it is least rare
in the Orosius, where the subject-matter introduces such foreign
ideas as consul 9 triumph, dictator. These arc of the typo of
6 learned ' words which were never naturalized in English*
King Alfred's translation of Gregory's Liber Pastordis 1
is usually considered to be his first extant work. Here are some
of the learned words which he uses in it ; it will be scon that an
explanation often accompanies them. AOamaos : se hearda
1 Ed. Sweet, Gregory's Pastoral Care, E.B.T.S., 45, 50, from MS. Cott,
Tiberius B. XI. Ref. to page. The Latin, whore quoted, is from the edition
of tho Liber Paatorcdia in Migne's Potrologia.
LATIN WOEDS BEFOBE THE CONQUEST 25
stan, se pe adamans Jiatte 270 * the hard stone which is called
adamant ' (the Latin has durus adamas) ; carbunculus and
iacinctus : on gimma gecynde carbunwilus bid diorra donne
iaoinctus 411 ' among gems the carbuncle is more precious than
the jacinth ' ; chor : se psalmscop cw&p . . . Lofiad God mid
tympanan and on chow . . . on dxm chore biod monege men
gegadrode anes hwset to singanne anum wordum and anre stemne
346 ' the psalmist said, Praise God with the timbrel and in the
chorus ... in the chorus many men are gathered to sing some-
thing in the same words and with one voice ' (but the Latin has
the same comment : in choro autem voces sodetate concordant) ;
cymen : ge tiogodiad eowre mintan and eowerne kymen 439 ' you
tithe your mint and your cummin ' (Lat. cyminum) ; epistola :
on his epistolan to Galatum 116 ' in his epistle to the Galatians ' ;
magister : he cydde d&t he waes mogister and ealdormonn 116
' he showed that he was master and chief ' ; manna : se sweta
mete pe hie heton monna 124 ' the sweet food which they called
manna * (the Vespasian Psalter has heofonlic hlaf ' heavenly
bread ' for manna 297) ; purpura : purpura, d&t is Ivynelic lirsegl
84 ' purple, that is a royal robe ' ; sacerd : sacerdas, fat is on
Englisc cl&nseras 138 'sacerdas (= priests), that is in English
purifiers ' ; s6n : Ssst h^e noht ungelice deem sone ne singaS pe
he wilnaif 174 * that they sing sounds not unlike those which he
desires.'
We may add to these some examples of words of a more ordinary
character, either recorded in this text for the first time or
illustrating interesting uses : alter : Godes alter 216, etc., ' God's
altar ' ; the native word is weqfod, weobud, which is also used in
the text ; apostol, common throughout King Alfred's writings ;
carcern : bendas and Jcarcernu 204 ' bonds and prisons '
(= vincula et carceres) ; 65ac : beforan &&m temple stod a&ren
ceoc 104 * before the temple stood a brazen laver ' ; 6eas : da
wrohtgeornan pe cease wyrceaS 176 *the quarrelsome who stir
up strife ' ; 6easter is the regular equivalent of tivitas * city ' :
Sa ceastre Ilierusalem 160 ' the city of Jerusalem ? ; it is also
used to translate castra : he <w%rd ceastre wid Hierusakm 162
'he sets up a camp against Jerusalem' (castra erigit), and
also temptum : on psere Godes ceastre 252 (=* in tempkm Dei) ;
080 : Jcoka aldermon tow&wp da bwrg &t Hierusakm 310 * the
26 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
prince of cooks cast down the city at Jerusalem' (=princeps
cocorum ; the Vulgate has regis quoque . . .) ; fefer : an lytel
fefres 228 ' a little fever ' ; fie : swse se fiicbeam oferscedocf (F&t
land 336 ' as the fig-tree overshadows the land ' ; impian :
hiene selfne faestlice geimpaS on eordlicum weorcum 132 ' grafts
himself firmly into earthly works ' (= inserit) ; martyr : he
underfeng martyrdom 52 ' he underwent martyrdom ' ; mentel :
forcearf his mentles senne Issppan 196 * cut off the border of his
cloak ' (= oram chlamydis) ; offrung : ryhtwisra monna offrung
368 * the offering of righteous men ' ; olfend : dset hiforswulgun
done olpend 439 c that they should swallow the camel ' ; papa :
dryhtnes cempa, Rome papa 8 ' the Lord's champion, the Pope of
Rome ' ; pile : Seah Su portige done dysegm on pilan swse mon
corn ded mid pilstafe 266 'though you pound the foolish in
a mortar as one does corn with a pestle ' ; pinsian : pinsige
&k mon hiene selfne georne 62 ' let every man consider himself
carefully s ; plantian : to plantianne . . . swa se ceorl ded his
ortgeard 292 c to plant as the churl does his garden ' ; pyngan :
hine pynge mid sumum wordum 296 ' may prick him with words ' ;
pyle : wa d&m Se willad under selcne elnbogan lecgean pyle 142
* woe to them that wish to lay a pillow under each elbow ' ;
sicor : ne lio we no d&s sicore 425 ' let us not be sure of it ' ;
solor : on cf&m solore S%$ modes 22 * in the upper chamber of
the mind ' (cf . the use in the Phoenix, above) ; street : set &lcre
str&te ende 132 ' at the end of every street ' (= in capite omnium
platearum) ; taper : hie hiene on&W mid Sam, tapore &&$
godoundan liegges 258 * they kindle him with the taper of the
divine fire ' ; tempi : in the sense of tabernacle : Moyses oft
eode in and ut on if&t tempi 100 ' Moses often went in and out of
the temple ' (= tabernaeulum),
This is a long list, but the Pastoral Care, since it is the first
considerable piece of connected prose in English (the Vespasian
Psalter being only an interlinear gloss), deserves special attention.
The translation of the fifth-century Historia adversus Paganos
of Paulus Orosius 1 gives us a number of words connected with
Roman history and customs ; like the ' foreign ' words referred
to in the Pastoral Ca/re 9 these sometimes have a note of
explanation : anflteatra : heora godas b&don pset him man
* Ed. Sweet, E.E.T.S., 79-
LATIN WOEDS BEFORE THE CONQUEST 27
worhte anfiteatra 102 (tliis has the Latin plural ending) ' asked
their gods that amphitheatres should be made for them ' ;
bibliothece : and hiora bibliotheco weard oribsernedfrom ligette 270
' and their library was burned up by lightning ' ; cohorte :
he hsefde eahta and eahtatig coortana past we nu truman hatap 240
* he had 88 cohorts, which we now call truman ' ; consul :
him da Romane . . . ladteowas gesetton, pe hie consules heton 68
e the Romans appointed leaders whom they called consuls '
(cf . the later Cleopatra Gloss, which for consul has gearcyning or
heretoga 375) ; istoria : ic sceal eac py lator Romana istoria
asecgan 160 * I shall relate the history of the Romans later '
(cf . stser, also from Lat. historia, but adopted into English through
Irish ; see p. 59) ; legie : hi hsefdon eahta kgian 160 ' they had
eight legions ' ; palendse : set pses caseres pakndsan 272 * at the
Emperor's palace ' ; philosoph : hie sealdon Demostanase
philosophe 124 c they gave to Demosthenes the philosopher ' ;
talente : on selcre anre takntan wses Ixxx punda 170 c in each
talent was 80 pounds ' ; tictator : heora tictator, Camillis hatte
92 * their dictator, called Camillas * ; triumphe : Sset hie
triumphan heton, pset wses ... 70 ' which they called a triumph,
that was . . .'
The following uses are worth noting : casern for the feminine
of cdsere (with the Germanic feminine suffix) : hie heton his wvf
casern 266 ' they called his wife Empress ' ; cest : two, cista,
pa wseron attres fulle 258 * two boxes which were full of poison '
( = area) ; cyperen : ealk pa onlicnessa . . . ge serene, ge cyprene
216 * all the images, both of iron and of copper ' ; elpend : he
[Pyrrhus] h&fde xx elpenda 154 * he had 20 elephants ' ; leo :
psem Minotauro . . . pset wses healfmon, healf ko 42 * the Minotaur,
which was half man, half lion ' ; mattuc : and sippan mid
mattucum heawan 186 * and afterwards to cut it up with
mattocks ' ; mydd : prio mydd gyldenra hringa 190 ' three
bushels of gold rings' (tres modws) ; nunne is used for a
vestal virgin : Caperronie wses haten heora goda nunne 162
c one of the " nuns " of their gods was called Caperronia ' ;
oflrian : hie him pagit ofreden and lloten 162 ' they still made
offerings and sacrifices to them ' (blotan is the native verb) ;
port, in the sense of * haven ' rather than * town ' : an port . . .
pone man hset Sdringes heal 19 * a port called S.' ; sc61 : ps&re
28 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
scale pe he on leornede 284 * the school he learned in ' ; (a)spendan :
ponne his gestreon beoS pus eall aspended 21 ' when his wealth
is all spent in this way ' ; spynge : for pon pe elpendes hyd wile
drincan wsetan, gelice ond spynge deS 230 ' because an elephant's
hide will absorb moisture as a sponge does ' ; tlgle : he is geworht
of tigelan and of eorStyrewan 74 ' it [the wall of Babylon] is all
made of bricks and bitumen * ; tunece : hie him sendon ane
tunecan 234 ' they sent him a toga ' ; yndse : #fc wifmon h&fde
ane yndsan goldes 196 ' each woman had an ounce of gold '
( aun uneias).
The Old English version of Bede's Historic Eccksiastica 1
contains, as its subject would suggest, a large number of
ecclesiastical terms. Such words as sslmesse, abbud, abbudisse,
engel, m&sse, munuc, mynster, nunne, sacerd, salm, are common.
There are a good many learned words, usually following Bede's
Latin : antemn, letania : peosne letaniam and ontemn gehleoSre
stefne sungon 60 'they sang this litany and antiphon with
harmonious voices * (== laetaniam consona uoce modulcvrentur) ;
archidiacon : ps&$ gelseredestan Bonefatiw archidiacones 454 ' of
Boniface the learned archdeacon ' ; balsam : hord&rn bakami
(with Latin ending) 174 'a store of balsam' (= opobalsami
cellaria) ; canon : pset halige gewrit se canan 486 ' the holy
scripture, the canon' (soriptura sancta) ; capitol : swa we
&r in psem uferan kapitule cw&don 84 ' as we said in the last
chapter ' ; comSta : neowe steorra, se is cweden cometa 298 * a new
star, which is called cornet ' ; crisma : under crisman 404 ' attired
in the chrisom ' (= in afibis) ; discipul : heo gesomnodon micelne
preat disdpula 258 ' they gathered a throng of disciples ' ;
King Alfred does not seem to use korwung-cniht, the usual term
in the Gospels for * disciple ' ; he has, however, leornung-mon
(applied to a woman) in the phrase disdpula and kornung-mon
regottices lifes Bedo 236 (= disdpula uitae regtdaris) ; domne :
her rested domne Agustinus 106 * here lies the lord Augustine '
(=5= hio requiesdt domnus Augustinus) ; min domne, liwmt is pis
fyr? 214 ' my lord, what is this fire ? ' (= domine) ; eretic :
wi& Deodorum and Iheodoreti and liba p&m eretioum 312
' against Th, and T. and L, heretics ' ; grammatic : grammatic-
w&ft tydon o/nd Iserdon 258 ' taught grammar > ; martyr : da
Ed. Millet, &E.T.8., 96-^, UO-U. Bef, to page.
LATIN WORDS BEFORE THE CONQUEST 29
prowunge para haligra martyra 40 'the passion of the holy
martyrs ' ; prowunge is the native word equivalent to
martyrdom ; for martyr the word prowere is often used ; meter-
fers : we . . . awriton, ge meter-fersum ge geradre sprsece 366 e we
have written, both in verse and in prose ' (= et uersibus heroicis
et simplid oratione) ; meterfersum asang and geradre sprsece
gesette 448 (== et uersibus exametris, et prosa composuit) ; meter-
cr&ft = metncse ars 258 ; non : py feordan ww-dsege . . .f&ston
to nones 162 ' the fourth week-day they fasted till noon ' ;
subdiacon : to subdiaeone gehalgad 254 e ordained subdeacon * ;
tabul : gehalgadne tabul on wigbedes gewixle 416 ' a consecrated
table in place of an altar ' (= tabulam altaris uice) ; tra(wc) :
on gelicnesse pses traiscan w&les wundade 154 * wounded in the
manner of the tragic slaughter * (= tragica caede) ; but this
should perhaps be troisc = Trojan, which is the word used in
another, similar, passage (306).
The following may also be noted : ampelle : genom his
ompellan and sumne d&l pses eles sende in pone see 200 * took his
flask and poured some of the oil into the sea ' ; ancor : pa
ongunnon pa scipmen pa oncras upp teon 200 * then the sailors
began to draw up the anchors ' ; crisp : and h&fde crispe loccas
f&gre 390 ' and had pretty curly hair ' ; cruc : pa a&enede se
biscop hine in cruce 372 * the bishop prostrated himself in the
form of a cross ' ; fers : pafers and pa word pe he nsefre gehyrde
344 * the verses and the words which he had never heard ' ;
meregrota : on Sam beop oft gemettan da betstan meregrotan 26
* in these are often found the best pearls ' ; portic : in pa&re
cirican nortfportice 106 c in the north porch of the church * ;
piafost : prafost and ealdormon 232, profost and regolweard 360
(propositus of a monastery); regol: peodscipe regottices
Uifes 226 f the discipline of regular life ' ; se^n, used by the
side of toon to translate uex^tta 9 cf . 144, 146, 184 ; street :
ceastre and torras and str&te and brycge on heora rice geworhte
w&ron 44 * towns and towers and roads and bridges were made
in their country ' (=* stratae).
Bang Alfred's translation of Boethius's Consolation of
Philosophy l (and we include here the verse as well as the prose
version of the Metra) has very few words of Latin origin which
i Ed. Sedgeaeld, Oxford, 1899.
30 HISTOEY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
do not occur in liis other writings. Consul (as in Orosius) has an
explanatory note : pa WBBS sum consul, pset we heretoha hataS
7 ' there was a certain consul, which we call heretoga ' ; culpian
is found in this text and apparently nowhere else in Old English :
past mon scyle culpian to psem pe him gifan scyle 71 e that a man
must cringe to one who may give to him ' ; Iseden has here the
sense of ' Latin ', but lodseden is used also for ' Latin ' (i.e.
( book Latin '), and occasionally in Old English leeden is used for
' language ' in general ; cf . the references to ^Elfric's Heptateuch
below ; must occurs here in the phrase peak pe wel lyste wearmes
mustes 12 ' though you much desire new wine '. The remaining
words of interest in Boethius are a small group of bird and animal
names : cypera : povme eow fon lysteS leax oSSe cyperan 176
' when you wish to catch " lax " or " kipper " ' (i.e. salmon at
two different stages) ; tigris : swiflran ponne ligris . . . strengran
ponne leo 72 e swifter than the tiger, stronger than the lion ' ;
ultor : se ultor sceolde forlsetan $&t he ne slat da lifre Sticces 102
'the vulture is said to have stopped tearing the liver ol S.'
(when it heard the music of Orpheus).
Finally, from the version of St. Augustine's Soliloquies only
two words need be mentioned : inse&l : gyf Sines hlafordes
ssrendgewrit and hys insegel to Se cymS 24 (the first occurrence)
' if thy lord's letter and his seal come to thee ' ; line : be <mre
linan . . . w&s awriten 21 * in one line was written ' (see also
Riddles), where fine is used in the same sense).
Leaving King Alfred's own work, we may turn to the O.E.
Mcvrtyrology, 1 which perhaps dates from his reign, though the
manuscripts in which it is extant are all at least a century later.
This text has the words rose and lilie : swa swote swa rosan
bkstman owd Ulian 198 ' as sweet as the blossoms of rose and
lily ' ; also xnarm(ar), which has not so far been referred to ia
the sections on prose : peah hit wsere marmo/rstwnes 74 ' though it
were of marble ' ; candel is used in its concrete sense : swa
hwelc mon swa condella onlserne 116 c as though one were burning
a candle ' ; eaeppa : pa dyde Albams on hine pw preostes c&ppan
100 ' then A. put on him the priest's cope ' ; cr6da : gtf he song
his credan 144 * if he sang his creed ' ; relic : eall godesfok mid
eadmodlice relicgonge 62 ' all the people of God in a humble
1 Ed. Herzfeld, B.E.T.S., 116. Ecf. to page.
LATIN WORDS BEFORE THE CONQUEST 31
visiting of relics ' ; sealticge : sellan anre sealticgan hire pkgan
to mede 156 * to give to a dancer as a reward for her dancing ' ;
pi6 and draca have already been noted in the section on the earlier
verse : of psere com gan micel draca ond dbat pone priddan d&l
pses Jisednan fokes 90 * out of it came a huge dragon and eat up
a third part of the heathen people ' ; pa het se casere meltan
on hwere lead ond scipteoran ond pic 96 'then the Emperor
ordered lead and tar and pitch to be melted in a cauldron '.
The English equivalents given for the Latin names of the arts
show that abstract native words could be constructed and used
instead of adopting Latin ones : arythmetica, J?eet is fonne
rymcrseft ; astrologia, J>set is }>onne tungolcrseft ; astronomia,
J>set is tungla gang ; geometrica, Tp&t ys eorS-gemet 212 ;
mechanica, Ipsst is weoruld-weorces craeft ; medicina, ]?set is
laece-domes crseft 214 ; musica, J>set ys dreamcrseft 212.
The translation of Gregory's Dialogues by Wserferth, Bishop of
Worcester, is another important prose work of Alfred's time.
Perhaps the most interesting point about the Latin element in
its vocabulary is the variation in the three manuscripts. The
Oxford MS. (BodL Hatton 76) sometimes has a native word
where the Cambridge MS. (C.C.C. S 10) has one of Latin origin
and (more rarely) vice versa. The British Museum MS. (Cott.
Otho C. I) usually has the same word as the Cambridge MS.
(these two MSS. are very close in other respects), but occasionally
agrees with Hatton against Cbg. It has been suggested that
Hatton represents a revision of the version in the other two MSS.
The following are the chief instances :
(A) Latin word in Cbg. :
Cbg.
bydene
bydenu
calicas
candele
carcern
epistolan
militisces (mannes)
spertan (= spyxtan)
B.M.
bydene
bydenu
calicas
candele
carcern
epistoka
militisces (mannes)
spertan
Hatton
ele-treddan 50
kyfa57
scencea 127
leoht(es) 143,
cweartern 107
asrend-gewrite 38
J>egenes 77, 78
wylian 110
32 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Cbg. B.M. Hatton
tapor tapor weocon 44
tone torre stypele(s) 170, 3
(B) English word in Cbg. :
beode mysan mysan 143
beode beode mysan 143
gebletsodon gesenodon gesenodon 124
god-webbenum god-webbenum psellenum 131
lof-sang lof-sang (beod)-fers 62
(ge)cide (ge)cide ceaste 64
Sometimes Cbg. uses both a loan-word and the corresponding
native word in the same passage : calic (here in the sense of
' lamp ', not ' cup ' as in the list above) : pone tobrocenan calic
p&re serran gesynto eft ageaf 50 * gave back the broken lamp as
whole as before ' ; elsewhere in this chapter glsesen leoht-f&t ;
here the variation depends on the Latin original, which has
calicem in the sentence quoted, but lampas vitrea later in the
passage. Mese : pa [grenan wyrta] to ure mysan bringed 181
' shall bring green vegetables to our table ' ; but beode is used
on the same page.
The word tempi is used in this text with reference to the temple
of God and to that of Apollo. Solor, which usually has the
meaning of ' upper room, solar ' (cf . gestod in pom solore p&s
Mynstres 119 ' stood in the upper room of the monastery J )
once translates palatium : peowode in pam solore p&re Con-
stantinopoliscan byrig 248 * should serve in the palace of the
city of Constantinople '.
The following loan-words appear here for the first time in
English prose, though some have been noted earlier in glossaries :
cancer : gestanden on pa breost mid cwncre pme wunde 278
* afflicted in the breast with cancer ' ; leahtric : pa geseah heo
&ne kahtric 30 ' then she saw a lettuce ' ; cycene : pa awwrpon
hie pdBt . . .inpa cycenan 123 ' they threw it into the kitchen ' ;
cymbala : pa stod pser semmnga sum man mid anum apan * . .
and skh cymbalan 62 ' all at once there stood there a man with
an ape and struck cymbals ' ; cemes : butan his Jcemese 68
' without Ms shirt ' ; dalmatica : man alegde ofer pa b&re . . .
LATIN WORDS BEFORE THE CONQUEST 33
his dalmat^can 329 e they laid his dalmatic over the bier ' ;
dihtian : him to gehet his writers and him dihtode 193 c he
summoned his scribe and dictated to fri ' ; fenester : o<$ pset
hit becom upp to pam fenestrum 220 ' until it came up to the
windows ' ; matta : pset hine man alegde in his cytan on pa
meattan 125 ' that he should be laid on the mat in his cell ' ;
maeslere : ga to Abundium pam mseslere 228 ' go to A. the
sacristan ' (= vade ad Acontium mansionarium) ; serin : forlet
pa scrine his feoh-gestreones 52 * left his treasure-chest ' ;
milit(isc) : pa w&ron militisce men farende 194 c there were
soldiers travelling ' (= milites) ; spyrte : twa spyrtanfulle metes
203 ' two baskets full of food ' ; traht : in pam godspeUes trahtum
pe ic self awrat 283 ' in the commentary on the Gospel, which
I wrote myself ' ; trahtian, here * to discuss ' : ongunnon trahtian,
hwssSer hi mihton . . . pset unm&te stanckf onweg aleodian 213
' they began to discuss whether they could remove the huge rock '.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1 the first part of which was
compiled during King Alfred's reign, does not give us many words
of special interest until the eleventh century. The following
words from the ninth and tenth centuries, not very common in
Old English generally, may be mentioned :
Ninth Century : cometa (evidently a foreign word here) :
se steorra pe mon on bodxden hset cometa, same man cwepap on
Englisc pset hit feaxede steorra sie 892 ' the star which is called
c cometa ' in Latin, while in English men say that it is the star
with hair ' ; crisma : his crism-lising wses &t Wepmor 878 c the
putting off of his baptismal robe was at Wedmore ' ; cumpseder
(recorded here only) : JEpered his cump&der 894 * JE]?ered his
godfather ' ; domne : pa was domne Leo pape on Rome 853
' then was lord Leo pope at Home ' ; legat : past seo abbot beo
gehealden for legat of Rome 675 ' that the abbot should be
recognized as papal legate ' ; scol : py ikan geare forborn
Ongolcynnes scolu 816 * in the same year the English school
(at Rome) was burnt down ' ; senop : her wses gefiitfullic senop
3Bt Cealchype 785 ' in this year there was a disputatious synod at
Chelsea '. Tenth Century : mynetere : and an myneter in Stan-
ford 963 c and one maker of coins at Stamford ' ; Pentecosten :
1 Ed. Hummer, Two Anglo-Saxon Chronicles Parallel. Ref. to year of
Chronicle*
34 HISTOKY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Pentecostenes dseg 973 ' the day of Pentecost ' ; portic : binnan
GLeawcestre on pam east portice sancte Petres cyrcean 918 * at
Gloucester in the east porch of St. Peter's church ' ; sanct
(usually used attributively) : he is nu defter deade heofonhc
sanct 979 * he is now after death a heavenly saint ? ; cleric :
draf ut pa clerca of pe biscoprice 963 e drove out the clergy from
the bishopric '.
THE OLD ENGLISH GOSPEL VERSIONS
Of the Old English translations of the four Gospels x the oldest
is the interlinear Northumbrian version in the Latin Liudisfarne
Gospels, added to the Latin in the middle of the tenth century.
A little later in date is the interlinear gloss in the Rushworth
Manuscript, in which the Gospel of St. Matthew is in a Midland
dialect, while those of St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John are in
a southern Northumbrian dialect, and are largely dependent on
the Lindisfarue gloss. The late West Saxon version is from about
1050, but may be considered here with the others. Taking
St. Matthew first, we find that each of the versions has its own
peculiarities. In Lindisfarne alone of the translations are the
following words (though some are found elsewhere in Old
English) : cealcian ' to whitewash ' : lyrgennum oferkiudwn
vel uta gec&kad sepulchres xxiii, 27 (= painted or whitewashed
on the outside), Rush, and LWS. Gospels (be)hwitum ; ceulas
' baskets ' xv, 37 where Rush, has sperta, LWSG. wilian ; cilic :
in cilic and in asca xi, 21 ' in sackcloth and ashes ', where Rush,
has in wite (= in torment), and LWSG, on h&ran (~ in hair-
cloth) ; cuopel, apparently from Mod. Lat. caupulus : in lytlum
stipe vel cuopk viii, 23 (= in nauivula), where the others use
stip ; cursuinbor, where the others have recels, the usual native
word for incense, ii, 11 ; mil (here equivalent to Lat, milk
6 thousand *, rather than c mile ') : suachua dec genedes mile
str&dena v, 41 * whosoever shall compel theo to go a thousand
paces ', where Rush, has pusend steppan, and LWSG, pusend
stapa ; n6n : to huil nones xxvii, 45 ' at aoontido ', Rush, and
LWSG. nigopan tid ' niath hour * ; plnian : 9u cuome hider m
1 Ed. Skent, The Gospel according to St. Matthew, etc. Eef. to chapter and
verse.
LATIN WOEDS BEFORE THE CONQUEST 35
tid to pinienne usih viii, 29 * art thou come hither to torment
us before the time ', where Rush, has tinterga and LWSG.
preagenne, all in the sense of ' torment ' ; plsece : in huommum
Sara plsscena vel wordum vi, 5 ' in the corners of the streets '
(the word word is used for a street in a town or for the hall or
atrium of a house), where Rush, has worSana, LWSG. str&ta ;
port e gate ' : inngeonges Serh nearuo port vel dure velgaet vii, 13
c enter ye in at the strait gate ', the others having only geat ;
seternes-(da3#) : to sunnadssg vel to seternes-dseg xii, 8 (= sabbati),
where the others have reste-, raeste- dseg ; camell : hraegl of
camella herum ii, 4 e a garment of the hair of camels \ Rush,
and LWSG. using olfend (see below) ; trahtian : Sset is getrahtet,
mi& us god i, 23 ' which is, being interpreted, God with us ',
for the gereht of the others. In Mt. viii, 5 Lindisfarne has centur
for ' centurion ', but explains it, paet is TmndraSes monna hlaferd
c lord of a hundred men', and has also the phrase fern dldormenn
v, 8, where Rush, has centuno ; in both passages LWSG. has
Tiundredes ealdor.
Lind. and Rush, agree against LWSG. in having Gaelic (LWSG.
drinc) in Mt. x, 42. Rush, has the following forms where different
words occur in Lind. and LWSG. : diner : pa gepingadun wiS
psem wyrhtum be dinere Mt. xx, 2 ' they agreed with the workmen
for a penny ', Lind. of pening, LWSG. &nne penig ; discipul :
discipuli vel his p&gnas Mt. v, 1 Lind. Seignas> LWSG. kornung-
cmhtas ; pipere : piperas Mt. ix, 23, Lind. beameras, LWSG.
hwistleras ; sperta : Mt. xv, 37 and xvi, 10, for which Lind. has
ceulas and monda, and LWSG. witian ; sffer : unsyfernisse Mt.
xxiii, 27, Lind. undsenae, LWSG. fylpe ; torcul : gedaelf in
&%m torcul Mt. xxi, 33 * digged a wine-press in it ', Lind. win-
trog 9 LWSG. win-wringan ; synagoge : Iserende in heora
synagogum vel somnungum Mt. iv, 23 'teaching in their
synagogues or congregations ', the others (ge)somnungum ; tseppel-
(bred) : ne purh eordse for Son pi hio isfot-scamel (the word used
by Lind. and LWSG.) vel t&ppel-bred his fota v, 35 ' nor by the
earth for it is his footstool '.
The considerably later Late West-Saxon Gospels have the
following individual forms : altare Mt. v, 24, the others
wigbed, weofud ; coocel ' tares ' Mt. xiii, 25, Lind. wynnwng
vel sifpe, Rush, weod ; farm : 6*&sfann ys on his hand Mt. iu, 12,
36 HISTOEY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Lind. omits, Rush, windiu scofel (buifann in Lind. Lu. iii, 17) ;
milite : fa milite geworhton pyrnenne coronan Mt. xxvii, 27
6 the soldiers made a crown of thorns ' (cf . Vercelli Homilies,
below) ; munt : "he astah on pone munt Mt. v, 1 ' he went up into
the mountain ', Lind. mor, Rush, dun ; pytt : higfeallap begen
on senne pytt Mt. xv, 14 ' both shall fall into the ditch ', others
seap, but Rush, has pytt as an alternative to seap in xii, 11,
For the remaining three gospels we must content ourselves
with giving lists of words (with one reference to each) which
occur in Lindisfarne and not in LWSG., and vice versa. (Rush,
may be assumed to have the same word as Lind. except where
otherwise stated.)
1. Lindisfarne :
assald c ass ' Lu. xiii, 15.
camell ' camel ' Mk. i, 6.
casering, a coin, Lu, xv, 8.
cawl ' basket ' Mk. vi, 43.
celmert-(monn) < hired man ' Mk. i, 20, etc*
corona c crown ' J. xix, 2.
cunele ' thyme *, Lu. xi, 42.
cyrfel c coat ' Mk. vi, 9.
discipul c disciple ' Lu. vi, 40.
lopestre c locust ' Mk. i, 6.
magistre ' master ' Lu. vi, 40.
pic ' pinnacle * Lu. iv, 9.
pis(lic) ' heavy ' Mk. xiv, 40.
plsetse ' street ' Mk. vi, 56.
plett * sheepfold ' J. x, 1.
purble e purple ' J. xix, 5.
regol-(weard) * ruler, nobleman ' J. iv, 46.
segne < net ' J. xxi, 8 (Rush. nett).
stole ' robe ' Mk. xii, 38.
ton * tower ' Mk. xii, 1.
trahtian * interpret ' J. i, 41.
turtur ' turtle-dove ? Lu. ii, 4.
2. Late West-Saxon Gospels :
altare * altar ' Lu. xi, 51.
alewe c aloe ' J. xix, 39*
LATEST WORDS BEFORE THE CONQUEST 37
box c box ' J. xix, 39.
byden * pot, measure ' J. ii, 6.
candel-(stsef) c candlestick ' Mk. iv, 21.
calc ' sandal J Mk. vi, 9.
cocc ' cock ' J. xiii, 38.
cypa * basket ' Lu. ix, 17.
castel c village * Mk. vi, 6.
dihtan * to order ' J. xviii, 14.
flasce ' bottle ' Mk. xiv, 13.
mangung e merchandise ' J. ii, 16.
mese ' table ' Mk. vii, 28, etc.
minte c mint ' Lu. xi, 42.
munt ' mountain ' Mk. iii, 13.
nard c spikenard ' Mk. xiv, 3.
offmng e sacrifice ' Mk. ix, 49.
olfend ' camel ' Mk. i, 6.
paradis ' paradise ' Lu. xxiii, 43.
purpur ' purple ' J. xix, 2.
ssetern-(d8eg) ( Saturday, Sabbath * Lu. xxiii, 54.
serin * coffer ' J. xii, 6.
seam ' wallet ' Lu. xxii, 35.
sicol e sickle ' Mk. iv, 29.
spynge ' sponge ' Mk. xv, 36.
titul ' title ' Mk. xv, 26 (not in Rush.)
toll-(scamol) ' treasury ' Mk. xii, 41.
turtle ' turtle-dove ' Lu. ii, 4.
These lists are the same in length, but differ in that the first
tias a fair proportion of words which occur nowhere in Old English
except in the Lindisfarne and Rushworth Gospels. Casering,
translating drachma, is found in the Rushworth version of
3t. Matthew as well as in the three gospels referred to in the
ists ; the word is recorded also in the fragment of Old High
jrerman epic poetry known as the Hildebrandslied, in the form
iheisuring. For drachma LWSG. has the native word scilhng.
Oelmert-monn 1 * hired servant ', represented in LWSG. by
\yra, hyremonn, yrSUng, is apparently from a Vulgar Latin
:orm *collmbertus of Lat. coM&rtus ' fellow-freedman '. Plsetee,
1 See Jordan, Eigentttrnlichkeiten des angli&chen Wortechatzea, p. 82.
38 HISTOKY OP FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
plaece, from a Romance form of Lat. platea, occurs in Lind.,
Rush., and also in another northern document, the Durham
Ritual. Pktt ' sheepfold ' (LWSG. sceapa-falde) seems to be from
Lat. p lecta ' hurdle ' . Purple, with dissimilation of r to I, takes the
place of the usual O.E. purpur ; cf. the alternative forms turtur
and turtle ; the latter is, however, fairly common.
A few of the correspondencies between Latin loan-words and
native words are worth noting. For altare of LWSG., the other
Gospels have wigbed, weofud, and this word is retained in the
twelfth-century Hatton MS. of the Gospels, though this usually
follows the LWSG. The word b&zere, bsepzere ' baptist ' corre-
sponds to the native fullwihtere> which appears in LWSG.,
though this also has lezera. For box, in sealf-box (Mk. xiv, 3)
'box of ointment', LWSG. has st&nne-fset. For candel-staef
'candelabrum' Lind. has kht-isern (light-iron). For lilie in
sceawiap pa hlian hu hi wexap Mk. xii, 27, Lind. has simply
wyrta ' flowers '. LWSG. uses gssrstapan, usually ' grasshoppers 9
for the Latin locustas, Lind. lopestro Mk. i, 6. Munt occurs in
all the versions, but though it is the usual word in LWSG.,
Lind. more often has mor. For the * learned ' word osanna
Mk. xi, 10 Lind. uses the native exclamation Id h&L The word
pistic (with Gmc. suffix, from Lat. pens-us) c heavy ' occurs in
Mk. xiv, 40, ego hiora p^sl^co ' their eyes were heavy ' ; this
is in Lind. ; LWSG. has gehefegode (P.P.). Where LWSG.
has sicol * sickle ', Lind. has np-feern * reaping-tool '. For ton
in Lind. Mk. xii, 1, LWSG. has stypel (cf. Gregory's Dialogues,
above). Leorning-cniht is the usual word in LWSG. for
c disciple '. For the learned paradis in LWSG., Lind. has nercsna-*
wong, a Germanic word whose etymology remains a puzzle.
For the Latin supra pinnam templi Lu. iv, 9, Lind. has ofer
horn-pic temples, LWSG. ofer p&s temples hricg. For seam
(V.Lat. sauma) in Lind. (Lu. xxii, 35) buta seame and met-bMUg
' without purse and scrip ', LWSG. has seod * pocket, purso '.
Apostol is used in all the versions, but LWSG. has menddraca
' messenger ' at least once (J. xiii, 16). The native word for
corona (Lind. J. xix, 2, corona of pornum ' crown of thorns J )
is cyw-helm (LWSG.) or, as Lind. gives as an alternative, sig-beg
' circlet of victory '. Cocc replaces the Gmo, hona in J, xiii, 38.
The foreign mangung for negotiatio is found ia LWSG. ; Lind*
LATIN WORDS BEFORE THE CONQUEST 39
has the earlier and commoner loan-word ceping. Finally we note
that Lind. and Rush, use the form caelc for ' cup ' (Lat. cake-em),
and LWSG. calix, the latter indicating a re-borrowing from Latin
at a later date.
LATE TENTH CENTURY
The tenth-century glosses in MS. Harley 3376 give a few new
words, chiefly of a learned type : cassan (pi.) glosses casses,
retia 200 ; casul appears as the equivalent of byrrum 196 ; cetel
of caldaria 197 ; ciper-(s6aZ/) ' henna ointment ' for ciprum
205 ; circul for oirculus 204 ; platung(um) for brateolis, laminis
196 ; tunne for cantarus 198. Cocere * cook ' (with Gmc. suffix
-ere ; cf. coc, already referred to) appears in the compound
cocor-panne, for frixorium 243. Scriptor, in the compound tid-
scriptor for chronographius 204, is perhaps purely Latin. English
equivalents given for the loan-word sicul (glossing falx) are
wingeard-seax, nfter (' vineyard-knife, reaper ').
The Blickling Homilies * of the late tenth century have no new
introductions, except perhaps ISur (mid lawere gebeagod 187
* crowned with laurel ') and spicS^ unless the latter is to be
considered a foreign word : ele and nardus and spica, seo is brunes
Tieowes and godes stences 73 e oil and nard and spikenard, which is
of a dark colour and has a good perfume '. The following uses
should be noted : binn : arweorpian we Crist on hnne asetene 11
' let us honour Christ laid in a manger ' ; cantic : on hire cantice
gefeonde . . . sang and pus cw&p 5 * rejoicing in her song, sang
and said thus '. Grigant is used for Goliath : Tie pone gigant
ofwearp 31 ' he overthrew the giant '. Discipul is the regular
word for ' disciple '.
The form orgel, as distinct from organe, appears in a tenth-
century gloss in the Blickling MS., in which the Homilies are
also found : organo orgeldreame 150 c the sound of a musical
instrument '.
The Vercelli HomiUes^ probably of the late tenth century, give
us the word evangeliste : s&gd ocfer euuangelwte, p%t ... 12
' another evangelist says that . . .', perhaps not to be regarded as
* Ed. Morris, E.E.T.S., 58.
8 Ed. Ftfrster, Bibliotheh der age. Proaa, xii (first half). Eef. to page.
40 HISTOEY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
an English word. Syiet(licnesse) (with a double Gmc. suffix)
is used in the sense of e sincerity ' (59). Milite appears several
times for ' soldiers ' : wseron pa rmkte pass ge-refan men 34
* the soldiers were men of the reeve's ' ; an adjectival form of this
word (mUitisc) has already appeared in Wserferth's translation of
Gregory's Dialogues, and mUite occurs again in the eleventh
century St. Matthew (see above).
THE WORKS OF
JSlfric, abbot of Eynsham, is the most notable writer of the
late tenth and early eleventh century. Trained in the school of
^Ej>elwold at Winchester, he represents a fine product of the
monastic revival of the late tenth century. His works are varied,
including science and grammar as well as sermons and other
religious writings.
The homilies, 1 being of a popular character, contain few unusual
Latin words, and some words of a learned type are explained :
he is cwedenprotomartyr,pset is se forma cy&ere (Catholic Homilies,
50) ' he is called protomartyr, that is the first witness ' ; betwux
dracum and aspidum and eallum wyrmcynne 486 * among dragons
and asps and all kinds of serpents ' ; and even discipuli, p&t
s^nd korning-cnihtas 26 * disciples, that is learners '. Cr6da must
have been a familiar word, and this is used without comment,
or without explicit comment : pone gekafan pe on Sam credan
stent 274 ' the faith which is to be found in the Creed ". jSElfric
uses the form pistol rather than the more learned epistol :
Hieronimus se halga sacerd awrat &nne pistol 436 * Jeremy the
holy priest wrote a letter '. Arc is, however, a learned form, of
more recent introduction than earc : God bekac hi bynnan pam
arce 22 ' God shut them into the ark '. The word regol is used in
the compound regol-st^cca in its original sense of * carpenter's
rule ' 362. Cranic ' chronicle ' appears throe times in JSlfric
(e.g. swa swa Hieronimus s%de sydSan on his cranice Horn, on
St. John xvi * as Jeremy afterwards said in his chronicle '),
but is found otherwise only in a late gloss (Napier, Anecdota
(honiensia vii, 24 : oranic-writere chronographorum).
1 Ed. Thorpe, Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church. Rof. to page.
LATIN WORDS BEFORE THE CONQUEST 41
^Elfric's Saints' Lives x have much the same type of vocabulary
as the Homilies, but with more words for household and other
ordinary objects. Altare is used by the side of weofed. Caric
occurs in this text only : genam aenne lytelne taenel mid coricum
gefyttedne 44 (pt. 3) ' he took a little basket filled with figs '.
Carte is found several times for ' a paper, a deed ' : awrat on
anre cartan 82 ' wrote on a piece of paper '. Cristalle occurs in
an wurdlic weorc . . . of glitniendum cristallan 132 * a fine piece of
work of shining crystal '. Pant : to geleafan bnngan and on f ante
fulhan 85 ' bring to the faith and baptize in the font '. Mechanist
(with Gmc. suffix) is found here alone : an wurdlic weorc on
mechanise geweorc 132 e constructed by mechanical craft '.
Mynecen is common throughout : modor ofer manega mynecena
94 e mother over many nuns '. Sanct is used fairly often (= se
Jialga) : pa mynstermenn noldon . . . pone sanct under/on 136
(pt. 3) ' the monks would not receive the holy man ' ; so also
is aspendan : aspende . . . ma ponne twa hund punda 132 ' spent
more than two hundred pounds '. Talent : pone onfangenan
talent fram his hlaforde (pt. 3) * the talent received from his
master '. Note also the following : buteruc c leather bottle ' :
nan win buton on anum gewealdenan butruce 164 * no wine except
in a little bottle ' ; cuppe, a late borrowing compared with cupp
and copp : ne mage ge samod drincon wes drihtnes calic and SSBS
deofles cuppan 378 ' you cannot drink the Lord's chalice and the
devil's cup " ; cycene : eode him to kicenan . . . and began to
etanne 264 e went to the kitchen and began to eat ' ; foca c a
cake baked on the hearth * : geseali pser licgan &nne snaw-hwitne
focan 394 ' saw lying there a snow-white loaf ' ; lenticul : feawa
lenticula, mid wxtere ofgotene 44 (pt. 3) * a few lentils soaked in
water ' (cf . knticula, p%t syndon pysan 48 * lentils, that is, peas ') :
m6r : pah&cfenan . . . midmorberiumgebyldonpaylpas,fordanpe
mor-berian him is metta leofost 104 (pt. 3) ' the heathen encourage
the elephants with mulberries, because mulberries are their
favourite food' (JSlfric always uses yip rather than ylpend,
cf . yip is orm%te deor, mare ponne sum has 104 (pt. 3) ' the elephant
is a huge beast, bigger than some houses ') ; myn&t-faen) :
man awende mynet-isena on his dagum 516 'the coinage was
changed in bis day ' ; 6rel : gegl&ngde me mid orle of golde
i Ed. Skeat, EJBJ.T.S., 76, 82, 94, 114.
42 HISTOKY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
awefen 172 * adorned me with a veil woven of gold ' ; post :
pdBt Tins wearp forburnon "buton pam anum poste 140 (pt. 3) * the
house was burned except for the one post ' ; tabula : on anum
kadenum tabulan ealle mid stafon agrofon 508 e on a leaden tablet
engraved with letters '.
JElfric's translation of the Heptateuch* his Preface to Genesis,
and his short treatise On the Old and New Testament, contain
a number of Biblical words, among which it is sometimes hard
to distinguish real loans from merely ad hoc usages of foreign
words. Among the latter we may class names of foreign plants,
etc., such as cucumeres, stacten, though some seem to be used as
English words : coriandre : sivilce coriandran saed 310 f like
coriander seed ' ; lactuca : Seorfe hlafas mid fare lactucan pe
onfelda wyxt 243 * unleavened bread with the lettuce that grows
in the field ' ; polente : polentan faes ylcan geares 384 e parched
corn of the same year ' ; por-(Zeac) and enne-(Zeac) e leek ' and
' onion ' 309. Lsefel translates Latin scyphum : and nim minne
sylfrena l&fel 193 ' and take my silver cup ' ; ore is used for
crater 272 ; (e)arc is Noah's ark, but the arcafoederis is usually
serin. Organe occurs in reference to Jubal, pe waesf seder hearpcra
and psere pe organon macodon 94 ' who was the father of harpers
and those who made music ' ; another manuscript has f seder
hearpera and organystra* For * Sabbath ' ^Elfric uses S&ternesd&g.
Leden means both c speech ' and * Latin ? (see also p. 30) :
swilce edischenna, fat is on Leden coturnix 253 * also quails, that
is in Latin cotuinix '. Fals (a noun) means ' fraud ' : lim tyTid
ure hlaford us swa miceksfalses ? 193 ' why does our Lord accuse
us of so great a fraud ? ' Further we have in the essay on the
Testaments : titelian : twa lee . . . man getitekde him 557 * two
books were ascribed to him ' ; and the foreign plural seraphin :
pa twa seraphin softlice getacnodon . . . 1161 ' the two seraphs
betokened . . .' And finally we observe that fers is used in the
Preface to Genesis in the sense of a * vorse ' in the Bible : on
psore bee on pamforman ferse 56 e in the first verse of the book '.
.aSlfric's Hexameron* besides telling the story of the Creation,
has some comments on natural history. Thus we have paid and
tigris, though hardly as English words : Sa swiftan tigrcs and
1 Ed. Crawford, E.E.T.S., 160.
* Ed. Crawford, BibUoihek der age. Prow, ac.
LATIN WORDS BEFOKE THE CONQUEST 43
da syllican pardes 275 * swift tigers and strange leopards ', as well
as yip (e.g. da ylpas beod swa mycele swylce odre muntas 289
* the elephants are as big as mountains '). Paradis varies between
English and Latin inflexions : to Sam upplican Paradise 512 ' to
Paradise above ', but God hi da gebrohte binnan Paradisum, S&t
we hatad on Englisc Neorxnawang 427 * God brought them into
Paradise, which we call in English Neorxnawang '.
EASTERN THEMES
Still more names of plants and other things of Eastern origin
are to be found in two prose pieces in MS. Cotton Vitellius
A XV, the Wonders of the East and the (spurious) Letter of
Alexander to Aristotle* probably of the late tenth century. The
first has laur (also in the BhcUing Homilies) : on pisse stowe beod
treowcynn pa beod lamrn-beame 61 e in this place there are kinds
of trees which are laurel-trees ' ; ostre : se n%nine operne mete
ne pige buton sse-ostrum 63 * who eat no other food but sea-
oysters ' ; pipor ; on pam landum bid pipores gemhtsumms 53
e in those countries is plenty of pepper '.
Alexander's letter has the following Latin words, which seem
to be used as English, besides some obviously regarded as foreign :
canna : fen and cannon and hread-waeteru 30 * fen and reeds
and reedy marshes ' ; eolumne : par wseron gyldene columnan
swide micle 6 ' there were very large golden columns ' ; besides
seam : pridde healf pusend mula de pa seamas wsegon 13 ' 2,500
mules which carried the baggage ' ; epistol : da sealde he me
gewrit and senne epistolan 28 * then he gave me a writing and
a letter ' ; also the animals leo, olfend, elpend, mul The following
retain Latin inflexions : baLzamum, cristallum, smaragdus,
cypressus, eclypsis, tigris, pardus, scorpiones, unio, carbunculis.
LATBB VBRSEI
The Old English verse Psalter contains a good many Latin
words which occur nowhere else in the verse, and some of them
nowhere in the prose. Among the less frequent may be mentioned
aspide, basilisca (pu miht . . . basiUscan tredan 90/13 c you may
* Ed. Rypins, EJE.T.S., 161.
44 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
tread upon the adder '), ceder, coc (swylce hi on cocer-pannan cocas
gehyrstan 101/3 ' as though, cooks roasted them in a pan '),
sallettan (singaS Mm and sattetaft 104/2 ' sing and play upon the
harp ').
The word pandher occurs in a fragment of a bestiary ; tsefl
and teosol in the Gnomic Verses of the Exeter Book, the former
apparently used here attributively : tsefies monnes, jbonne he
teoselum weorped 185 ' the gamester when he throws dice '.
But for the most part the new words of the later verse are simply
those of prose, and add nothing to the poetic vocabulary as
such. This is particularly true of the technical Menologium,
perhaps of the late tenth century, which uses such words as
bises ' leap-year } (Lat. lissextus], kalend, circul * zodiac ' ;
it has also all the Latin names of the months, but these (as in
the Martyrologium of an earlier date) are still in their Latin forms
and cannot claim to be naturalized.
ELEVENTH CENTURY PBOSE
The collection of homilies edited under the title of Wulfstans
Homilwn x are certainly not all by this writer, who was a slightly
later contemporary of JSlfric, and Archbishop of York. Possibly
the first five sermons in the collection are his. It will be seen
that only two of the few interesting Latin words in these homilies
come in this group : Crisma : Sonne se sacerd smyred mid pam
halgan erisman breost and sculdru v, 35, * when the priest anoints
breast and shoulders with the holy oil ' ; crkmale : mid pom
crismak . . . man tacnaS psene cristenan cynehelm v, 36, ' by the
chxisom the Christian crown is signified ' ; fals : p&t an mynet
gange ofer eaUe pas peode buton &kon false L 272 ' that one coinage
should be used throughout this people without any fraud ' ;
idol : ne aenig man idola weor&je sefre x, 71 * that no man should
ever worship idols ' ; letanie : ga man mid reliquium ut and mid
ktanian xxxv, 170 'let there be a procession with relics and
litanies ' ; orgel : hwwr ys heora prass and orgol ? xxx, 148
* where is their splendour and pride ? ? ; pinsian : hu swiSe man
pinsaS pa sawle on domes d&g xlvi, 239 * how severely the soul
will be judged on the day of doom ' ; pipe : hearpe and pipe
1 Ed. Napier, Wulfstans Homihen. Ref. to homily and page*
LATIN WOKDS BEFOKE THE CONQUEST 45
and mistlic ghwgamen vi, 46 harp and pipe and joyous music
of many kinds ' ; rabbian : ac Iset pone deofol Antecrist rabbian
and wedan xiii, 84 c but let tlie devil Antechrist rage and rave '.
The prose dialogue of Salomon and Saturnus x has little of
interest, but the word ynce occurs in it an early loan from Lat.
uncia in the sense of ' inch ' : [Adam] wses vi and ex ynca lang
180 e Adam was 116 inches long '. It is to be found earlier in the
Laws of Ethelbert and of Alfred. Examples of yntse e ounce ',
a later loan from undo,, have already been given.
The prose Life of St. Guthlac 2 has the word ceren e new wine ',
otherwise recorded only in glossaries, and in the LeechbooJcs
(dealt with later) : M^d pam cerenum ps&re godspellican swetnysse
72 * with the new wine of the sweetness of the Gospel '. We
may note also the use of fers : sona swa lie p&tfyrmestefers sang
p&s sealmes 44 * as soon as he has sung the first verse of the
psalm ' ; ymen : da hsefde he his sealmes geleornod and canticas
and ymnas 18 * then he had learnt his psalms and canticles and
hymns '.
An English version of Defensor's Liber Samtillarum? a com-
pilation consisting of extracts from the Bible and the writings
of the Fathers of the Church, has a few interesting forms :
meegester (as well as the later magister) : hefe m&gster-domes 120
* the weight of responsibility ' ; nys korning-cniht ofer magister
fullfremed 204 e the disciple is not raised above his master ' ; plum
' down ' : plum-fepera hnescnysse 144 ' the softness of down ' ;
sacc : do& eow saccas pa na ealdian 156 ' make for yourselves
purses which do not grow old ' ; seam : seam assan 190 * the
burden of an ass ' ; seolc : on seoke and on did clapum 87 ' in
silk and in swaddling-clothes '.
The interlinear version of the Benedictine Rule in MS. Cott.
Tiberius A III 4 has not very many Latin, words ; most of them
are in the more technical parts, especially those dealing with
the divine offices. The following should be noted : antemn 38 ;
Capitol (= lectio) 44 ; cufl : genoh US munece twa tunican and
twa cuflan habban 92 * it is enough for a monk to have two habits
and two cowls ' ; grf : sev, gr&f, nssdl 93 ' knife, style, needle *
1 Ed. Kemble, for the JEUGrio Society, jfrom MS. Cotton ViteUius A r^.
* Kd. Goodwin (1848), from MS. Cott. Vesp. D xxi.
Ed. Rhodes, E.B.T.S. 93, from MS. Royal 7 C iv.
4 Ed. Logeman, E.E.T.S. 90.
46 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
(in a list of a monk's requirements) ; reps : mid heora repsum 39
6 with their responses ' (=responsorns) ; scamol : of or r&dinc-
scamolSS ' on the reading-stool ' ; scyrtan : sum Sine of rsedingum
is to sayrtanne 42 * some part of the lesson is to be curtailed ' ;
socc : soccas and hosan 92 'shoes and hose' (== pedules et
caligas ').
Byrhtferp's Manual 1 claims attention as a technical treatise
on astronomy, mathematics, prosody, and other matters. In
many instances he uses actual Latin forms without any English
equivalent ; he says himself : me ys neod pset ic menge pset Lyden
amang pissum Englisce ' I am compelled to mix Latin with the
English '. Very frequent loan-words are circul ' zodiac ', cleric
6 clerk ', cyrten * perfect, exact } , scrutnian * examine *, trahtoian
* explain '. The following words are rare in Old English :
cyrriol : pa seSelan munecas psere tide lof mid Jcyrriole . . .
gewurdiad 126 ' the good monks honour the praise of that houx
with the Kyrie Eleison ' ; declinan : pa naman and pa binaman
and heora declinunga 94 'the nouns and pronouns and their
declensions ? ; epact : pisra epacta gerynu apinsiun 36 c ponder
the mysteries of these epacts ' ; termen : panne byd mycel
gedwyld on pam Easterlicne termene 72 * then there will be much
error in the date of Easter '.
Then, finally, there are three books on medicine, the Leech
Book, the Herbarium Apuleii, and the Medidna de Quadru-
pedibus? All depend on Latin originals, and their chief value
lies in the large number of plant-names which they record. Some
of these occur fairly often in Old English, others are to be found
in glossaries, others in these medical works alone. Among the
rarer names we find (a) in the Leech Book : cuneglfesse * hound's
tongue ' 110 ; safine ' savia ' 100 ; nefte ' catmint ' 62 ; alewe
' aloe ' 60 ; aprotane * southernwood ' 60 ; slare^e c salvia
sclarea ' 58 ; saluie ' sage ' 50 ; celepenie * celandine ' 26 ;
bfite ' beetroot ' 18 ; rude * rue ' 18 ; (6) from the Herbarium :
ancdgdal ' almond ' 104 ; berbena ' verbena * 170 ; dracentse
* dragon-wort ' 106 ; elehtre ' lupin ' 148 ; organe ' marjoram '
216; petersilie * parsley' 240. From the Medwina de
Quadrupedibus we get croh * saffron ' 348.
1 Ed. Crawford, E.&T.S., 177.
8 Ed. Cockayne, Leeohdoms, Wortowming and Stwaroft. Bolls Seriea*
LATIN WORDS BEFORE THE CONQUEST 47
Besides these there are many words, some of which are of
Latin, origin, referring to the preparing of prescriptions, such as
names of vessels and instruments ; ampulle, cetel, ceac, cuculere,
etc., besides trifulian ' to pound up ', trimessa ' drachm ',
plaster, etc.
The eleventh century glosses, 1 which contain a vast amount of
matter, give no opportunity of seeing words in actual use, but
they include a number of words which are rare or not recorded
elsewhere. A gloss to the Latin text of ^Elfric's Colloquy (a Latin
dialogue designed for teaching purposes) supplies the following :
capitol : primam missam capitolm&ssan 101 ; claustor : in
daustrum to daustre 103 ; cutter : cultro cultre 90 ; lamprede :
murenas lampredan 94 ; mangere : mercator mangere 96 ;
ostre : ostreas ostran 94 ; plne-(iwncfe) ; tormculi pine-
wwwlan 94 ; cocc e cockle ' : neptigalli ssecoccas 94.
The Cleopatra Gloss (in MS. Cott. Cleop. A III) is probably of
the early eleventh century. It contains some hundreds of words,
with a good proportion of foreign loan-words. The following
will give some idea of the variety : amel ' vessel for holy water ' :
amulas amelas 348 ; ampulle : legithum [= lecythum]
ampellan, ekf&t ; calu * bald ' : caluus calo 276 ; campion
' to fight ' : agonizans campiende 341 ; catt : muriceps cat
445 ; cempa : anthktarum cempena 345 ; centaur : centaun
psss centaures 374 ; cemes ' shirt ' : camisa cemes 362 ; cietel :
caldana citel 363 ; 6eren : carene cerenes, humgteares 370 ;
codd- (&ppel) ' quince ' : malum tidonium, sine malum cotonium,
id est codseppel 411 ; cuclere : codear cudwe 281 ; draca :
Leuiathan se draca 489 ; fifele : fibukfifele 403 ; gleedene :
gladiolum glsedene 416 ; laefel : aquemaniU l&uel 350 ; leo :
leunculi konhwel/pes 434 ; m5re : pastinaca weal[h]more
271 ; munt : alpes munt iofes (= Jovis) 355 ; not e note ' :
notariorum not-writera 451 ; ore ' devil ' : orcus ore, pyrs,
heldeofol 459 ; palent : ad palatinas to ft&m pakntlicum 342 ;
paper : papirus paper 523 ; plum : plumnus plum-treow
269 ; segn ' standard ' : aquik segn 275 ; tapor : papint>s
taper 267 ; taefl : akat&fl 267.
From the Royal Okss (in MS. 1829, Eoyal Library, Brussels) :
calcatrippe : heraoka cakatrippe 298 ; cerfille : Irassica
1 Wright- Wtilcker, Anglo-Saxon and Old English Vooabulartea, voL i.
48 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
wudu-cerfille 296 (also glosses pastinaca 299) ; delfin : pina
delfin, mere-swin 293 ; glsedene : scilla et gladiola gladene 301 ;
lufestice : lubestica lufestice 301 ; punt : trabana, caudex
punt 287 ; rsedic : raphanus ancre, pset is rdedic 300.
Finally there is the so-called Vocabulary of JSlfric, probably
having no connexion with him, or perhaps based on a glossary
of his but with very many additions. This is a classified glossary,
divided into animals, plants, parts of the body, weapons, and so
forth. The highest proportion of Latin words comes in the Nomina
Vasorum, where out of fifty-nine entries twenty-six are Latin,
or Latin-English hybrids ; in addition, several are of unknown
origin. Here are some selections from the glossary : balsminte :
sisimbrium balsminte 136 ; box : pixis bixen box ' a box of
box-wood ' 124 ; canne ' cup ' : crater, uel canna canne 122 ;
casere : imperatrix, uel Augusta caseres vnf 155 ; 6ipp c plough-
share ' : dentale oipp 106 ; corn ' cornel ' : cornus corn-
treow 138 ; cost * costmary ' : costus cost 133 ; cyrten :
uenusto ic cyrtenlsece ' I beautify ' 178 ; magdala : amigdala
magdala-treow 139 ; malwe ' mallow ' : malua malwe 139 ;
mora]? : carenwn morap 128 ; munt : oreades munt-telfen
189 ' mountain elves ' ; neepte : nepita n&pte 133 ; persoc :
persicarius persoc-treow 138 ; pervince : uinca peruinete
136 ; pilstre : pikrpilstre 141 ; pisle * warm room ' : scrip-
toriumpiste, fer-lms 186 ; port : castellum wic uel lytel port
140 ; post : basis post 164 ; pumic : pumeoopumic-stan 148 ;
reps : responsorium reps 129 ; side, seolc : bombyx sid-wyrm
uel seok-wyrm 121 ; solsece : solsequium uel heliotropium
solsece uel sigel-hwerfe 133 ; suftlSre : subtalares swyftleares
125 ; sutere : sutrina domus sutera hus 186 ; suderige :
satmon suderige 137 ; tolnere : telonearius totnere uel
tottere 171.
THE ANGLO-SAXON CHBONIOLE IK THE ELEVENTH CENTORY
This account of Latin loan-words in Old English may fittingly
be concluded with some notes on the vocabulary of the Chronicle *
in the eleventh century, since this text more than any other in
Old English seems to look forward into tho Middle English
1 For the earlier port of tho Chronicle soo above, p. 33.
LATIN WORDS BEFORE THE CONQUEST 49
period. It is with, this text, too, that the account of the French
loan-words will begin, since the history of French words in English
is not limited to post-Conquest days. And here, also, as will be
seen later, are to be found the majority of Scandinavian loan-
words recorded before the Conquest. Many of the ecclesiastical
terms common in other prose of the period occur in the Chronicle,
e.g. ancor-($etl), &lmes(ful), calic, candel-mxsse, clerec 9 crisma
(seforkt his crisman and his Tirade . , . andfeng to his spere 1056,
* he left the chrisom and the rood and took the spear '), offrian,
prouost (pa cusan pa munecas to abbot Brand prouost 1066 fi the
monks chose Brand the provost to be abbot '), regul, etc. In
addition to these the following appear : Advent : Osmund
biscop of Searbyrig innon Aduent foroferde E 1099 * Osmund,
Bishop of Salisbury, died during Advent ' ; cantel-cap (= cantere
+ cap, and elsewhere canterc&ppe) ' priest's cope ' : cantelcapas
and reafas E 1070 ' copes and vestments ' ; capellan : pser
Bannulf his capellane psst biscoprice on Dunholme geaf E 1099
* gave Ranulf his chaplain the bishopric of Durham ' ; capitula
in the sense of * ecclesiastical chapter ' : pe abbot eode ^nto
capitulan E 1083 * the abbot went into the chapter ' ; chor,
in the sense of ' choir ' (part of church) : pa Frandsce men
breecen pone chor E 1083 ' the French destroyed the choir ' ;
decanus : se pe wses decamis set Cristes cyrcan D 1020 * who was
Dean of Christ Church ' ; grad : swa past Set Hod com of Sam
weofode uppon pam gradan E 1083 ' so that the blood came from
the altar on to the steps '. Corona is used by the side of the native
cynehelm : pa corona him on heafode settan D 1066 ' to place the
crown on his head '. Meegester is used in quite a general sense :
ponne wses he msegster on pisum lande E 1086 ' then was he master
in this country ' ; the more usual, but not exclusive, earlier
sense was * teacher '. Falant is used of a foreign palace : se
casere gaderode unanmedlice fyrde ongean Baldewine of Brycge,
purh pset paet he "br&c paene palant &t Neomagan C 1049 * the
Emperor gathered a huge army against Baldwin from Bruges,
because he destroyed the palace at Nijmegen. Port is a
common term for a towB or city : Rannulf eorl gaderade mycele
fyrde to Hereford port C 1055 ' Earl Ranulf gathered a large
army at the city of Hereford ' ; ofporte and ofuppelande E 1087
' from town and country ', etc. Pylefee has the sense of ' fur robe '
50 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
in on merdene pyleceon and gra-schynnene D 1075 ' in robes of
marten-skins and of grey for ' (gra-schynnene is from Old Norse,
see p. 69). Sester is still used as a measure for wheat : $e
sester Jiw&tes eode to Ix penega E 1043 c a sester of wheat went
up to 60 pence '.
This brings to an end the survey of the pre-Conquest Latin
words in English. The influence of Latin is felt next in a less
direct way, since it comes through French dialects developed
from Romance, and not immediately from Classical Latin,
Vulgar Latin, or Common Romance. This stratum of Latin words
begins before the Conquest, but since there can be no real
dividing-line between pre- and post-Conquest French loans,
such words will all be dealt with in a later chapter.
It is perhaps surprising that so few of the early Latin loan-
words have survived into Modern or even into Middle English.
The majority of them were replaced by the corresponding
French forms. Others were only technical, learned words and
were not really established even in the written language. In
other cases the objects the words denoted themselves passed out
of use (e*g. some of the weights and measures, vessels, garments).
The list of Latin words in Appendix A, in which the modern
descendants, where they exist, are indicated, shows that many
of the words which still survive are frequently-used, popular
words. Altogether rather more than a hundred arc in use to-day
in Standard English (others, e.g. some plant-names, survive in
provincial dialects), of which the following arc among the most
common : belt, box, butter, candle, cat, chalk, cheap, cheese,
cock, cook, cup, fan, fever, inch, kitchen, mile, mill, pan, pea,
pear, pepper, pail, pipe, pit, poppy, post, sack, school, silk, sock,
spend, stop, wall.
Although some words were adopted direct from Latin in the
Middle English period, the next time any very largo number was
introduced was in the Renaissance period, when, as in Later
Old English, the terms borrowed were of a literary and
learned type.
CHAPTER HE
OTHER FOREIGN ELEMENTS BEFORE THE CONQUEST
A
THE GREEK ELEMENT
It lias already been pointed out tliat a not inconsiderable
number of words borrowed by English, from Latin had previously
been adopted into Latin from Greek. But there is a small number
of words borrowed by Germanic direct from Greek. They are
early loans, and it seems possible that some at least were adopted
first by the Goths, and that from Gothic they spread to other
Germanic dialects. The words in question are all from
ecclesiastical Greek, and are the product of Christianity, but
they must have been learnt by most of the Germanic peoples
before these became Christians themselves.
The Greek forms are aggelos c messenger, angel ', didbolos
c adversary, Satan ', kuriakon ' the Lord's house ', presbyter
' elder, priest '. Of all but the first the phonological development
is hardly clear, so that the exact story of their introduction into
Old English cannot be told. The Old English forms are
respectively engel, deofol, tirice (dyrice), preost. Modern English
Devil, Church, Priest, are the direct descendants of the
O.E. words, but angel is from French (from Lat. angelus, itself
a loan-word from the Greek).
Engel appears first in prose in the Vespas^an Psalter, hwoene
l&ssanfrom englum 194 c a little lower than the angels ', but is
probably earlier in the Csedmonian poems, for instance in Genesis :
psBt his engyl ongan ofermod wesan 262 c that his angel began to
be overweening *. It is used almost exclusively in the Biblical
sense throughout Old English, and it is not necessary to give many
examples : englas stigon up and of dune on da hlseddre (Alfred's
translation of the Cwa Pastoralis 100) 'angels went up and
down on the ladder ' ; he pser fram Oodes &ngle p&t bebod
underfeng (Weerferth : Gregory's Dialogues, 13) ' he received the
51
52 HISTOEY OF FOEEIGN WOEDS IN ENGLISH
command from God's angel ' ; lie gesceop tyn engla werod, p&t
sind englas and hedh-englas, throni, dominat^ones, principatus,
potestates, uirtutes, cherubim, seraphim (-ffilfric : Oath. Homilies,
10) ' He created ten orders of angels, these are angels and
archangels, thrones, etc.' ; Gabnhel his heahengel (^Elfric :
Homily on the B.V.M., 32) ; buton lichoman swa swa synd senglas
on heofonum (^Elfric : Saints 9 Lives, 14) * without bodies, as are
the angels in heaven '. The original Greek sense of * messenger '
appears in engel min befora onsione Sin (Lindisfarne, Mark i, 2)
' (I will send) my messenger before thy face '. The nearest
equivalent native word is ar, used both for e angel ' and for
' messenger, herald ' ; this is from the same source as cerend
' message ' (Mod. Eng. errand).
Deofol ' devil, evil spirit, Satan ' is common in early and later
verse, as well as in prose. It appears in the early Corpus Glossary
(c. 750) : orcus Syrs, hel-diobul 83, dyrs being a native word for
an evil spirit or ogre. (Of. the Cleopatra Gloss., p. 47 above,
where the Latin loan-word ore is equated with dyrs and hel-
deofol.) In translations from Latin it corresponds to diabolus
or to daemomum : from hryre and diqfle middeglicum (= a ruina
et daemonic meridiano) Vesp. Psalter 319 ' from destruction and
the evil one at noon-day ' ; pa sona eode se deofol in pone m&sse-
preost (Dial. 73) 'then suddenly the dovil entered into this
priest' (=hunc simul repente diabolus invasit) ; cum, deoful,
hider and unsco me (Dial. 221) ' come hither, dovil, and unwhoo
me ' (== veni, diabole, discalcea me) ; of demoniacal possession :
aUe yfle Ji&bbende and diowbla h&bbende (Lind. Mark i, 32) * all
those who were sick and possessed of devils '.
Cirifce is used both of the building and o the spiritual body :
to godes ciricum in supregum and in cent (Charter 45 in (XE.T.,
871-889) ' to God's churches in Surrey and in Kent ' ; p&r he
ser het getimbrian cyrican oftreowe (Ohron. E. 626) ' whore before
he had had a. wooden church built ' ; ane gasthce modor, seo i$
eccksia genamod, p&t is godes cyrice (Wulfstaii x, 67) * one
spiritual mother, who is called eccksia> that is the Church of
God ' ; cyrice is p&re sawle scip (Wulf stan xlvi, 232) c tho church
is the ship of the soul '.
In the Lindisfarne Gospels (Luke vii, 5) cwice, as an alternative
to somnung (= assembly), translates synagogcm : somwung vol
FOREIGN ELEMENTS: GREEK 53
cirica he getimbrode us ' he has built us a synagogue '. In ^Elfric's
Vocabulary appears ecclesia circe, and also basilica tinges hof
[= king's court] uel dree 184, with two late Latin meanings of
basilica. Once at least the word is used of a heathen place of
worship, for which tempi is the usual word : gebktsode Romulus
. . . mid para sweora blode pa cyrican (Orosius 66) * Romulus
consecrated the temples with the blood of their fathers-in-law '.
Preost is the ordinary word for a priest of the Christian religion.
The compound m&sse-preost is used for one who was competent
to celebrate Mass, having attained the necessary orders. Msesse-
preost often translates presbyter, the uncompounded word
dencus : sum wses . . . bescoren preost (Bede 428) e one was
a tonsured priest ' (== adtonsus ut clericus) ; mid ane oSSe mid
twam his preosta (Bede 162) ' with one or two of Ms priests '
(=cum uno clerico aut duobus) ; ic Beda Cristes peow and
msessepreost (Bede 2) = Baeda famulus Christi et presbyter ;
Gaudentius se msesse-preost (Dial. 56) = Gaudentius presbyter ;
but this is not an invariable rule, cf . pas hatheortan preostes
unstilnysse (Dial. 65) 'the raging of the furious priest'
(= presbyteri furentis insaniam). Either may translate sacerdos
(for which also the Latin loan-word sacerd is found) ; yfle preostas
bioft folces hryre (Cura Past. 30) 'evil priests are the people's
destruction ' (= sacerdotes mali) ; w&re sum m&sse-preost,
se mid his preostum . . . (Dial. 224) * there was a certain mass-
priest, who with his priests . . , (= quidam venerabilis sacerdos
erat, qui cum clericis suis). Note also : peer wses Wilfrid preost
pe siSSon wses biscop (Ohron. E. 656) ' then was Wilfrid a priest,
who was afterwards a bishop) ; Columba messapreost com to
Pyhtum (Chron. E. 565) ' Columba the priest came to the Picts '.
In uElfric's Vocabulary the following group appears : presbiter
msessepreost : sacellanus handpreost ; clericus yreost, uel
pingere (i.e. a priest in his office of advocate or intercessor) ; for
hand-preost cf. Chron. F. 1051 : Stigand pe was pes cinges raed,-
gifa and hand-preost ' Stigand, who was the king's advisor and
chaplain '.
Msesse-preost is used occasionally of a priest of the Jews :
&d-eau Sec &am meosse-preost (Lindisfarne Mt. viii, 4) * show
thyself to the priest '. For priests of pagan religions the Latin
loan sdcerd is used.
54 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
The Greek words which came into Old English by way of
Latin are given with the corresponding Latin words in Appendix
A. But the introduction of these from Greek into Latin and
thence into English is not the whole of the story. Greek itself
borrowed a considerable number of words from Eastern languages,
especially names for plants and animals which were imported
into Greece, or became known there through travellers and
writers, and these were transmitted into English through
Latin. Sanscrit supplied Gk. panthera (O.E. panther), margaron,
-ites (O.E. meregrota ' pearl '), and peperi (O.E. pipor ' pepper ')
a highly contrasted group. From Iranian came pa/rdos (O.E.
pa/rd e leopard ') and ttyris (O.E. tigris < tiger '), but also yaradeisos
(O.E. paradis e paradise ') the original sensebeing * enclosure, park,
garden '. Probably from Asia Minor, Greek borrowed the plant-
names ymcos (O.E. box), Jcastanon (O.E. ciesten ' chestnut '),
Jcerasion (O.E. cwis c cherry ? ), kudonia (0 JE. codd-seppel ( quince '),
pisos (O.E. pise * pea '), proumnon (O.E. plum e plum ? ). Khodon
(O.E. rose), and also, curiously enough, bouturon (O.E. butere
* butter *) are from some Western Asiatic language, besides
pelekan (O.E. pellican)^ which is certainly connected with another
foreign word in Greek, pel&kus * axe ' (cf . Assyrian pilaqqi
' axe '). A Place-Name is the source of Gk. sabanon (O.E. saban
c sheet ') ; cf . Arab, sdbanijjat, stuff made at Saban, near
Baghdad.
The contact of European languages with Semitic also began
very early, and is continued in the early centuries of this era
through the medium of the Hebrew Bible, whence several Semitic
words found their way into Greek and thence farther afield.
The plant-names Summon (O.E. cymen ' cummin 9 ), hussopos
(O.E. ysope 'hyssop'), sturax a kind of resin (O.E. stor
' incense '), and balsamon (O.E. balsam), are all Semitic ; hence
also comes the stone iaspis (O.E. geaspis * jasper ') and the
Jcameks (O.E. camell). A later loan from the same group of
languages is Gk. abbas (O.E. abbod ' abbot ') from Syriac abba,
originally c father ', but acquiring the sense of * head of a group
of monks ' with the rise of taonasticism, which had its origin in
Syria.
There are at least three early loans from Egyptian into Greek,
which penetrated into Western European languages : Gk
FOREIGN ELEMENTS: CELTIC 55
khartes (O.E. carte ' paper '), sinapu (O.E. senep ' mustard *).
and el-ephasihe origin of the el is doubtful (O.E. elpend
' elephant ') ; for the last, cf . Egyptian ab, Coptic eb(o)u ' elephant,
ivory '.
Some North African dialect apparently produced onganon
(O.E. organe ' marjoram '), since the plant is believed to have
come from that area.
Thus early loans from the East, if not direct, are fairly
numerous. The next non-European words that will have to be
considered are those from Arabic, which make a surprisingly
large group in the Middle English vocabulary.
B
THE CELTIC ELEMENT
Three different strata of Celtic loan-words may be recognized
in Old English. In the first place there are a few early continental
loans, borrowed from Old Celtic, and common to all or most of
the Germanic languages ; secondly, there are words adopted from
the Britons by the English after the middle of the fifth century ;
thirdly, there is a group of ecclesiastical and religious terms intro-
duced by Irish missionaries. Almost all the Celtic loan-words
became established as popular words ; there is very little
* learned ' element, such as there is in. the case of Latin, since
nearly all the words, with the exception of a few in the third
period, passed from mouth to mouth, and not through the
influence of literature.
Of the first group the earliest is the Gmc. *riki- ' kingdom *
(cognate with Lat. rex), which appears in Old English as nte
(surviving now only as the second element of bishop'Kio), in
Old High German as nhhi (Mod. German Reich). Old English
has also an adjective rice (O.H.G. nhhi, Goth. reiJcs) ' powerful ',
from the same source. Both these words are very common in
O.E. Mod. Eng. rich is from French, borrowed from Germanic,
and thus of the same origin.
O.E. ambeht c servant ; service, office ' is from a Gmc.
56 HISTORY OP FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
*ambaht, which is probably direct from Celtic, but may have
come through Lat, ambactus. (From this Latin form, through
Romance and Spanish, Mod. Eng. ambassador is derived.)
Gothic has the word in the form andbahts ; O.H.G. has ampaht,
O.S. ambahteo. It is common in Old English, both as an
independent word and in compounds : ambeht-secg, -mann,
-pegen, -steak, etc., implying * servant, attendant '. In the
Lindufarne Gospels the word corresponds to Latin minister
and discipilus : allra hlsetmest and allra embehtmonn Mk. ix, 35
* last of all and servant of all 3 : in onsione Sara ambihta vel
Sara fogna his J. xx, 30 ' in the presence of his disciples '.
Ambeht is found both in heroic and in purely religious verse :
ic eom Hrodgares ar and ombiht Beowulf 336 e I am Hrothgar's
messenger and servant 5 : eom ic . . . his ombeht-hera, peow
gedyldig Guthlac 571 * I am Ms servant, Ms patient minister '.
For the sense of * ministry ', cf . l&ste pu georne his ambyhto
Genesis 518 ' perform Ms ministry diligently '.
The O.E. dun ' mountain, Mil ' (Mod. Eng. DOWN, n., and also
the adverb, which is from O.E. of dune * from the hill ') is often
considered to be of Celtic origin. Corresponding forms are found
in a number of West Germanic languages, so the loan, if it is one,
must be of the continental period. Moreover, the O.E. vowel
tells against borrowing from British, since in tMs dialect Celtic
u had become u, perhaps had even become unrounded to 1,
some time before the English settlement. O.Irish dun, from which
the Germanic word might have been borrowed, has the meaning
of * fortified place, enclosed town ', and this is the sense of the
corresponding word in other Celtic languages. This does not fit
in well with the significance of Gmc. dm, and though there is
some slight evidence for a Celtic use of the word in the sense of
' fortified hitt ', this is not found until the fifth centuxy, and is
even then doubtful. On the whole it is better to regard the Celtic
origin of O.E. dun as non-proven. 1
Words borrowed from the Britons after the settlement are
cMefly the names of natural objects, animals, and things of
everyday use. Bratt ' a cloak ' is f ound in the Lindisfarne Gospels,
in company with hr&gl and h&cla, as a translation of paltiwm
(Mt. v, 40) ; the word survives in provincial dialect. Binn
1 See TSrster, JTeftwoto Wortgwt in AUwglwUn, p, 166 ff.
FOREIGN ELEMENTS: CELTIC 57
' BEST, manger ' may be either a continental loan from Gallo-
Roman, or a loan from O.Brit. *benna ; it has been noted in the
previous chapter. Bannoc occurs only once in Old English, in
a gloss to one of the works of Aldhelm, where it seems to mean
' a bit, piece ' (of a cake or loaf) ; it is probably from O.Brit.
*bannoc * a bit, drop '. Gafeluc a small spear ' may be from
Old British (it occurs in ^Elfric's Vocabulary 143, glossing
hast^ha) ; so also may dunn e dark-coloured, grey, DUN ', which
is found in Charters referring to tunecan, and also to stdn * stone '.
Of names of animals, brocc c badger, BROCK ' is almost
certainly from Old British (^Blfric's Vocabulary 119 : taxus
broc ; also in Med. de Quadrupedibus : taxonem, pset ys broc on
Englisc) ; assa e ASS ', already dealt with under Latin loan-
words, and ultimately from Lat. asinus, may possibly have
come into English through Old Welsh *assen.
Altogether the Celtic words of these two types are surprisingly
few and doubtful. There are more certain loans to be noted
under the heading of natural objects, but most of these occur
only in Place-Names. Two at least, however, are to be found in
the Lindisfarne Gospels, carr * rock ', and luh ' lake ' : cephas
psBt is getrahtad carr J. i, 42 ' Cephas, which is by interpretation
a stone ' (so Rushworth ; LWSG. has petrus) ; geheawen of
carre vel stane Mk. xv, 46 ' hewn out of stone ' (the others have
of stane). Luh, also found in Northumbrian only, is the usual
word in the lAndisfcvrne Gospels (rare in Rushworth) for e lake,
inland sea ', also * strait ' : before-fara hine ofer luh vel tytel $%
Mt. xiv, 22 ' to go before him across the lake 9 (Rush, ofer sse,
LWSG. ofer mupan ' arm of the sea ') ; it is from Old Welsh
*luch ; cf . Gaelic loch. Torr x ' a rock, rocky peak, hill ' from
O.Brit. *torr, is found as a gloss to scopulum in ^Elfric's Vocabulary
147 and other glosses, and also in the metrical version of the
Metres of Boethius : atrendlod of Ssem torr Met. 5-17 c rolled
down from the tor ' (of a stone) ; it is fairly common in
delimitations of boundaries in Old English charters. This word
is found in modern. Place-Names, especially in the south-west,
but also in the north. More widespread in modern Place-Names
is combe, coomb(e), O.E. cumb, from O.Brit. *kumba (cf. Welsh
cum)* This also is most common in the south-west, but is to be
l See Forster, Englische Studien, liv, 103.
58 HISTOEY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
found occasionally all over England, except perhaps in the East
Midlands. O.E. funta, which, seems to have come to us from
Celtic, but is ultimately from Lat. fontana, is found in a few
names, such as Mottisfont, Havant, Chalfont. 1
Besides these words, which were probably adopted into the
ordinary English vocabulary before being used to form Place-
Names, there are a number of names of districts, places, hills,
rivers and forests which were taken over directly by the English
from the Britons. Kent, Leeds (formerly the name of a district),
Lindsey and Kesteven (two divisions of Lincolnshire), are all
from earlier Celtic forms, as are also the names of the two
Northumbrian kingdoms, Deira and Bernicia. DEVON and
ConNwall are formed from Celtic tribal names. Celtic names of
rivers are to be found in all parts of England 2 ; several have
simply the sense of * water ' and occur repeatedly ; such are
Avon, Stour, and the varying developments of O.Brit. Isca :
Esk, Usk, Exe, etc. Some are descriptive, such as Cam
'crooked', Dee 'holy', Dove 'black', and so on. Not
infrequently a river has given its name to a town or village, as
in the case of Dover (from Brit. Dobrd = water). Hill-names,
too, fairly often survived the English invasion, and these some-
times became also Place-Names (e.g. Kinver, Clun, Penn).
Of Place-Names other than those of the types referred to in
the last paragraph, the chief survivors are the names of the most
important Romano-British towns, though many of them have
an English suffix added : London, Reculver, Lympne,
Win(chester), 8 Salis(bury), Ciren(cester), Catterick, Carlisle,
Lich(field) Ilk(ley), and so on. Besides these, Celtic town and
village names occur in varying numbers in many parts of England.
They are most common in the west, from Cumberland and
Westmorland down to Devon, where the proportion of Celtic to
English names is, however, surprisingly small, as has recently been
shown in the English Place-Name Society's volumes on this county.
Finally we come to the very few Old English loan-words from
Old Irish, introduced by Irish missionaries during the seventh
century. The one which occurs most commonly in Old English
1 On this and other Celtic Plaoe-Names see especially Ekwall, The CeUio
Element, in Introduction to the Purvey of English Place-Names^ pp, 14 ff.
Ekwall, English Xiver-Ncmes.
8 For Chester, O.E. ceaster, see p. 26.
FOKEIGN ELEMENTS: CELTIC 59
is dry 'a magician, sorcerer ', from O.Ir. drui (pi. druid). It
translates magus and maleficus ; the native equivalent is
scinlceca. Here are some examples of the use of the word : hie
Simon pone dry swipe foredon Bliclding Horns. 173 ' they praised
Simon the magician ' ( Simon magus) ; fela pinga dydan pa
ffeoffekras on Egyptalanda purh dry-cr&ft Wulfstan xvi, 98 * the
jugglers did many things in the land of Egypt by their magic ' ;
bismcen wses from drygum vel tungul-crseftum land. Mt. ii, 16
4 was deceived by the magi or astronomers ' (= a magis) ; sio
[Circe] hi sceolde bion swide dry-crseftigu Boeth. 116 * she is said
to have been much skilled in magic arts ' ; hi pser pa dryas
ongunnon ferian geond pset waeter Dial. 73 ' the magicians began
to carry them across the water' (makfici) ; past heo wssre
dryegge ond sciril&ce Mart. 28 c that she was a sorceress and a
witch ' (-icge, -ecge is a personal suffix) ; her bioS pa m&stan
dryicgan and scinlacan Verc. Horns. 77 'here are the greatest
magicians and sorcerers '.
The word clucge e a bell ' is recorded only once in Old English :
sweg and hleodor heora ducgan Bede 340 ' the music and melody
of their bell ' (= campanae sonum). It is known that bells were
in use in Irish monasteries from a very early period, and many of
the great bell-towers survive in all parts of Ireland. St. Patrick's
own small bell, enclosed in a shrine, is preserved in the National
Museum of Ireland. O.E. has also a native word, belle ' BELL ',
which is found in some manuscripts in the passage from the O.E.
Bede just quoted, and also in JSlfric's Vocabulary as a gloss for
tintinnabulum > and in the Lambeth Psalter for cymbalum : heriap
hine on bellum 150 * praise "hiyn with bells '.
Ancor * a hermit, anchorite ', probably entered England from
Ireland (O.Ir. anchcvra, from Latin from Gk. anachoreta), where
devotion to the life of a hermit was common. It occurs more
often in compounds than independently, e.g. in medmyclum
ealonde . . . ancor-Uf l&dde Bede 360 ' he led the life of a hermit
in a small island '.
The remaining words are also ultimately of Latin origin, though
they came into English through Irish. The first is stSr ' history '
(Vulgar Lat. storia, fr. Lat. historia). The Irish form is stair, and
the process of development of this to O.E. st&r is doubtful,
though the ascription of the Old English word to this source
60 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
seems certain. The word occurs frequently in the O.E. version
of Bede's Ecclesiastical History : Jxvra abbuda st&r and spel
pisses mynstres Bede 484 fi the story and narrative of the abbots
of this monastery ' ; in pis user cinclice st&r Bede 282 e historiae
nostrae ecclesiasticae ' ; also in other writings : on Ongelcynnes
stere, past is on historia Anglorum Mart. 86 * in the history of the
English ' ; in the Harley Gloss : commentarius stdertractere 207
' expounder of history \ ' Historian 5 is stser-writere : ic, swa
soS-sagol stser-writere Bede 206 ' I, as a truth-telling historian '.
JEstel ' a bookmark ', recorded once only, in King Alfred's
preface to his translation of Gregory's Cura Pastoralis (on selcre
[bee] US an sestel 6 * in each book is a bookmark '), is from Lat.
hastula ' a slip of wood ', but probably by way of Irish. Another
word relating to books is cine, glossing quaternio, and apparently
meaning a sheet of parchment folded in four ; it is from O.Ir.
cm, itself from Lat. quina c five each '.
Finally there is the disputed word cros ' CROSS of stone J ,
from Lat. crux, erne-em, which may have come into English
through Irish (O.Ir. cross) or through Scandinavian. The
popularity of the stone cross in Ireland, and the influence of
Celtic art on the carved crosses of England, added to the non-
religious character of the words introduced by Danes and Norse-
men and of their usual activities in this country, make the former
the more probable. The word is rare in Old English ; it is found
in the name Normannes cros (a hundred-name, now Norman
Cross, near Peterborough) three times in the tenth century, e.g.
in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle E 963. Another instance from the
Chronick occurs only in a charter (and swa to Grsetecros ' and so
to Great Cross ' Chron. E 656) which may be an addition by the
twelfth century scribe of this part. Other Oo$$-names are
recorded from the end of the eleventh century onwards, but its
first appearances in literature are in the first manuscript of
Lasamon's Brut, of about 1200 : he [Bong Oswald] lette $one
(mere : a muchel cros and mare 31386 (MS. crost), and in a slightly
different sense in the twelfth century St. Kaiherine (see below,
p. 77). The O.E. word which it finally almost entirely displaced
was rod, Mod. Eng. ROOD.
The next Celtic loan-words do not appear in English until the end
of the Middle English period, and these will be discussed later.
CHAPTER IV
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT
The Scandinavian element in English is due in the first place
to the Viking invasions of England in the eighth, ninth, and
eleventh centuries, and their forcible settlement in parts of the
country, but also, and in much greater degree, to the peaceful
association of Englishman and Scandinavian during the eleventh
and twelfth centuries. These dates are, of course, only
approximate, but they serve to indicate roughly the two strata
of Norwegian and Danish loan-words in Old English.
The first written record of a Viking attack on England is in
the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, where under the year 787 we read
* In this year King Breohtric married Eadburg, the daughter of
Offa. And in his days there first came three ships of the North-
men from HereSaland. . . . These were the first Danish ships
that came to England ' (Laud MS.). Further raids (in which the
monasteries of Lindisfarne and Wearmouth were plundered)
are recorded in 793 and 794, though in the latter year many of
the attacking ships were wrecked by a storm. In the year 832,
when we have the next reference to the Northmen, the assault
was directed against a part farther south : * in this year the
heathen men plundered Sheppey '. After this the attacks became
more frequent and more widely dispersed, and brought the
invaders in larger numbers. In the year 851 the Danes for the
first time wintered in England, instead of confining themselves
to their former brief incursions, and not long after this the first
permanent Danish settlements on English territory were made.
There were two main lines of attack and settlement that of
the Norwegians, who, sailing round the north of Scotland,
established themselves in the Western Isles, in Ireland, and in
North-West England and part of Wales, and that of the Danes,
who struck into the East Midlands and Yorkshire, The English
had insufficient political unity to resist effectively, but towards
the end of the ninth century the vigour of Alfred of Wessex:
61
62 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
prevented the invaders from obtaining a hold over the whole
of the country. Through his military skill and courage and his
political ability the continuous fighting was brought to an end
for a time, and the Northmen settled down more or less peacefully
to trade and agriculture and the building of towns, in the area
known as the Danelaw, which included the East Midlands, north
as far as the Tees, west as far as the Pennines, Nottingham, and
Bedford, south as far as the Thames.
After the death of Alfred in 900 his descendants acquired some
increased authority over the Danelaw, where Englishmen and
Scandinavians were now living side by side, apparently on
friendly terms. But at the end of the tenth century a fuither
invasion from the continent brought a new danger. In the tragic
reign of Ethelred the Unready, England, and especially Wessex,
suffered continuous attacks from Scandinavians who were seeking
now for political power as much as for material plunder. If
they were repulsed at all it was by payments of money, not by
force of arms, and the effects of the enormous bribes which were
repeatedly paid were of very short duration. The end of the
fighting came at last in 1016 when, after a last struggle between
the Danish Cnut and the English Edmund (son of Ethelred),
the kingdom was divided between these two. The death of
Edmund in the same year left Cnut as undisputed king of the
whole of England as well as of Denmark and Norway, and from
this time onwards we hear of no more Danish invasions.
During the rest of the eleventh century the Scandinavians
gradually became absorbed into England and English life, and
eventually, though perhaps not until the next century, their
language was given up for English and disappeared, but not
without leaving a distinct impression upon English, just as the
Scandinavian legal and political customs left their mark upon
English social life. For some time the Danes must have been
bilingual, and no doubt many of their English neighbours and
fellow-villagers and townsmen learnt to speak Danish. Inter-
marriage between the two races was common, and this encouraged
the tendency to bilingualism. Scandinavian terms learnt by
Englishmen were introduced by them into their own tongue, and
became established there. This was especially easy since the
Scandinavian dialects at this period had considerable resemblance
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 63
to the English dialects, particularly in vocabulary ; the speakers
of both were to some extent mutually intelligible ; thus words
introduced from one to the other language would carry "with them
little of the feeling of foreign words. In some cases the corre-
sponding words in the two languages were practically identical,
and it is sometimes impossible to know whether a particular
word in Middle English is a loan-word or not. It happens not
infrequently that a Scandinavian word has a slightly different
sense from that of its English cognate, which sometimes led to
the borrowing of meanings of words instead of words themselves.
The Scandinavian invaders and settlers did not speak a uniform
dialect, though the varieties were not very strikingly
differentiated. The Norwegians and Danes spoke respectively
a West Scandinavian and an East Scandinavian dialect. The
former is now represented by Modern Norwegian and Icelandic,
the latter by Danish and Swedish. It is not always possible to
assign a loan-word with certainty to one or other of these two
dialects, but occasionally a definite phonological distinction
enables us to do so.
The first period of Scandinavian loan-words, up to about the
second decade of the eleventh century, seems to have introduced
very few words into English, to judge by those which are recorded
in writing at that period. Of these about fifty were still in use in
Middle English, and about twenty-five have survived to the
present day. The extant documents may be misleading as to
the number of words borrowed before 1016, since practically
all the written material of the early eleventh century which
we now have comes from the south of the country and not from
the Danelaw. But it is improbable that there was very much
genuine word-borrowing until the more settled conditions after
1016 had come into being. The earliest loans, as will be seen,
are of a more or less technical character, having to do chiefly
with the sea and with legal customs ; those adopted before
about 1150 are partly of a similar character, though some more
miscellaneous words occur ; the later (M.E.) adoptions have no
such limitations, and embrace even the most commonplace
words, no introduction of new objects or ideas being implied.
Hundreds of Scandinavian words are recorded for the first time
in the thirteenth century, but many of these were doubtless in
64: HISTOEY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
use in some parts of the country earlier than this. As has already
been said of the tenth and early eleventh centuries, only a little
East Midland material is extant from the eleventh and twelfth
centuries, and in any case the type of word being borrowed at
this period was not such as would readily find its way into
literature.
THE EARLIEST LOANS FROM SCANDINAVIAN
Of the earliest loans and those of the second period the greater
number are to be found in the Anglo-Saxon Qhronick and the
Laws \ some appear only in vocabularies ; a few are confined
to Northumbrian texts such as the Lindisfarne and Rushworth
Gospels and the Durham Ritual.
About thirty words may be ascribed to the period before
1016. This includes the names of four types of ships : barda,
barda ' a beaked ship ' (O.N. lar$ * armed prow ', barcti ' a ram ;
a kind of ship '), found only in glosses and translating rostrata
nauis (Harley and Royal Glosses) and dromo (-3511 Voc. 181 ;
here equated with sesc, a common native name for the Danish
ships) ; cnearr (O.N. Jcnprr, a small ship, trading vessel), in the
poem known as the Battle of Brunariburh (under the year 937
in the Chronicle) : cread cnear onflot * the ship hastened out to
sea ' ; gewitan him pa NorSmen n&gled cnearrum t the North-
men departed in their nailed ships ' (both passages refer to the
ships of the Danes) ; floege * a little ship ' (cf . Icelandic fley
' ship ' *), only in Lind. J. vi, 22 : floege uel lyttel $cip, translating
nauicula ; this word is found at least once in Middle English,
fleyne (pi.) in the romance of Octavian (southern version, c. 1350) ;
scegd, a light ship, both in glossaries and in the Chronicle :
scapha, uel trieris litel stip uel sceigS (MH. Voc. 165) ; trieris
sc&gp (Royal Gloss. 289) ; of x htdon &nne scegd (Chron. E 1008)
* one ship for every ten hides ' ; the corresponding passage in
the Latin version (in F) has unam magnam nauem qu& Anglice
nominatur scegp ; cf. also wiring [= Viking] ud sceg&man,
glossing pirata uel piraticus ($111 Voc. 111).
Ten words denoting persons were now borrowed : b6nda,
husbSnda, -bunda 'householder, HUSBAND' (M.E. bonde
1 The O.N. fona was probably^.
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 65
* husbandman ') : swa ymbefripes bote swa pam bondan sy selost
and pam peofon sy latost (Laws ofJEthelred vi, 32) ' so concerning
(the maintenance of) public safety in such a way as may be best
for the householder and worst for the thief * ; an his manna wolde
wioian set anes bundan huse his unpances . . . and se Jmsbunda
ofsloh pone o&erne (Chron. E 1048) e one of his men wished to
stop at a man's house against his will . . . and the master of the
house slew the other '. A feminine form appears to be used in
^Elfric's Heptateuch : da Israeliscan wifbiddap &t 9am Egipt^scean
wifon set hira neJigeburon and set hira husbondum (= Lat. hospita)
sylfrene fatu (Exod. iii, 22) ' the Israelitish women shall ask
the Egyptian women, their neighbours, and the mistresses of
houses, for silver cups '. Husband with the sense of ' house-
holder ' is still found in Chaucer. Dreng c warrior ' (O.N. drengr)
only in the poem of the Battle of Maldon : forlet pa drenga sum
darod of handa/fleogan of folman 149 c one of the warriors let
a javelin from his hand fly from his palm ' ; this survives in
earlier Middle English, e.g. in Lagamon's Brut (dring) and
Havelolc (dreng). Feolaga 'FELLOW', colleague, mate' (0,N.)
felagi) : and wurdon feolagan and wed-bropra (Chron. D 1016.
( and became fellows and sworn brothers ' (of Edmund and
Cnut) ; also the compound feolag-scip : ic wiUe pat min and
Ulfketels felageschipe stonde (from a Charter in Thorpe's
Diplomatanum Aevi Saxonici, p. 573). Hold, a title, ' vassal '
(O.N. TiQldr) : Ysopa hold and Oscytel Md (Chron. A 905) ;
him tierde to Durferp eorl and pa holdas (Chron. A 921) f Earl
Thurferth and the " holds " turned to him ' ; the high rank of
the hold is indicated by the fact that his wergeld was four
thousand prymsas (= 1,000 shillings) ; the word occurs also in
Lind. Mk. vi, 21 : symbel worhte daem aldormannum and holdum
and forwostwn Galileaes (= cenam fecit principibus et tribunis et
primis GaHleae). Llesing *a freedman' (O.N. leysingr, with
approximation to O.E. Ueson c to set free ') seems to be recorded
once only : buton Sam ceorle Se on gafollande sit and heora
liesengum (Laws of Alfred and Guthrum, 880-890, but MS.
c. 1125) * except the commoner who is settled on tributary land,
and their freedmen [i.e. of the Danes] '. NiSing * villain J (0,N.
nidingr) : wselreaf is niSinges dsed (Laws of JSthelstan iv, 7,
c. 1000) ' robbing the slain is the act of a villain ' ; se cmg pa
66 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
and call here cwaedon Swegenfor niSing (Chron. C 1049) * the king
and all the army declared Sweyn a villain ' ; also unniSing ' an
honest man ' : bead p%t sslc man pe wsere unmSing sceolde cuman
to him (Chron. E 1087) * ordered that every honest man should
come to him ' ; mding is fairly common in Middle English.
Uir 'maid-servant' (O.N. pir-r), in the Lindisfarne and
Rushworth Gospels, as an alternative to the native pignen,
translating ancilla (John xviii, 17). 5>rsel 'servant, slave,
e THRALL ' (O.N. prsell), in land, and Rush. Mt. x, 24 : allra Srsel
vel esne (= omnium servus) ; also Rush. J. viii, 34 : se Se doed
synne drsel is synnes ' he who sins is the servant of sin 5 ; peak
prsela hwyk hlaforde dsthleape and of cristendoine to witinge
weorSe (Wulfstan 162) * if any slave escapes from his master
and from Christianity becomes a pirate ' ; it is common in Middle
English. Utiaga ' outlaw ' (O.N. ut-lagi, cf. lagu, below), a
common term : pa cw&S man Swegen eorl utlah (Chron. E 1048)
* Earl Sweyn was pronounced an outlaw ' ; hence the verb
utlagian : on pis ylcan geare man geutlagode Osgod Clapan (Chron.
C 1046) * in the same year Osgod Clapa was outlawed '
Other social and legal terms are : (&ryd)-hl6p ' bridal, wedding '
(O.N. brud-hlaup, with the cognate English word substituted for
the first element), in the Gospels, translating nuptiae (Rush.
L. xvii, 27, etc.), and in the Chronicle : pe w&ron sBtpam brydkpe
set NorSwic (D 1076) c who were at the wedding at Norwich '.
By * a dwelling ' (O.N. by-r) : se Se hus o&cfe lytel by h&fde in
byrgennum (Lind, Mk. v, 3) ' who had a house or little dwelling
among the tombs ' (== domicilium) ; M.E. has the word
occasionally, e.g. in the Cwsor Mundi : sipen he come vntill a bij
13290 ; it survives now only in the compound by-law = town-
law, except in Place-Names, of which it is a common element
in the north and east. Cann (O.N. kanna) is a legal term signifying
* cognizance, averment > : gif he panne pset ne m&ge geoypan
mid rihtre canne (Laws of BQothhere and Eadric, but a twelfth
century MS.) * if he cannot prove this by a lawful declaration * ;
mynstres aldor hine c&nne in preostes canne (Laws of Wihtred 17)
' the head of a monastery shall clear himself by the same formula
of averment as a priest ' (twelfth century MS. from a late sixth
century original). Grip (O.N. grid) * truce ; peace, protection *
is used for a temporary cessation of warfare, as compared with
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 67
the native frip, wHclx means a condition of peace in general :
he pa pses cynges worde and his witena gndwiSlii ges&tte (Chron.
E. 1002) ' with the consent of the king and his council he made
a truce with them ' ; we willap wiS pam golde gnS f&stnian
(Maldon 35) ' we will make a truce for this gold ' ; grip also
signifies c security, safety ' (in a more localized or personal sense
than frip, which is rather e public safety ') guaranteed within
certain local or temporal limits, or by the protection of a king
or other person : wses peer ealne pone winter on paes cynges gride
(Chron. E 1048) e he was there all the winter under the king's
protection ' ; it occurs fairly commonly in M.E., often in the
formula grip and frip. Husting tf a court, assembly, tribunal '
(O.N. hus-Sing, apparently as held in a building, compared with
a ' thing 3 in the open) is found in the Laws and the Chronicle :
genamon pa pone biscop leaddon hine to heora Jmstinga (Chron.
E 1012) * took the bishop and led him to their assembly '
(i.e. of the Danish army) (MS. F in concilium suum) ; it is
also used in Latin documents for the council of the City of
London ; it is not used in the wider sense of the national
assembly. Middle English has it in Lasamon's Brut : eoden to
sumne/hulden muchel hunting 2324 (the later version has the
French conseil).
Lagu * LAW ' (O.N. Igg, pi.) is one of the commonest
Scandinavian loans in O.E., and one of the most important.
It is used for a decree, enactment, for a code of laws or legal
system, and for an area under a specific legal system : he niwade
p38r Cnutes lage (Chron. E 1064) he renewed the laws of Cnut ' ;
nu is seo ealde lagu geendod defter Cristes tocyme (JJlfric's Pastoral
Epistles, 380) * now is the old law ended after Christ's advent 5 ;
p&r h&fp ane lage ecurm and $e wekga (Be Domes Dsege, 163)
* there poor and rich have one law ' ; he s&Ue mycel deor-frid
cmd he l&gde laga pser-wid (Chron. E 1086) 'he established
protection for game and made laws concerning it ' ; gylde lah-
slitte inne on Deone lage and wite mid Englum (Laws of Edward
and Guthrum) e pay the fine in the Danelaw and the corresponding
fine among the English *.
Oran, pi. (O.N. awor, O.Swed. ore), and marc (O.N. mark)
are used first in the Laws of Alfred and Guthrum, and fairly
often later for weights or values of silver or gold ; the mark
68 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
had. eight times the value of the era ; Chadwick (Studies in
Anglo-Saxon Institutions, p. 24) gives the value of the ora as
16 pence or 20 pence, according to two different reckonings
which seem to have been in use : he . . . astealde pa swiSe strang
gyld . . . past waes viii marc set ha (Chron. C 1040) * he levied a
heavy tax, which was eight marks per man ' ; twelf orena ?md
Denum and xxx stiUinga mid Englum (Laws of Alfred and
Guthrum, vii) e twelve oras among the Danes and thirty shillings
among the English ' ; p&t w&s an gylden calic on fif marcon
(Chron. D 1058) ' it was a golden cup worth five marks '. Targe,
a small shield, is found translating parma, scuto, in the Brussels
Gloss, and clipeus in the ninth century ; cf. also ic ge-ann
Mlmere minen disc-dene mines taregan (Charter in Kemble's
Codex Diplomaticus, HI, 363) * I bequeath my small shield to
^Elmer my dish-bearer * ; the word was supplanted in Middle
English by the French targe with [dz], itself borrowed from
Germanic. The word wsepen-tsec ' WAPENTAKE ' is from O.N.
vapna-tak * a taking or touching of weapons ', but with the native
form substituted for the Scandinavian in the first element ;
it denotes a sub-division of a shire, and under Danish influence
it took the place of the c hundred ' in the northern counties, in
some of which it still survives : pset man hsebbe gemot on selcum
w&pentace (Laws of JSthelred, iii, 3) *that a meeting should
be held in each wapentake '. Wrang * WRONG ' (O.Norwegian
vrang) : unnhtdeman, Se wendap wrang to rihte and riht to wrange
(Wulf stan 203) ' unjust judges, who turn wrong to right and right
to wrong ' ; also * rough, uneven ' : to Sam feordan porne on
wrangan Tiylle (Codex Dipkmaticus, V, 297).
A small group of miscellaneous words completes this section,
four from the Lindisfarne Gospels, one from the Durham Ritual,
and one from the Battle of Maldon. The last-named gives us
ceallian * to CALL ' (O.N. kalla) : ongan cealKan pa ofer cald
waster 91 ' began to call then across the cold river ' ; the Durham
Ritual has efne * material ' (O.N. efni), and famian e to prosper '
(Q.N.fcvrna-sk) : hal medouelfarniga me 'make me prosperous ' :
Lind. has spairian ' to bar * (O.N. spama), M.E. sparren, sperren :
gesparrado dure Sin (Lind. Mt. vi, 6) * thy door being shut ' ;
Sweng 'band' (O.N. pveng 'thong'), Mt. xxiii, 5 (duencgo,
= vhilacteria] : sang ' bed ' (O.N. s&ng) : song uel bedd Lk.
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 69
xxii, 12 (= stratum); eggian 'EGG on', Mk. xv, 11, where
ge-eggedon glosses concitaverunt.
"What appears to be a very early loan is eorcnan-s<:m * precious
stone ' (O.N. jarkna-steinn), which is to be found in the earlier
verse, such as Ekne, Phoenix, Ruin, and even (eorclan-} in
Beowulf ', it is believed to have come to Scandinavia from the
East, presumably by the medium of trade ; the Chaldean word
for * topaz ' is jarkdn.
SCANDINAVIAN WORDS OF THE SECOND PERIOD
The second period of Scandinavian loans may be reckoned
as extending from 1016 until about 1150 approximately the
beginning of the M.E. period. About thirty-three words belong
here, of which rather less than a third did not survive this period,
while twelve are in common use to-day ; crooked, die, knife,
haven, hit, root, sale, score, skin, snare, take, they. The following
are nouns denoting for the most part commonplace objects :
cnif e KNIFE ' (O.N. knlf-r) appears first in the eleventh century,
e.g. glossing artavus (=aultellus), Wright-Wulcker, I, 329, and
in a charm in MS. Cott. Vitellius E xviii : writ pisne drcul mid
pines cnifes orde (Cockayne, Leechdoms I, 395). The native word
was seax. Scinn ' SKIN 3 (O.N. skinn) and the compound gra-
stinnen ' of grey fur ' (O.N. grd-skinn) are in the Chronicle :
geafon him myccla geofa . . . on scynnan mid p&lle betogen, on
mserSerne pyleceon and gra-schynnene and hearma scynnene
(Chron. D 1075) * gave Ihrm rich gifts skins covered with purple,
and robes of marten-skins and of grey fur and of ermine 5 ;
it does not become common in M.E. before the fourteenth century.
Skin replaced Q.E.fell and hyd, ' FELL ', c HIDE ', which were used
for the skins both of men and of animals, but in Modern English
have become restricted to the latter. Hot c ROOT ' (O.N. rot)
occurs only in the compound rot-fsest ' root-fast ', and this not
till the twelfth century ; pa lepohte he him paet gif he mihte ben
rot-fest on Engleland pset he mihte hdbben eal his wille (Chron.
E 1127) 'he bethought himself that if he could become
established in England he might have all his desire * ; but
Middle English has it fairly frequently from Orm (c. 1200)
onwards. O.E. had wyrt for ' root ', the same word as that for
70 HISTOEY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
a plant. Snearu c SNARE 5 (O.N. snara) appears as a gloss for
laquem ( c for birds and hares ') in the Brussels Gloss to Aldhelm
(p. 429). Lit c colour, dye ' (O.N. litr), now obsolete except in
provincial dialects, is quoted by Napier 1 from an early twelfth
century manuscript, Cott. Vespasian D XIV, in the British
Museum : swa swa se litigere pe lu/ed selces heowes lit ' like the
dyer who loves colours of every hue ' ; the word is next recorded
in the thirteenth century (in hides blod Tie wenten it i.e. turned
it about do was dor-on an rewh lit Genesis and Exodus 1068) ;
it is not at all common in Middle English. Loft (O.N. lopt) is
recorded once in Old "English, where it has the sense of e air '
(cf . O.E. lyft) : heo ne lip on namum pinge ac on lofte Jieo stynt
(JElfric's Hexameron) e [the earth] rests on nothing, but
stands in the air ' ; in M.E. it has the meaning of * upper room,
LOFT ? (as in O.Norse, as well as ' air '), and is fairly common ;
it is also used in the phrases bi loft, on loft ' on high, ' ALOFT '.
Lsest * a fault, sin ' (O.N. fystr) has been noted by Napier in an
eleventh century MS. (Bodl, Hatton 114) : past he ure neoda
gecnawe and ure l&sta gebete c that He may know our needs and
amend our faults ' ; it appears again in the late twelfth century,
and later in Middle English.
The three verbs diegan * DEE ', hittan * to come upon, meet
with, [HIT] ? , and tacan ' touch, TAKE ', have all survived to
modern times. O.N. deyja had an O.E. cognate which might have
been the ancestor of the M.E. form deien, de$en, but seems to
have disappeared early, and the word degen, etc., from the
eleventh century onwards is almost certainly from the
Scandinavian. The first occurrence of it is in Eadwine's
Canterbury Psalter 2 105/13 : hredlice dydon * soon they died '
(= cito defecerunt) : it is a very common word in Middle English,
and eventually took the place of sweltan and steorfan (the latter
now has a restricted meaning, STAEVB). Hittan (O.N. hitta)
is not recorded in its usual modern sense until the fourteenth
century ; in its single occurrence in Old English it means ' to
come upon ' or ' fall upon ' : Da com Harold we cyng on unws&r
on pa Normenn, and Jiytte hi begeondan Eqferwic (Ohron. D 1066)
'then Harold our king came unexpectedly on the Northmen
Contributwns to Old English Lexicography, 1006.
Ed. Harsley, E.B.T.S., 92.
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 71
beyond York ' (Chron. E has gemette). Tacan (O.N. taka), which
after the M.E. period entirely replaced O.E. niman, is found first
in the Chronicle (D) in the year 1072 : se kyng nam heora scypa
and w8Bpna and manega sceattas and pa menn ealle he toe ' the
king seized their ships and weapons and much money, and he
took all the men ' ; three special phrases, adapted from Old
Norse, are also found in O.E. : toe to uuerrien him (Chron. 1135)
' took to making war upon him ' (O.N. taha at) \ pet land-fok
him widtoc (Chron. 1127) * the people accepted T-nrn ' (O.N. taka
viS) ; cf. also tacan on (O.N. taka d) e to touch ' : sona swa
psBt ek toe on paet w&ter (MS. C.C.C. Cambridge 303, early twelfth
century, p. 179 1 ) ' as soon as the oil touched the water * ; the
first of these at least survives in Middle English : token to %eien
(St. Katherine, 2060) * began to cry *.
Three adjectives, (ye)crocod ' CROOKED ', ragg(^) * rough,
shaggy ', and witter * wise ' were retained in M.E. The first
must be derived from crok (O.N. krokr ' crook ') which is
frequently found in M.E., and it is probably owing to chance that
the noun has not been recorded in O.E. The adjective is indeed
found once only, in MS. C.C.C. Cambridge 303, 2 referring to
a cripple ; it appears next in the late twelfth century Lambeth
Hom^lies. Raggig (with an English suffix) is also from a noun :
O.N. rggg ' tuft ' (M.E. ragge * RAG } ) ; it occurs in the Brussels
Gloss to Aldhelm, for setosa. Witter (O.N. vitr) is equally rare in
O.E., occurring only in the Chronicle : wislice hine lepohte swa fie
full witter w&s (D 1067) c prudently bethought himself, being very
wise \ This is used also in Middle English, especially m earlier texts.
As in the first period, we have also in the second a number of
words denoting things connected with the sea. None of these
survived the O.E. period except hsefen ' HAVEN ' (O.N. hgfn) :
he geaf into Cristes cyrican on Cantware-byri pa hsefenan on
Sandwic (Chron. A 1031) * he gave to Christ Church, Canterbury,
the port of Sandwich'. Others are : ha 'thole' (O.N. ha-r)
and hamele ' oar-loop ' (O.N. hamla)> occurring once each in the
Chronicle, in the same passage of different manuscripts : man
geald owi scipan &t &lcere hamulan viii marc (Chron. E 1039) ' they
paid for 16 ships at 8 marks per man J ; pset w&s viii marc set ha
1 See Napier, Contributions to O.JE* Lexicography.
8 See Bjorkman, Scandinavian Loanwords, p. 35, n. 2.
72 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
(Ckron. C 1040) c that was 8 marks per man * ; the Chronicle
also has ha-sseta f rower * (O.N. M-set^), but with English second
element : and sceolde man setton oSre eorlas and odre hasseton to
pam stipum (Chron. E 1052). lap e a fleet ' (O.N. US) and lips-
mann ' sailor ' both occur in the Chronicle, the latter being the
earlier : Leofric eorl and m%st ealle pa pegenas benorSan Temese
and pa USsmenn on Lunden gecuron Harold to healdes ealks
Englalandes (E 1036) ' Earl Leofric and almost all the thanes
north of the Thames and the seamen of London chose Harold
to be ruler of all England ' ; pset h& wende ongean to Sandw^c
(Ghron. D 1052) e the fleet went again to Sandwich ' ; the word
is not uncommon in the Chronicle (all MSS.). Wranga * hold of
a ship ' (O.N. vrgng) occurs in Mlf. Voc. 182 (printed as pranga
in Wright-Wiilcker).
Among words relating to law and social life we find five
denoting persons : carl, butse-carl, hiis-carl, hofding, swegen.
Carl corresponds to O.E. ceorl ; it is used sometimes alone,
sometimes as the first element of a compound, to denote * man,
male ' (e.g. carl-cat, carl-fugol) \ note also carles w&n ' churl's
waggon, Charles's wain ', of the star, in Cockayne's Leechdoms
III 270. Butse-carl (O.N. luza ( boat ') is apparently a regular
sailor of the king's own fleet (not a member of the national levy)
and corresponds to the bus-carl of the king's standing army (see
Bosworth-Toller, Supplement) ; both are used in the Chronicle :
eatte pa butsecarlas of Haestingan (C 1052) * all the seamen from
Hastings ' ; pa hwile com Tostig eorl into Humbran mid Ix
sripum . . . and pa "butse-carlas hine for-socan (D, E 1066) ; man
gersedde pa past dElfgifu Hcwdocnutes modor s%te on Winceostre
mid p80$ cynges hus-carlum Tiyra suna (Chron. E 1036) ' it was
decided that -<Elfgifu, HarSacnut's mother, should remain iu
Winchester with the house-carls of the king her son '. Holding
6 leader, ringleader ' (O.N. Jigf-Singi) is used in the second sense
in Chron. D 1076 : Rawulf eorl and Rogcer eorl ws&ron hofdingas
set pisan unrssde ' the earls Ralph and Roger were ringleaders in
this conspiracy \ Sweden (O.N. sveinn * man ') is found several
times as a personal name before the Conquest, but otherwise is
recorded only in the compound batswegen ' boatman, BOATSWAIN '
in a charter printed by Earle l : on Wydnges batswegenes
1 Handbook to the Land-Charters and other Saxonic Documents, p.
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 73
gewittnisse ' on the testimony of Wicing the boatman '. The
O.E. cognate is swan.
Pylcian ' to marshal, arrange ' (O.N. fylkja) is found in the
Chronicle only : p&r Us lip fylcade (C 1066) ' marshalled his
fleet there '. Gsersume c treasure ' (O.N. gersumi), which survived
for a time in Middle English, occurs a number of times in the
Chronicle, e.g. ealle pa betstan gsersaman pe Gnut cyng ahte
(D 1035) c all the best treasures that King Cnut possessed ' ;
sceawode p&t madme-Jius and pa gersuman pa his f seder ser
gegaderode . . . on golde and on seolfre and on faton a*nd psellan
and on gunman (E 1086) ' inspected the treasure-house and the
treasures which his father had collected gold and silver and
vessels and silks and gems J . Mai c suit, cause ; terms, pay '
(O.N. mdl) is to be found in the Cleopatra Gloss, and also in the
Chronicle : on pyton ylcan geare Eadwerd dug scylode ix scypa
of male (Chron. 1086) * in this same year King Edward paid off
nine ships ' (cf . the O.N. phrase sldlja afmdli, in the same sense) ;
scip-liS gewende to Legeceastre and Sser abiden heora males
(C 1055) * the fleet went to Chester and there waited for their
pay ' ; it is found occasionally in Middle English (mdl, mol) 9
and, in a northern form, it appears in Mod. Eng. blacJcMATL.
Manslot (O.N. manns-hlutr) has been noted by Napier x in MS.
C.C.C. Oxford 197 (twelfth century) ; it seems to signify e portion
of land allotted to the head of a family ' ; the same MS. gives
us sceppe, a measure for wheat or malt (O.N. sJceppa, otherwise
not recorded until the fifteenth century, when it has the sense of
* basket ', and now familiar as e SKEP *) ; and scoru SCORE }
(O.N. sJcor) : v scora scsep ' five score sheep '.
Another trading term is sala * SALE ' (O.N. sala), found in O.E.
only in Mlf. Voc. 180, where it is equivalent to uenditio.
Two war-terms remain : orrest battle ' (O.N. orrosta) : hine
on orreste ofer-com (Chxon. E 1096) ' overcame him in battle * ;
tapor-sex * a small axe ' (O.N. tapar-0x) : swa feorr swa mseg an
taper&x beon geworpen (Thorpe, Diplomatarium 317) ; and par
beo an mann stande on pan scipe and habbe ane taper-aex on his
ftande (Chron. A 1031) * let there be a man standing on the ship
with an axe in his hand '. This word is particularly interesting as
it is the first certain example of a Slavonic word in English ;
1 Oontnbutiona to O.E. Lexwogra/pihy t p. 43, q.v.
74 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Russian topor, or rather its ancestor, found its way into
Scandinavian, and thence into English. The word, however,
did not survive in Middle English.
Finally we come to a form in Old English which may be of
Scandinavian origin, and if so is the first appearance of a
very important loan-word. This is the form psege "they,
these ', possibly identical with the M.E. f>ei from Scand. peir
(see p. 81). Baege appears in two texts : the Late West Saxon
Gospels : sume dsege ivseron Jiaedene John xii, 20 * some of them
were heathen ', and in the prose Salomon and Saturnus * : ic <fe
secge,fram iiii steorrum. Sage me, hwaet hatton page ? (p. 178) * I
tell you, from four stars. Tell me, what are they called ? *
These, then, complete the earlier loans from Scandinavian,
so far as they are actually recorded, though, as has already been
said, it is possible that some of those not occurring in writing
before the M.E. period were already in use in the spoken language.
WORDS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH
During the Middle English period the proportion of
Scandinavian loan-words used in a specific text varies according
to the part of the country from which it comes, the literature
and documents of the North, North-West, North-East, and
East Midlands having many more Norse and Danish words
than those of the South and South Midlands. A certain number
of Scandinavian words are found even in the south in early
Middle English, for the most part those which have already
appeared in Old English ; words which drift down to the south
as the M.E. period goes on are chiefly, though not exclusively,
such as still remain in Modern English.
It has already been indicated that sometimes the meaning of
a Scandinavian word becomes attached to the cognate English
word, though the Norse word itself is not borrowed ; this has
happened, for instance, in the case of O.E. eorl (M.E. erl) ' man,
warrior ', which after the Danish influence began was used for
' chief, ruler of a shire ' (O.N. jcvrl) ; cf . also JE. dream * music,
joyful sound, revelry ', which acquired its modern meaning of
* vision ' through the influence of the related O.K. draumr ;
the old sense of dream still remains throughout the M.E, period,
1 See p. 45.
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 75
but the word is used in the modern sense in Havelok the Dane
in the late thirteenth century : a selJcuth drem me dremede nou
1284 ' a strange dream I dreamed '. The O.E. words with this
significance were swefn, still in use in Chaucer's writings, and
msetan vb., meeting n. (M.E. mete, meting, -ung).
Scandinavian accidence had very little effect on English
grammar. Rarely, Norse inflexions are retained in English, but
as an integral part of the word ; e.g. the O.N. nominative (masc.)
-r in hdgher ' skilful ' (O.N. hag^r), the neuter -t in want (O.N.
van-t ' lacking '), or the genitive -ar in the (remodelled) nihter-tale
(' night-time ', Havelolc, Chaucer, etc.), O.N. ndttcur peli.
Beginning at about 1150 we shall now consider the
Scandinavian element in some representative texts from different
parts of the country, down to the time of Chaucer.
The Peterborough Chronicle (MS. E of the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle) was continued longer than any of the other versions
of the Chronicle, the last part, from 1132 onwards, having been
written about 1154. This final section, in spite of its place of
origin, has very few Scandinavian words which have not appeared
before in English. The pronoun ba&e * BOTH ' is usually con-
sidered to be from O.N. ladw, though in some areas at least it
may come from O.E. la pa (' both ' + demonstrative) : lathe
be nihtes & be daies 1137 c both by night and by day ' ; h&fde
da lade togedere pone kinerice on Scotlande & pone earldom on
Englelande 1124 * he had both together the kingdom in Scotland
and the earldom in England '. O.N. Irenna probably gave rise
to M.E. brennen * burn ' (cf. O.E. Isernan, liernan) : pa rseueden
hi & Irendon alle the tunes 1137 e they plundered and burnt all
the towns '. Hsernes ' brains ' (O.W. Scand. hiarni) occurs in :
and uurythen to fat it gaede to pe h&rnes 1137 ' and twisted (a
cord) until it went to the brain '. The conjunction and preposition
till * to, TILL ', identical with a form which had existed as a
native word in early Old English, was introduced from
Scandinavian in the twelfth century (O.N. til) : dide sette in
prisun til hi iafen up here castles 1137 ' put them all in prison until
they gave up their castles '. The word is common in Middle
English in. northern texts, and survives in Modern Standard
English as a conjunction.
One other word which we still use, and whose initial [sk]
76 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
gives it a Scandinavian flavour, may be mentioned here as
illustrating one special tendency in the M.E. period. This is
SCATTER, which first appears in the Chronicle : Tie todaeld it
& scatered sotlice 1137 c he spent and scattered it foolishly ' ;
it is actually from an O.E. *scaterian, now SHATTER, and there
happens to be no Scandinavian form from which it could be
derived. But fairly often there were cognate forms in English
and Scandinavian which were distinguished only or mainly
by the s6- (sh) of the former compared with the sk- of the latter,
and the initial consonants were sometimes interchanged, the
Norse consonant-group being used in English. Thus O.E.
sciftan ( SHIFT ' corresponded to O.N. skifta, and M.E. has both
shift and shift. Other such doublets are M.E. schei, skei ' SHY,
timid ' (O.E. sceoh, Dan. sky) ; sher, sker ' clear ' (O.E. sc&r,
O.N. sTcser). Through the existence of such pairs it became
natural among bilingual speakers to reconstruct similar pairs
by supplying the missing one of the pair, such as sJcateren by
the side of shateren, or (in the other direction) schimeren
4 SHIMMER * by the side of skimeren (O.Swed. skimra), or schele
beside skek, skile (O.N. skil ' reason, SKILL '). Similarly a
Scandinavian initial g might be substituted for the corresponding
English 3 (== y- [j]), since the one is often equivalent to the other
in cognates. This, it seems, was what happened in give (cf.
O.E. gefan, O.N. gefa), which eventually took the place of M.E.
Two other early Middle English texts- which contain very few
Scandinavian loan-words are the collection of homilies in MS.
Bodley 343, * and the History of the Holy Rood-Tree. 2 The first
has only witer (O.N. vitr c wise, knowing ; evident ' ; see
above, p. 71), in an adverbial form with English suffix : witer-
lice metejung is alrae ma&>ene moder 90 ' surely moderation is
the mother of all virtues ' ; the latter has the verb dSjen and
the noun rot, both already found in O.E. (see above) : for pan
Se ic nu de$en sceal 14 ' because I must now die ' ; pa roten
fordrujode wseron 4 c the roots had dried up '. The vocabulary
of both these texts gives a decidedly archaic impression.
The brief Hymns of St. Godric* dating from about 1170, give
1 Ed. Belfour, E.E.T.S., 137. 2 Ed. Napier, E.E.T.S., 103.
Ed. Hall, SdectioTM from Early Middle English.
TEE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 77
the form burth ' birth ' (O.N. burdr) ; the O.E. form is (ge)byrd.
(M.E. and Mod.E. birth is from O.Swed. tyrp.)
A group of three alliterative legends in MS. Koyal 17 A xxvii
and MS. Bodley 34 have a larger number of Norse words, many
of them dating from the Old English period. These are the
legends of St. Katharine, St. Margaret, and St. Juliana. 1 - To judge
from their dialect they are from a west midland area. They
probably date from before 1200, though the MSS. are early
thirteenth century ; they might be considered here, or at the
beginning of the next section. Of words already dealt with, they
have (to give their modern forms) both, die, law, knife (mid kenre
pikes pen eni cmf Kath. 1929 (of St. Katherine's wheel) ' with
sharper spikes than any knife '), egg vb. (Tie forgulte him anan
purh eggunge of eue Jul. 60 e he sinned through the instigation
of Eve '), fellow (weoren as feolahes purh muche freontschipe
Jul. 4 e were as fellows through great friendship ' ; englene
feolahe and archanglene freond Bodl. Jul. 49, where Royal has
ifere, O.E. gefera, e fellow of angels and friend of archangels '),
haven (lead me ... to pe hauene of heale Jul. 42 * lead me to the
haven of salvation '), root, take, thrall, call (heo bigon to cleopien
ant callen pus to criste Marg. 3) ; besides grid (schulen gledien
igodes grid Marg. 21 ' shall be glad in the keeping of God '),
and mtterlic, which have not survived. Besides these we find
the following words : bond c BOND ' (O.N. band) Marg. 13 ;
b5n ' prayer, BOON ' (O.N. bon, cf. O.E. ben) : paet mi bone mote
purh purkn pe weolone Marg. 7 ' that my prayer might pierce
the sky ' ; bide * BULL ' (0. East Scand. bule ; this occurs
already as a Place-Name element in O.E.) : hette bule haued
ouercomen Jul. 54 c has overcome the bull of hell 5 ; crok e CROOK ;
evil device ' (O.N. krokr) : wite me from h^s lad ant wid his
crefti crokes Jul. 34 'protect me from his hate and from his
cunning devices ' ; gapen ' gaze, GAPE at ' (cf . Swed. gapa) :
pes keiser bicapede hem Kath. 1255 e this emperor gazed at them ' ;
casten * OAST ' (O.N. kasta) : het hire prefter kasten in cwalmhus
Kath. 1547 ' ordered her afterwards to be cast into the torture-
house ' ; also akesten ' to overcome, cast down ' : ouercomen ant
akasten hare preo cunnefan Marg. 1 ' to overcome and cast down
1 St. Kathervne, ed. Einenkel, EJB.T.S., 80 ; the other two ed. Cockayne,
E.B.T.S. 13 and 51. Quotations are from MS. Royal unless otherwise stated.
78 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
their three kinds of foes ' ; Ian e LOAN, reward ' (O.N. Un) :
to leosan ower swinkes Ian Kath. 805 e to lose the reward of your
labour ' ; meoc ' MEEK ' (O.N. mjukr) : marherete mildest and
meidene meokest Marg. 4 'Margaret mildest and meekest of
maidens ' ; wanten c WANT ' (O.N. vanta) : neauer of pi wil ne
schal pe nawt wontin Jul. 22 6 never shall anything you desire
be wanting '. These eight words and the eleven first mentioned
have all survived to the present day ; the following eleven do
not now occur in Standard English : gra ' grey ; unfriendly,
hostile ', as noun ' evil spirit ' (O.N. grd-r) : of pat gnsliche gra
weren agrisen swi&e Jul. 53 c were much affrighted by that
grisly devil ' ; greipen * to prepare ' (O.N. greiSa) : he greifrid
pe o grome nu alles cunnes pinen Jul. Bodl. 35 * he is preparing
for you now in anger all kinds of torture ' ; hap c luck, success '
(O.N. happ) : lisohte him help & hap Kath. 184 c asked for help
and success * ; but the related HAPPY and HAPPEN are now in use ;
keisei ' emperor ' ; Uden ' listen ' : lusted me leoue men ant
lideS ane hwile Jul. 72 * listen to me, dear men, and hearken
for a while ' ; lire e face, skin ' (O.N. hltfr) : to-limede hire ant
teleao US la ant lire Jul. 58 * tore her to pieces and rent limbs
and skin 5 ; mensk c grace, honour, dignity ' (cf . O.Swed.
msenska ' goodness J ) : te murSe pat US to meidhades menske
Jul. 18 ' the joy that waits on maiden's grace ' ; nowtin ' hard-
ship, pain ' (O.N. nauSsyn) : ne niht ni$ ter neauer ne neauer
na nowcin Kath. 1683 ' there is never night or pain ' ; skr
' pure, clear ' (O.N. skr) : pat ne schulen ha beon sJcer of ure
weorre Jul. 50 c that they shall not be quit of our war ' ; stor
' strong, great ' (O.N. storr) : is nu se storliche unstrenget ower
strengde Kath. 1269 * is your strength now so greatly enfeebled ' ;
pwert ' across ' (O.N. pvert, neut. ace. of pverr) ; wandrap
c suffering ' (O.N. vandr&pi ' difficulty ') : to wwrchen ow al pat
wandrepe Jul. 22 c to cause you all that suffering '. Finally there
is the O.N. noun-suffix -lee, -leik (O.N. -kikr) * -ness ' : pe beoS
widuten godleic & empti widinnen Kath. 838 * which are without
goodness and empty within ' ; ich am gomeful and gkd lauerA of
pi godlec Marg. 10 ' I am joyous and glad, Lord, for Thy good-
ness ' ; fewlec and strencSe beod his schrudes Marg. 19 c fairness
and strength are His garments \
This group, especially the legend of St. Margaret, has frequent
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 79
examples of pairs, usually with little difference in meaning, and
often simply for the sake of the alliteration ; here we may find
Scandinavian and native words side by side : wiS gersum ant
wiS golde ; ouercomen ant akasten ; to cleopien ant callen ; his
pral ant Tits peowe, and so forth.
The alliterative gnomic verses known as the Proverbs of
Alfred, 1 a southern text, the manuscript of which dates from
before 1200, has very few Scandinavian words : again
* AGAiNst ' (not necessarily Scandinavian, but probably affected
by Scand. influence ; the usual native form is a^em), fro ' from,
FRO 5 (in to and fro ; O.N. frd), ille adv. c ILL ' (O.K ^ZZr,
ilia), Jx>h ' THOUGH ' (OJSL *poh} ; also grip, and late c to let '
(cf. the cognate O.E. l&tan, M.E. lete) : wose lot is wifhis maister
wurpen 358 ' whoso lets his wife become his master ' (this form
of the third person singular, however, may be English).
Another text which is also southern but from a definitely
south-eastern area, is a prose dialogue (between Reason and
Man's Soul) in MS. Stowe 340, published under the title of
Vices and Virtues* In addition to BOTH, NAY, THRALL, and
grip, this document has two words not referred to before :
kanunk ' canon ' (O.N". kanunkr, from Lat. canonicus) : muneJces
kanunekes, ancres & eremites 35 ; and skent-ing c amusement '
(O.N. sJcemta vb.) : gleues & sJcentinges . . . & alle So ping Se
%eu hier gladien mai 69 ' joys and pleasures and all those things
that may please you here '.
Nor is there a larger proportion of Norse words in either of
the two late twelfth-century collections of sermons known as
the Lambeth Homilies 3 and the Trinity Homikes.* The former,
besides CBOOKED, BOTH, LAW, LOW, and grip, gives us the two
important words skill and wing. The first is from O.N. slcil,
and in Middle English has the senses of c skill, discrimination,
reason ' : pet wes al mid muchele skile 59 ' that was all with much
reason ' ; also unskile : forjef us ure unsJcile 65 e forgive us our
folly ' ; wing is from O.N. vengr : a vuhel com flon from houew
into orSe. her uette feper-home and wenge 81 ' a bird came flying
from heaven to earth ; here he brought plumage and wings ' ;
O.E. generally uses fepera.
1 Ed. Borgstrem, Ltuad, 1908. * Ed. Holthausen, E.E.T.S. f 89.
Ed. Morris, E.E.T.S., 53. * Ed. Morris, E.E.T.S., 29.
80 HISTOET OF FOREIGN WOEDS IN ENGLISH
The Trinity Homilies have even fewer Scandinavian words,
the most interesting being several examples of the verb egg,
e.g. pat man egged his negebure to done or to speken him harm 13
' that a man eggs on his neighbour to do or speak harm to him '.
The long epic poem known as the Brut, 1 by the Worcester-
shire poet Lagamon, written in the late twelfth century, and
a fine example of Middle English heroic verse, contains over
16,000 long lines, but has altogether less than forty Norse words.
Most of them are words which are common generally in Middle
English : BOTH (also the native ba, boa, beie, etc.) ; bonde,
and husbonde * HUSBAND ', * householder ' (of seuer ekhe huse :
fat husbonde wunede iii, 285 c from every house in which a
husbandman lived ') ; BOON (J>e fang uor his fader bone : $ette
hire hvr bone II, 200 e the king at his father's request granted
her boon ') ; brunie ' coat of mail ' ; grip (often in the formula
grip and fnp ; cf . also seuere he haehte aekne mon chireche-gnp
halden II, 514 ' always he bade every man respect the protection
of the Ohurch ') ; KNIFE ; DIE ; hail adj. (' whole, safe ' : O.E. hal
* WHOLE ' is also used by I^amon ; note also Leofue freond w&s
hail / pe oSer sseiS drinc hail II, 175 ' Dear friend, be in health !
The other says Drink hail ! ' and cf . wassail) ; dring t warrior '
(O.N. drengr) ; gersum ; greiSen ; HIT (pe eotend smat after
biliue : & noht hine ne hutte III, 35 c the giant aimed a blow at
him quickly, and did not hit him '), hustinge (cf. above, p. 67) ;
kaiser ; LOW (pe heh$e & pa laje II, 541 ' the high and the low ') ;
LAW ; OUTLAW ; meBsk c honour ' ; niding ; BOOT ; stor f strong,
great ' ; SWAIN ; TAKE ; witer * wise ' (heo was witer heo was wis
I, 409 * she was wise and clever ').
Besides these there are seven others, less frequently found in
M.E., which also occur in the Brut : attlen * to go, turn ; to
think, purpose ' (O.N. stla ; (to the reader) lete we nu pene
eotend bilafuen ; and atlien to pan kinge III, 32 * let us now leave
the giant, and turn to the king ') ; farcost ' a kind of boat ;
condition, circumstances ' (O.N. farkostr) : haures he sende :
to hirede pes hinges / to witen of his farcost I, 63 ' he sent spies to
the king's court to learn his position ' ; sker ' quit, free ' (habbed
igueSen us scere II, 108 * has pronounced us free ') ; skenting
(per wunede pe Icing al pene winter a skenting III, 230 * the king
1 Ed. Madden, London, 3 vols, 1847.
THE SCAOT)INAVIAN ELEMENT 81
stayed there all the winter amusing himself } ) ; wandrep (mid
wandrede & mid sare II, 97 e with misery and pain ').
It is interesting to note that another version of I^amon's
Brut, made about fifty years later (edited with the earlier
MS.), retains most, though not quite all, of these words,
and has besides : CAST, LEG (O.N. leggr ; Us legges he
felede mid hosen of stele II, 463 ; the earlier version has sconken
6 SHANKS '), may e maiden ', THEY (occasionally), TEtmsday
(porisdei, O.N". Dors- ; the early version has the native
Dunres-dsei).
In contrast to all the southern and midland documents so far
discussed, we now turn to a work from the north-east midlands :
the Ormulum, 1 written about the year 1200 by Orm, a canon-
regular of the order of St. Augustine. It consists of paraphrases
of and commentaries on the Gospels used at Mass, and contains
some 10,000 long lines, in an unrhymed metre imitating the
Latin septenarius. This is the first Middle English text to contain
any considerable number of Scandinavian words, and it is for
this reason, as well as others, of some importance linguistically,
if not otherwise. It has about 120 words which may with
some certainty be considered Scandinavian, besides others
which are doubtful ; some (A) survive in Modern Standard
English ; (B) some may be found all over the country in Middle
English ; (C) some are limited to the northern and north midland
areas in M.E. ; (D) some occur in this text only in M.E. (though
some of these have survived in modern dialects). The use of the
plural pronouns they, their, them, should be especially noted,
since these forms eventually spread into all dialects, ousting
the native forms. Lists of the most interesting of the Norse
words in the Ormulum are given here, with illustrations of the
use of some of them ; except in list A the spelling is that of Orm
(note that a double consonant indicates that the preceding vowel
is short).
(A) Most of these have been mentioned earlier as occurring in
Old or Early Middle English ; the O.K forms will therefore not
be given in all cases : ANGER vb. (O.N. angra) ; AYE (Orm (155,
OJST. ei) ; AWE (Orm a$he, O.N. agi, cf . O.E. ege) ; BAND ; BOTH ;
1 Ed. Holt, 1878, 2 vols. See also Brate, Nordisclie Lehnworter im Orrmulwm.
Halle Beitrage, x, pp. 1-80.
82 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
BAIT vb. (Orm beaten, O.N. beita e to cause to bite ' ; cf .
O.E. batiari) ; BLOOM ' flower ' (O.N. Udm) ; BOON ; BOOTH
(0. Swed. bop ' booth, stall ' ; BOUND (in the phrases bound for,
outward bound ; Orm bun e ready ', O.N. buinn) ; BULL ; CROOK ;
DIE ; EGG (on) ; FLIT (Q^S.flytja) ; FRO ; GUEST (the consonant
at least is Scandinavian ; O.N. gestr ; cf. O.E, gest) ; GAIN
(O.N. gegna) ; TTATT, ' salute 5 ; ILL ; KINDLE ; KNIFE ; LAW ;
LOFT ; LOW ; MEEK ; [RAISE (O.N. reisa) ; BOOT ; scATHE(less)
(O.N. sJcaSi ' harm f ) ; SCARE (Orm sTcerren vb. ; cf . O.N.
skfarr ' timid ') ; SKILL ; SKIN ; SLEUTH(hound) (Orm slop
* track ' ; O.N. slocf) ; TAKE ; THEY (O.N. peff, pe^r, pe^m) ;
TILL ; THOUGH J THRIVE ; WAND ; WANT ; WING ; WRONG.
Examples : patt mihhte ohht anngrenn opre I, 12 ' that might
in any way anger another J ; dreding and a$he I, 249 e dread and
awe ' ; ^035 dursten be^jtenn menn / Forr sepeliJce giltte I, 354
' they durst punish men for public guilt ' ; Forr Nazarsep
bitacnepp v$s Onn Ennglissh brodd & blome II> 19 ' for Nazareth
betokens in English shoot and blossom ' ; Forr patt 055 turrndenn
Godess hus Inntill huccsteres bope II, 196 ' because they turned
the House of God into a huckster's booth ' ; <fc Abraham wass
forrprihht bun To don Drihktiness wtlle II, 156 e A. was straight-
way ready to do the Lord's will ' ; & %iff he seop pe mann
forrdredd 9 He w\h himm skerrenn mare I, 132 c and if he sees the
man frightened, he will scare him more ' ; 055 foltyhenn sop
meocnesses slop I, 111 ' ever to follow the path of true meekness ' ;
all swa summ win wass wannt tatt folk II, 146 ' when wine was
wanting to the people J (the word want has the neuter t of the O.N.
adj. van-r, van-t ' lacking ' ; this is kept in the M.E. verb wanten 9
which also occurs in Orm).
(B) Words which occur in M.E. in any part of the country :
brennen ' burn ' ; grejsJjen * prepare ' ; griJ>J> ; hasherr * skilful,
dexterous * (O.N. Jiag-r ; note the retention in English of the
Scand. -r of the nom. masc. sing.) ; kejssere ; kidde ; lasst
* fault ' ; kanunnkess * canon ' (O.N. kanunkr, from Lat.
canonicus) ; -16330 ; make ' wife, mate * (possibly English, but
perhaps from O.N. maid) ; mal * speech, payment ? ; may
1 maiden ' ; orrest ' contest ' (recorded in O.E., but not again
in M.E.) ; sSr ' separate ' ; skemmting ; stunm ' as ' (cf. the
dialectal how-some-ever) ; ttpende ; wanndrap ; witeir.
THE SCAJmiNAVIAN ELEMENT 83
Examples : & forrpi patt Sannt Anndrew wass RiJiht god and
ha^herr hunnte II, 114 ' because St. Andrew was a good and
skilful hunter ' ; o patt ke^seress time I, 121 ' in that emperor's
time ' (Orm also uses the O.E. form casere ; see above, p. 18
and below, p. 107, note) ; inn orresst j&n pe deofell II, 81 * in
strife against the devil '.
(C) Words which are found in northern texts : Addlen
' earn ' (O.K $dla-sk) ; besssk ' harsh ' (O.N. beisk-r) ; biggen
6 dwell ' (O.N. byggja) ; teaj> ' angry ' (O.N. brdp-r) ; brodd
' sprout, spike ' (O.N. broddr) \ bulaxe e axe ' (O.Dan. buUx) ;
fere e power ' (O.N. f0n) ; forrgarrt ' destroyed, condemned '
(P.P. of forgaren, from O.Swed. g0ra ' to do ') ; g*3te(Z#s)
* without care * (O.N. gta ' heed ') ; gloppnenn ' to be terrified '
(O.N. glupna ( to be surprised ') ; gres ' grass ' (Swed. grds ;
cf . O.E. gr&s, M.E. gras) ; hsepelig c scornfully ', Tipping ' scorn '
(O.N. Mp, hspa ' scorn ') ; hepen * hence ' (O.N. heftari) ; hof
' measure, reason ' (O.N. hof) ; immess * variously ' (O.N.
tfmiss) ', lesske * loin ' (O.Swed. liuslce) ; lejhe * hire, pay '
(O.N. kiga) ; lejjk * play, sport ', lesjkenn * to play * (O.N. leikr,
leika) ; lesstenn ' to look for ' (O.N. k^ta : cf. O.E. wldtian) ;
loshe ' fire ' (O.N. logi) ; merrke ' mark ' (O.N. me^ ; cf . O.E.
mearc) ; mine])]) ' has in mind ' (O.N. minna) ; nowwt ' oxen '
(O.N. naut ; cf. O.E. neat, nwteri) ; occ and ' (O.N. ok) ; radd
' afraid ' (O.N. hrddr) ; rap ' counsel ' (O.N. rdp) ; r5 ' quiet,
peace ' (O.N. ro) ; ros e praise ' (O.N. hros) ; sammtale * agreed *
(O.N. saman ( together ') ; sit c pain, illness ' (O.N. s$ta to
afflict f ) ; sket ' quickly ' (O.N. skiotr) ; skUedd divided '
(O.N. skil * discernment, discrimination ') ; skir f clean ' (O.N.
skir ; cf. O.E. $w) ; sterrne * star ' (O.N. S^OTM ; cf . O.E.
steorre) ; J)rinne * ttoree ' (O.N. prinnr) ; tunmbe ' about '
(O.N. umb) ; upp-brixle * object of reproach ' (O.N. brigsli) ;
hepen * whence ' (O.N. Iwapan).
Examples : lit isefull Utterr &full leypc I, 232 ; lokepp hwme
I bigge II, 99 f look where I live ' ; mpp skarn, wipp Ji&pinng,
ne wipp idell I, 152 e in scorn, contempt or idleness ' ; heore
le$he lirrp hewm beon R&dv$ pann itt iss addledd I, 215 ' their
pay should be ready for them when it is earned ' ; Onn idell,
& mpputenn ned, Alls iff he woUde k^kenn II, 64 ' idly and need-
lessly, as if he wished to jest ' ; all swa sumn pe nowwt i ploh
84 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
II, 199 * like the oxen in the plough ' ; to bruJcenn resste & ro
wipp himm III, 319 c to enjoy peace and rest with, him' ; to
rosenn off pin ha^herrle^c I, 169 * to boast of thy skill ' ; newe
steorrne %aff he pejjm II, 30 ' He gave them a new star ' ; mid
prinne lakess lakedd II, 30 * presented with three gifts '.
(D) Words which occur only in Orm in M.E. : AS ell 6 strength '
(O.N. afl) ; ammbohht * maidservant ' (O.N. ambott ; originally
Celtic ; see OJE. ambeht) : bennkedd ' provided with benches 9
(O.Swed. bsenker * bench ') ; brop-faJl ' epilepsy ' (O.N. brot-
fall) ; dowwnenn fi to smell ' (O.N. daunn n.) ; epenn ' to
cry' (O.N. 0pa) ; gluternesse gluttony 5 (Q.N.glutr 'extrava-
gance ') ; nape e grace * (O.N. nap) ; rowwst e voice ' (O.N.
raust) ; sannen c to prove ' (O.N. sanna) ; skirrpej)]? c rejects '
(O.N. skirpa) ; sowwj) e sheep ' (O.N. soupr) ; trigg ' truth '
(O.N. tryggr ; cf. O.E. treowe TEUE) ; usefl ' wretched 9
(O.N. ^^0).
Examples : Loc her ice amm ammbohht all bun To folfyhenn
Godess wille I, 79 * look, here I am, a handmaid ready to follow
the will of God ' ; wpp prinne bennkess bennJcedd II, 175 ' supplied
with three benches ' ; recless smec Is god & swet to dowwnenn
6 the smoke of incense is good and sweet to smell ' ; pe rowwst
iss herrd offssnne mann Datt epepp pws i wesste I, 320 ' the voice
is heard of a man that cries thus in the desert * ; draf hemm alk
samenn ut, & nowwt & sowwpess atte II, 188 ' drove them out
all together, and all the cattle and sheep ' ; trigg & trowe gnpp
andfripp Preface 69 ' faithful and true peace and security '.
1200-1250
The most important prose work of Early Middle English is the
Ancrene Riwle or Rule of Recluses. It is almost certainly a product
of the twelfth century, but although it is extant in a number of
manuscripts none of these is earlier than the first quarter of
the thirteenth century. The only one which has yet been printed x
is of about 1220-1230, and since it is at present uncertain how
far the vocabulary of this agrees with the original, it is dealt
with here as a thirteenth-century text. It is a work of considerable
length, amounting to 215 pages in print. Altogether it contains
1 JSTero A XTV in the British Museum. Ed. Morton, Oamden Society, 1853.
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 85
something over thirty different Scandinavian words, by no means
a high proportion. The work is probably from the West Midlands.
The following words are still current : anger, boon, both, cast,
crooked, die, droop, egg (on), fellow, gain, knife, meek, root,
skill, thrall, Thursday, (a)thwart, wing, want ; besides these we
have algate, fiken ' to hurry about ', garsum, greij?(en), grip*
hawer 'skilful 9 (O.N. Ugr\ lat, -lee, liten 'to dye' (cf. lit
'colour', earlier in this chapter), mensk, sker, (for)swI5en
* to burn up ', tiding, witnen ' to witness ', wondrej), none of
which are peculiar to the Rule, but for the most part common
enough in Middle English.
Here are some examples of their use : algate : his aVbod led
allegate pet Tie scholde siggen 314 * his abbot told him that he
should by all means confess ' ; angres-ful : forto leon so angresful
perefter nis nout God icweme 370 ' to be so anxious concerning it
is not pleasing to God ' ; croked : ofcroJcede & ofkene uondunges
102 ' of malicious and sharp temptations ' ; drup(i) : mdked
drupie chere 88 ' assumes a drooping air ' ; eggen : to eggen
us to gode 146 ' to incite us to good ' ; fiken : fikedmid te heaued
& stinged mid te teile 206 ' moves the head about quickly and
stings with the tail ' ; garsum : ne lie ne 'bereS no garsum bute
gnedeliche his spense 350 ' he carries no money but his bare
expenses ' ; hawur : ofte aful hawur smidsmeoftiSaful woe knif
52 ' often a skilful smith forges a weak knife ' ; lat : of tollinde
loJcunges ne lates 51 ' of enticing looks or behaviour ' ; liten :
pus he litecf cruelte mid heowe of rihtwisnesse 268 c he colours
cruelty with the tint of goodness ' ; mSoken ' to make meek ' :
makieS edmod & meoked our heorte 278 ' make your heart humble
and meek ' ; sker : leod al sJcer of his atter 136 f be all free from
his venom ' ; skil ' reason ' : hwon pe olde unwine isihcf ure sidle
slepen 272 ' when the old enemy sees our reason asleep ' ; tiding :
no tale ne tiSinge of pe world 70 ; pwert : attri speche is eresie
& pwert-ouer leasunge 82 ' poisonous speech is heresy and direct
lying ' ; wing : pe hwingen pet bered ham upward 130 ' the wings
that bear them upward ' ; witnen : ase holi writ wtned 286
' as holy writ testifies * ; wandrep : wondrede & wecme ine licome
& ine soule 156 ' misery and woe in body and soul * ; wanten :
penc euer hwat pe wontep ofholinesse 276 ' think always how much
holiness is wanting in you '.
86 HISTORY OF FOREIGN" WOEDS IN ENGLISH
Among other religious writings of the period may be mentioned
two much briefer documents, also from the west : a small
collection of homilies in MS. Cotton Vespasian A XXII, and an
attractive homiletic allegory known as Sawles Warde, 1 'the
guardianship of the soul ', which treats of the house of Man,
wherein the Soul is the treasure. Wit is the husband, Will the
wayward wife, and the Five Senses are the five servants. This
contains the following Scandinavian words : drupnen : iseh ow
iffruhte ant somdel drupnin 259 ' I saw you in fear and somewhat
depressed * ; husbonde ' householder ' ; keiser : jarowe forte
demen . . * kinges ant keiseres 261 6 ready to judge kings and
emperors ' ; -lee : pe feierkc of hare wlite 261 ' the fairness of
her face * ; lahe * low ' ; meoc ; nowcin ' hardship ' ; weng :
to witen us on euch side under godes wengen 253 to guard us on
each side under the wings of God ' ; wandraj? ; wanten ;
witterlich.
In the Vespasian Homilies we find very few Norse words :
gate (not common except in the north) : me sceolden anon eter
gat %emete 23 ' they should meet "him presently at the gate ' ;
grip : wiS warn we ne mu$e grid ne sibbe macie 243 ' with whom
we should make neither truce nor peace ' ; lage ' law ' ; wrang-
(seht) c enmity ' (O.N. rang-sdttr) : twan hlaforde pe wrcmsehte
bien samod 241 c two lords who are at enmity with each other ' ;
vriter-(lich) : witodlice he cumd an ende pisser world 231 ' certainly
he shall come at the end of this world '.
A decidedly different type of literature is to be found in the
Middle English Eomances, one of the earliest of which is King
Horn* written apparently in the South-East Midlands in the
first half of the thirteenth century. It cannot be said, however,
that the Scandinavian element of the vocabulary of this romance,
at least, differs much from that of the religious works already
discussed. Here are to be found such words as : both, cast, die,
fellow, haven, husband (husebonde, not in the sense of ' house-
holder'), ill (adv.), knife, law, low, meek(ness), take, thrall,
till, wrong. Slightly less usual are brunie (his brunie he gem lace
717 * he began to lace his mail-shirt J ) ; flitten * FLIT ' (wd sone
lute puflitte 711 c unless you withdrew at once ') ; gate ' GATE '
(suppe com in atte gate 1078 * then came in at the gate ', but the
1 Both ed. Moms, E.E.T.8., 34. * Ed. Hall, Oxford, 1901.
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 87
native %ate is also used) ; bitten e HIT * (wip swerde ihc pe anhitte
712 ' I hit at you with a sword ') ; nevenen ' to name ' (wel
bruc pu pin euening 206 * may you live up to your name *) ;
niping (panne spaJc pe gode Jcyng, Iwis lie nas no niping 196
6 then spoke the good king, certainly he was no villain ') ; bitaken
(bitok him pi lond werie 785 * took upon himself to defend your
land ') ; tijring (site stilk, sire king, & herkne pis typyng 806
' sit still, sir king, and hearken to these tidings ') ; priven :
(of all pat were aliue Ne mi$te per non priue 620).
In the dialogue between The Owl and the Nightingale, 1 a poem
of nearly 1,400 lines in rhymed couplets, the Scandinavian
element is very small ; in fact, the poem has remarkably few
foreign words of any kind (see p. 128, on the French element).
The forms which do appear are the following : bSnde (swa dep
mom bonde-man 1577 * as many a husbandman does ') ; bope
* BOOTH ' ; cogge ' coa ' (O.Dan. kogge) cr5ked (ckures scharpe
<k wel ieroked 1676 * claws sharp and very crooked s ) ; ille (al
pat heo spekep hit is him ille 1536 c all that she speaks is amiss to
him ') ; laten c let ' ; nai (nay, nay, sede pe m$tingale 543) ;
skenten * to please ' (pe more ich singe pe more I mai, An skente
hi mid mine songe 449 ' the more I sing the more I may, and
please them with my song '), skenting ' amusement ' ; skren
' to purify, rid ' (par-ofpu, tvrecche, moste pe skere 1302 * there-of,
wretch, you must rid yourself ') ; skil ' reason, SKILL ' ; st6r
(wundere me pungp wel stare & stor 1473 * it seems to me a great
and mighty marvel ') ; poj ' though '.
Two pieces of about 1250, both fcom the East Midlands, have
a higher proportion of Scandinavian words. These are a para-
phrase of Genesis and Exodus 2 in rhymed couplets (4,162 lines)
and a Bestiary, 3 partly rhymed, partly alliterative (802 lines).
The dialects of these two are very similar. Genesis and JSxodus
has over sixty distinct Scandinavian words : age * AWE ' (but
also the native eige, O.E. eye) ; ai ' AYE 9 ; anger c grief, ASTGEB ' :
and dede hire sorge and anger mum 972 ' and did remember her
sorrow and grief ' (the sense ' anger ' is not recorded till the late
fourteenth century) ; biggen c dwell ' : And dor he Uggede in
1 Ed. Wells, Boston, 1907,
a MS. 0.0.0. Cambridge. Ed. Morris, E.E.T.S., 7.
8 MS. Arundel 292. Ed, Hall, Sdectiwa from Early MtdcUe English.
88 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
a caue 1137 ' and there lie dwelt in a cave J ; also bigging * stay,
sojourn, residence ; dwelling-place, house ' : long bigging is
here nogt god 718 ' it is not good to stay here long ' ; do was
non biging of al egipte lich-ks 3163 ' then was no house in all
Egypt without a corpse ' ; bir J?e e BIRTH * : Se fader luuede esau
wel /forfirme birSe 1484 ' the father loved Esau well, as eldest
born ' ; Women ' to BLOOM ' : orest it blomede, and siSen bar / Se
beries ripe 2061 * first it bloomed, and then it bore the berries
ripe ' ; bond c BOND ' : And bondes ben kid on Symeon 2230 ;
BOON ; BOTH ; brennen : an swiSeferli sigt dor-fa, / fier brennen
on Se grene leaf 2777 c a marvellous sight there, fire burning in
the green foliage ' ; callen e to CALL, summon, name ' : quor-at
calks Su me ? 3237 * wherefore do you call me ? ' ; Jacob calde
Sat stede betel 1631 ' Jacob called that place Bethel ' ; also
bi-calkn ' accuse ' : Sis sonde hem overtaxed raSe / And bi-calkS
ofharme and scaSe 2314 e this messenger overtakes them quickly,
and accuses them of wrong-doing and injury ' ; DIE ; FELLOW :
min mog, min neue and felage 1761 * my kinsman, my nephew
and companion ' ; f er sound, whole ' (Q.N.f0rr) : Al hoi and
fer he wiste it sen 2812 * afterwards he knew it all whole and
sound ' ; flitten ' FLIT ; remove ' : MSede Sat folk [Sat] him fel
wel, /Anddedenhimflittenhise ostel 1522 ' the people were envious
because he prospered, and made hi remove his dwelling ' ;
FRO : for God led hem fro helk nigt / to paradises leue ligt 89 * for
God led themfrom the night of hell to the dear light of Paradise ' ;
garen, geren * to prepare, do, perform, cause 9 (O.Swed. gora) :
sone o-morwen he gan him garen 1417 * straightway in the morning
he prepared himself ' ; gestning : at heg tide and at gestning
1507 ' at festival and entertainment ' ; probably glenten * to
move quickly, slip aside ; to glance, look, shine, GLINT * (cf .
Swed. dial, glanta) : ghe gknte and Shogte, migte it nogt ben 1029
* she looked (in astonishment) and thought it might not be ' ;
gretyen ; gres : trees it for-brac and gres and corn 3049 * trees
it destroyed and grass and corn ' ; grid : wopen of wigte and tol
of griS 469 * weapons of war and tools of peace ' ; heil adj. :
Good is, quaS Joseph, to dremen of win, / Heilnesse an blisse is
Ser-in 2068 * It is good, said Joseph, to dream of wine ; health
and happiness are therein 9 ; heden, hweflen, 6e8en * hence,
whence, thence ' ; hflen c hide, cover J (O.N. hyjja) : It mai
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 89
ben Tioten heuene-Rof, / It hiled al Sis werldes dro/102, e it may be
called the roof of heaven ; it covers all the compass of this
world ' ; ille adj. and adv. : And quo-so wile cursing maken, /
Ilk cursing sal taken 4038 ' and who-so utters a curse, an evil
curse shall fall upon "him ' ; perhaps kide e KID ' (Dan. kid) :
two kides he fette and brogt es hire 1535 ' two kids he fetched
and brought them to her ' ; kippen ' to seize ' (O.N. kippa) :
so manige dead dor kipte 3164 * so many Death seized there ' ;
LAW ; laten c let ' ; lit ' colour ' ; lote * face, cheer ' ; merke
6 mark, sign ' ; m61 ' speech ' (O.N. mdl) : Se$ frenkis men o
france moal / it nennen un iur natural 81 e these Frenchmen in
the speech of France call it un jour naturel ' ; gate ' way ' :
sore he gunen for-dredde ben, /for ne cuden ne gatefien 3224 e they
began to be much afraid, for they could in no way escape ' ;
niding ' villain ', but here ' villainy, meanness ' ; oc ' also ' ;
or e before ' ; sperren ' to close, bar ' ; ransaken e to search,
RANSACK ' (O.N. rann-saka to search a house ') : he gan hem
ransaken on and on 2323 ' he began to search them one by one * ;
rapen ' hasten ' ; scade : He ben cumen to mirie dale, / An Sere
he werken scka&e and bale, 850 ' they are come to a pleasant
valley, and there they do harm and injury ' ; skil ' reason, skill ' :
a spirit ful of wit and sckil 203 e of wisdom and reason ' ; seek
* sack ' ; SISTER ; skie e cloud ' (SKY) : Bi-foren hem fieg an
skige bngt 3255 * before them flew a bright cloud ' ; tinen ' to
lose ' (O.N. ttfna) : du tines vn-ended Uisce 3518 e you will lose
unending bliss ' (cf . dial, tyne) ; TAKE ; lowe c flame ' : and al-so
hege Se lowe sal gon, / So Se flod flet de dunes on 643 * and the
flame shall rise as high as the flood stood on the mountains ' ;
twinne * two ' (TWIN) (O.N. tvinnr) : Heft haueS he mad her vii
alter / And on ilo brend eft twin der 402 ' again he has made here
seven altars, and burnt on each two beasts ' ; THOUGH ; THBAJLL ;
dwert c perverse * : his herte So wurS ftwert and hard 3099 * his
heart became perverse and hard ' ; uggen f to fear ', i^Ii
c horrible, fearful ' (UGLY) (O.N. uggr * fear ', ugga ' be afraid ') :
do cam on him ugging andfrigt 950 * then fear and dread came
upon him ' ; And wur& sone an uglilce snake 2805 * and became
at once a horrible snake ' ; the word ugge ' fear ' is recorded
first in English in the prose piece entitled A Lovesong to our Lord,
of the early part of the twelfth century (Morris, E.E.T.S., 34,
90 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
p. 209) ; the modern sense c repulsive in appearance ' is not
found until the fourteenth century, but it is not always easy
then to distinguish this sense from that of ' frightful, terrible,
etc.' ; wanten ' to be wanting ' ; will c astray ' (O.N. villr) :
mmman urid childe, one and son, / In Se diserd, wil and weri
975 (of Hagar and Ishmael) ' woman and child, alone and sad,
in the desert wandering and weary ' ; WINDOW (O.N. vindauga,
lit. * wind-eye ') x : Fowerti dais after Sis / Arches windage undon
it is 602 e forty days after this the window of the ark is undone ' ;
witterlich. ; wand e WAJSTD '.
The Bestiary, a translation of a Latin Physiokgw, is an account
of the habits and character of a number of animals, birds, etc.,
with allegorical interpretations. The following are the
Scandinavian words to be found in it : AYE ; ande ' breath '
(O.N. andi) ; BOON ; BOTH ; brennen ; bro * eyebrow ' (O.N.
brd, cf. O.E. Tyreow) : he is Uac so bro ofqual 194 (of the panther)
e it is black as brow of whale ' ; CALL ; derf ' bold ' (O.N.
djarfr) : derfliJce wi&uten dred 313 * bravely, without fear ' ;
f&jen to cleanse } (Q.'N.fcbggja) : feg Se dus of Si brestfilde 160
c cleanse yourself thus of the poison of your heart ' ; fiken * to
fidget, fuss and hurry about 9 (O.N. fikia-sk) ; EBO; GAPE; gres;
heil * sound ' ; ILL ; ket e flesh ' (O.N. kigt) : he tired on his ket
336 c he tears at its flesh ' ; LAW ; leid (O.N. kidr, cf . O.E. lap) :
seftes . . . kiSe & lodlike 356 * creatures hideous and loathly ' ;
oc ' also ' ; or ' before ' ; rapelike tf hastily ' ; reisen ' rouse,
BAISE ' ; rennen ' run ' ; scaSe : sipes ge sinkeS & scaSe Su$
werkeS 447 * ships she sinks, and thus does harm ' ; skenting
f amusement ' ; (un)skil ; sHe ' SKY ' : Surh skies sixe and seuene
50 * through six and seven skies * (cf . the earlier meaning,
' cloud ', in Genesis and Exodus, above ; this sense is found as
late as Skelton) ; swI5en ' to burn ; to light up ' (O.N. svipa) ;
TAKE ; TILL ; twinne * two ' ; Seden ; THOUGH ; wille * astray ' ;
wrong 'twisted' (WRONG).
1250-1300
To the second half of the thirteenth century may probably be
ascribed the Romance of Havelolc the Dane. 2 This has associations
1 The Anorene Riwle, referred to above, uses fpurle, eie-lpurle, for window,
but the Titus MS. of this text, which has many northern features, has windohe.
Ed. Skeat and Sisam, Oxford, 1923.
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 91
with Lincoln and Grimsby, and tlie large number of Norse and
Danish words to be found in it certainly indicates an area in
which Scandinavian influence was strong. The poem, which was
written for popular reading or recitation, has 3,000 lines in
rhyming couplets.
The vocabulary not infrequently has the cognate English as
well as a Norse form, but sometimes the English forms are due
to the scribe and not to the author ; this is obviously the case
in some of the rhymes, for instance in lines 360-1, where the MS.
rhymes bope-rede (O.E. rsedan * advise '), impossible unless it
is assumed that the original had the form rope (O.N. rdSa) ;
again, in lines 1397-8 l occurs the rhyme name Rouen (a personal
name, Hugh Eaven), and in 2528-9 cauenname, which apparently
disguise a form naven (O.N. nafn 'name '), not elsewhere recorded
in M.E., but corresponding to the verb nevenen e to name '.
It is unnecessary to quote all the Scandinavian words (of
which there are over 120) in this text. Many of them are such
as occur generally in Middle English. The following list gives
some of the less common and more interesting : asken * ashes '
(O.N. ask- ; cf. the native sesc e ASH ') 2841 ; AWE ; beiten :
panne men doth pe here beyte 1840 c when men bait the bear ' ;
perhaps BIG : Bernard stirt [= started] up, pat wasful big 1774 ;
bleike c pale ' (O.N. Ueik-r ; the text has also the native bldke) :
pat weren for hunger grene and bleike 470 ; bloute 1910 e soft,
pulpy ' (O.N. blautr) : he maden here backes al-so bloute 1910
(by beating them) * they made their backs as soft * ; bone
' equipped ? (O.N. boenn, p.p. of boa ' to prepare ? ) ; tralder-
(stone) f BOULDEE ' ; CLUB (O.N. klubba) : he dredden him so pef
doth clubbe 2289 ' they dreaded him as a thief does a club ' ;
coupe * buy, pay for ' (O.N. kaupa ; like O.E. deapian, this is
ultimately Latin) ; ecus ' fierce ' (O.N. krus) : And drive hem
ut } pei he weren crus, / So dogges ut of milne-hus 1966 ' drove
them out, though they were fierce, like dogs out of a mill-house ' ;
frest 'delay' (O.N. frest) ; Me 'to blame' (O.K frfia) ;
dreng ' a free tenant ' (already in O.E., = c warrior ') ; garen
' to prepare ; to cause ' : per-on he garte pe erl suere ; gate
' way ' 2 : Thou canst [= knowest] ful wel pe rihte gate / To
1 See note in edition cited above.
8 Ote is, of course, common in northern towns in the sense of *" street *\
92 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Lincolne 846 ; genge c retinue, household ' (O.N. gengi) ; geten
e to GET ' (O.N. geta ; cf . the English -getan (only in compounds
in O.E.), M.E. %eten, which would have given Mod. E. *yet) ;
geten e to watch, guard ' (O.N. gseta) : pat he sholde on ilke wise /
Denemark yeme and gete so 2960 e that he should in the same
way guard and look after Denmark ' ; goulen ' to scream '
(O.N. gaula) : hwi grete ye and goulen nou ? 454 e why do you cry
and scream ? ' ; kaske ' vigorous ' (O.N. kask-r) : pe laddes
were kaske and teyte 1841 ' the young men were vigorous and
active ' ; keuel ' a gag ' (O.N. Ikefli) ; KINDLE ; kippen ' to seize ' ;
kirke * church ' (O.N. JcirJcja ; in northern areas this cannot always
be distinguished from the northern form of O.E. cirice ;
the latter, however, would be chirche in Havelok) ; kiste e chest ' ;
lenge ' prolong ' (O.N. kngja) ; leyk, leyken ' play ' ; liften
' to LIFT ' (O.N. lypta) : pat mouhte it liften to his kne 1028 ;
loupe * to run, rush ' : and bigan til him to loupe 1801 (O.N.
laupa ; cf . O.E. hleapan, M.E. lepe, which also occurs in HaveloJc) ;
lurken e to LTTKK ' : he made hem lurken and crepen in wros 68
* he made them lurk in hiding, and creep into holes ' ; , mirk
' MERK ' : Jesu Crist, that makede mone / On pe mirke niht to shine
404 ; rig e back ' (O.N. hrygg-r ; cf . the native ridge) : And
caste brinie up-on his rig 1775 ' cast his shirt of mail upon his
back ' ; rippe * basket * (O.N. hrip) ; rowte * to roar ' (O.N.
rauta) ; SCABBED (Dan. skab) ; SEEM ; serk ' shirt ' (O.N.
serk-r) ; span-(new) (O.N. spew-nflr) : and bouhte him dopes,
al span-newe 968 ; STACK (O.N, stakk~r) ; sternes * stars ' ;
stith ' anvil ' (O.N. stefo ; cf . Mod. E. stithy) : And beten on
him so doth pe smith / With pe hamer on pe stith 1877 ; teyte
' active ' (O.N. teitr) ; tinte c lost ' : pathene tinte no catel 2023 ;
J>arne e to lose ' (O.N. parfna) ; J>ei ' THEY ' (beside the native
he ' they ') ; J>erne * serving-maid ' (O.N. perna) ; prinne
' three * (cf . twinne ' two ' in Gen. and Exod.) ; to-riuen * to
rend ' (O.N. rifa) ; wayke c weak ' (O.N. veik-r ; O.E. wac
becomes M.E. wok) ; wesseylen ' to drink healths ' ; wiht
' courageous and active ' (O.N. vig-t, with neuter ending) ;
wr6 c corner ' (O.N. *wrd), etc., etc.
As an example of a different and less * popular ' type of romance
we may take Floris and Blauncfaflur* translated in the south
i Ed. Lumby, E.E.T.S., 14.
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 93
or central East Midlands from a French version of tlie story.
Close adherence to the French original perhaps accounts for the
small Scandinavian element and the large proportion of French
words. Of the former we have : brenne, caste, felawe, gate
(also jate), gersume, gestning (he hopede come to pat gesninge 82
c he hoped to come to that entertainment '), hail ' health-
drinking ' (He let fulle a cupe of win, / ' Dame,' he sede, ' pis
hail is pin ' 56 ' he had a cup filled with wine, " Lady," he said,
" I drink to your health " '), hauene, may * maiden ' (Dies herinne
pis oper day / Sat llauncheflur, pat faire may 46), marc, stSre
'strong' (Framfiore into fiore/pe strimes urnep store 228 (of
the system of hot-water pipes in the palace at Babylon) from
floor to floor the streams flow strongly '), tijring. In at least one
case (here shown by the rhyme) the scribe has replaced a
Scandinavian word by an English one : po floriz iherde his
lemman nempne / So blisful him pu$e pilke steuene 53 c when
Floris heard his love named, that voice seemed blissful to him *,
where we should read neuene for nempne.
From quite a different part of the country Gloucestershire
comes a rhymed history of England, which goes by the name of
Robert of Gloucester's Ohronick^ This was for the most part
composed towards the end of the thirteenth century, and the
oldest manuscript now extant is of the early fourteenth century.
The Scandinavian element is inconsiderable. The following words
occur : HIT ; BOON ; BOTH ; bremxe ; CAST ; DIB ; FELLOW ; fyM
(' to move quickly, fidget ') ; greipen ; HAVEN ; HAIL (dronk hir
heil 2521 ; also washayl 2514) ; HUSBAND (in the sense of
'husbandman'); LOW; MARK (amount of money) ; MEEK; BOOT;
SKULL (its earliest appearance ; cf . Swed. dial, skulk) ; SKULK
(cf . Norw. dial, skulka) ; skere c to exculpate ' ; SLY ; SWAIN ;
TAKE ; THRALL ; WING ; won e provision, store ' (QJS.vdn). It will
be observed that very few are now obsolete. Later manuscripts
of this Chronicle introduce a few more Norse words : atwynne
' in two ' 3333 (where A the earliest MS. has atuo) ; blome
' to BLOOM ' (A : llowe) ; bole ' BULL ' 2497 ; lurpe e birth ' ;
caUy ' to CAXL ' (A : clupie, O.E. deopian) ; on loft 6 ALOFT '
(A : on luft) \ 6r ' before ' (A : er) ; sistre(n) ' SISTER ' (A :
sostren) ; pr5 ' THROVE ' (A : peu).
i Rolls Series.
94 HISTOET OF FOKEIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Similarly, in the Southern Legend Collection l in MS. Laud 108,
written also in the South-West Midlands, the first thousand
lines show only eleven Scandinavian words ; these are of the
same character as those in Robert of Gloucester : BOON, BOTH,
brenne, CAST, DIB, FELLOW, greipen, LAW, MARK, SKIN, TAKE.
The South Midland poetical version of the story of lacob
and losep* in addition to CAST, DIE, LAW, skere ($if $e of
Egipte lond wollep faren skere 438 * if you want to go out of the
land of Egypt unhindered '), TAKE (Tie toe his leuerene hat 517
* he took his beaver hat '), WBONG (in pe prison lip mid ful
muche wronge 274), has the pronoun pei c THEY ' five times (but
the usual southern hi fifty-six times, according to the editor),
and the noun brunie e shirt of mail ' 407.
FOUBTEENTH AOT) EARLY FIFTEENTH CENTURIES
To illustrate the Scandinavian element in the vocabulary of
this period, we shall make a somewhat arbitrary choice among
a very large number of writings in great variety. The following
come from different parts of the country, and represent various
types of literature : the Cursor Mundi, Richard Eolle (Epistles
and Lyrics), two of the poems of the Ireland Manuscript (The
Anturs ofArther, and Sir Amadace), Robert of Brunne's Handlyng
Synne, the Prose Psalter of MS. Brit. Mus. Additional 17376,
the A^enbite of Inwt, the Festial of John Mirk, the poems of
William Herebert, and finally some London documents.
The first-named, a chronicle of the world, beginning with the
Creation, was written in the North of England, probably in the
first quarter of the fourteenth century. The oldest and fullest
version (that in MS. Cotton Vespasian A III) 8 consists of nearly
30,000 lines. The following Norse words occur in the first
thousand lines : AYE, and ' breath ' (pis aand pat men draus oft /
BetaJcens wynd pat blaws o loft 531 * this breath that men con-
stantly draw betokens the wind that blows aloft ') ; at * that '
relat. pron. and conj. (to pis palais at was sua rike 415 * to this
palace which was so splendid ') ; AWE ; perhaps tarn ' bairn '
(par sal jefind sumhin dedis / pat iesus did in hys bwn-hedis 166
1 Ed. Horstmann, E.B.T.S., 87. a Ed. Napier, Oxford.
Ed. Miller, B.E.T.S. 7 vola.
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 95
' there shall you find certain deeds that Jesus did in His child-
hood ') ; bath ' both ' ; BIRTH ; bral>(U) ' violently ' (O.N.
brdp-r) ; CALL ; CAST ; CROOK (For of alle als scheus pe boh /
Mast Tie cuth o crafte and crok 700 c for as the book shows he knew
most of all of craft and cunning ') ; dil * to hide ' (0,N dylja ;
How luus wit per gret mschill / Wend his vprisyng to dill
202 *how the Jews in their folly thought to conceal His
resurrection ') ; fer sound ' (How Tie heled on al vnfere 187
* how He healed all the sick ') ; HI c villain ' ; FRO ; (a)GAiN ;
garen ; gate (nan-gat ' in no way ' 421) ; GET (o me seruis sal he non
gette 460 ' of me he shall get no service ') ; graip(li) e with skilful
design ' ; gress ; grip (pas oper gastes pat fell him wiht / pe quilk
for-sok godds gnth 492 ' those other spirits that fell with him,
that forsook the peace of God ') ; hap e success ' ; ILL ; laire
e clay ' (O.N. leir ; watur his Hod, his fless o leir, / His hete
of fir* hijs awd of air 519 (of the making of man) ' of water his
blood, his flesh of clay, his warmth of fixe, his breath of air J ) ;
LAW ; LOW ; MEEK ; mensk vb. * to honour ' ; mere ; myn * to
think ' (In hir wirschip wald i lyigyn / A lastand ware apon to
myn 112 e in her honour I would begin to think upon an enduring
work ') ; neuen * to name ' ; RAISE ; renn ' to run ' ; ROOT ;
sainer-tale ' harmonious ' (pe bestes self war samer-tale 683) ;
ser ' many, various 5 (sanges sere of selcuth rime, / Inglis.frankys
and latine 23 ' many songs of rare rhyme, English, French, and
Latin 5 ) ; SKILL ; SLY ; stad * established ' ; stern * star ' {pe
firmament, pat is to say, /pe H[f]t wit sterns, gret and smal) \ TAKE ;
TILL ' to ' ; THEY-THEIR-THEM ; tint ' lost * ; thrin ' three '
(pe elementz first in dais thrin 353, of the Creation) ; twin e two '
(he fordestend tuin creature / to serue him in pat hali ture 417 ;
twins in the modern sense are tuinlinges 3445) ; pow ' though * ;
thethen ; tit * quickly ' ; pra ' bold, severe, cruel ' (O.N. pr&-r
e obstinate ') ; wfin * provision quantity ' ; WANT ; will e astray ' ;
witer (Ne pe nedder was noght bittur pan/powf he was euer wittier
698, of the serpent in Paradise) ; WRONG.
This long list by no means exhausts the Norse words used in
the Cwrsor Mundi, The following list gives some of the more
interesting to be found in the remaining 29,000 lines of the poem :
bl c town ', aghtd c to intend ' (dial, ettle), bait ' food ', brixel
1 strife ', busk e prepare ' (O.N. btia-sk), carp * boast, talk ', derf,
96 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
dring e man. ', gleg ' quick, sharp ', hething ' scorn ', kist ' chest ',
loft ' garret, LOFT ', mal ' payment ', nightertale, nocin ' hard-
ship ' (of. St. Margaret, above), ransak, r5 ' rest ', ros c praise ',
scrk ' shirt ' ; SISTER, sit ' sorrow ', SKY, SLAUGHTER, snaip
* to blame, disgrace ', stejri ' stithy ', thorsday, thuert, waike
* weak ', WAND. It will be noticed that many of these are now
obsolete, or survive only in local dialects.
The romance of The Anturs of Arther at the Tarne Wathetyne :
has, on account of local references, been assigned to the neigh-
bourhood of Carlisle. The poem contains 715 lines, and there is
a fairly large number of Scandinavian words. Many of these
are common in Middle English generally (though not always
in precisely these forms) : kest ' cast ', grythe, loe ' low ', lauyst
'lowest 3 , bigg 'dwell, build', callus 'calls', droup, toenne,
gersum, lates ' looks, behaviour ', mekenes, tithing, dee ' die ',
wrang, gete, witturly, wontut ' wanted '. Less widespread are
the pronoun thay, the adverbs hethun and fluethun c whence ',
besides agaynes ' AGAINST ', bonk e bank ', barn e child ', bounn
' ready \ busk * prepare, equip ', carp ' talk ', coup ' buy, pay
for', derfly 'boldly', gayne 'ready, direct', gate 'way', ger
' make, cause ', gete ' guard ', graip ' ready ', hillyng c covering ',
lain ' deny ', laykes ' games ', laythe ' loathsome ' (cf . native
US, lod), myn ' remember ', merke ' mark, sign ', myrke ' dark ',
padd * afraid ', raiken ' go, move quickly ', scogh ' wood ' (O.N.
sJcogr), ate ' sorrow ', skriken ' shriek ' (the Modern English
word is from O.E. scricari), snaype(ly) ' keenly, painfully ',
tbro(K) 'earnestly', tynte 'lost', waythe 'hunting' (O.N.
veitf-r), wothe ' danger ' (O.N. vdSi).
Examples of use : bam : of qwom that Uisfulk borne in
Bedelem was born zviii ; busk : his basnet was busket ful bene
xxx ' his bacinet was properly arrayed ' ; bigg : By a lauryel
ho lay, mdur a lefe sale, / Of box cmd ofba/rbere, byggytful bene vi
' by a laurel she lay, under a pleasant arbour, carefully con-
structed of box and barberry J ; carp : to carpe with $our qwene xi ;
droup : Thay guestun, thay guellun, / By frythun, by fellun, /
The dere in the dettun / Thay droupen and daren iv ' they hunt
and kill, by woods and hills, the deer in the dells they cower and
1 Ed Bobson, Three Early English Metrical Romances. Camden Society,
1842. Bel stanza. The MS. is of the fifteenth century.
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 97
lurk ' ; gate : And thus Dame Gaynour the gode, gayli ho glidus /
The gatys with Syr Gawan iii ; ger : Fro cite I schalle sayntes ger
seke sone for thi sake xvii * from the city I shall have saints
visited (i.e. pilgrimages made) soon for thy sake ' ; gete : gete
the wele, Syr Gawan, the boldest of Bretan yxiii e guard thee well,
Sir Gawain, the boldest of Britain * ; graij) : Syr Gawan,
graythist on grene i ; myn : myn the with massus xviii ; myrke :
The day wex as dyrke [= dark] /As the mydny^te myrke vi ;
raiken : And rayket to hit in a res, for he was neuyr radde ix c and
went to it [i.e. the ghost] in a rush, for he was never afraid ' ;
scogh : Alle dyrkyns the dere, in the dym scoghes v ' all the deer
hide in the dim woods ' ; sit : ' say me,' quod Gaynour, ( quat
my^te saue the from site ' xvii e "tell me ", said Guinevere, " what
might save thee from sorrow " ' ; skriken : The bryddus in the
boes . . . Thay skryken in the scoes x * the birds in the boughs,
they shriek in the forests ' ; snaype : For the snyterand snaue
that snaypely horn snellus vii for the driving snow, that pain-
fully whirls them on ' ; waythe : 50, we ar in wudlond . . . and
walkes on owre wayth xxxiv c yes, we are in the woodland, and
go on our hunting ' ; woth : schalle be woundut, iwis, wothelik
xxiv * shall certainly be sorely wounded *.
The story of Sir Amadace, which is extant in the same
manuscript, is probably from the North-West Midlands. This
poem is a little longer than the last, and the number of
Scandinavian words is rather less. The more usual are : agayn,
awe, bothe, bowne, dee * die ', felau, (thus)gate ' in this way ',
gere ' cause ', gete ' get ', happe ' success *, ille, kesten, meke
'meek', skille (and vnskille), take, thay, etc., tille, tithing,
wan, w6ne * supposition, thought '. Besides these we find :
bain * obedient, ready ' (O.N. beinn) : And haue seruandis fulle
bayne xlvii ; gere ' GEAB, equipment, array ' (O.N. g0ri) : He
come in als gay gere, / Ey^te as he an angelle were Ivi ; hething
( contempt ' : Bothe in hething and in scorne ii ; lost e chest '
(O.N. kista ; cf. O.E. test, from which the modern form is
derived) : kistes and cofurs bothe ther stode xliv ; lain * to deny ' :
Sertan is no$te to layne xlvii c certainly it is not to be denied ' ;
Hth ' listen, hear ' : Now listun and %e may lithe yyiii ; naut
' oxen ' : Hors and naute, shepe and sqwyne [ = swine] xv ; stad
* standing, established * : In stid quere pou wrt stadde xlii ; stun
98 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
* as ' : with tunge sum I the telle Ixix ; (afe)tite ( quickly ' :
hasteli <md alstite Ivi ; will * mid, bewildered, astray ' : Quen
folus may walke full wille of wow xxxiv c when fools may walk
all wild of wit '.
One of tlie most important writers of the North Midlands in the
fourteenth century was Richard Rolle, hermit and mystic, most
of whose works survive in many manuscripts, some of which
have not retained the dialectal features of the originals. To
illustrate this writer's vocabulary, a number of lyrics and three
epistles (Form of Liwng, Ego Dormio, and Commandment of
Love} in MS. Cambridge Dd v, 64 have been chosen. 1 In these
documents the Scandinavian element is fairly large ; the following
words occur : agaynes, ay, band, bam c child ', bath ' both ',
bygge, cal, egg vb. 5 fa * few * (O.N. /or), felaw, fra ' from ', gar
' make ', gate, (for)gete, gildre ' snare ' (O.N. gildra), hethyng,
hethen * hence ', ill, kindle, law, layne ' deny, conceal ', lift,
meke, myrke, neven ' name ', radde ' afraid ', raise, renne, r6sen
' to glorify ', rote, seme ' seem ', sr, skylle, sterne e star ', take,
till e to ', thai thayr thaim, fin ' lose ', tyte ' quickly , ugly
4 horrible, hideous ', waik c weak ', wandreth e misery ', wyterly
* certainly '.
Examples : like til barnes 9 pat lufes mare an appel pan a castel
41 * like children, who prefer an apple to a castle ' ; when he
egges vs titt ouremyJcel ees & rest of body 13 * when he incites us to
over-much ease and rest of body ' ; for pai sal be brether & felaws
with awngels & haly men 20 * they shall be brothers and fellows
of angels and holy men ' ; pe whylk myght gar all men wonder
on pam ' which might make all men wonder at them ' ; pis
gylder layes cure ewmy to take vs with 6 ; pat pe fyre of hys lufe
kyndett oure hert 9 * that the fire of His love may kindle OUT
heart ' ; ne pai may lyft pair mil to jerne pe lofe of godd 4 * nor
may they lift their will to desire the love of God ' ; meke men
and wymen, Criste dowu&s 51 e meek men and women, Christ's
doves ' ; to neven his name with-outen reverence 22 ; vggly ymages
for to make v$ radde 15 ; thorow pe ioy of a raysed thoght 46
' through, the joy of an exalted thought ' ; all pat roses par
awne state before att other 62 ' all who exalt their own state before
all others ' ; many er war [= worse] pan pai seme, d^many er
1 Ed. Horstmann, JRichard Jtolle of Hampole, London, 1895. Ref. page.
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 99
letter pan pai seme 18 ; sere men in erth lias sere gyfies 29 ; if
pai had Jcnawne skyll and halden discretion 6 ; in fyrst degre er
men lickend to pe sternes 34 ; we Jiaue a lange way titt hewn 6
' we have a long road to heaven ' ; For he pat hose noght Ihesu
Criste, he tynes all pat he has 4 ; pai pat er wys, & wil not tyte
trow till all spirites 12 ' those that are wise, and will not quickly
believe in all spirits ' ; pe vgly felyschip of pe deuels 37 ; pat pai
er sa waylce with-in pair hert 3.
The next author is from the "West Midlands : John Mirk,
a canon-regular of Lilleshall, in North-East Shropshire. His
writings date from about, or very shortly after, 1400. The
Festial, his most important work, is a collection of sermons for
the Church's year, of a popular character, and containing many
illustrative tales as well as legends of the Saints. He employs
rather fewer Scandinavian words than Rolle, and most of those
which occur are still in use. Here is the list : agaynys ' AGAINST '
(but usually the native aseynys, etc.) ; (al)gate ' always ' (also
allway) ; anger c ANGER ' (not ' grief ') : he snorted at pe nose,
andfrope at pe mowthfor angur 53 (also anangren ' to anger J ) ;
ask ' ash ' : brent horn aU to cold colys and askes 146 (also Aske
Wanysday) ; atwyn * in two * ; AWE ; AYE ; bone * BOON ' ; BOND ;
bdnd servant ' ; bonke * bank ' (the modern form is from the
eastern type) ; BOTH ; b5pe ' BOOTH ' (in the compound toll-bope
' tax-collector's office ') ; brenne ; BULL ; burthe ' birth ' ;
BIG: momy a by ge and a strong I haue ouercomSQI ; CALL; OAST;
crdke, croket c CROOKED ' ; DIE ; drowpe * DROOP, be cheerless ' :
he pat wyll take pys to hert, he schaU haue bettyr lust . . . to drowpe
pen to daunce 65 ; EGG : eggys and chese fyn motion flesche 84 ;
felaw e FELLOW ' ; frope c FROTH ' (O.N./roda), also vb. ; hys mowpe
fropys 84 ; GET ; graype adj. : suche prestys as con not make
a graype vnswar 124 { such priests as cannot make a ready
answer ' ; gresse (also the English gras c GRASS ') ; HAPPEN ;
HAIL ! ; hepen e hence * ; hylling : to haue deth in mynde and
pe hyUyng of hure graue 291 ' to have death in mind and the
covering of their grave ' ; hytten c HIT * ; kake * CAKE ' : our old
fadres wolden ete pes dayes kakes lakyn yn pe ymbres 254 * our
forefathers would eat on those days cakes baked in the embers ' ;
KNIFE ; LAW ; LEG ; lousen ' to loose J : he lowsyd monkynd out
of hys bondys ; MEEK /niyiiiiyng ' remembrance ' ; NAY ;
100 HISTORY OP FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
raggyd : thow hast py dope raggyd 113 * you have your clothing
ragged ' ; rapen e hasten ' ; rauting ' making a noise * : in
rawtyng, in reuelyng 63 ' in riot, in revelling ' ; BAISE ; ren
' run ' ; RANSACK ; ROOT ; scolle skull ' ; sekkes (also the
native SACK) ; scrapen ' SCRAPE * (O.N. sJcrapa ; cf. the native
M.E. schrapen) ; SEEM ; skath ' injury ' ; skerre c rock, rocky
island ' : bryngyth pe schip to $ondyr skerre fast by 206 ; SKILL ;
SKIN ; sparren * to shut, bar ' ; SISTER ; TAKE ; TILL prep. ;
pay, ]>ei, etc. (but Gen. and Dat. hore, hure, horn) ; THRALL ;
THURsday ; WANT ; WING.
The South Lincohishire writer, Robert of Brunne, of the first
half of the fourteenth century, makes surprisingly little use of
Scandinavian forms. The first thousand lines of his chief work,
the Handlyng Synne* or Treatise on Sin, has only eighteen
different Norse words. A number of these occur in rhyme,
rather as though it was for this purpose he employed them.
This is the list : (a)beyted * enticed ' ; BOTH ; brenne ; CAST ;
irastys (OJS.freista ' try, tempt ') ; felaushepe ; gest c GUEST ' ;
hansel * gift ; first appearance or occurrence ' (O.N. hand-sal) ;
LAW ; late e let ' ; layp ; lowe ' fire ' ; RAISE ; SKILL ; TAKE ;
(as)tyte * quickly ' ; THEY (but gen. and dat. hem, here) ;
weyue * WAIVE, turn aside '.
Another West Midland writer, but from an area farther south
than that of Mirk, is William Herebert, a Franciscan friar
of Hereford, who died in 1333, and was thus a contemporary of
Robert of Bninne. Some examples of his verse translations of
Latin hymns are extant. 2 The Scandinavian words in these are
but few, the list containing only eleven ; of these only two are
now obsolete : BOON, BOTH, CALL, CROOK ( e evil device '), DIE,
grith, LAW, MEEK, ROOT, TAKE, skSr (of sunne make ous sker 24
' make us free from sin ').
Turning eastwards again we come to the mid-fourteenth
century Prose Psalter, 3 probably from the southern part of the
Central Midlands. Here again the Scandinavian element is not
large, and all but a few of the words still survive in Standard
English, the exceptions being biggen f to build ', brenne, gress,
1 Ed. Fumivall, E.E.T.S., 119, 123.
a Ed. Carleton Brown, Religious Lyric* of the Fourteenth Century, pp. 15-29.
3 Ed. BfUbring, E.E.T.S., 97, Eef. psalm and verse.
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 101
Mllen 'conceal', lowe 'fire'. Besides these, this text has:
bull, cast, crooked, die, fellow, haven, kid, law, leg, lift, low,
meek, root, rotten, skin, slaughter, take, thrall, wing.
Examples : Bot $if jour Lord haue bigged pe hous, in vain
hv) trauaileden pat it sett 126/1 c unless the Lord has built the
house, in vain have they worked that set it up ' ; as a poudre,
pat pe wynde castep fram pe face of perpe 1/5 like dust that
the wind casts from the face of the earth ' ; And hij ioiden,
for pe flodes were still : and God lad hem to pe hauen of her wille
106/29 ; pou for-^ef pe wikednes of py folk, and hilled alle her
$yn$es 84/2 * Thou didst forgive the wickedness of Thy people
and conceal all their sins ' ; y ne shal nowfi taken chalks of pyn
hous, ne kiddes ofpynflokkes 49/10 ' I shall not take calves from
thy house, nor kids from thy flocks * ; ne wek-hkeing ne shal
nou$t be to hym in mannes legges 146/11 ; y lifted my soule to pe
142/10 ; As pe fur pat brennep pe wode, and as lowe brennand pe
mounteins 82/13 ' like fire that burns the wood, and flame
burning the mountains ' ; rotennes entred in my bones (p. 185) ;
spredand out pe heuen as a skyn ' spreading out the heaven like
a skin * ; as shepe of slajtter 43/24 ( as a sheep for slaughter ' ;
Joseph was solde to pral purth hem 104/16 e J. was sold as a slave
by them ' ; As pe egle ckpand hir briddes to fle%e . . . He sprad
out his wenges (p. 186) * like the eagle calling her young birds to
fly, He spread out His wings '.
The chief representative of the Kentish dialect of the fourteenth
century, the A^enbite oflnwit, 1 or Remorse of Conscience) written
at Canterbury by Dan Michel of Northgate, contains very few
Norse forms. The only certain ones are (in 267 printed pages) :
HUSBAND : wymmen pet hep housebounde 48 ; gretyen : agraypep
his herte 119 c makes ready his heart ' ; HAVEN : to pe hauene of
helpe pet is to lesus crist 183 ; lase * LAW * ; MEEK : god pet louep
Mueknesse and zopnesse 64 * God that loves meekness and truth ' ;
kesten * cast ' ; ROOT ; SKILL ; SKIN : ine ane ssepes sdnne 44
* in a sheep's skin ' ; scot ' tax ' : pis is pet scot pet me ofte payp
51 c this is the tax that one often pays ' ; Jnrel ' thrall ' ; uelage
* fellow ' ; WING ; wrang e WBONG '.
Finally, we must examine a few documents from the City of
London, and consider briefly the Scandinavian element in the
1 Ed. Morris, E.E.T.S., 23.
102 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
writings of Chaucer as a representative London poet. There
are few or no documents until the latter part of the fourteenth
century that can be definitely ascribed to the dialect of London.
A collection of seventy-five documents, from 1384 to 1435,
including letters, accounts, wills, and other official papers, has
recently been edited. 1 In these occur the following words, which
still survive : again(st) (but usually ayeins, etc.), bond(man),
both, call, cast, fellow, get, law, low, ragg(ed) * spiky ', root,
scot ' tax ', seem, skill, slaughter, sister (but usually soster,
O.E. sweoster), take, they their them, Thurs(day) ; besides
brenne, renne, tithinges, and husteng (now only in hustings, in
a rather different sense) : be peir dede enrolled in pe "hustenge of
London (Letters, xv, 5) ; cf. this word in Old English (p. 67).
Chaucer, in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, uses twenty-
seven definitely Scandinavian words : agayn prep., algate,
AWE, BIG, CAKE, CALL, CETp, DROOP, FELLOW, GEAJR, GET, HAVEN,
KNIFE, LAW, LEG, LOW, MEEK, MIRE, nightertale, renne, ROOT,
SCATHE, SEEM, snybbcn (Dan. snibla ; ci SNUB, which seems to
be related), TAKE, THEY (but not their and them), THRIFT.
The Parliament of Fowls adds to this list brenne, DIE, hap,
GATE, on-lofte, SKILL, WILL, WRONG. Elsewhere in Chaucer we
find the following : anger(ly) c grievously ', atwynne, baiten
* feed \ BOON, carl, egge(ment) c incitement ' (with French
suffix), geste ' GUEST ', greipen, gres, laten ' let ', laus * loose ',
may ' maiden ', marc (money), (ouer)thwart, rape hasten ',
RAISE, rowte * snore J , scalle c scab ', skye (in the sense of
' cloud ' : And het a certeyn wynd to go, / And "blew so hidously,
and Jvye, / That hit ne lefte not a stye / In al the welken knge and
brood H. of Fame III 408-11), SLY, spAN-newe, styth c anvil ',
store ' stubborn \ THRIVE, TWIN ' two ', wayke ' weak ', WAIVE,
wone ' plenty '.
OTHER SCANDINAVIAN LOANS
The texts which have been discussed have provided examples
of most of the Scandinavian words which were borrowed in the
Old and Middle English periods. To make the list more complete,
1 London Documents, 1384-1425, ed. R. W. Chambers and M. Daunt,
Oxford, 1931.
THE SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT 103
the following may be added, all dating from M.E. times, and all
pretty certainly from Scandinavian : kilt vb. (O.Dan, kilte ;
tlie noun, derived from the verb, does not appear till the
eighteenth century) ; ling c heather ' (O.N. lyng) ; rein(deer)
(O.N. Jireinn, cognate with O.E. hrdn) ; probably rob vb. ;
scab ; scant (O.N. slcann-t, with neuter ending -t, as in want) ;
scrap (O.N. skrap) ; skirt (O.N. skyrta ; the native cognate is
shirt) ; stab ; swirl ; tang (O.N. tangi) ; probably tangle vb.
(the noun is from the verb, and is seventeenth century) ; wicker ;
perhaps snarl ' tangle '.
Since the Middle English period a number of Scandinavian
words have entered English. In the fifteenth century : link,
silt Sixteenth century : batten ' feed ', scud* perhaps wad,
scrag, smelt (of ore), perhaps yaw (nautical), rowan, rug, slag,
kink, skit, snag, scuffle, snug, scrub, simper. Seventeenth
century : troll, oaf, squall, keg, skittles, gauntlet (in the phrase
to run the gauntlet, first in 1661, but in its earlier form gantlope
(from Swed. gatlopp) in 1646 ; note that the other gauntlet,
which has influenced this, is from French), smut, bum(boat),
perhaps nudge, skewer n. (1679), rune (1690) ; the cognate
word existed in O.E., run ; this would have become [ra^n] in
Modern English, cf. the archaic round ' to whisper ', from O.E.
runian). Eighteenth century : cosy, muggy, tungsten (Swedish,
from tung ' heavy ' + sten ' stone ') and trap (rock). Nineteenth
century : vole (1805, first as vok-mouse), floe, nag vb., palstave
(1851, in archaeological use), ski (1885).
This does not include words which are now dialectal or archaic,
such as daggle, scaur, and Milton's scrannel ; or words denoting
things especially connected with Scandinavia, Iceland, etc.,
such as marram(grass), fiord, auk, maelstrom, voe, loom
* guillemot ' (all seventeenth-century) ; saga (1709), kraken,
skald, desman (musk-rat, from Swed. desman-ratta), jokul
(all eighteenth-century) ; and finally rorqual (whale) 1827,
and storthing 1834.
CHAPTER V
THE FRENCH ELEMENT
It is curious that the introduction of French words into
English was due in the first place to men of the same race as
those who brought Scandinavian words to England. While
Norwegians and Danes were fighting their way into this country,
similar settlements were being made by the Vikings in the
northern part of the kingdom of the Franks, and under the name
of Normandy a strong feudal dukedom was established there,
founded upon French culture and Northern strength.
The Normans adopted the French language, which they spoke
with certain distinguishing characteristics, and it was this
dialect which was carried into England in the eleventh century,
and which developed there into a specific variety known as
Anglo-Norman. From Anglo-Norman numerous words passed
into English. Later, this influence was reinforced by new intro-
ductions from France, both from Norman-French and from the
more southerly Central French, and also (though these are not
common) from the speech of southern France, the langue d'oc
or Provengal.
After the Norman Conquest Anglo-Norman was, for 300 years,
the official language of the court, of justice, and of politics,
and its influence on written English can be traced to an ever-
increasing extent during all this period. By the time English
had replaced Anglo-Norman in official use in the late fourteenth
century, many hundreds of words had become surely established
in the English vocabulary, and we find that Chaucer and
Langland, for example, use something like 10 per cent of French
words.
But it is perhaps the earliest appearance of these foreigners,
and the gradual creeping in of one word after another, which are
the most interesting parts of the history of the French influence
on English, and to begin at the beginning we have to turn back
to a period a hundred years earlier than the Norman Conquest.
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 105
By the end of the tenth century, communication between the
countries on either side of the English Channel was fairly close
in matters of trade as well as in matters of religion, the latter
helped particularly at this time by the new impetus given to
English monasticism by the French Cluniac Order. During the
earlier part of the eleventh century, Edward, the son of
Ethelred the Unready and of the daughter of a Norman duke,
was being brought up in Normandy, the Scandinavians having
gained the ascendancy in England, a,nd when he at last came to
the throne in 1042 the influence of his upbringing naturally
remained, and his friends and supporters, both spiritual and
temporal, were French. This certainly prepared the way for
the Norman Conquest, and among other products of France
the speech of William the Conqueror and his followers was by
no means unfamiliar to many Englishmen at the time of the
Battle of Hastings.
One or two of the early loans from French are a little doubtful ;
so prad, prut e PBOUD ' (and the noun pryd ' PBIDE '), which is
probably from a French form of Vulgar Latin prod-is, and is
common in O.E. in the eleventh century ; and sot foolish ',
which is either directly from Vulgar Lat. sottus, or from French
sot of the same origin ; probably two forms existed in Old
English, one with a short vowel, from Latin, the other, with a
long vowel, from French. The word sott occurs, for instance, in
the so-called Vocafadcvry of JElfric, as well as elsewhere in the
eleventh century. Apparently French is the word tur (cf . the
early loan torr, from Lat. turr~is) 9 which appears already in
the Durham R^tudl of the late tenth century.
The eleventh-century Vocabulary ofdElfric just mentioned has
the French capun * CAPON ', glossing capo and gattinaccus (132),
and tumb-(ere) ' dancer ' (with English personal suffix, from
O.Fr. tomb-er), for satiator 150. This word occurs also in the
Late West Saxon Gospels : p&re Twrodiadiscan doktor inneode
and tumbode (=saltasset) Mk. vi, 22 * the daughter of Herodias
went in and danced ' (the Lindisfarae Gospels have pl&gede) ;
so also in the corresponding passage in Mt. xiv, 6. One very early
French word is to be found in the Lindisfarne and Eushworth
Gospels : frsepgian (O.Fi;. frapp-er), once translating accusare
(Mt. xii, 10), and once apparently in the sense of * to reverence,
106 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
honour * : hia gefrseppegedon sunu minne Mk. xii, 6 * they have
reverenced my son' (= reuerebuntur). 1 The verb Servian
(O.Fr. serv-er) has been noted in an eleventh-century version of
the pseudo-Matthew Gospel : oSerne d&l pasm pe gode ane
serueden 11. 48-9 2 c another part to those who served God only ' ;
an earlier copy has peowedon, a common English word in this
sense. Two names for articles of food are also to be found in
eleventh-century documents : gingifer c ginger ', in a prescription
in the Leechbook, and bacun BACON ', quoted by Napier
(Contrib. to O.E. Le&icography, p. 56) as glossing the English
word flicce ' flitch ' in one of a series of entries relating to Bury
St. Edmunds at the end of a manuscript of the Benedictine
Rule in Corpus Christi College, Oxford.
The various versions of the Chronicle provide a few French
words during the eleventh century : prut, already mentioned, in
the phrase prutne here F 1005 (the E version has rancne Jiere) ;
the weapon-name arblast occurs in D 1079 : weard paerrihte
mid a/nan arblaste ofscoten * was at once shot by an arbalest ' ;
serflse e SERVICE ' in A 1070 : pam biscopan Se par cumene
wseran fie Sas arcebiscop Landfrances haese pa serfise to donde
6 the bishops who had come there at the bidding of Archbishop
Lanfranc to render service ' ; two names of buildings are prison
' PEISON ' and castel ' CASTLE ' : & gefeng Rogcer eorl his mseg
& sette on prisun D 1076 * took Earl Roger his kinsman and put
him in prison ' ; worhton castelas wide geond pas peode D 1066
* built castles throughout the country * ; hi comon pa to pam
castele to Tonebricge E 1087 'they came to the castle of
Tonbridge** ; Old English had a word castel (from Lat. casteUum),
but this has the sense of ' village ' (see above, p. 37) ; castel
in the new sense is evidently a Norman introduction. The E
manuscript or Peterborough version of the Chronicle is written
in the same hand from the beginning up to 1121, so eleventh-
century and earlier entries should perhaps be regarded as dating
only from the twelfth century. Besides castel (pa hsefdon pa
welisce menn gewroht aenne castel on Herefordscire 1048 'the
Welshman had built a castle in Herefordshire '), we note market,
dated 963 but only in a charter which is probably a late eleventh
1 Or has the glossator mistaken the Latin word for a form of reverber&re,
and is the meaning here simply ' to strike, beat ' ?
* See Swaen, Englische Studien, xlix, 353.
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 107
century or twelfth-century addition : ic gife pone tun pe man
cleopad Vndela . . . market & toll ' I give to the town which is
called Oundle a market and the right of taking tolls * ; tur,
with reference to the Tower of London : pone weall pe hi worhton
onbutan pone tur 1097 c the rampart which they built about the
tower ' ; the title cancelere e chancellor * 1 : & Rodbeard his
cancelere past bisoopriee on Lincolne 1093 * and to E. his chancellor
the bishopric of Lincoln ' ; lastly, the two names Bataille (of
Battle Abbey, near the site of the Battle of Hastings) : he let
halgian pset mynster set psere Bataille 1094 'he ordered the
monastery to be consecrated at Battle } , and Malueisin, which is
the name of a castle, but which is translated in the Chronicle
itself : pa het makian senne castel toforan Bebbaburh, & hine on
his spdBce Malueisin het pset is on Englisc Yfel nehhebur 1095 * he
ordered a castle to be built near Bamborough, and called it in
his language Malvoisin, which is in English Evil Neighbour '.
Later in the twelfth century, until the Peterborough Chronicle
comes to an end in 1154, French words become more numerous.
They may be classified as follows :
(A) Words denoting person or rank : abbat c ABBOT * (cf . O.E.
abbod, directly from Latin) 1123 ; canonie canon ' : he was
canonie of an mynstre Cicc 1123 ' he was canon of a monastery
called dec * ; capelein ' chaplain ' (see note on cancelere above) :
Tur stein . . . se WSBS serorpaes cynges capelein 1114 ' Thurstan, who
had previously been the king's chaplain ' ; cardinal : sende se
papa of Rome to Sise lande an cardinal 1125 ; clerc (cf . the Latin
loan cleric, -oc in O.E.) : pa cusen [= chose] hi an clerc Willelm
of Gurboil waes gehaten 1125 ; cuntesse * COUNTESS ' and
emperice : pe hefde ben Emperice in Alamanie & nu waes cuntesse
in Angou 1140 * who had been Empress of Germany and now
was Countess of Anjou 3 2 ; due 'DUKE ' : se due of Sicilie 1129 ;
legat c LEGATE ' : com an legat of Rome Henri WSBS gehaten 1123
c a legate called Henry came from Eome ' ; prior : prior on
Cantwarlyrig 1107 prior of Canterbury '. The following three
terms denote assemblies or groups : curt c COUBT * : & to king
1 The modern form is from the Central French dialect, with ch~ for the
northern c-. See Appendix D.
2 The O.E. cfaere (from Latin), used normally of the Emperor of Rome, is
still used (once) m this part of the Chronicle : hts dohter pset he seror hafde given
pone kasere Heanri of loherenge to wife 1126. M.E. often has Jceiser, a Scand.
loan, ultimately from Latin, but also of coarse Emperor.
108 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
bletc&d in Lundene . . . & held paer micel curt 1154 was con-
secrated king in London, and held a great court there ' ; cap(i)tel
* chapter (of monks) : swa swa hi haefden cosen sercebiscop seror
in "here capitele 1123 ' as they had chosen an archbishop earlier
in their chapter ' ; bsernde eall pset mynstre of Burh & eallse pa
Tildas butan se captelhus & se sl&pperne 1116 e the whole of the
monastery of Peterborough was burnt and all the buildings
except the chapter-house and the dormitory '.
(B) Finance : rent : wrohte on pe dree & sette parto landes
& rentes 1137 c worked on the church and endowed it with lands
and rents ' ; tenserie * payment for protection ' : hi keiden
gseildes on the tunes . . . & clepeden it tenserie (Low Lat.
tenseria) 1137 e they imposed taxes on the towns, and called it
" tenserie " ' ; tresor : he hadde get his tresor 1137 c he had
obtained his treasure } (cf. the Scand. loan-word gsersum, gersum,
which was finally supplanted by tresor).
(C) Buildings : crucet-(hus) e torture-house ' (fr. French
from Lat. crutiatus) 1137 ; celle e CELL ' : ealle papriores muneces
& canonias pa wseron on ealle pa cellos on Englaland 1129.
(D) Law and social relations : acorden c to come to terms,
agree ; reconcile ' (cf. the O.E. term saehtniari) : se sercebiscop
. . . weard purh pone papan wiS pone cyng acordad 1120 * the
archbishop was reconciled with the king through the pope's
intervention ' ; manega him to gelyugen & wiS hine acordedan
1119 ' many went over to his side and came to terms with him ' ;
iustise * JUSTICE ' : he dide god iustise & maJcede pais 1140
* he administered justice well and made peaceful conditions * ;
pais * peace * (cf . Scand. grip, and O.E. frip) : alk diden him
manred & suoren pe pais to halden 1140 * all did him homage and
swore to keep the peace ' ; priuilegie : he for to Rome . . . &
begaet thcvre priulegies 1137 ' he went to Rome and there obtained
privileges '.
(E) Religion : cariteS x * charity ; provision, sustenance, given
1 O.Fr. carite(t), Lat. cartiat-em. Final -/, -d afber a vowel were lost in French
about the beginning of the twelfth century, having first become open con-
sonants, -J>, -6 ; this stage lasted longer in Anglo-Norman, and M.B, has
a number of examples showing this final )?, 9 : natiuitetf, also in the Chronicle ;
caritep, by the side of bar tie, in Vices and Virtues ; caritep in Orm ; and feid
a^d planted m Genesis and Sxodu-s (see all these below). Paid ' FAITH ' is the only
one in which this -& has survived ; the others were reborrowed with O.Fr.
final -d, Mod. Eng. -y.
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 109
for charity ' : heold mycel carited in the hus 1137 ' provided much
cheer in the monastery ' ; mirade : maket pur ure Drihtin
wunderlice & manif&ldlice miracks 1137 e through our Lord
performed wonderful and many miracles ' (O.E, uses the word
wundor ' WONDER ' in this sense) ; nativiteS : On pisum geare
to Natiuited 1102, 1105 ' in this year at the Nativity ' ;
procession : Tie w&s mid procession underfangan to abbat 1103
' he was received as abbot with a procession ' (this text also
uses the Latin form processionem).
(F) Military : Standard (the stem of this word had been
borrowed by French from Germanic ; it is the same word as
stand) : flemdon pe king set te Standard 1138 ' routed the king at
the (battle of the) Standard *. The O.E. words in this sense are
segn (a Latin loan), cumbol, chiefly poetical, tacen ' TOKEN ', and
puf, the latter meaning originally ' a tuft ' ; Mod. Eng. flag
(not recorded in this sense till the fifteenth century) is Germanic,
but most words denoting flags of various types came from French
into English, e.g. ensign, banner, pennon, though some of them,
like standard, were adopted first by French or Vulgar Latin
from Germanic, e.g. banner, gonfalon.
The three legends of St. Margaret, St. Katherine, and
St. Juliana, already referred to in the previous chapter, have
a rather higher proportion of French words than of Scandinavian.
In a rough classification they are as follows : (A) Persons :
baptist : sein iuhan pe baptiste Jul. 41 (the native word was
fulwhtere, fuUuhtere, which is not used in M.E., though the noun
fulluht, and the verb fulhen, fulwen are common, and are both
used in these legends ; cristnien occurs also in 0. and M.E. ;
baptist and baptise do not become common till the modern
period) ; derc ' learned man, CLERK ' : fifti scolmeistres, / of alle
pe creftes / pset derc ah to cunnen Kath. 523 c fifty schoolmasters,
of all the sciences which a clerk ought to know ' ; dame (as a
form of address) : hu nu, dame, dotestu Kath. 2080 ' how now,
lady, are you mad ? ' (king to queen) ; grandame : in hire
grandame Tius Marg. 22 (the O.E. term for c grandmother ' was
eald-modor) ; meister : hwa sende pe to me ant is meister ouer pe
Jul. 40 ' who sent thee to me and is master over thee ? * (this
is really not distinguishable from the M.E. development of O.E.
msegester, which was borrowed direct from Latin) ; pilegrim
110 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
(O.F. *pelegrin, from Lat. peregnnum ' stranger ') : as pilegrimes,
pe wel witen, seggedT&i\. 2470 c as pilgrims say, who know well ' ;
prince : pe prude prince Kath. 579 ; of p&t heSenefolc patriarke
ant prince Marg. 2 ; prophete : Abacuc pe prophete Kath. 1826 ;
seint : sein iuan Jul. 40 e St. John ' ; sire : pi sire sathan pat tu
leuest uppon Jul. 54 * Satan your lord, in whom you believe ' ;
curt e COURT ' : tu schalt, pu motild, / to curt cumen Kath. 397
* thou shalt, babbler, come to court '.
(B) Finance : rente : heh mm of cunne ant eke riche of rente
Jul. 4 * a man of noble blood and rich in rents ' ; riche, pouie :
pset poure ba and nche ' both poor and rich ' Kath. 50 ; pat
refde pen riche iob his ahte Jul. 40 e that deprived rich Job of
his possessions '.
(C) Buildings : castel : castel of strencSe ajein pe stronge
Marg. 11 ; chapel : hwa so omi nome malted chapele oSer chirche
Marg. 20 f whoever in my name makes a chapel or a church ' ;
postel e post ' : in te twa stanene postles Jul. 56 * on the two stone
posts ' ; prison : into dare hus & prisunes pine Jul. 30 ; tor.
(D) Law and social relations : crunen vb., crime n. : to eche
wimnen iorunet Marg. 1 * crowned in eternal bliss ' ; & te an toe
ane guldene crune, & sette on hire heauet Kath. 1570 ( and the
one took a golden crown and set it on her head ' ; place : $ef
he come in place Kath. 1309 ' in public } ; selen e to SEAL ' :
isealede writes Kath. 407 e sealed letters J (St. Margaret has the
verb seilien and the noun inseil, from O.E. siglian, insegl, direct
from Latin) ; serven : softe me biS euch derf hwen ich him serue
Jul. 18 ; also (with Eng. prefix) of-serven * deserve ' : pu hauest
inoJi minfreontschipe of-seruet Jul. 34 ' you have enough deserved
my friendship ' ; servise ; sputen, desputen : nan swa deope
ilearet post durste sputin wift us Kath. 1308 6 none so deeply
learned that he dare dispute with us * ; past ha beo ear ouereumen
md desputinge Kath. 561 ' that she may first be overcome by
argument ' ; warant : widewene warant ant meidenes mede
Marg. 8 * safeguard of widows and maiden's reward *.
(E) Religion : grace : hefde pe grace of pen hali gost Marg. 2 ;
lei * law, religion ' (OJFr. lei, from Lat. kgem) : leaffule in godes
lei Kath. 164 ' faithful in the law of God ' ; merci : ant merce
wummon have of mi wrechedom Jul. 48 * and have mercy, woman,
on my misery * ; merciable e pitiful ' : ne beoS cristene . . ,
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 111
merciabk ant mihful JuL 52 c are not Christians merciful and
pitiful ? ' ; mkacle (also the native term wander) ; parais :
paraises $eten aren %arewe iopenet Marg. 12 c the gates of Paradise
are ready opened ' ; passiun : prowede, oSer polede pine oder
passiun Kath. 1157 ' suffered, or endured pain or passion ' (the
native prowien vb., prowung n., remained in use till the later
thirteenth century) ; salve c salvation ', salven ' to save ' :
riktwise weole & sunfule salue Jul. 64 e the riches of the righteous
and the salvation of the sinful ' ; us for to saluin & makien us
stronge Kath. 1025 ' to save us and make us strong ' ; maumet
c heathen idol ? (from the personal name Mahomet) : to makien
swucche maumez of treo oder of stan Kath. 265 ' to make such
idols of wood or stone ' ; ymage : ichutte leten makien pe of gold
an ymage Kath. 1465 ' I shall have an image of gold made '.
(F) Military : werre e WAB ', werrien e to make war against *
(ultimately of Germanic origin).
(G) Nature : best : pu bittre baleful beast Kath. 2038 c thou
bitter baleful beast ' (O.E. deor later acquired the specialized
sense of c deer ', but all through M.E. the meaning ' beast ' is
common) ; leun e UON * : daniel bimong pe wode leuns Jul. 32
' Daniel among the raging lions ' (this form replaced the O.E.
Zeo, from Latin) ; aromat ' aromatic herb * : wid smirles of
aromaz swote smeUinde Kath. 2194 ' with sweet-smelling ointment
of aromatic herbs ' ; oil (O.Fr. oile ; cf. O.E. ek, from Latin
oleum) : pe flowed ut wid pe eoile Kath. 2483 ' which flows out
with the oil * ; rose : as lilie ikid to rose Kath. 1423 * like lily
laid with rose ' ; marbre ' marble ' : of marbre-ston a temple ;
flum ' river * : iflum iurdan Jul. 62 ' in the river Jordan *.
(H) Clothes, textiles, etc. : ciclatun, sendal : mS dclatouns
& cendals & deorewurde claSes [= precious garments] Jul. 9
(cendal in MS. Bodley ; not in Eoyal) ; mantel : Jiudden Iwre
heauet . . . under hare mantles Marg. 7 c hid their heads under
their mantles ' ; purpre ' purple silk ' : ivid purpre wiS pal &
md dclatun Jul. 8.
(J) Household and other objects : basin : his twa ehnen . . .
brad as basdns Marg. 9 ' his two eyes, broad as basins ' ;
furneis : patferliche fur i pe furneise Jul. 32 ' the dreadful fire
in the furnace ' (O.E. has ofen ' OVEN ' in this sense) ; lamp :
makecf chapek oder chirche oder ifindetf in ham liht oder lampe
112 HISTOEY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Marg. 20 * makes a chapel or church or provides in them light
or lamp '.
(K) Physical action, appearance, faculty, etc. : cacben
e CATCH ' (cf. O.E. Iseccan, now latch) : %ef ha keccheS me nu ne
findi neauer leche Jul. 72 e if they catch me now I shall never find
a doctor' (i.e. shall never recover) ; changen : pa he pis iherde
changede his chere Marg. 3 * when he heard this his face changed ' ;
chere c face, appearance ' ; savour : swotest to smealkn . . . his
swote sauur Marg. 4 * sweetest to smell ... his sweet savour ' ;
also sauure ' savoury ' Kath. 1527 ; semblant : p&t hit ne sem,
nowder ne suteli ami samblant pset ich derf drehe Marg. 5 * that it
may not seem, or appear in my face, that I am suffering pain '.
(M) Moral and intellectual : elergesse ' female scholar ' :
anlepi dohter icuret elergesse Kath. 75 'an only daughter, an
eminent scholar 5 ; clergie c science ' : clerkes . . . swiSe crefti
of alle clergies Kath. 585 ; cravant e defeated, coward(ly) '
(later craven ; the etymology is doubtful ; it seems to have some
connexion with O.Fr. creant) : al ha icneowen ham crauant
& ouercumen Kath. 132 ' all acknowledged themselves defeated
and overcome * ; ich am Jcempe ant he is crauant Marg. 11 * I am
a warrior and he is a craven ' ; dout ' doubt, fear ' : cum nu,
& Ixo puna ping o dute Kath, 2430 * come now, and be not in
doubt * ; gin ' device ; snare ' : pis pinfuUe gin, o swuch wise
iginet Kath. 1955 (of St. Katherine's wheel) ' this painful device,
contrived in such a way ' ; hardi : se swiSe wikweme & se hardi
Kath. 1729 c well-pleasing and brave ' ; meistrie e mastery ' :
cweden "hire pe meistrie Kath. 133 ' ascribed to her the mastery ' ;
orgel { pride ' : his egede orhelferUche afaliet Marg. 11 * his foolish
pride suddenly cast down ' ; pSs J : custe ham a cos ofpes Jul. 74
' kissed them with a kiss of peace ' ; reisun * reason, answer * :
to $elden reisun for ham Kath. 2216 ' to give an answer to them '.
(X) Miscellaneous : Feverer * February ' : of feouereles
moneS Jul. 78 (MS. Bodley has feou&rreres) ; Latin ; lewede men
pat understonden ne mahen latines ledene (on the meaning of O.E.
laeden, kden see p. 30 ; it seems to have always the sense of
' speech ' in M.E.).
It is apparent from the number of groups already necessary to
classify the French words in these early texts, that English
1 For this form compared with pais, see Appendix T).
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 113
borrowings from French are by no means limited in character.
Nor do the majority of them necessarily imply the introduction
of new objects and ideas from the Continent, since the new word
quite often replaces an old one. The most distinctive group in
Early Middle English (and this is due to the character of much
of the earliest M.E. literature) is that under the heading of
Religion. We may notice already, however, numerous words
for different classes of persons, for titles, etc., and the beginning
of the plentiful supply of words for clothes, etc., which become
very much increased in number in later Middle English.
The short verse text known as the Proverbs of Alfred (see
p. 79) has very few French words : (A) CLERK ; COMPANY.
(B) POOR ; RICH ; MULTIPLY (multeplien heure god 634 to multiply
their goods '), (K) (6i)cacchen. (M) AMEND ; dote ' fool ' (ich
telk him for a dote 457 4 1 reckon "him a fool ' ; GEISTTLE (gentile
man) ; gentelerie ' gentle-ness, gentility ' (puru pis lore ant
gentekri / he amendit huge companie 668) ; gile * GUILE* ; seamen
* scorn ' ; orgul e pride '.
The south-eastern Vices and Virtues (see p. 79) has many of
the French words which have already been noted, as well as
a few new ones. Taking the same classification as before : (A)
clerc ; ennite (ancres & eremites 35) ; pilegrime (pilegrimes
Se latep her awen ew& 35 * who leave their own country ') ;
profiete ; seint ; spuse ; virgine. (B) Finance : besant (da
fif gildenene besantes 17 e the five golden bezants ' ; from
O.Fr., from Lat. bezantius (nummus) ' coin of Byzantium ') ;
rente (tunes, ode otfre pinges pe rentes yiueS 77 * towns or other
things that yield rents ') ; richesse ' RICHES ' (not originally
a plural) (jie riche menn Se habbeS $wa michele blisse of $euer
michele richeise 69 * you rich men who have so much happiness
in your riches ').
(C) Buildings, etc. : castel ; hennitorie (muneo mai ut-faren
mid ileaue in to hennitorie 73 * a monk may, with permission, go
out into a hermitage ' ; tfir : (hlauerd, bie ure tur ofstrengpe 107
* Lord, be our tower of strength ').
(D) Law and social relations : crone (Se mann Se is a$eanes
Se kinge & wHe his curune him benemen 15 ' the man who is
against the king and wishes to take his crown ' ; menstre ' office *
(later mester) ($ifhe bie ofhei$e menstre 7 c if he be of high office * ;
1U HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
obedience c obedience ; command, authority ' (jif he hafd sum
hei obedience 7 ' if he lias some high command J ) ; pleiten ' to
plead ' (wa $eu de beplaitid ^ewr emcristen 81 * woe to you who
plead against your fellow Christian) ; servise.
(E) Religion : casten e chasten, chastise ' (he besohte at gode
pat naht ne scolde reininfor Sefolke to kastien 143 ' he besought
God that it should not rain, to punish the people ') ; discipline
(nemeft discipline of aUe Se misdades Se %e deS 125 e make a
discipline of all the misdeeds which you do ') ; religiun (nimeS
[= take] Se cloSes of religiun 5) ; religius (Sane religiuse man Se
aUe woreld-ping for godes luue hafd forlaten 3 c the religious man,
who has left all worldly things for the love of God ').
(G) Nature : lion (alswa Se lyon de gad abuten pe dier hem to
forswole^en 139 ' like the lion that goes about the beasts to devour
them *) ; roche ' rock ' (5o stan-roches of fie harde hierte 45 ' the
stony rocks of the hard heart ') ; senevei e mustard * (de seneueies
corne 29 e the mustard-seed ').
(J) Household : lamp.
(K) Physical : (5)c5frian * recover '.
(M) Moral and intellectual : caritej), also carite (see note,
p. 108) : (Cristes Icaritep, Sat is godes luue & mannes 19 * Christ's
charity, that is the love of God and man ' ; seSe wuneSon kamte,
he wuneS on gode 37 ' he who dwells in charity, dwells in God ') ;
and also the Central French form charite ; grace ; maistre
' mastery ' ; sennun (Surh halite writes oder $urh hali sermuns
35 ' by holy writings or holy sermons ').
The Lambeth and Trinity Homilies, of the late twelfth century,
have a vocabulary of rather similar type, with a slightly higher
proportion of French words. In the Lambeth group the following
are to be found (there are no entries under (F) Military, or (H)
Clothes) :
(A) erite 'heretic' (or this may be directly from Lat.
Jiaereticfus) ; DISCIPLE (cf . O.E. disdpul, from Lat.) ; CLERK ;
MTNISTBK (godes minist[re] he seal mundian efre 115 4 God's
minister He shall ever protect ') ; CATCH-POLL, literally * chase-
chicken ' (Maiheus pet wes cachepol pene Tie iwende to god-spellere
97 'Matthew who was a catch-poll when he became an
evangelist ') ; JUGGLER (pa U$eres and pa wohdemeres and pa
ivgukres and pa offer sottes 29 ' the liars and false judges and
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 115
jugglers and other fools 5 ) ; meister (pa weUe bi-wisten xii meister
deoflen 41 ' twelve master-devils guarded the well ') ; PATRIARCH ;
PROPHET ; ROBBER (rubberes and pa reueres and pa peoues 29
* robbers and plunderers and thieves ') ; SAINT ; SPOUSE.
(B) POVERTY (per seal beon worldwunne widuten pouerte 143
' there shall be joy without poverty ' ; RICH.
(C) CASTLE (heauekes and hundes, castles and tunes 49 c hawks
and hounds, castles and towns * ; but also at least once (p. 3)
in the sense * village ', where it represents O.E. castd, a Latin
loan) ; gerner e granary ' (OJFr. gerner, grenier, from Med. Lat.
grdndrium) (pet corn me ded in to gerner 85 ( men put corn into
the granary ') ; PRISON.
(D) crune ; livreisun ( award ' (in pe dew of liureisun hwense
god almihtin wule windwin pet er wes iporschen 85 c in the day of
judgement, when almighty God will winnow what has been
threshed ') ; SERVICE.
(E) archangel (but usually this text has the O.E. engel) ;
circumcisiun ; grace ; merci ; ureisun e ORISON ' (pe Jialie
ureisuns pe me singed in Jialie chirche 51) ; parais (pet wes eordliche
parais 129 ' that was the earthly paradise '), but also the O.E.
(Latin) form paradis ; passiun (Vre drihtnes Jialie passiun,
pet is his Jialie prowunge 119) ; processiun ; sacren vb., sacrament
(pe Jialie sacramens pe me sacred in alesnesse of alle sunneres 51
e the holy sacraments which are consecrated for the redemption
of all sinners ') ; sauter * psalter * (the development of Fr. -It-
to -ut- goes back at least as far as the eighth century).
(G) flum e river ' ; mont (uppon ane dune pat is pe mont of
synai 87 ' on a hill which is Mb. Sinai ') ; blanchet ' white flour '
(pas wimmen Jieo smuried Jieom mid blanchet pet is pes deofles
sape 53 ' these women smear themselves with powder, which is
the devil's soap ') ; frut * FRUIT ' (alse me sawed sed on ane time
and gedered pet frut on offer time 135 e as one sows seed at one time,
and gathers the fruit at another time ') ; oli ' oil * ; arabisz
(OJFr. Arabis), mule MULE ' (cf. O.E. mul, from Latin), palefrei
(O.Fr. palefrei(d), from L,Lat. paraveredus ' PALFREY 5 ; he mihte
ridan jif Jie walde on riche stede and palefrai and mule and wcihisz
5 ' he might if he wished ride on a fine horse or palfrey or mule
or Arab steed ').
( J) bar (tobrec pa irene barren of hette 131 * broke the iroA bars
116 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
of hell ') ; table (drihten him bi-tahte twa stanene tables 11 the
Lord gave bi two tables of stone ' ; ec he writ heo in his taHes
21 e also he wrote it in his tablets ').
(K) FEEBLE (pa bi-come his licome swiSe feble 47 4 then his
body became very feeble ').
(M) CHARITY (Lamb, has both charite and cherite) ; the A,-N.
form carite is no longer used) ; large ' generous ' (J>e Men ful
of mike [= pity] and pe large Men 143) ; lechur ; pes ; prud ;
sermonen c to preach, talk ' ; sot ' fool ', asottien e become
foolish ' ; uers c VERSE ' (cf. O.E. fers, direct from Latin).
This text not infrequently has OJE. forms which were even as
early as this often replaced by French words, e.g. leo ' lion \
inseil ' seal ', engel ' angel ', etc.
The Trinity Homilies contain many of these words, besides
some others. The following are the most noteworthy instances :
(A) maisterling (with English suffix ; ge maisterlinges of pester-
nesse opened giwer gaten 113 * you princes of darkness open your
gates *) ; eremite ' hermit ' ; baruu c BARON ' (ne was pe engel
isend ne to Jvinge ne to eorle ne to barun 35).
(C) sepulcre e SEPULCHRE '.
(D) CUSTOM (it is custume pat ech chirch-socne god pis dai
a processiun 89 ' it is the custom that each parish goes on a
procession this day ') ; HONOUR (noht for godes luue ac . . . for
onur to hauen 83 not for the love of God, but in order to get
honour ') ; waiten ' to watch, WAIT, for, heed ' (bitrumede pat
child and waiteden hit on eche wise 87 * supported the child and
tended it in every way ')
(B) absolution ; calice ' chalice ' (the Central French form
chalice is not recorded till the fourteenth century) ; chastien
* CHASTEN" * (cf. casten in Vices and Virtites) ; PENITENCE ; also
aduent, with explanation : todai is cumen Se hoUe tid pat me
clepe& aduent . . . pat is seggen on englis ure louerd ihesu cristes
to-cwne 3.
(G) langust c locust ' ; leun c lion ' (cf. leo in Lamb. Horn.) ;
OLTVE, PALM (sumpcdm-tivig, and sum boh [= bough] of oliue 89).
(K) aisie c at ease ' (O.Fr. aisid) ; meseise ' unease ' ; straien
* destroy ' (pat he sholde fare to pe burh of ierusalem and strugen
it 51 f that he should go to the city of Jerusalem and destroy it ').
(L) Food : feste ' FEAST f .
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 117
(M) mesure ' moderation ; MEASURE ' ; orgel, orguil * pride *
(worldes richeise wecheS orgel on mannes heorte 43 c worldly riches
kindle pride in man's heart ' ; prone * try, test, PROVE * (proue
ech man himseluen 93 ' let each, man try himself ') : ROBBERY
(oSer purh piefes oSer purh rdberie 61 c through thieves or
robbery ') ; VERSE (ekh of hem wrot his uers and sainte peter he
wrotpatformeste 17 c each of them wrote his verse, and St. Peter
wrote the first ').
Xiamen's poem, The Brut (see p. 80), is very different
from the Middle English texts already dealt with in this chapter,
but the French element does not differ as widely as the matter and
its treatment, except that the number of words under (E)
Eeligion is fewer. The second version, about fifty years later
than the early one, has considerably more French words, and
a comparison of the two is well worth while. 1 Many of the
English words in the first text which are replaced by French words
in the second are words which do not occur at all in later M.E.,
and had presumably become archaic or obsolete when the second
version was made.
First, then, the French forms in MS. Caligula, c. 1200 : (A)
Persons : admirail ' Saracen king, emir ' (ADMIRAL) ; barun
c BARON- ' ; CARDINAL ; CLERK ; due ' DUKE ' ; dusze-peis, the * twelve
peers ' of Charlemagne (but this is rather a quotation from French
than a real loan : twelfe iferan [= companions], pa Freinsce
heo deopeden [= called them] dusze pers I, 69) ; ermite * HERMIT ' ;
LEGATE ; machun * mason ' (homes per bleoumn, machunnes
heowen I, 223) (of building a castle) ' horns were blowing, masons
hewing ') ; PILGRIM ; PRELATE ; PRIMATE ; SAINT ; senator
* SENATOR ' (of Borne), also senaht 6 SENATE ' ; SIRE.
(B) Finance : POOR ; RICH. This text also has the word
riche in the sense of * powerful ', and as a noun meaning * realm ' ;
these are from the O.E. nte (see p, 55).
(C) Buildings, etc.: CASTLE; postal (MS. Otho, the later version,
has POST) ; tnr, tour (also turre, probably direct from Latin).
(D) Social : crun ' CROWN ' (but here in the sense of ' head ') ;
seruise (in MS. Caligula the word is used only of worship in a
(heathen) temple, e.g. pe Icing bi-gon seruise I, 344).
1 See especially on the vocabulary of the two MSS., H. C. Wyld, Studies in
the Diction of La^amon's Brut, Language, vi, March, 1930.
118 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
(E) Religion : ANGEL ; maumet, mahimet, mahun ' idol ' ;
PROCESSION.
(F) Military : legion c Roman legion ' (For ilke legiuns, heo
dupeden Eair-Usk Kaerliun I, 257 * for the same legions they
called Caer-Usk Caerleon 3 ) ; weorre ' WAR ', weorrien vb. (once
where Otho has werre, Oalig. has the native comp).
(G) Nature : flum, flora ( river ' ; gingiuere ' ginger ' ; linn
(Galig. also uses O.E. leo ; Otho has lion and leo) ; licoriz
e liquorice ' ; montaine ; olifant c elephant ' (anne scelde gode
lie was al dane of olifantes bane II, 576 c a good shield, it was all
throughout of ivory').
(H) Clothes, etc, : cheisil (O.Fr. chainsil, a linen material)
II, 575 ; MANTLE ; purpre * purple silk * (pselles and purpras &
guldene ponewaes I, 100 " pall and purple and golden pennies ').
(J) Household, etc. : cadel (Otho catel) * goods, property,
chattels ' ; coriun, a musical instrument (of fidele & of coriun
I, 298) ; timpe e tambour ' ; GYVES (giues swifc grete heo duden
an his foten II, 218 ' great gyves they put on his feet ') ; CABLE
(he hihte hondlien kablen, teon seiles to toppa I, 57 ' he ordered the
cables to be handled, the sails to be hoisted to the tops ') ; mal
* coffer ' (surviving in mail, mail-bag, etc.).
(K) Physical : AJURIVE ; CATCH ; freche ' FRESH 3 ; grauen
* enGRAVE ' ; soffri e suffer ' ; striuing ' STRIVING ' (in one passage,
Calig. has flit, for which Otho has strlf) ; WAIT, ' be in
expectation '.
(M) Moral and intellectual : ASTRONOMY (to lokien in pan
steorren . . . pe craft is ihate Astronomie II, 598) ; ginne ' trap,
device J (here in a non-material sense) ; latinier * interpreter *
(he wes pe bezste latimer pat %r com her] ; scarn c scorn ' (mucchel
hoker & scarn II, 301 * much contempt and scorn ' ; O.Fr.
escarnir ; Otho has the later scorn, from O.Fr. escorner) ;
sot ' fool \
The later manuscript of La3amon has the following words of
French origin which do not occur in the earlier one :
(A) CHIEFTAIN (ouer eche ferde / anne cheueteine I, 251 ;
MS. Caligula has the native hertoje, O.E. here-toga) ; conseil
c COUNCIL ? I, 98 (MS. Calig. has busting, a Norse loan, see p. 67) ;
rout * assembly, company * (and sone a-$ein come cnihtes to
route HI, 7 l knights came again soon into a company ', MS.
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 119
Calig. hireden ; also route of wolves, Calig. weored, a common
O.E. word for ' band, host ').
(B) Finance : tresor, if this is the correct reading in III, 154
pe king of [tr]esur ne rohte (MS. damaged) e the king cared not
for treasure ' ; Calig. aehte, a native word ; truage e tribute '
(O.Fr. treuoge, fr. treu, Lat. tribttt-um, + -age ; truage of pis
londe II, 630 ; Calig. gauel, O.E. gafoT).
(C) Buildings : ABBEY (Bangor was on abbey III, 191 ; Calig.
munucclif, O.E. munuc-Uf) ; CHAPEL (Calig. chireche) ; prisun
* PRISON ' (I, 43, where Calig. has quarcerne, which Otho also uses
elsewhere ; this is perhaps a blend of O.E. cweartern and the
Lat. loan carcern, or it may be merely a graphical mistake
for the former); nonnerie e NUNNERY' (Calig. munstre, O.E.
mynster).
(D) Social : GRANT (jefpou pis wolt granti me II, 167 e if you
will grant me this ' ; here and elsewhere Calig. has %ette, etc.,
O.E. geatan, which Otho also uses sometimes) ; HONOUR ;
HOSTAGE (four and twenti hostages / Childrich par birtahte II 3 454
c 24 hostages Childric gave ' ; Calig. gisles, O.E. gisel, which is
also to be found in Otho) ; SERVE (Tie bad him pat Tie moste
sarui him a wile 1, 169 * he asked him that he might serve him for
a while ', Calig. heren, which is its usual word, though it has
pseinen, Q.I&.pegman, in II, 612, where Calig. has saruy).
(E) Religion : GRACE (Calig. milce) ; IMAGE (makede tweie
ymages pane drake ^liche II, 339 * made two images like the
dragon *, Calig. imaken, O.E. gemaca).
(F) Military : gisanne ' battle-axe 5 (Calig. axe, wi-sex) ;
arsoun e saddle-bow ' (he ladde by his harsun I, 96 ' he led [him]
by his saddle-bow ' ; Calig. on his exle c at his shoulder ') ;
pensile c small flag ' (O.Fr. penoncel ; pe king he sette up on an
hutte mid monypensiles III, 84 ' he set the king up on a hill with
many flags ' ; Calig. here-marken) ; spiare e spy J (his spiares
come and tolde to pan kinge III, 39), Calig. hauw&res, O.E. hdwere
' one who sees, spectator, spy '.
(G) Nature : contre * COUNTRY ' I, 54 (Calig. has montaine
here) ; mont, mount c MOUNT ? , several times where Calig. has
munt, which is probably the O.E. loan-word from Latin ; but
usually Otho has hutt for Caligula's munt ; PARK (56 hontep
in pis kinges pare I, 61 ' you are hunting in the king's park ' ;
120 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Calig. fride) ; marbre ' marble ' (posies longe of marbre stones
stronge I, 56 ; Calig. marmon stane, see mearm- in Chapter II).
(H) Clothes : atyr e ATTIRE ' ; GUISE (Calig. wiseri).
(J) Household : coupe e cup ' (Calig. botte).
(K) Physical : ascapede c ESCAPED ' (Calig. at-breac I, 68) ;
aspien e see, ESPY ' (Calig. ho^ien) ; CHANGE ; CRY (for pene
deolfulk en II, 75 ; here Calig. has sorh$en ' sorrow ', elsewhere
grure, O.E. gryre) ; DELAY (pat Mi come to Ambres-buri wip
houte delaie II, 308) ; PASS (paisi ouer bieres I, 57 c to pass over
the waves *, Calig. tideri) ; EOLL c rub, burnish ' (hie rollede
mpne 512) ; siwen ' follow ' [ensus] : ich pe wolle siwi I, 59
' I will follow you ', CaUg. mid f cure ; in II, 264 Otho has siwede
for Caligula's after wende.
(M) Moral and intellectual : deol * sorrow ' (hit was a deolful
ping I, 294 Calig. ladlwh * loathly ') ; fausien ' fail ' (and his here-
burne gon tofausie II, 584 e his coat of mail began to fail ' ; Calig.
has falsie, which is from or influenced by O.E. fals ( falseness,
fraud ', direct from L&t.falsus) ; folie * FOLLY' 1, 128 (Calig. soth-
scipe, sot being an older loan from FT. or V.Lat.) ; gyle ' GUILE '
(Calig. vuele ' evil J ) : lettre ' LETTER ' (one derne lettre %eo sende
him to reade I, 192 c a secret letter she sent him to read ' ; Calig.
stille boc-runen c book-runes ') ; paie ' to please, satisfy, PAY ' ;
pais 6 peace ', for grip or frip in Caligula ; also the verb paisi
for saehtnien in Caligula.
In contrast to the high proportion of Norse loan-words to be
found in Orm's Ormulum, this writer uses only eleven words of
French origin. Comparing this with the comparatively large
number in the early manuscript of Lasamon's Brut, of about the
same date, and with the far larger number in the western Ancrene
Riwle, next to be discussed, little, if any, later in date, we are
led to the conclusion that the French influence travelled more
quickly across country to the West Midlands than up-country
to the North-East Midlands.
The following are Orm's French words : PROPHET ; BEZANT ;
RICH ; CASTLE (to timmbrenn himm . . . An cossteU ^sen pe defell
II, 277 c to build for him a castle against the devil ') ; CROWN ;
karitej* * charity ' ; orgel ' pride ' ; scarn, scarnedd ; flumm
' river ' ; gyn ' device ' ; bnlten ' to sift, boult ' (O.Fr. butter ;
butttedd breed, I, 32 ' bread made of boulted flour '),
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 121
1200-1250
We shall begin this half-century with another Western text,
the Nero manuscript of the Anvrene Riwle (see p. 84), which
has far more French words than any so far dealt with. It is,
indeed, a long work, but even so the proportion is high. Since
this is one of the most important works in Middle English it will be
treated at some length. The number of technical religious terms is
very noticeable, as is also the number of abstract terms included
under (M) Moral and Intellectual, which is now sub-divided.
(A) Persons : ame * friend ' (O.Fr. ami ; ame dogge, go hemt
290 friend dog, go out ') ; also belami c fair friend ' (nai, belami,
nai! 338) ; perhaps baban ' baby 5 (weope efter him, ase dod pet
lutel baban efter his moder 234 ' weep for him, as the little baby
does for his mother ') ; baptist ; burgeis (hit is . . . burgeises riht
for to beren purses 168 * it is a burgess's right to carry purses ') ;
champiun (puruh pe tentaciuns, ipreoued to treowe champiuns
236 * proved by temptations to be true champions ') ;
chaumberliog ; DAME ; deciple ; EMPEROR (puruh Jvlianes
heste pe Amperur 244) ; eremite (mon bihim one, eremite oder ancre
12) ; EVANGELIST (another MS. has the Eng. word godspeUere) ;
fisicien ' PHYSICIAN * ; HARLOT (beggen as on harkt . . . his liueneS
356 ' to beg his living like a vagabond ') ; iuglurs c jugglers ' ;
kunseiler (Isuue is his chaumberling <& kunsiler 410 c Love is his
chamberlain and councillor ') ; MANCIPLE (pe %iure glutun is
pes feondes manciple 214 'the greedy glutton is the
devil's purveyor ') ; MERCER ; meistre ; mesire ; messager
* MESSENGER ' ; nurice c NURSE ' (rocJceS hit jeornliche ase nurice
82 ' rocks it diligently like a nurse ') ; paroschian * PARISHIONER ' ;
PERSON; PILGRIM (pe gode pikgrim halt euer his rihte wei
uordward 348 'the good pilgrim ever keeps his direct way
forward ') ; prechur ; prelat ; prisun ' prisoner ' ; PROPHET ;
RECLUSE ; ROBBER ; SAINT ; SERVANT ; SPOUSE ; wardein (pe heorte
wardeins beoSpe wf wittes 48 ' the guardians of the heart are the
five wits '). Curt ' COURT ' ; mester (hoUe euerich his owene mester
72 fi let every one keep to his own business ') ; press (me is loS
presse 168 e a crowd is hateful to me ').
(B) Finance : ADVERSITY, PROSPERITY, (in aduersite, &
in prosperite 194) ; cwite ' quit ', acwiten, cwitaunce (ponewes
122 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
to uorte acwiten . . . him mid 124 e pennies to set him free ') ;
dette, dettur (pe dette pet tu owest me 126) ; PAY (er he hefde al
his ransunfulliche ipaied 124 ' before lie had paid all his ransom
in full ') ; RANSOM ; BELIEF e alms ' ; BENT ; spense (he ne
bere&no gar sum bute ynedeliche his spense 350 * lie carries no money
but his bare expenses ').
(C) Buildings, etc. : CASTLE ; CELLAR (iSe cekre oder iSe
Ikuchene 214 ' in the cellar or in the kitchen ') ; CELL ( store-
house ' (pe ceUes of his aromaz 152 ' his store-houses of aromatic
herbs ') ; cite ' CITY * ; kuuent ' convent ' ; gernere * granary ' ;
giste ' lodging ' (halt ford his rute & hied toward his giste 350
holds on his way, and hastens towards his lodging ') ; kernel
' battlement ' (O.Fr. crenel ; halt hire heaued baldelwhe uorS vt
ipen open kernel 62 ' holds her head boldly forth in the open
battlement ') ; loggen * camp, LODGE ' (we beod ilogged her bi
pe, pet ert ston of help 264 ' we are encamped here beside thee,
that art a stone of help ') ; PABLOTJB (al beon heo lutle, pe parluris
lest d nerewest 50 c let them (the windows) be little, the parlour's
smallest and narrowest J ) ; pilare * PILLAR ' ; SEPULCHRE ; tur
* TOWER * (euer so herre tur, so Turned more wind 226 ' the higher
the tower, the greater the wind ').
(D) Law and social relations : baundun (pe terme is ine Godes
honden and nout i pine baundune 338 ' the appointed time is in
the hands of God and not in your power ') ; crane ; culvert
' villainous ' (O.Fr., from Lat. collibertits ; cf. O.E. celmert,
see p. 37) ; DEGREE ; GIBBET (hongen on a gibet 116) ; GRANT ;
juggen * JUDGE ', jugement e JUDGEMENT ' (nis per no riht dom,
ne no riht gugement 118 * there is no just sentence and no right
judgement ') ; noces ' marriage ' ; SERVE, SERVICE ; TERM
* appointed time ' ; trone (sette pe ine trone & quene crune on
heaued 40 ' placed thee on a throne and a queen's crown on thy
head ').
(E) Eeligion : ANNIVERSARY (ine anniversaries, pet is in
mune-dawes (= days of remembrance) 22) ; caliz ' chalice ' ;
canoniel * canonical ' ; creoiz (O.Fr. crois, cruiz ; makied on
ower mupe mit te pume a creoiz 18 * make the sign of the cross on
your mouth with the thumb * ; also Eng. rode-tokne), creoisen
* to make the sign of the cross on ' ; CRUCIFIX ; chastien ;
si (Eresie . . . ne rixled nout in Engelond 82 c heresy has not
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 123
got the upper hand in England ') ; feste festival ' ; grace
(purh his grace ; cf . ower graces stondinde biuore mete & efter 44
' your graces, standing, before food and after ') ; misericorde
(pe six werkes of misericorde 30 ' the six works of mercy ') ;
ORDER ; parais (Ne JcumeSnon into Parais bute puruh pisse leitinde
sweord 356 e none comes into Paradise but past this flaming
sword ') ; PURGATORY ; RELIGION, RELIGIOUS n. ; RULE (peos
riwle is euere wiftinnen & rihteS pe heorte 2) ; sacren ' to
consecrate ', sacrament. ABSOLUTION ; REMISSION ; SALVATION.
ADVENT ; ASSUMPTION ; NATIVITY. AVE ; COLLECT ; cump(e)lie
e compline ' ; HOUR (an oder wise siggen hire ures 6 ' to say her
hours in another way *) ; irone ' hymn ' ; letanie * litany ' ;
nocturne ; oreisun ; paternostre ; sauter ' psalter * ; uers
c VERSE ', uerset, uersalien e to say versicles '.
(F) Military : ASSAIL, ASSAULT (pe$ deofles assauz beoS
ofte strengest 196 ' the assaults of the devil are often strongest ') ;
baret ' strife ' ; calenge c to challenge ' ; gunf aneur ' standard-
bearer ' (schrift, lo nu, is gunf aneur, & bereSherpe banere biuoren
alle Godes ferde 300 ' Lo, now, confession is a standard-bearer,
and carries the banner before all God's army ') ; auarreau
e quarry, stone ' (peo hwile past me mit quarreaus m^uten asailed
pene castel 62) ; skirmen ' fight ' (cf . skirmish \ pe uwedfule . . .
skinned m^d Tcniues 212 ' the wrathful fight with knives J ) ;
turnement * TOURNAMENT '.
(G) Nature : AIR ; DESERT ; ROCK ; BEAST ; SCORPION
(pisse deouel scorpiun, attri iteikd 206 *this scorpion, the
devil, poison-tailed ') ; LION ; UNICORN (mon wroS is wulf oSer
leun oder unicorne 120 * an angry man is a wolf or a lion or a
unicorn ' ; in Old English a translated form, an-horn, was
used) ; cortin c raven ' ; flur ' FLOUR ', floren ' to FLOWER,
flourish ' ; FRUIT (swetefrut, pet me depedfiges 150) ; aromat ;
FIG, figer ' fig-tree ' ; clou de gilofre clove ' ; gingiuere
* ginger ' ; bame balm ' ; eisfl e vinegar ' (this is recorded earlier,
in the twelfth century Hatton MS. of the Gospels : aisil) ; Jicur
6 liquor ' ; eoK * oil ' ; piment c spiced drink ' (piment of swete
huni luue, eisil of swr niS [= hatred] 404) ; SPICE (hope is a
swete spice wiSinne pe heorte).
(H) Clothes, etc. : abit c HABIT ' 12 ; atiffen c adorn ' (lat
oSre atiffen hore bodi 360) ; ORNAMENT (pe ueire urnemenz pet
124 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
bitocneS blisse 302 * the fair ornaments that typify bliss J ) ;
VESTMENT (ne nout ne underuo $e pe ckirche uestimenz 418 * do
not take charge of the church vestments ') ; broche (ring ne
broche nabbe je 41 e have neither ring nor brooch ') ; stamin
e shirt of linen and woollen * (O.Fr. estamine) ; VAMP (A.-K
*vamp6, from O.Fr. avan-pi) * front part of shoe or stocking '
(hosen loiSutemcaumpez 420). achate * agate '.
(J) Household and other objects : ampuile ' phial ' ; beaubelet
jewel ' ; buste ' box 3 (O.Fr. boiste) ; cage c CAGE ' (brid ine
cage 102) ; chetel ' chattels ' (to dealen his feder chetel 224 * to
distribute his father's goods ') ; crecche (O.Fr. arache, creche)
' crib ' ; kuvertur e covering ' (O.Fr. coverture) ; druerie ' token
of love 3 (pis was his driwerie 250) ; giuegoue ' joujou, gewgaw '
(worldes weole & wunne & wurschipe & oder swucke giuegouen
196) ; scorge ' SCOURGE * ; SPONGE (O.Fr. esponge ; ci O.E.
spynge, from Latin) ; trufle * trifle *.
(K) Physical action, appearance, faculty, etc. : aboutien
* to stick out, lean out ' ; aspien c spy on ' ; avancen * to
advance * ; awaitien * to lie in ambush ' (AWAIT) ; babelinde
* chattering ' ; buffeten ' to BUITET ' ; CATCH (heo hunted efter
pris & Tceccheft lastunge 66 c she pursues praise and catches
blame ' ; Tcaukte mid his ckafres 102 c caught with his claws ') ;
CHANGE ; DEPAET ; despoflen ' rob, DESPOIL ' ; disturben, sturben
* DISTURB 9 (ne muhte letten him of his beoden ne disturben him
162 e might not hinder him in his prayers, nor disturb "him ' ;
enteimeten (O.Fr. entremetre) ' to meddle with, take part in *
(yfheo entermetedhire ofpinges wi&uten 172) ; frot(ung) e rubbing,
friction ' (O.Fr. froter) ; jurneie ' JOURNEY * ; lacen ' to LACE ' ;
parten ' PART, depart * ; recoilen * to drive back ; RECOIL ' ;
regiben (O.Fr. regiber] ' to kick ' (hit regibbed anon, ase uet Mf
138 ' then it kicks, like a fat calf ') ; ROB ; rate ' way, road ' ;
SIGN (maiden signes touward hire 70) ; soilen * to SOIL ' ;
STRIVE ; trassen * to pack up ', trusseau ' pack, bundle ' (itrussed
mid trusseaus 168). Anguisus 'painful' (pe anguisus deade
pset he schulde polien 112) ; baraine ' BARREN ' ; chere ; cwoint
* brisk, active, skilful ; elegant ; clever ; famous ; well-known '
(O.Fr- coint, from Lat. cogwtius), Mod. Eng. quaint ; else * at
ease ' ; meseise ' uneasy f ; FEEBLE ; feblesce (pet we iknowen
ure owtwe feblesce & we owune muchde unstrencde & ure owune
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 125
wocnesse 232 ' that we may know our own feebleness and great
lack of strength and weakness ') ; LARGE (a large creoiz 18) ;
NOISE ; semblaunt ' appearance ' ; SILENCE ; tendre e TENDER ' ;
UNSTABLE ; CHARGE e burden ' ; charoin e carcase, carrion '
(the latter form from A.-K caroigne ; cf. Central FT. charoigne) ;
HAUNCH ; sauur ' SAVOUR '.
(L) Food : DIET ; PITTANCE (was eu&r iyiuen . . . so poure
pitaunce 114) ; potage (hwoso is euerfeble eteS potage 412).
(M) Moral and intellectual : (i) States of mind, qualities, etc. :
ABSTINENCE ; AFFECTION ; anui ' trouble, worry ' (in pe anui
ofpisse worlde 374) ; asprete e bitterness ' ; chastete c CHASTITY ' ;
cherite ; COMFORT (froure & cumfort 176, the first being O.E.
frdfor ' comfort ') ; kunscence ' consciousness ' ; contumace
c CONTUMACY ' ; creaunt ' craven * ; cruel, cruelte ; cuueiten
* COVET * ; daunger e arrogance ', dangeras (ful itowen, dangerus,
& erueS for te paien 108 ' perverse, domineering, and difficult
to please '), Mod. Eng. dangerous ; debonerte ; debonere ' gentle,
meek, well-mannered ' (pet debonere child hwon "kit is ibeaten . . .
cussed pe %erd [= kisses the rod] 186) ; deinte c value, dignity '
(me let lesse deinte topingepet me hauetfofte 412 4 one ascribes less
value to a thing one has often ') ; delice c pleasure ' ; delit
' DELIGHT ' (a swetnesse & a delit of Jieorte 102) ; desperance
' despair ' ($e muhten sone uaUen . . . in desperaunce, pet is in
unhope 8) ; deuocion ' DEVOTION ' ; deuout ' DEVOUT ' ; dute ' fear,
DOUBT ' ; folie ; folherdi ' FOOLHARDY * ; gelus * JEALOUS * ;
gentile (noble men & gentile ne bered nout packes 166) ;
genterise ' nobility '; gile 'GUILE'; glorie; glutun ' GLUTTON ';
IGNORANCE (ignorance : pet is unwisdom & unwitenesse 278) ;
IMPATIENCE ; inobedience (inobedience : pet is pet child ne buhd
[= obeys] nout his eldre 198) ; ipocrite, ipocrisie ; JOY ; largesse
4 generosity ' ; korteisie ( COURTESY ' ; merci, merciable e merciful ' ;
mesure * moderation ' 336 (pe middel weie of mesure is eu&r
guldene 336) ; NOBLE, noblesce c nobility ' ; OBEDIENCE ; orhel
' pride ' ; pacience (paeience, pet is polemodnesse 181) ;
PENITENCE ; PERFECTION \ peis * peace ' ; PRESUMPTION ;
PURITY (purete of heorte : pet is cleane, schir inwit 4 * purity of
heart, that is a clean, clear conscience ') ; SCORN (pe sixte
Bacbitunge, pe seouede Upbrud offer Schornunge 200 ' the sixth
backbiting, the seventh reproach or scorn ') ; trecherie, treitre
126 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
(heo biswiked ou & is ower treitre 194 * she betrays you and is
your traitor') ; vilte* meanness' ; TOgracius' ungrateful person'.
(M) (ii) Mental action, or action directed to the mind :
affaiten ' dispose ' ; akointed ' acquainted ' ; ameistren * to
master ' ; asaumple e example ' ; attente e endeavour, attempt ' ;
bisamplen ' to moralize * ; BLAME ; BLASPHEMY ; COGITATION
(cogitaciuns, pet beod fleoinde pouhtes [= flying thoughts] 288) ^
kunsent ' CONSENT } ; CONTEMPLATION ; counsail ' advice J ;
COUPLE vb. (hwi Isaie ueieS hope & silence & kupleS bode
togederes 78 e why Isaiah connects hope and silence and couples
them together ') ; defaut ' fault ' ; DISCIPLINE ; deskumfit
c discomforted ' ; FAME c reputation ' ; f antesme ' phantom ' ;
grucchen c to grumble ' (O.Fr. grouchier) ; MEDITATION ;
OBSERVANCE ; paien c please ; PAY ' ; pleinte * complaint ' ;
preche e PREACH * ; preisen ' to PRAISE * ; pris c praise ' ;
PROFESSION (makienprofessiun 6) ; PROPHECY ; preoue e proof ' ;
scandle t scandal ' ; SIMONY ; TEMPT, TEMPTATION ; TRIBU-
LATION ; trublen ' TROUBLE ' ; WITNESS.
(M) (iii) Other abstractions : astat * state, estate ' ; capital adj.
(al wiSuten eddren capitalen 258 ' without the chief veins ') ; cas
* happening ', auenture e happening, event ' (swuch cas and swuch
auenture 340) ; CAUSE (cause is, hw^ pu h^t dudest 320 * " cause "
is why you did a thing ') ; CIRCUMSTANCE ; efficace ' effect ' ;
encheisun * reason ' ; manere fi MANNER ' ; materie ' matter ' ;
MERIT ; POINT (pu ert in Eue point : pu loJcest o pen eppel 52
* you are in the same case as Eve, you are looking at the apple ') ;
pritute c secrecy ', priueement ' privately ' ; PRIVILEGE ;
propre c suitable ' ; reisun * reason * (pis is nu pe reisun of pe
veiunge [= joining] 78) ; spece ' Had ' (pe spece of prude pet
ich cleopede presumtiun 208 ' the species of pride which I called
presumption ') ; special (bute lie Jiabbe leaue special of ower
meistre 56 ' unless he have special leave from your master ').
(M) (iv) Writing, learning, painting, and other arts : ARTICLE ;
augrim ' algorism, arithmetic ' ; autorite * (written) authority J ;
chapitre ' CHAPTER ' ; CLAUSE ; clergesse * learned woman ? ;
descriuen ' describe ' ; distinctiun e DISTINCTION, section ' ;
enbreuen ' to write ' (pet pe deouel naueS enbreued on his rolle
344) ; FIGURE (figures of augrim 214) ; lescun ' LESSON ' ; lettre
(ge ne schulen senden lettres ne underuon lettres ne writen buten
THE FKENCH ELEMENT 127
kaue 422) ; pagine c page ' ; peintung (Ine scJieUe beoS preo
fringes, pet treo [= wood], and pet kcler, <& pe peintunge 392) ;
peinture * wo and wunne [= joy] ipisse worlde al nis bute ase a
scheadewe ; al nis bute ase a peinture 242) ; depeinten * to depict ' ;
cwaer ' book ' (O.Fr. quaier, Lat. quatemus) (peo ancre pet wernde
an oSer a cwaer uorto knen 248 ' the recluse who refused to lend
a book to another ') ; RECORD vb. ; ROLL n. ; sarmun
* Sermon * ; salut (wrot mid his owune blode saluz to his leofmon
388) ; scrowe * scroll ' (O.Fr. escroue ; scrowe oder quaer, Tioli
monne uroure 282 c scroll or book, the consolation of a holy
man ') ; storie ' STORY *.
(N) Medical : akoueren ' recover ' ; cancre c CANKER ' ; letuarie
6 electuary ' (he JiaueS so monie "busies ful of his letuaries 226) ;
MEDICINE ; REMEDY ; sabraz (drinkeS bitter sabraz uorto akoueren
his heale 364) ; SALVE ; spitel-(uvel) c leprosy '.
(0) Hunting : tristre * TRYST ; station ' (peos two undeawes,
untrust and ouertrust, beo9 pes deofles tristren ; tristre is per me
sit mid pe greahundes forte Jcepen pe hearde [= to intercept the
game] 332).
(X) Miscellaneous : continuelement, sulement (note the French
adverbial ending ; sulement etstonded sikerliche 266 c only stand
firmly ') ; DOUBLE ; as interjection, Deuleset * Grod knows '
(cf. 0,E. Crist hit wat) 268.
Sawles Warde (see p. 86), which is only a short text, has a fair
number of French words, most of them occurring also in the
Ancrene Riwle. The following, however, may be specially
mentioned : cunffessur c COOTESSOR ' ; cunesiable e CONSTABLE '
(Wit pe hu$bonde> godes cunestable 247) ; lettre c graphic symbol '
(a gret boc of sunnen iwriten m& swarte smeale leattres 249 * a
great book of sins, written with small black letters ') ; mall
c hammer ' (duntes wiS meattes istelet 253 c blows with hammers
headed with steel ') ; ORDER vb. (i-ordret ant isette sunderliche,
pe an buue pe oSre 261 * ordered and established separately, one
above the other ').
fang Horn (see p. 86), one of the earliest English romances,
has the following not very long list of French words ; perhaps
the most interesting are to be found under (A), (G), and (J).
(A) People : admirad * emir ' 89 ; BARONAGE ; cosdn ' COUSIN ' ;
damesele ' DAMSEL ' ; geaunt ( giant ' ; gigours ' players on the
128 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
gigue J ; maisteres ; PAI^MER ; PILGRIM ; SAINT ; SERE (as form
of address) ; spuse ; sqiniere e SQUIBB ' ; preie ' company,
troop ' ; compaynye ; curt. Finally mestere e office, profession '
(Steward, tdk nu here / Mifundlyngfor to lere / Of pine mestere 229).
(B) Finance : BENT ; BICH ; trewage * tribute '.
(C) Buildings : CASTLE ; CHAPEL ; palais ' PALACE ' ; STABLE ;
ture.
(D) Social : crane ; dubbing (O.Fr. ado/ber ' to dub a knight ') ;
GRANT ; HEIB ; HEBiTAGE ; EOJMAGE ; rengne e kingdom ' ;
SERVE, SEBVICE.
(E) Religion : crois ; GRACE ; PRIME ; preie ' PBAY '.
(F) Military : ABMS ; ASSAIL ; banere ' BANNER * ; bataifle
e BATTLE * ; enemis * ENEMIES 9 .
(G) Nature : GBAVEL ; ifle * isle ' ; PASSAGE e pass, narrow
way * ; RIVER ; roche * rock ' (Mod. Eng. rock is from the A.-N.
form) ; flur * flower ' ; ROSE.
(H) Clothes, etc. : sdauyne * pilgrim's robe ' ; also burdon
e pilgrim's stafE ' ; LACE vb.
(J) Household, etc. : chaere c CHAIR'; couerture ; cupe'cup' ;
galun * GALLON ' ; TABLE.
(K) Physical : AGE ; ariue ' ARRIVE * ; chaungi ' CHANGE ' ;
chere ; colur ' COLOUR ' ; faille * FAIL ' (of sword) ; fine ' to end ' ;
HASTE ; PLACE ; scapede e escaped '.
(L) Food : feste ' FEAST '.
(M) Moral and intellectual quality and action, etc. : auenture,
mesauentur ; bigfle e BEGUILE ' ; bitraie e BETRAY ' ; BLAME ; dol
* sorrow ' ; DEVISE vb. ; dute ' fear ' (DOUBT) ; ENVY ; FOLLY ;
ginne e device ' ; glotoun ' GLUTTON ' ; ioie c JOY ' ; manere
' MANNER ' ; pris ; PROVE ; pruesse ' prowess ' ; STRIFE.
(P) Shipping ; galeie ' GALLEY ' : V$ Jie dude lede / In to
a galeie, / wip pe se to pleie 185,
As has already been indicated, the Owl and the Nightingale
(see p. 87) contains but few French words ; nor are these of
great interest : (A) CLERK ; CANON ; maister ; spuse ; meoster
* trade '. (B) poure ' poor ' ; RENT. (C) STABLE (vor hors a
stable, & oxe a staUe 629). (D) GRANT ; plaid * debate ', plaidi
6 argue '. (E) cundut * motet sung as the priest goes to the altar '
(O.Fr. cunduit). (F) bataile ; schinne * to fight ' ; worre c war \
(G) best * BEAST ' ; faucun e falcon * ; flows e flowers ' ; pie
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 129
' magpie ' ; waste ' WASTE, solitary ' (on ore waste picke hegge 17).
(J) PURSE. (K) crei * crying ' ; cwesse e squash, destroy ' ; fait
6 falters ' (mm horte at-flip, & fait mi tonge 37) ; (ouer)ouatie
6 satiate ' ; siue}? ' follows ' ; sure e safe, secure, SURE ', (M)
acorde n. ; a-foled ' befooled ' ; daket e misfortune ' (often used
as an expletive) ; disputing, sputing ; foliot (?) e foolish matter,
trifle ' (Ne singe ich horn nofohot 868) ; gelus c JEALOUS ' ; ginne ;
gracching ; ipeint * painted ' ; merci ; pes ; sot adj., sottes n.,
sot(hede) n. (X) certes * certainly ' adv.
The East Midland Genesis and Exodus and the Bestiary (see
p. 87) have a smaller proportion of French than of Scandinavian
words ; in neither are they of a specialized type. The first has :
(A) People : buteler ' BUTLER ' ; CLERK ; meister ; mester
e office ' ; offiz * OFFICE J (Su salt "ben ut ofprisun numen, / And
on Sin qffiz set agen 2071) ; SPIES ; tribu c tribe '.
(B) Finance : RICH (richere he it leet dan Tie it fand 1280).
(C) Buildings : scite * CITY ' ; (h)ostel (and bead hem horn to
is ostel 1056 asked them home to his house ' ; And fond good
grip and good hostel 1397) ; piler PILLAR * (a fair piler son hem
on o nigt 3293 * a fair pillar shone on them by night ') ; PRISON ;
TABERNACLE ; tUT.
(D) Social : BIGAMY (Bigamie is unkinde Sing, / On engleis
tale twie-wifing 449 * bigamy is an unnatural thing, in English
speech twice marrying ') ; crone ; GRANT ; SERVE.
(E) Religion : auter ' altar 5 (also alter, probably O.E.) ;
CANTICLE ; CIRCUMCISE ; sacren (wiSuten ik seuend dene
der 9 / Se he sacrede on an aucter 612 c except for every seventh
clean beast, which he sacrificed on an altar ') ; IDOL, IDOLATRY.
(F) Military : gisanne.
(G) Nature : CAVE ; FIRMAMENT (So god lad ben Se firma-
ment / Al abuten Sis walkne sent 95 * then God ordered the
firmament to be spread all about the sky ') ; fltun * river ? (Se
flum iurdan 806 ; also be swarteflum, Se dede se 1123) ; munt,
mount c MOUNT ' ; roche (in a caue\n\ / Se was Sor in roche
grauen 1138 e in a cave which was there dug in the rock ') ;
CAMEL (him, and hise men, and hise kamel 1398) ; DESERT ;
dragon * DRAGON ' (fro euerilc Sor crep a dragun 2924 (of the
sorcerers' rods) * from every one there crept a dragon ' ; also
the O.E. draca : So wurS he drake Sat ear was Tcnigt 283, of
130 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Lucifer) ; lean ; flur e FLOUB ' ; FETTIT ; LENTIL ; olie c oil '
(get on olige for tokning 1624= poured on oil for a symbol ' ;
OLIVE ; SPICE.
(H) Clothes : menteL
(J) Household, etc. : male e coffer ' (and "held hem sperd in
heUes male 22) ; PLATE (Sre hundred plates of siluer fin 2370) ;
PEESENT (and bedden him riche present 2273 ' and offered him
a rich present ' ; TABLE (tables ofston 3535).
(K) Physical : f eble ; FIGURE (sag abraham figures Sre /
sondes semlike kumenfro gode 1006 ' Abraham saw three figures,
messengers, apparently, come from God ') ; FINE ; fin c end,
death * ; rarne ' JOURNEY, * day's journey ' ; plenteS ' PLENTY ' ;
SOLSTICE ; SOJOTTBN (Sog was him Sat surgerun ful loS 2696
6 though that sojourn was full loath to him *).
(L) Food : OTAST.
(M) Moral, etc. : CHAEITY ; chast(hed) ; FAITH (Nu, bi Se
feiS ic og to king pharaon 2187 now, by the faith I owe King
Pharaoh ') ; gelus (for ic am god, gelus and strong 3495) ; greuen
e aEiEVE ' ; gracchen e grumble * (here gruching So god was loS
3318 * their grumbling was hateful to God 3 ) ; hardi ; lecherie ;
merci ; orged ' pride s ; pais ; pert ' knowing, clever ' ; pris ;
SPIRIT (a spirit ful of wit and sckil 203). Arsmetike
c arithmetic ' ; astronomige ; MUSIC (lobal is broSer song and
glew, / Wit ofmusilce, wel he knew 460).
(N) Medical : lepre * leprosy ' ; squinacy e quinsy ' (da Se
swinade gan him nun mor deren [= injure] 1188).
The Bestiary has only eighteen French words : (A) PEOPHET ;
spuse. (B) pome. (D) MARKET. (G) bee ' beak J ; capun
* CAPON ' ; CAVE (cane ge haueSto crepen in / Sat winter hire ne
derie 186 * a cave she (the ant) has to creep into, that the winter
may not harm her ') ; cete * whale ' (Sis cete Sanne hise chaueles
lukeft / Sise fisses atte in sukeS 397 * when this whale locks his
jaws, he sucks in all the fishes J ) ; cul ' rump ' ; DKAGON
(Se dragunes one ne stiren nout wiles te panter remeS ogt 622 * the
dragons alone do not stir while the panther roars ') ; leun ;
panter * panther ' (panter is an wilde der / Is nonfairere on werlde
her 596) ; tortre turtle-dove ' ; venim * venom '.
(K) BOB. (M) gin ' device * ; GBAOE ; SIMPLE (simple < softe
beotoeaH 655 ' let us all be simple and gentle ? ).
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 131
1250-1300
The romance of Havelok the Dane shows that French influence
was strong in the North-East Midlands by the middle of the
thirteenth century. It has already been pointed out that Havelok
has a large proportion of Scandinavian words, so that its foreign
element is altogether very considerable. The names of fishes
(under G) and of articles of food, wine, etc. (L), should be
observed ; there are also new words under (A) :
(A) People : baron (erl and, barun, dreng and swain 31) and
barnage (his barnage Sat was un-ride 2947 e his company of barons,
which was very large ') ; burgeys c BURGESS ' ; caynard * rascal '
(as form of address ; O.Fr. cagnard) ; CHAMPION (with hem
com mani champioun, / mani wiJit ladde, bloc and brown 1007) ;
chanoun ; CLERK ; CONSTABLE ; dam e sir ' (O.Fr. darn, dans,
Lat. dominus] ; DAME ; HERMIT ; iustise ' JUSTICE * ; mayster ;
PAGE ; PATRIARCH ; sergaunz retainers, SERGEANTS ' ; SIRE ;
strie e hag, witch '. COURT ; meyne * household * ; mester
1 office ' ; parlement parliament '.
(B) Finance : catel ( For al was youen [= given], faire and
wel, / pat him was leued [= left] no catel 225) ; pouere, poure
* poor ' ; riche.
(C) Buildings, etc. : BAR (And pe bane sone vt-drow / And
caste pe dore open wide 1794) ; CASTLE ; gronge ' farm, GRANGE ' ;
PRIORY ; TOWER.
(D) Legal and social : CHARTER (and with pi chartre make
us fre 676) ; eir * HEIR ', eritage, desheriten (Ewat wenden he
desherite me ? 2547 * why do they think to disinherit me ?) ;
pSr ' PEER ' (but here in the sense of 6 equal ' physically : In
Engelond was none hise per / Ofstrengpe 990) ; GRANT ; REIGN ;
saisen c seize, give possession ' (her ich sayse pe / In al pe lond,
in alpefe [= property] 2518) ; SERVE ; spusen ; trone ' THRONE ' ;
warant c surety \
(E) Religion : aungel ' ANGEL * ; auter * alter ' ; beneisun
c BENISON ' (panne he were set and bord leyd / Andpe beneysun was
seyd 1723), also malison ' MALISON * ; caliz ; corporaus (pi)
* altar-cloth, corporal 9 ; croiz ' cross ' (also the native rod) ;
MIRACLE ; pateyn c PATEN ' ; preie * PRAY ' ; sauteres.
(F) Military : ARMS (And with Ms hond he made him kniht, /
132 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Andyafhim armes, for pat was rikt 2925) ; ASSAIL (Asayleden
him with grete dintes 1862} ; AKLACE (Hand-ax, sype, gisarm or
spere, / Or aurilaz, and god long knif 2554) ; baret ' strife ' ;
gisarm ; gleiue * sword ' ; skinning ; talevas e large shield '.
(G) Nature : bise (gan a wind to rise / Out of pe north, men
catteth Use 724) ; BEAST ; grip * griffin ' ; leoun ; PALFREY ; runci
c horse ' (O.Fr. roncin) ; latunprei c LAMPEEY ' ; makerel
* MACKEREL ' ; playce ; segges (?) ' cuttlefish. ' (O.Fr. seche) ;
sturgiun ' STURGEON ' ; tumberel c porpoise ' ; turbut ; flour
{ FLOWER ' ; rose ; roser ( e rose-tree J (pe heu is smlk in here ler /
So is pe rose in roser 2919 c the colour in her face is like that of
the rose on the rose-tree ').
(H) Clothes, etc. : charbude e carbuncle ' ; ioupe e loose
jacket ' (O.Fr. jupe).
(J) Household, etc. : cerge e wax-candle * ; male c bag ' ;
panier ; tabour * TABOR '.
(K) Physical : aise ' ease ' (panne was Englond at ayse 59) ;
bout c throw ' (of putting the stone ; O.Fr. bout) ; closen
e encLOSE * (And pat ich Jcom til Engelond, / Al closede it intil min
hond 1310) ; corune, croune e CROWN ' (of head) ; couere
e recovER s ; cri, crien ; FEEBLE ; fonnen c FORM ' vb. ;
fyn * end ' ; giuelen c to heap up ' (O.Fr. *geveler ; With
fish giueled als a stac 814) ; PARTED ; PASS ; PLACE ; plente
* PLENTY 3 ; ROB ; ROBBER ; saue * safe ' ; sembl(ing) ; STRANGLE ;
STRIVE; trusse vb. ; uoyz 'VOICE'; utrage 'OUTRAGE' (O.Fr.
out-, utirage) ; WAIT.
(L) Food, etc. : broys * broth, BROSE ' (O.Fr. Irouez, -ets ;
And y schal yeue pefulfair bred, / And make pe broys in pe led
[= cauldron] 924) ; dart * claret ' ; FEAST ; flaun * pancake '
(O.Fr. flaon) ; pastees ; piment * sweet spiced wine * (Pyment
to drinke, and god dare 1728) ; simenels ' bread of fine flour ' ;
super c SUPPER * ; ueneysun * VENISON * ; wastel c bread of the
finest flour '.
(M) Moral and intellectual, etc. : anuien * to weary ' (pat is
pe storie for to lenge [= lengthen] / It wold anuye pis fayre
genge 1735) ; BLAME n. ; chiche * mean ' (And dide greype a
swpetr riche, / Also he was no wiht chiche 1763 ' and did prepare
a ricli^ supper, as lie was by no means niggardly ') ; conseyl
f COUNSEL * ; eurteys * of the court, courteous ' (Hire semes curteys
THE FKENCE ELEMENT 133
forto be, / For she isfayr so flour on tre 2917), curteysye ; doute
e fear ' ; FALSE ; feith c FAITH ', f ey ; FELONY ; fol n., 61 adj.
* fool(isli) ' ; gent 'fair, noble ' ; glotun ; greue e GRIEVE ' ; ioie ;
LARGE ' liberal ' ; MEECY ; NOBLE ; payed ' pleased ' ; pleinte
6 complaint ' ; preyse ; pris ' worth ' ; tendre ' TENDER ' ;
traysoun, traytour, treeherie. Gest (Nu haue ye herd pe gest al
poru / Of Hauekk and of Goldeborw 2984) ; romanz (Romanz-
reding on pe bok) ; storie ; leteres (inscribed).
(N) Medical : salue c SALVE '.
(P) Shipping : CABLE (stronge cables and ful fast 710).
(X) Miscellaneous : alias ; dapeit * misfortune ' (as
expletive) ; maugre ' in spite of (We shokn at pis dore gonge, /
Maugre pin, carl, or ouht longe 1789 c we shall go in at this door
in spite of you, fellow, before very long ') ; marz ' March ' ;
hasard, mine, games at dice.
The more courtly Floris and Blauncheflur has hardly a larger
or more interesting French element than HaveloL Attention
may be drawn to some of the entries under (C), and the list of
precious stones under (G-).
(A) Persons : ADMIRAL ' emir ' ; baiuns, barnage ; belamy
(as form of address) ; burgeis ; chaumberlein ; dame ; due ;
marehaunt ' MERCHANT ' ; mariner (He hadde wind and wederful
god, / pe Mariner lie $af largeliche 71) ; mascnn ' MASON ' ; oste
* HOST ' (And for his nijtes gestinge / He %af his oste an hundred
sckiUinge 126) ; PORTER ; seriating ; SIRE (as address) ; SPY ;
compaygnie ; mein * household, retinue '.
(B) Finance : marchaundise ' MERCHANDISE ' ; riche.
(C) Building : BARBICAN ; chaumbre e CHAMBER ' ; CITY ;
paleis * fine house ' (Uaire hi hdbbep here in inome / At one paleis
supe riche 87 * they have taken rooms at a good hotel ') ; piler
'PILLAR'; PRISON; sguere ' (carpenter's) square ' ; schauntillon
' mason's rule ; SCANTLING ? ( Ber wip pe squire and schauntittun, /
Also pu were a gud Mascun 325) ; stage ' floor, stage ' ; tur.
(D) Social and legal : acupement * accusation ' ; GRANT ;
honur (haue pis [a gift] to pin honur 111), deshoneur ; iugement
* JUDGMENT ' ; parage ' high birth ' (per bup seriauns in pe stage /
pat seruep pe maidenes of parage 256) ; SERVE ; spusen.
(E) Keligion : oreson ; parais ; passiun ; preie.
(G) (Nature) MARBLE (pe porter he fond anone perate, /
134 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Sitiende one a marbel ston 155) ; cassidoines ' chalcedonies ' ;
charbugle * carbuncle ' ; crestel ' crystal ' ; jacinctes ; oniche
* onyx ' ; saphirs ; sardoaies ' sardonix * ; topaces ; flur.
(H) Clothes, etc. : meniver ' MINIVER ' ; pane c robe ' (He lot
fringe a cupe of seiner / And eke a pane oftneniuier 110).
(J) Household, etc. : bacdn ; LAMP ; TORCH ; towaille e TOWEL '.
(K) Physical : aguiten ' deprive ' ; chaungej) ; chere ; cler
* CLEAR ' (In pe turper is a welle / Supe cler hit is wip alk 224) ;
crie ; cuntenaunce ; demure ' delay ' ; departen ' DEPART,
part * (He euste hem wip softe mupe, / Al wepinge hi departep
nupe 12) ; dorep * endures ' ; entermeten ' to meddle with, take
part in ' ; failli ' FAIL ' ; fin * death ' ; parte ' share ' ; peire
' PAIR ' ; PLACE ; plenere * in full ' (Eche day in al pe, $ere / pefeire
is iliche plenere 216) ; semblaunt ; TENDER (Offless of fiss of
tendre bred 27) ; sucur c SUCCOUR ' ; SUFFER.
(L) Food : soper * supper ' (Riche soper per was idi^t 23 ;
Me pinchep bi pine chire / pu nert nojt glad of pi sopere 169).
(M) Moral and intellectual : amur * love * ; augussus
* painful ' ; chantement enchantment * ; coniureson ' con-
juration ' ; couetus ' COVETOUS ' ; culvert ' villainous ' (pe porter
is culuart andfelun 247) ; cunsail ; curtais (pe lurgeis /pat was
wel hende and curtais 116) ; dute *to fear' ; druerie c friendship ' ;
felon, I elonie ; enuius ' ENVIOUS ' ; f 61 ; ginne, engin ' device '
(ENGINE) ; GRACE ; grel e GRIEF ' ; HARDY ; ioie ; large(liche)
6 generously ' ; iktERCY ; pite e PITY ' ; pris ' worth \
(X) Miscellaneous: escheker f chess-board ' (EXCHEQUER) (and
Udde pe pleie at pe escheker 344).
The two texts which will be taken next, to conclude this half
century, are both of a religious character. The first is a group of
homilies, the Kentish Homilies (E.E.T.S., 49), the second a verse
treatment of the story of lacob and losep (see p. 94). The Kcench
vocabulary in each of these is of a very ordinary type ; the
homilies have a larger proportion of French words than the other.
Only the less common words in each are given here.
Kentish Homilies : (A) sergant * servant ' (po serganz pet
sentede of po wyne 29) ; (B) MABKET (so ha Team into pe Marcatte
so he fond werkmen 33) ; SUMMON (po dede he somoni atie po
wyse ckrekes 26) ; (G) TEMPEST (a great tempeste of winde 32) ;
(K) amunten * to mount up, rise ' (swo amuntet si gode biddinge
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 135
to gode 28 ' so a good prayer mounts up to God *) ; aparailen
' to prepare ' (APPAREL) (hi hedden aparaikd here offrendes 26
' they had prepared their offerings ') ; APPEAR (apierede fe po
prie kinges 26) ; COMMENCEMENT (pis was pe commencement of
po miracles of ure kuerde 30) ; cors e corpse ' ; defenden
* preserve ' (DEFEND) (Mirre . . . defendet pet Cors pet is mide
i-smered 28) ; DELIVER (pet he us deliuri of aUe eueles 33) ;
DISSEVER ' separate ' (nis noon deseu&rd pardurabliche fram
gode 31 c no one is separated from God eternally *) ; MOVE ;
NATURE (pe nature of Man 35 ; al-so pet water is natureliche
schald [= cold] 30) ; pardurably ; pelrinage ; PERIL ; PERISH
(lord sane us for we perisset 32) ; SUCCOUR ($e pe sucurede hem
ine pa peril 32) ; travail ' work 5 (clepe po werkmen and yeld hem
here trauail 33 c call the workmen and pay them for their work ') ;
VISIT (go ine pelnnage, uisiti pe poure 28) ; (M) acumbren
* perplex, ENCUMBER * (yefse deuel us wille a-cumbri purch senne
[= sin] 33) ; amonestment e admonishing ' ; ASSOIL (for-
leted [= leave] yure sennen and per ofbiep a-soikd 32) ; auenture
* chance ; chance happening ' (so iuel auenture pet wyn faikde
29 * by ill chance the wine was exhausted 3 ) ; anuien ' ANNOY *
(herodes . . . was michel anud 26) ; a-resun (O.Fr. araisonner)
' to call to account * (po a~resunede ure lord pe paens [= pagans]
35) ; bunte e BOUNTY, bounteous gift ' ; CONTRARY ; cuuenable
* suitable ' (gold, pet is cuuenable yefte [= gift] to kinge 27) ;
DIVERS (as we Twbep i-seid of diuers wordks [= worlds] 35) ;
orgeilus ' proud ' (of po euele manne good man 9 of pe org&ilus
umbk 30) ; SERMON (pet formeste sarmun pet euerte made in
erpe 31) ; umble e HUMBLE * ; (N) leprus < LEPROUS * ; MALADY ;
verray * true ' (scawede pet he was verray prest 27).
lacob and losep : (A) botiler c BUTLER * ; menestral
' MINSTREL ' (hem oftoJc a menestral, his harpe he "bar arugge
366 c a minstrel overtook them ; he carried his harp on his back) ;
SIR (pou ssdlt, sir baxtere [= baker], anhonged be ful heye 266 ;
(D) quiten * free * (al his gult ich him for^iue <& quite of bende
[= bonds] 303) ; centre ' COUNTRY * ; GRAPE (wrong hit of pe
grapes ful of win ckr 257 * wrung it (a cup) full of clear wine from
the grapes ') ; SCARLET ; sabelin * sable ' (Clopes of skarkt & of
sdbelin 505) ; gris ' grey fur ' ; fer (O.Fr. vair , Lat. varius),
a kind of fur ; cofre * COFFER ' ; PURSE.
136 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
FOURTEENTH CENTURY
At the beginning of the fourteenth century many hundreds of
French words, which still survive, are already in use, besides
others which have now disappeared. They are not limited to
special parts of the country, but are apparently used as freely
in the north and west as in the east and south. It would seem
that to the fourteenth century itself we owe that vast number
of abstract French derivative words, most of which are still
common, with the suffixes -ance, -ence ; -ant, -ent ; -tion ; -ity ;
-ment ; and the prefixes con-, de-, dis-, en-, ex-, pre-, pro-, trans-,
and so on. Many of these are recorded first between 1350 and
1400, though some are in use before, and others do not appear
until the fifteenth century or later. There is a considerable
difference between the number of such words used in an early
fourteenth-century work, and in, for instance, the writings of
Chaucer.
The Cursor Mundi, which dates from about 1300, and is a
distinctly Northern work, contains slightly over 6 per cent of
French words. Without attempting to give all the French forms,
of which the author makes use, we may give a number of examples
of words which still survive (these are in the majority), to show
that the vocabulary is by no means obscure or exotic, or
specializing in technical terms of any kind. (The classifi-
cation is as before.) The words are given in their modern
forms.
(A) Abbot, advocate, ancestors, aunt, bachelor, caitiff, clergy,
enchanter, friar, juggler, mayor, master, merchant, mariner,
marshall, messenger, nation, nephew, official, page, person,
parson, pilgrim, prince, people, rebel, squire, virago.
(B) Bargain, debt, extortion, payment, profit, purchase,
ransom.
(C) Abbey, dungeon, grange, lodge, parlour, pavilion, tavern.
(D) Assize, sceptre, common, concord, diadem, empire,
evidence, exile, franchise, gibbet, govern(or), grant, heritage,
homage, judge, jurisdiction, justice, majesty, marriage, ordain,
order, pardon, reign, warrant.
(E) Baptism, baptist, penance, pray, repent, sacrifice, sermon,
trespass.
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 137
(F) Archer, challenge, conquer, victory, wax.
(G) Abysm, air, branch, cedar, channel, cypress, fruit, lion,
lioness, leopard, marble, metal, mountain, mule, ocean, oil, olive,
pasture, plant, scorpion, tempest, valley, venom, venison.
(H) Collar, kerchief, mantle.
(J) Basket, chain, curtain, faggot, lamp, mirror, table, vessel.
(K) Assemble, avail, avoid, boil, circle, chase, close, cover,
element, entry, faint, front, genealogy, generation, hasten,
haunt, interval, irregularity, journey, join, labour, melody,
member, morsel-, music, nature, noise, nourish, offer, odour, pain,
pale, pass, perceive, peril, plain, presence, pursue, rage, receive,
respond, restore, save, succour, stable, stature, substance, suffer,
tender, touch, vanish, visit, wait.
(L) Cider, dinner, liquor, supper, vinegar.
(M) Account, affair, allow, argue, assay, assent, avow, certain,
despite, error, fierce, fortune, generally, gentle, gracious, grief,
honest, honour, humility, idiot, impossible, jealous, joy, lesson,
manner, matter, mercy, marvel, noble, opinion, parchment,
peace, piteous, positive, praise, preach, precious, prologue,
proper, prove, purpose, reason, romance, solace, treason,
vengeance, virtue, villainy.
(N) Gout, medicine, ointment, remedy.
The Han&lyng Synne of Eobert of Brunne (see p. 100) has a
fairly commonplace French vocabulary, in which abstract words
play the greatest part. The following analysis gives the French
words of the first thousand lines only, but they are typical of
the whole :
(A) People : caytyfe, clerkys, cumpanye, dan ' sir ' (In pe
tyme ofgode dane lone / Of CameUon 67), disciple, ermyte, felun,
frere 'friar 3 , maister, profyte, seyntes (the native halwes is
also used), termagaunt, vyrgyne.
(B) Finance : payde, pore, profyt, ryche.
(C) Buildings : celle, cyte, pryorye.
(D) Social and legal : asyse, auctpryte, bobaunce * pomp s ,
commaundementys, comaundyd, commune ' COMMON ', coroune,
cunnant 'covenant', custome, gouerne, granted, maystry,
omage, powere, seruy}>, somoune.
(E) Religion : bapteme, byble, chastyed, lay ' law ', matyns,
maumette 'idol', maumetry, orysouns, passyun, penaunce,
138 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
preyers, preyden, relygyoun, rependyd, repentaunce, sacra-
mentys, sacryfyse, sacrylege, seruyse, solemnyte ' solemn feast ',
trespas.
(F) Military : cuntek c contest '.
(G) Nature : cristal (for e scrying '), cuntre, flour-gerland,
fratys, fynnament, menbre, oure ' HOUR ', pasture, pyy (beleue
noutf, yn pe pyys cheteryng 355), tempest, vynys.
(H) Household, etc. : bacyn, barre (in the compound for-
barre ' to shut out *), ' pick-axe ? (MaUok is a pykeys ; the Mod.
Eng. form is from this, with the ending assimilated to axe).
(K) Physical : a-party ' apart ', apertly e openly J , auaunsed,
auayle, chaunge, crye, delayde, dyspende * spend ', destroyed,
dysmembre, fayle)?, febylnesse, florysyngge, fyn (n.), hastyly,
hauntes (vb.) karol, leysere ' LEISURE ', parceyued, peyn, plente,
pryuyte, quyte QUIT ', receyue, sauef, secede ' CEASED ',
stable (adj.), strangled, suffryd, surfeture, touchep, trauayle,
troteuale * idle talk 7 , turment, turmentours, vengaunce, vse,
weyte.
(L) Food : festys.
(M) Moral and intellectual, etc. : acorde, afB.yccyouns,
affyaunce, anoyd, amende, blame, certeyn, charge c importance ',
charme, chaunce, corage, coueytyd, cunsel, curteys(y), damp-
nacyun, defaute, deseyue, deseuable, doute, enchesoun * cause ',
ensample, entent, erre, feyf, folehardy, folye, gentry * gentility ',
gentyl(men), gracys, greue, greues(nesse), gyle (n.), gylys (vb.),
ioye, kas, lecherye, lessun, manere, manteyne, mercy, meruelys,
mesure, mysauenture, noy, nygromancy, ordeyned, outrage,
point (pe twelue poyntes of shryfte 25), preuyd, prow, pyte,
quentyse * dexterity, clever action ', resun, reuelacjnm, scorne
(vb.), speciali, spice * species ' (dedly synne, / In any spyce pat
we faUe ynne 28), spyryte, stody, temptacyoun, temptyd, tent,
tysyn ( entice ', tresoun, tycement, vanyte, veyn, vylanye.
(X) Miscellaneous : certys (adv.), verement (adv.).
To compare with this we may take a fairly typical fourteenth-
century romance, Sir Beves of Hamton. The French element in
this is perhaps of a slightly more picturesque character than that
of the Handlyng Synne or the Cursor Mundi, but this is largely
due to the fact that a higher proportion of the words are obsolete
or archaic and many of them have become known to us with the
THE FKENCE ELEMENT 139
atmosphere of the Middle English romance surrounding them.
It must not be forgotten, either, that many of the romances
were translated from, or based on, French originals, which must
have affected the English writer's vocabulary, and induced
a tendency to use foreign words especially in such phrases and
contexts as became the romance-writer's stock-in-trade. Sir Beves
was in origin an English hero, and a very popular one ; but the
versions of his story which are extant in English all derive from
French. The work is, however, a good specimen of its type, and
the author, in his use of French terms, does not give the
impression of dealing in cliches. The largest groups of French
words, as will be seen, occur under (A) People, a remarkable
collection of mediaeval personalities, (K) Physical, a very
miscellaneous group, (M) Moral and intellectual (as usual a long
list) ; but the lists under (F), including terms for arms and armour,
under (C) Buildings, etc., and (J) Household, etc., are all of
interest. Illustrations are given here freely, since this is the
only fourteenth-century romance which will be dealt with in
detail.
(A) People : amy c friend, lover ' (pow schelt after her wedde to
spouse / To pin amy 144) ; amiral ' emir ' ; bacheler (What dones
man ertow, bacheler? 3731 * what kind of man are you, young
man ? ') ; baroun ; borgeis ; chaomberlain ; chaumpioun ;
clerk (Icham a clerk and to scole %ede 1325 c I am a clerk and went
to school ') ; cuntasse ; cosin (Wolkome, leuecosin 2577 ' welcome,
dear cousin ') ; dam * mother ' (Damme, for-$eue me pis gilt
3465) ; dame, madame (the latter only as form of address) ;
damesele ; dekne * deacon ' ; doce-amnr ' sweet love ' (he hire
ckpede doceamur 161) ; duke ; emperor ; ermite ; forster ;
feloun ; gailer ; garsoun * boy ' (His sone, pat was a proud
garsoun 2991) ; geaunt ; losenger c flatterer ' ; mariner ;
marchal (Gii, is fader, was me marchal 3507) ; marchaund
(Marchaundes paifonde . . . / And solde pat child 506) ; meister ;
masager * messenger ' ; menstral (boujte afipek, so saippe tale, /
For fourti panes, of one menstrak 3912) ; ostesse (of an inn) ;
page ; pairdm ; palmer ; patriark (of Jerusalem) ; pautener
c vagabond ' ; pilgrim ; porter ; prinse ; priour (not prior in
the monastic sense, but * one who presides * : pow schelt pis dai
be priour / And beginne owre deis 2122) ; recreant (ich me $elde, /
140 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Eecreaunty to pe, in pis felde 1042) ; roboun (A roboun hit stal
4059 'a robber stole it') ; seint; sauagene 'savage 5 (7 Tiaue
herde ofsauagenes 2363) ; seruaunt ; sire (Sire Qii : ofHamtoun
he was sire 9) ; soudan ' sultan ' ; spouse ; sguier ; tanamere ;
treitour ; truant ( 4 go horn, truant ', pe porter sede) ; virgine ;
wardaine. Baronage ; meini ; ost (aprikede out before is ost 214) ;
parlement (be comin acent / par was comin parlement 1715) ;
peple ($our stiward gret peple Jiadde 943) ; route (Ms Jcni^tes
stoute, / Foure and twenti in a route 842).
(B) Finance : catel (Wip pat and wip more catel / He made pe
castel of Arondel 3542) ; pouer e poor ' ; pouerte (whan a man
is in pouerte faUe, / He Jiapfewefrendes wip alle 2594) ; ransoun ;
Stor STORE ' treasure ' (O.Fr. estor, Lat. staurum : pe palmer
nas noujt wipouten store 1295) ; tresor ; wage (for pow bringest
fro hire mesage, / I schal pe yue to pe wage / A mantel 1156) ;
warisoun (of Germanic origin ; related to the Norse loan-word
garsum : Wide whar ichaue iwent / And me warisoun ispent 2142),
(C) Building : barre (pai schette anon eueri gate / Wip pe
barres 4344) ; barbican ; castel ; chapel ; chaumber ; cite
(toward pe tite of London toun 4479) ; des e dais ' ; garite 6 watct-
tower ; upper floor ; GAEBET ' ; logge, a temporary shelter ;
pauiment (ded a fel on pe pauiment, in Tower Street) ; palais ;
pavilon (pai piyte pamlouns, before a castle to be besieged,
3356) ; prisoun ; solere ' sun room, balcony ' ; stable ; tour ;
touret (a touret /pat was inpe castel iset 2100).
(D) Legal and social ; bandoun e authority ' (Ich do me alle
in pe bandoun 1044) ; banist 'banished* (pis forbanniiste man f
Is come to pe land wym 4309) ; barony (Of Almaine, is owene
barouny 3331) ; cheualrie (wip wonder-gret cheualrie 6 company
of knights * 2217) ; cleimen (a eleimede his eritage 1344) ;
comaundement ; comin ' common ' ; cordement ; croun ;
daunger (I nel namore ofpe daunger 1132 e I will have no more of
your domineering ') ; desereten (deseretep Robaunt, pin evr 4265
6 disinherit Robaunt, your heir *) ; eir ; eritage ; empire ;
feute ' fealty ' (dede him feute & omage 3469) ; graunte ; lay
* kw ' ; meistre e mastery ' ; office ; omage ; parage * high
birth * ; riale ' royal ' ; seinori (ich hatte Beuoun / & deymep
pe seinori of Hamtoun 3070) ; sele ' seal ' (pe prente of ure
sele 1244) ; serven, seruise ; spusaille ; usage (Ase hit was
THE FKENCH ELEMENT 141
lawe & ri$t vsage 3470) ; waraunt (And ich wile $our waraunt
be 704).
(E) Eeligion : benison (God ^ue vs aUe is benesoun 4620 ;
also : And on here Jcnes set hem doun / And bad her moder benesoun
4474 ; also malisoun : I praie Mahoun / par fore %eue pe is
malison 3696) ; crois ; mamerie ( ? for maumetry, in the sense
of c heathen temple ' : Out of a mameri a sai / Sarasins come
gret foisoun / pat hadde anoured here Mahoun 1350) ; praie,
praier ; prosessiotin ; riligioun (an house he made of riligioun
4613) ; sauiour ; trinite.
(F) Military : actoun * a quilted jacket, worn under the
armour 5 (O.Fr. aqueton) ; armen (al iarmede to pe tep 3644
6 armed to the teeth *) ; armur ; asant ; bacinet ; baner ;
be-seged ; batadle ; champe e field ', in heraldry (And jaf him
a scheld gode & sur / Wip pre eglen of asur, / pe champe of gold
ful wel i-di^t / Wip fif tables of seluer brijt 974), also asur, and
lables ; crestel ' crest ' (pat sercle of gold & is crestel 4175) ;
dart ; defendaunt e defending ' (Boute hit were him self defendaunt
660) ; fauehon (Beues smot doun / Grander is scheld wip is
fachoun 1768) ; gonfanoun (borrowed in O.Fr. from OJLG-.
gund-fano) * banner ' (A gonfanoun wel stout and gay / Josian
him broujtefor to bere 976 ; baner is used of the same flag, 966) ;
hauberk ; just * joust ' (And to pe iustes pai gonne ride 3961) ;
lance (W^p here launces pei gonne mete 1748) ; mace ' club 3 ;
masnel (poujte haue slawe sire Beuoun / Wip an vge masnel 4503) ;
plate (Hauberk, plate and aktoun 1761) ; scomfit ' defeat '
(Josian lay in a castel / & se$pat scomfit euerich del 890) ; springal,
a machine for hurling stones (Wip bowes and wip springal 4346) ;
st5r (O.Fr. estor, estour, from O.H.G. (ki)stor 4 battle ') (Beues
toulde vnto him pan / How pat stour ended & gan 722) ; talevas,
a kind of shield (pe children [= young men] pleide atpe taluas, /
And tope iustes pai gonne ride 3960) ; targe ' shield * (of Germanic
origin ; cf. the Norse loan in O.E., targa ; he Jcepte his strokes
wip is targe 4214) ; tornement, torneien vb. (mani a gentil kni$t /
Torneande ri$t in pe feld 611 ; Wile we tornaie for pat leuedy
[=lady]? 3774); tronson * shaft, staff, TRUNCHEON' (And
on a tronsoun of is spere / pat heued a stikede for to bere
827) ; ventail, part of the front of the helmet (Al to-brosten is
ventaik 2835) ; venae ' meeting ; combat ' (Beues in pat ilche
142 HISTOEY OF FOREIGN" WORDS IN ENGLISH
veneu, / pour^godes grace & is vertu ... 811) ; vintaine (her comep
a vintaine / Al prest an hondred kni^te 2962) ; visor (doun ri$t
pe viser wip is swerd 4179) ; werre (brused in werre & fijt 62),
(G) Nature : caue * cave ' ; contre(i) ; cost ( coast * (Ase
he com ride be a cost 1023) ; forest ; yle ' isle ' ; pleine ; riuere.
Marbel (Afaire chapel ofmarbelfin 4609). Best (hert and hinde /
And other bestes 2366) ; deistrer * war-torse ' ; dragoun (also
drake, a Latin loan in O.E. : Swich bataile dede neuer non . . .
Of a dragoim per beside, / pat Beues slou% per in pat tide, / Saue
sire Launcekt de Lake, / He fau$t wip a fur drake 2599-604) ;
dromedary ; egle ; faucoun (asefresch tofijt / So waspefaukoun
to pe fli^t 736) ; groin (O.Fr. groing) ' snout ' (A spanne of pe
groin be-forn / Wip is swerd he hap of schoren 815) ; hakenai
' hackney ' (Ac nim a lifter hakenai 1255) ; lyoun ; mule ;
palSrei ; rabit (O.Fr. arabi, arabiz c Arab horse ' ; Sire Gii lep
on a rabit . . . And sire Miles mp gret randoun / Lep vpon a
dromedary 4481) ; rounsi (Belies let sadlen is ronsi 757) ; somer
e pack-horses ' (Men graipede cartes & somers ; cf . O.E. seamere,
also from Lat. sagmarius). Herbe (Z know an Erbe in pe forest
2301) ; ehesteine ' chestnut ' (he reinede his hors to a chesteine
1699 ; cf . O.E. cesten-beam) ; medle ' medlar ' (O.Fr. mesle(r) ;
Vnder afaire medle tre 1287).
(H) Clothes, etc. : bordon ' pilgrim's staff ' ($af him is hors
. . . / For is bordon and is sklauin 2066) ; erznin (pei kottede here
forers of ermin 3721) ; forers c fur coats ' ; keuerchef ; mantel
(A mantel whit so melk ; / pe broider is oftuli selk / Beten abouten
wip rede golde 1157) ; quilte (O.Fr. cuilte, Lat. culcitra ; Foure
hondred beddes of selk echon / Quiltes of gold par vpon 3996) ;
sklauin * pilgrim's cloak ' ; (vn)lacen (And mlacede his
ventail 4236).
(J) Household, etc. : arsoun ' saddle-bow ' ; boiste ' box ' ;
boute c button * (Ne vaikde him nowfi worp a boute 100) ; chaine ,*
chare (Josian wip meche care / peder was broujt in hire chare
1490) ; cord (be a kord of a solere 1532 ' by a rope from a
balcony ') ; couertine c curtain ' ; couertour ; flaket ' flagon '
(Bred and fiesc out of is male / And of his flaketes win <& ale
1298) ; galon (And of is helm a drank pore / A large galon oper
more 2816) ; lamp ; levour * lever ' (He took a leuour in is hand
1861) ; male ; tabonr (Trompes he herde and tahour 383) ; torge
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 143
' torch. ' ; towaile (on a towaile <$he made knotte riding 3220) ;
trompe * trumpet '.
(K) Physical : afin e in the end * ; age ; anguysse ; arive
(par pe dragoun gan ariue / At Cologne 2659 c when the dragon
arrived at Cologne '), also riuen ; asaile ; ascapen ; aspien ;
balaunce (Almest is lif was in balaunce 1562) ; cacchen ' CATCH %
chace * CHASE ' (the first from A.-N. cockier, the second from
(X(Centr.)Fr. charier, both from Late Lat. *captiare) ; ehargen
(An hors icharged wip golde rede 152) ; cercle ; der (A morwe,
whan hit was dai der 755) ; contenaunse ; coulour ; companie
(hadde bore him gode companie 1988) ; cornere ; crane ; crie ;
damage ; deiende ; delai ; delivren ; demeinen ' behave ' ;
demere * delay ' ; discure ' reveal ' ; destrusen ; diseriue ;
ensemlen * assemble ' ; face ; f aile (wipouten faile ; also tlie
Fr. phrase saunfaik) ; failen (whan pe rop failede in is hond
1631) ; fasoun ' appearance, fashion ' ; feble (Man, whan he
fallep in to elde / Feble a wexep 47) ; feint ; fin (And pat I wet
finliche wel 4052) ; f oisoun (whan Beues hadde eten gret foisoun
1299) ; fors ; front * forehead ' (Hisfrount be-fore hard & strong
2662) ; gay ; glacen slip ' (doun ofpe helm pe sw&rd gan glace
4177) ; hast, -eli ; jurne * day's journey ' (pat is henne four
iurne 2227) ; kenere 6 recover ' ; kors ; konrs (Whan knijtes
mest an hors ride, / A gret Jcours par was do grede [= announced] /
For to saien here alper stede 3514) ; language ; large ; miseise ;
noise ; nombre ; pairen ' impair ' ; parten ; parti (befek parti
2048 ' in many regions ') ; pas * pace ' (In is wei he rit pas for
pas 847) ; pase ' pass ' ; pawe (Wip his pawes he rent adoun /
His armour 2439) ; pein ; perseven ; peril ; plein (I schal winne
hire in plein bataile 920) ; pise ' piece ' (His spere barst to pises
pore 790) ; place ; pleint ; plente ; poynt (And to his hert pe
poyntprast 2463) ; pray ' prey ' ; presenten vb. ; prest ' ready ' ;
priuite ' privacy ', priue(liche) ; Quarter (ech a dai quarter of
a lof bred 1420) ; ragen ; rampen (Two lyouns per com yn pare /
Grennand and rampand with Jwr feet 2379) ; randoun * rush,
force ' ; reseven ; retret ' backward step ' ; riot * riot, revel ' ;
ronde (God pat made pis world al ronde 1373) ; saien " assay,
try * ; saven ; semlaunt ; sewen * follow ' ; sokotir ; sojurnen ;
sguachen * squash ' (pe medwe squauqte of her denies 1753) ;
stat * state, condition ' ; stout (O.Fr. estout, from MLDutch ;
141 HISTOET OF FOEEIGN" WOEDS TN ENGLISH
Beiies stoutliche . . . Hafvp is keuedfro pe ground 683) ; sofren ;
sur c sure ', surte ; sostenaunse ; teise ' fathom ' (Vnder perpe
twenti teise 1417) ; tempest * attack ' ; trossen c pack up ' ;
vailen ; vge * huge ' ; visage (Who is pis wip pe grete visage ?
2585 ; the giant Ascopard).
(L) Food, etc. : brochen * broach ' (let brochen reynessli wyne
2303) ; diner, dinen ; piment ; sause ; sopere ; spisorie ; vitaile.
(M) Moral and intellectual, etc. : (i) States of mind/ qualities,
etc. : bounte ; corteis, corteisie ; delit ; distresse ; doul
* sorrow ' ; doute ; egre ; enui ; eirur ; gent (Lemman,
$he seide, gent and fre 707) ; gentil ; glori ; gile ; glotoun ;
grace ; ioie ; lei * faithful ' (Beues rod on Arondel / pat was
a stede gode and lei (590) ; mautalent (for-jafhim atte is mautalent
3978) ; merci ; nice ' foolish ' ; onour ; pes ; pite ; prowesse ;
sample ; vertu ; vile ; vileinie ; (ii) Mental action, etc. : agreued ;
amende ; anuie ; apaien ; asaien ; avengen ; asent ; betrayen ;
blame ; bost ; cas ; certaine ; charme ; contort ; consaile ;
defaut ; desmeien ; despit ' scorn ' ; disiren ; divis * device ' ;
ensoin * excuse * ; engyn ' guile ' ; entent ; gien e guide, direct '
(To riche erl, pat schel pe gie / And teche pe of corteisie / In pe
joupe 364) ; greven ; hardi ; meintene ; manere ; mervaile ;
paramur adv. ; preisen ; pris ; proven ; queint e clever,
cunning * ; queintise ; renable ' reasonable J (pat renabliche
Jcoupe frensch speke 2974) ; renoun ; resoun ; scornen ; solas,
solacen ; tresoun ; vengen ; viktori ; (iii) Writing and other
arts : fable ; letter ; mesage ; minstralcie (gJie Jiadde krned of
minstralcie, / Vpon afipelefor to play / Staumpes, notes , garibles
gay 3906-8) ; nygremancy ; parchemin (Lo her, pe king Ermin /
pe sente pis letter in parchemin 1384) ; portraien (Portraid al
wip rosen rede 3786, of a shield) ; prent imprint ' ; romance.
(N) Medical : caudel (Dame, let make him a caudel 3248) ;
fysik ; maladie ; oyniment ; poisoun ; venim ; sirgirie.
(X) Miscellaneous : alias ; doble ; aviroun (In pis centre
aviroun 2709) ; saundoute ; series ; verament.
Not infrequently there are passages in the romances where the
French words appear in great numbers, one after another, over-
shadowing the native element almost entirely. This happens
most frequently in descriptions of a more or less technical
character, such as the list of precious stones in Ipomadon :
THE FBENCH ELEMENT 145
At the laste was browght forthe for }>e nonys
A cupe, sett wyth preeyous stonys,
Wyth cassidoins, Ip&i were dere ;
The cupe was good and precyous,
The stonys good and vertuous,
And dyamovndes, }?at were dere,
The crapet and the sersolitte,
The emeraud and the ametvte,
The ruby and the safere,
Perle, topyas, and mony claspys,
And on fowre sydes were dyueres haspis,
That queynte and sotell were, etc. (11. 2648-59) ;
or descriptions of hunting scenes, as in the Anturs ofArther :
Thay kest of hor cowpullus, in clifEes so cold,
Oumfordun hor kenettes, to kele horn of care ;
Thay f elle to the female dure, f eyful thyk fold ;
******
The king blue a rechase,
Folut fast on the trase,
With mony seriandys of mase,
That solas to see ;
or the well-known passages in Sir Gawayne and the Gfrene Knight ;
or descriptions of clothes or armour :
Her gide that was glorius, was of a gresse-grene ;
Her belte was of Uenket, with briddus ful bold,
Beten with besandiis, and boeuti ful bene :
Her fax in fyne perrd, was frettut and fold,
Her countur-felit and hur JceUe were colurt ful clene
With a croune cumly, was dure to be-hold ;
Hur Jcerchefes were curi<yuse y with mony a proud prene
Hur enparel was a-praysut 9 with princes of myjte ;
******
Than the knyjte in his colurs was armit ful clene,
With a crest comely, was dure to be-hold,
His brene, and his basnet was busket ful bene,
With a bordur a-boute, alle fo brent gold ;
146 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
His mayles were mylke quyte, enclaivet full clene,
His stede trapput with that ilke, os true men me told ;
With a schild on his shildur, of siluer so schene,
With bore-heddis of blakke, and brees full bold ;
His stede with sandeUe of Trise was trapput to the hele.
Opon his cheueronne be-forn,
Stode as a vnicorn,
Als scharpe as a thorn,
An nanlas of stele.
In stele was he stuffut, that sterne on his stede,
With his sternes of gold, stanseld on stray \
His gloues and his gamesuns gloet as the gledes,
A~rayet aure with rebans, rychist of raye ;
With his schene schinbandes, scharpest in schredus.
His polans with his pelidoddes were poud&rt to pay,
Thus launce opon lofte that louely he ledus.
Anturs of Arther, xxix-xxxi.
Romances of the fifteenth century still display a similar
tendency to descriptive passages containing a large proportion
of French words ; the following rather long extract from The
Squyr of Lowe Degre includes a considerable vocabulary of dress,
food, wine, hunting, sailing, music, etc. The king of Hungary
is speaking to his daughter, wishing to comfort her for the
(supposed) death of her lover :
* To-morowe ye shall on hunting fare,
And ryde, my doughter, in a chare,
It shal be covered with velvet reede,
And clothes offyne golde al about your hed,
With damasJce white, and aswre blewe,
Wei dyapred with lyUyes newe ;
Tour pomettes shal be ended with gold,
Your chaynes enameled many a folde ;
Your mantel of ryche degre,
Purpyl palle, and armyne fre ;
Jennettes of Spayne, that ben so wyght,
Trapped to the ground with velvet bright ;
Ye shall have harp, saufry and songe,
And other myrthes you amonge ;
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 147
You shall have rumney and malmesyne.
Both ypocrasse, and vernage wyne,
Mount rose and wyne of Ofreke,
Both algrade, and respice eke,
Antioche, and bastarde,
Pyment, also, and garnarde ;
Wyne of GreTce, and muscadell,
Both cZare, pyment, and RocheU.
The reed your stomake to defye,
And pottes of osey set you by,
You shall have venison ybake,
The best wylde foule that may be take,
A lese of grehound with you to stryke,
And hert and hynde and other lyke,
Ye shal be set at such a tryst
That herte and hynde shall come to your fyst.
Your dysease to dryue you fro,
To here the bugles there yblow,
With theyr "begles in that place,
And sevenscore rashes at his rechase.
Homward thus shall ye ryde,
On haukyng by the ryvers syde,
With goshauke, and with gentyU fawcon,
With eglehorne and merlyon.
Whan you come home, your men amonge,
Ye shall have revett, daunces, and songe ;
Lytle chyldren, great and smale,
Shall syng, as doth the nyghtyngale.
Than shall ye go to your evensong,
With tenours and trebles among ;
Threscore of copes, of damaske bryght ;
Full of perles they shal be pyght ;
Your aulter clothes of taffata,
And your sides all of taffetra.
Your sensours shal be of golde,
Endent with aswre many a folde.
Your guere nor organ songe shall wante,
With countre note f and dyscant,
The other halfe on orgayns playeng,
148 HISTOBY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
With yonge chyldren foil fare syngyng,
Than shall ye go to your suppers,
And sytte in tentes in grene arbere,
Wyth clothes of aras pyght to the grounde,
With saphyres set and dyamonde.
A cloth of golde abought your heade,
With popinjayes pyght with pery reed,
And offycers all at your wyll,
All maner delightes to bryng you till.
The nightingale sitting on a thorne,
Shall synge you notes both even and morne.
An hundreth knightes, truly tolde,
Shall play with bowles in alayes colde,
Your disease to drive awaie,
To se the fashes in poles plaie ;
And then walke in arbere up and downe,
To se the floures of great renowne,
To a drawbrydge than shall ye,
The one halfe of stone, the other of tre ;
A barge shall mete you, full ryght,
With twenty-four ores full bryght,
With trompettes and with daryowne,
The fresshe water to rowe up and downe.
Than shall ye go to the salte fome,
Your maner to se, or ye come home,
With eighty shyppes of large towre,
With dromedaryes of great honour,
And earaches with sayles two,
The swetest that on water may goo,
With galyes good upon the haven,
With eighty ores at the fore staven.
Your maryners shall synge arowe
Hey how and nimby lowe.
Than shall ye, doughter, aske the wyne,
With spices that be good and fyne t
Gentyll pottes with genger grene,
With dates and deynties you betwene.
Forty torches, brenynge bryght,
THE FBENCE ELEMENT
Into your chambre they shall you brynge,
With, muche myxtlie and more lykyng.
Your costerdes covered with whyte and blewe,
And dyapred with lyles newe.
Your curtaines of camaca, all in folde,
Your felyoles all of golde.
Your fester pery at your heed,
Curtaines with popinjayes white and reed.
Your hyllynges with furres of armyne,
Powdred with golde of hew full fyne.
Your blanJcettes shall be of fusty ane,
Your shetes shall be of clothe of rayne.
Your head-shete shall be of pery pyght,
With dyamondes set and rubyes bryght.
Whan you are layde in bedde so softe,
A cage of golde shall hange alofte,
With longe-peper fayre burnning,
And cloves that be swete smellyng,
Frankensence, and olibanum,
That whan ye slepe the taste may come.
And yf ye no rest may take,
All night minstreUes for you shall wake.'
e Ghramercy, father, so mote i the,
For all these thinges lyketh not me.'
Obviously no form of recreation was possible without the help
of the French language.
But for the best examples of French terms for food, we have
to go to the fifteenth-century cookery books (E.E.T.S., 91)*
Here are two or three recipes chosen at random :
(i) Oystres in grauey : Take almondes, and blanche hem, and
grinde hem, and drawe hem J>orgh a streynowr with wyne, and
with goode fressh broth into gode mylke, and sette hit on >e
fire and lete boyk ; and cast J>ereto Maces, clowes, Sugur, ywuder
of Ginger, and faire parboyled oynons my\n\ced ; And J>en take
faire oystres, and parboile hem togidre in faire water ; And
then caste hem there-to, And lete hem boyle togidre til }>ey ben
ynowe ; and serue hem forth for gode potage.
(ii) Pike in gafentyne : Take a pike and seth him ynowe in
150 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
gode sauce ; And couche him in a vessell, that lie may be y-caried
yn, if pou wilt. And what tyme he is colde, take brede, and
stepe hit in wyne and vinegre, and cast there-to canell, and drawe
hit f>orgh a streynour, And do hit in a potte, And caste there-to
pouder peper ; And take smale oynons, and my[n]ce hem, And
fry hem in oyle, and cast there-to a fewe saundres, and lete
foyfe awhile ; And cast all this hote vppon J>e pike, and cary
him forth.
(iii) Cryspes * : Take white of eyren, TVTilke, and fyne floure,
and bete hit togidxe, and drawe hit thorgh a streynour, so that
hit be rennyng, and noght to stiff ; and caste there-to sugur and
salt, And then take a chaffur ful of fressh grece boyling ; and
J?en put thi honde in the batur and lete the later ren thorgh thi
fingers into J>e chaffur ; And when it is ren togidre in the chaffre,
and is ynowe, take a SJcymour, and take hit oute of the chaffur \
and putte onte al the grece, And lete ren ; And putte hit in
a faire dissh, and cast sugur thereon ynow, and serue it forth.
And finally, a dish on a somewhat lavish scale, called, with
reason, (iv) Grete pyes : Take fake yonge beef, And suet of a
fatte leste, or of M otton, and hak all this on a borde small ; And
caste thereto ponder of peper and salt ; And whon it is small
hewen, put hit in a bolle, And medle hem well ; then make
a faire large Cofyn, and couche, som of this stuffur in. Then take
Capons, Hennes, Mdttcvrds, Connynges, and parboile hem clene ;
take wodekokkes, teles, grete briddes, and plom hem in a boiling
potte ; And then couche al pis fowle in J?e Oqffyn, And put in
euerych of hem a guantite of pouder of peper and salt. Then
take mary, harde yolkes of egges, Dates cutte in ij. peces> reisons
of coraunee, prunes, hole dowes, hole maces, Canell, and saffron.
But first, whan thou hast cowched all thi f oule, ley the remenaunt
of thyne other stuffur of beef a-bought hem, as fou thenkest
goode ; and then strawe on hem this : dates, mary, and reysons,
etc., And then dose thi Coffyn with a lydde of the same paast,
And put hit in J?e oven, And late hit bake ynogh.
This reminds us of Chaucer's cook, with ids ' poudre'^narchaunt
tart and galyngate *, and it is time that we turned our attention to
Chaucer and his French element.
The proportion of French words used by Chaucer varies,
1 i.e. Crfoes* pancakes.
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 151
sometimes being ten or eleven per cent, and sometimes rising as
high as fifteen per cent. In some of his "writings, as in the more
philosophical parts of his translation of Boethius, and in his
Treatise on the Astrolabe, many of the words used are of a learned
type which can never have been current in the ordinary cx>Uoquial
language ; the Astrolabe in particular, written for his * litel sone *,
must indeed have been * harde ' for Lowys's c tendir age of x yere
to conceyve '.* Here are four passages, one from the Canterbury
Tales, being the beginning of the Nun's Priest's tale ; the second
from Boece ; the third the Balade to Rosemounde ; the last,
seven stanzas from the concluding part of Troilus and Criseyde.
(i) A poure wydwe, somdel stape in age,
Was whilom dwellyng in a narwe cotage
Beside a greve, stondynge in a dale.
This wydwe, of which I telle yow my tale,
Syn thilke day that she was last a wyf ,
In padence ladde a ful symple lyf ,
For litel was hir catel and hir rente.
By housbondrie of swich as God hire sente
She foond hirself , and eek hire doghtren two.
Thre large sowes hadde she, and namo ;
Three keen and eek a sheep that highte Malle.
Ful sooty was hir bour, and eek hire halle,
In which she eet ful many a sklendre meel ;
Of poynaunt sauce hir neded never a deel.
No deyntee morsel passed thurgh hir thxote,
Hir diete was accordant to hir cote ;
Beplecdoun ne made hir never sik,
Attempree diete was al hir phisik,
And exercise, and hertes suffisaunce.
The goute lette hire no-thyng for to daunce,
Napoplexie shente nat hir heed ;
No wyn ne drank she, neither whit ne reed ;
1 e.g. * Further over thei seyn that the infortunyng of an ascendent is the
contrarie of these forseide thinges. The Lord of the Ascendent sey thei that he
is fortunat whan he is in gode place fro the ascendent, as in an angle, or in a
succident where as he is in hys dignite and comfortid with frendly aspecte*
of planete* and wel resceyved ; and eke that he may seen the ascendent ;
and that he be not retrograd ne combust ne joyned with no shiewe in the same
signe ; ne that he be not in his discenciounS etc.
152 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Hir bord was served moost with, whit and blak,
Milk and broun breed, in which, she foond no lak ;
Seind bacoun and somtyme an ey or tweye,
For she was, as it were, a maner deye.
A yeerd she hadde, enclosed al aboute
With stikkes, and a drye dych withoute,
In which, she hadde a cok, heet Chauntecleer.
In al the land of crowyng nas his peer.
His voys was murier than the murie orgon
On messe dayes that in the ehirche gon ;
Wei sikerer was his crowyng in his logge
Than is a clokke, or an abbey orlogge.
By nature knew he eche ascencioun
Of the equynoxial in thilke toun ;
For whan degrees fiftene weren ascended,
Thanne crew he that he myghte nat been amended.
His coomb was redder than the fyn coral,
And bataiUed as it were a castel wal ;
His byle was blak, and as the jeet it shone ;
Lyk asure were his legges and his toon ;
His nayles whiter than the lylye flour,
And lyk the burned gold was his colour.
(Nun's Priest's Tale, 4011-54.)
(ii) (Fortune is speaking) : I envyrounde the with al the
hdbundance and schynynge of alle goodes that ben in my ryght.
Now it liketh me to with draw myn hand. Thow hast had grace
as he that hath used of foreyne goodes ; thow hast no ryght to
pleyne the, as though thou haddest outrely forlorn alle thy
thynges. Why pkywstow thanne ? I have doon the no wrong.
Richesses, honours, and swiche othere thinges ben of my right.
My seroauntes knowen me for hir lady ; they comen with me,
and departen whan I wende. I dar wel affermen hardely that,
yif tho thynges of whiche thow pleynest that thou hast for-lorn
hadden ben thyne, thow ne haddest nat lorn hem. Schal I
thanne, oonly be defended to usen my ryght ? Certes it is leueful
to the hevene to maken ckre dayes, and after that to coveren
the same dayes with dirke nyghtes. The yeer hath eek leve to
apparaykn the visage of the ertije, HQW with floures, and now
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 153
with fruyt, and to confownden hem som-tyme with reynes and
with coldes. The see hath eek his ryght to ben som-tyme calm
and blaundysschyng with smothe watir, and som-tyme to ben
horrible with wawes and with tempestes. But the covetise of men,
that mai nat be stawnched, schal it bynde me to ben stidfast,
syn that stidfastnesse is uncouth to my maneris ? Swiche is
my strengthe, and this pley I pleye continuity. I tome the
whirlynge wheel, with the turnynge sercle ; I am glad to
chaungen the loweste to the heyeste, and the heyeste to the
loweste.
(Boece, Book ii, Prosa 2.)
(iii) To Eosemounde
Madame, ye ben of al beaute [the] shryne
As fer as cerckd is the mappemounde,
For as the cristal glorious ye shyne
Aad lyke ruby ben your chekes rounde.
Therwith ye ben so mery and so jocounde
That at a revel whan that I see you daunce,
It is an oynement unto my wounde,
Though ye to me ne do no daliaunce.
For though I wepe of teres ful a tyne,
Yet may that wo myn herte nat confounde ;
Your seemly voys that ye so smal out-twyne
Maketh my thoght in joye and blis habounde.
So curteisly I go, with love bounde,
That to myself I sey, in my penaunce,
Suffyseth me to love you Rosemounde,
Though ye to me ne do no daliaunce.
Nas never pyk walwed in galauntyne x
As I in love am walwed and y-wounde,
For which ful ofte I of my-self dyvyne
That I am trewe Tristam the secounde,
My love may not refreyd be nor afounde ;
I brenne ay in an amorous plesaunce*
Do what you lyst, I wyl your thral be founde
Though ye to me ne do no daliaunce.
* See p. 149.
154 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
(iv) Go litel book ! Go, litel myn tragedie I
Ther God thy maker yit, or-that lie he dye,
So sende might to make in som comedie I
But, litel book, no making thou n'envye,
But subgit be to alle poesye I
And kis the steppes wher-as thou seest pace
Yirgile, Ovide, Omer, Lucan and Stace !
And for ther is so gret diversite
In Englissh and in writing of our tonge,
So prey to God that non miswrite thee,
Ne thee mismetre for defaute of tonge !
And, red wher-so thou be or elles songe,
That thou be understonde God biseche !
But yet to purpos of my rather speche.
The wxaththe, as I began you for to seye,
Of Troilus the Grekes boughten dere ;
For thousandes his hondes maden deye,
As he that was withouten any pere
Save Ector in his time, as I can here,
But weylawey, save only Goddes wille,
Ful pitously him slough the fierse Achille.
And whan that he was slayn in this manere
BGs lighte goost ful blisfully is went
Up to the holwnesse of the eighte spere,
In convers leting everich element ;
And ther he saugh with ful avisement
Ttterratik sterres, herkning armonye
With sounes fulle of heveuissh melodye.
And down from thennes faste he gan avise
This litel spot of ertihe that with the see
Embraced is, and fully gan despise
This wrecched world, and held al vawite
To respect of the pleyne feUatte
That is in hevene above. And at the laste,
Ther he was slayn his loking down he caste,
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 155
And in himself he lough right at the wo
Of hem that wepen for his deth so faste,
And dampned al our werk, that folwen so
The blinde lust the whiche that may not laste,
And sholden al our herte on hevene caste.
And forthe he wente, shortly for to telle,
Ther-as Mercurie sorted him to dwelle.
Swich fyn hath tho this Troilus for love !
Swich fyn hath al his grete worthinesse !
Swich fyn hath his estat real above !
Swich fyn his lust, swich fyn hath his noblesse \
Swich fyn, this false worldes brotelnesse !
And thus bigan his loving of Criseyde
As I have told, and in this wise he deyde.
(Troilus and Griseyde, v, 1786-1834:.)
In these extracts, the proportion of French words is respectively
(i) 13'5 per cent ; (ii) 12'3 per cent ; (iii) 15*6 per cent ; (iv)
11*6 per cent. This makes an average of 13*2 per cent. Possibly
a little less should be taken as Chaucer's real average, since the
proportion in Rosemounde seems to be rather unusual. Chaucer
is not, however, the writer with the highest proportion of French
loans ; both Langland and Lydgate, for instance, have slightly
higher averages. Nor is it true, as has sometimes been said, that
Chaucer himself introduced large numbers of French words into
English. The majority of his words were already in use well
before his time. Lydgate is probably more of an innovator than
Chaucer ; but his introductions are very much of a rather
exaggeratedly c learned ' type, or can be ascribed to a rather
strained poetic diction, and many of them were never established
in English, either literary or colloquial.
In dealing with the French loans of the later period of English
we shall be limiting ourselves for the most part to such words as
have survived in ordinary spoken or written English. But the
Middle English period, as well as other centuries, introduced
also very many words of a technical character, connected with the
law, with heraldry, with arts and crafts, such as jewel-work,
etc., and these technical vocabularies still survive. Hundreds
156 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
of legal words of French origin (chiefly Anglo-Norman) were
adopted into English after English became officially the language
of the courts, and the influence of Anglo-Norman remained
strong long after this, as it was still used for many legal affairs
for several centuries. Some of these legal terms made their way
into the non-technical language, and everyone is familiar with
such words as remainder, rejoinder, assets, entail, while of course
very many were never exclusively legal, though perhaps have
always been most frequent in a legal connexion, e.g. try, judge,
examine, prove, issue, demur, etc. Many heraldic terms are now
unfamiliar to most people, though some are fairly widely current,
e.g. azure, quatrefoil, cinquefoil, chevron ; others are used
commonly in non-heraldic senses, e.g. "bend, chief, displayed,
label, lozenge^ proper ; some are fairly easy to guess, e.g. rampant,
roundel, argent, salle ; but many people would find it impossible
to say what was meant by mullet, saUire, caltrap, garb, fess,
masde, flaunck, maunch, gules, passant, guardant, forme, pattfe,
paly, seme, raguUe, gemel, gorged, segreant, engrailed.
MODERN FRENCH WORDS IN ENGLISH
Naturally, the French language did not remain static during
the whole period from the Norman Conquest of England down
to the fifteenth century. By about 1500 many of the changes
typical of Modern French had taken place, and words borrowed
after this reached English speakers in a different form from that
which they would have had if they had been adopted, say, three
hundred years earlier. For instance, in early Middle English
words were borrowed from French containing the sound-group
c ^ Rfl (a 8 fr- ng. child), e.g. chief, chivalry, duchess, chase,
torch ; and [di] (as in gem), e.g. judge (both consonants), just,
journey, large ; these consonant-groups became respectively
[f] and [z] in later French, and words borrowed after the period
of this development came into English with these sounds, e.g.
champagne, chef, chaperon, sachet (cf. satchel) ; n6glig&, garage.
Again, O.Fr. oi (in some cases from earlier ei) became first u6,
and then, perhaps by the sixteenth century, ua (wa), e.g. Mod.
FT. loi, roi, poids, joie (earlier lei, rei, peids ; joi) ; Middle
English loans have the diphthongs ei, oi (e.g. MJE, lei ' law ',
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 157
preie ' PBEY ', ioie ' JOY ', POISE, NOISE) ; but with such
forms should be compared soiree, noisette, moir&, all of recent
introduction, and also turquoise, as compared with the early
modern turkis, a Middle English loan where the -i- represents
the usual English development of unstressed oi. (This word,
however, often has now a spelling pronunciation with oi. Similar
spelling pronunciations may occasionally be heard in the words
porpoise, tortoise, though the historical [popas, totes] are still
the normal forms ; these have an alternative development of
M.E. unstressed oi, but porpis and tortis, like turkis, may be
found in Early Modern English, just as turkis sometimes has
[-as], e.g. in Milton's turkas.)
Further, by the end of the fifteenth century, the majority of
the changes which distinguished Modern from Middle English
had taken place, so that, whereas French words borrowed before
1450 or so had to undergo, with native words, sound-changes
which transformed them completely from what they had been
in their parent language, words adopted after this were too late
for these developments, or most of them, and were less com-
pletely divorced from their original forms, such differences as
there are being due more to sound-substitution than to sound-
change. For example, the words fine, nice, guile, which had the
vowel [I] (as in Mod. Eng. feed) in M.E., now have developed
a diphthong \af\ along with the native find, mine, write, etc. ;
but words like machine, clique, pique, kte did not become liable
to this change, since when they were borrowed the English
tendency to diphthongize [I] to [ai] had passed. As has been
pointed out in the introduction, the closeness of the pronunciation
of a borrowed word to that of its own language depends upon the
presence in the borrowing language of the native sounds of
the word, or upon the acquaintance of the speaker with the
language borrowed from ; also to some extent upon the
popularization of the word. Thus Modern Standard English
does not normally have nasalized vowels, so when a word such
as confrere, or coupon, or envelope, is adopted, the English
speaker may substitute for the nasalized vowel the nearest
English equivalent, probably on ; if he does, however, speak
French, he may retain the French vowel. Again, Mod, English
does not contain an exact equivalent of the French short a,
158 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
and the English speaker will usually substitute for it the Standard
English [se] ; even one who speaks French fairly accurately
will use this vowel instead of the French one in a word which has
become very common, such as garage (first syllable), camouflage,
Similarly, where French has e, an English speaker will replace it
by his nearest sound, the diphthong [ei], e.g. glace, &lat, cafe,
papier mdch4, and so on ; the same diphthong does duty also
for French e in fete, etc.
Almost all borrowings from French are, as we have already
found, either from Northern French, 1 or from the Central French
dialect which became the standard dialect of France, but English
has a few words from other French dialects, most of them, how-
ever, coming into this language by way of Central French. The
most important of these are from the southern type of French
known as Provengal. The earliest seems to be morgue (in the
phrase ' letters of marque ', licence given to a privateer), which
dates from 1419 ; this is from Prov* marca, from the verb marcar
* to seize as a pledge '. The importance of Southern France as
a wine-growing country is reflected in the three words spigot
(Prov. *spigot, cf. espiga * spike '), which appears in Late Middle
English ; rack * to draw ofi (wine) from the lees ' (especially a
Gascon word, and apparently the only word now surviving to
indicate our connexion with Gascony ; the original form was
arracar, from raca ' husks of grapes '), recorded first in English
in 1460 ; and ullage, the difference between the capacity of
a cask or bottle and the amount of liquor which it contains ;
this is much later than the first two, not being found till 1749 ;
the Proven9al word is ulhage, from the verb ulha ' to fill up to
the bung '. The word mistral, first met with in English in 1604,
is still restricted in sense to the Mediterranean coast of France,
and has not been extended in use to other types of wind ; but
lucerne (Prov. luzerno) has become fairly widespread ; it dates
from 1626. Lingo is apparently Prov. lingo, lengo ' language ' ;
it appears first in 1660. Gavotte came over with numerous other
French terms of society in the second half of the seventeenth
century ; it represents Prov. gavoto, which is from gawt, a name
used for an inhabitant of the Alpine districts ; it is recorded
1 A few Northern fonns were borrowed in Late Middle English, e,g. task,
^ *>M>7* /nf
THE FBENCH ELEMENT 159
first in 1696. Although the minstrels and poets of Southern
France exerted indirectly a considerable influence on the English
literature of the Middle Ages, we do not find any influence on the
vocabulary from these regions until the eighteenth century, but
then with reference to the earlier period ; troubadour dates from
1727 (the French trouvere is even later, 1795), the Provenjal
form being trobador. Connected with this is the less familiar
sirvente, a form of verse used by the troubadours, dating from
1819. Another eighteenth-century loan is charade (Prov.
charrada ( chatter '), 1776 ; and to the nineteenth century belong
nougat (1827 ; see other French words of this period), the rare
picayune (Prov. picaion), at one time the name for a small coin
in the French-speaking district of Louisiana, and later (chiefly
American slang) used to denote something mean or worthless ;
this is found first in 1852. Finally, there is one more reflection of
an industry of Provence ; this is p&brine, hardly naturalized
in English, from French, from Prov. pebrino, the name of a silk-
worm disease (1870).
Swiss-French dialects have given us chamois, as early as 1560 ;
chalet, not till 1817 ; and cretin (French, from Swiss crestm),
from 1779. The first word has been completely naturalized (in
pronunciation and sometimes also in spelling) in shammy*
leather, though for the animal itself a pseudo-French pronuncia-
tion [fsemwa] is generally used. (The word is ultimately of
Germanic origin, and is related to the German Gemse ; it is
probably from a Gmc. dialect of that part of the Alpine district
to which Bomance dialects afterwards spread.)
In spite of our long connexion with the Channel Islands, only
one English word can be definitely ascribed to the French dialect
spoken there. This is onuer (1672), applied to a special kind of
shell-fish found on the coasts of the islands.
It has already been indicated that Old French borrowed a
fairly large number of words from Germanic, especially from Old
High German, and many have been pointed out as having passed
on into English during the Middle English period. Such words
are still being borrowed in the Modern period, and we may give
as examples harangue, spavin, skirmish, stallion, tack n. (all
from the fifteenth century) ; vogue (sixteenth century) ; ratchet,
soup, stockade (seventeenth century), and so forth. In the same
160 EISTOBY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
way many other words wliich came into English from French
are ultimately from languages more remote, showing by their
passage through French what great influence the knowledge,
arts, and commerce of France have had on this country. Most
of these words will be dealt with under the languages from which
they came.
A point which must be insisted on before we consider in detail
the later loans from French, is that a word may be borrowed, lost,
and borrowed again, or, if not lost, borrowed again in a different
form and perhaps with a slightly different sense. For instance,
the words potage and pottage represent two different periods of
borrowing, the latter dating from Middle English. The same is
true of valet, with its two pronunciations : that with final -t,
from the M.E. period, and that with a final vowel, approximating
more or less to the Modern French. Corsage in the later fifteenth
century (pronounced with final -idge) meant * the shape of the
body ', but when borrowed afresh in 1857 had the sense of part
of a woman's dress.
Before starting on the sixteenth century we may mention a few
words from the late fifteenth century, which seem to have been
in continuous use since then in approximately their modern forms,
and which give no impression of archaism. Such are serviette,
redeem (Fr. redimer), mademoiselle (cf, M.E. damesel, etc. ;
demoiselle is sixteenth century) ; serge tapis (though this may
have been reborrowed later).
In the sixteenth century, the most important loans are military
and naval. To this period belong trophy 1513 ; pioneer (originally
* foot-soldier ') 1523 ; jacquerie (used chiefly historically with
reference to the peasants' revolt in France in 1357, but also in
transferred sense) 1523 ; brigantine 1525 ; pilot (ultimately
Greek, passing through Italian into French) 1530 ; sally 1542 ;
colonel 1548 (another form, coronel, borrowed in the following
century ; from this comes the modern pronunciation) ; guidon,
a type of flag (orig. Italian) 1548 ; corsair 1549 ; volley 1573 ;
cartridge 1579 ; perdu (orig. of a sentry placed in a dangerous
position) 1591 ; rendezvous 1591 ; apeak (from the French
nautical phrase a pic) 1596. Terms which may be related to
trade are palliasse 1506 ; livre 1553 ; indigo 1555 ; sou 1556 ;
: eroeram 1562 ; vase 1563 ; cabochon!578 ; cordon
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 161
1578 (in the sense of c braid ' ; the more usual modern sense
does not appear till 1758) ; portmanteau 1584. The following
may be considered * social ' terms : demoiselle 1520 (it was
borrowed again, with a different application, in 1687, as a
zoological name for a certain kind of crane) ; viceroy 1524 ;
sirrah (now obsolete) 1526 ; partisan ' supporter ' (from an Italian
dialect) 1555 ; minion, orig. e small, delicate ', or as noun
* darling ' ; also mignon 1556, perhaps with the French
pronunciation ; the former is anglicized as [minjsn] ; bourgeois
1564 ; vogue 1571 ; esprit 1591 ; genteel 1599 (cf. gentle,
borrowed in M.E. from O.Fr. gentil ; the -ee- of genteel repre-
sents FT. -i-) ; madame 1599 (madam, with the stress on the
first syllable, is a M.E. loan) ; and perhaps we may include here
racket 1500, possibly Arabian in origin. Potage 1567 (cf . the M.E.
loan pottage), fricassee 1568, and rennet (a kind of apple, Fr.
reinette) 1568, are all Tudor borrowings. Words relating to art
and literature are rondeau 1525 (cf. the earlier roundel ; scene
1540 (first with the meaning ' scenery ') ; grotesque 1561 ;
hautboy 1575 (the spelling oboe is an Italian representation
of the French pronunciation ; this is not found till 1700) ;
quatorzain 1583. Finally a few miscellaneous words : piquant
1521, and pique (in the sense of * quarrel ') 1532 ; promenade
1567 (in the sense of * walking ' ; as * place for walking } it is
recorded in 1648) ; cache c hiding-place ' 1595 ; moustache
1585 (this is a French version of an Italian mostactio, which
also appears in Tudor English as micstacJiio 1585 ; O.E. has
a Gmc. word cenep) ; machine 1549 ; and the anatomical term
fontanelle 1541.
During the seventeenth century, social, literary, and com-
mercial relations with France were very close ; English writers
imitated French writers, and, particularly after the Restoration
there was a widespread fashion for introducing French words
and phrases into ordinary conversation ; something of this can
be seen in the drama of the time, and it appears also in the dates
of introduction of many French words, from the latter part of
the reign of Charles I, and from the last forty years of the century.
The number of words recorded for the first time between 1600
and 1640 is not very large ; again the most important are the
military, naval, and diplomatic : fanfare 1605 ; pratique 1609 ;
162 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
cartouche 1611 ; stockade 1614 ; parole 1616 ; rencontre 1619
(the form rencounter is earlier, 1523) ; dragoon 1622 ; brigade
1637 ; platoon 1637 ; besides cachet 1639. Social terms include :
monseigneur 1600 (monsieur dates from 1500) ; spa, in a general
sense, 1610 (it is used with reference to Spa, in Belgium, in 1565) ;
coquette 1611 ; fad 1611 ; table-d'hdte 1617 ; faineant 1619 ;
accolade 1623; hauteur 1628; flambeau 1632; reprimand
1636. Art, literature, etc. : r61e 1606 (also spelt roU) ; paysage
1611 ; parterre 1639 (for a garden-bed ; as part of a theatre,
not till 1711). Miscellaneous : unique 1602 ; sabot 1607 ;
absinthe 1612 (as name of plant ; as a liqueur, not till 1854).
1644-1700 : Military, naval, and diplomatic : carbine 1605 ;
reveilte 1644 ; mSlfe 1648 ; envoy 1666 ; aide-de-camp 1670 ;
carabineer 1672 ; glacis 1678 ; redan 1684 ; commandant 1687
(chiefly of foreign commanders) ; cheval-de-frise 1688. People
and things : concierge ' custodian 5 1646 ; pastille 1648 ; cabaret
1655 (the sense of 4 entertainment ', etc., is not recorded till
1915) ; cur 1655 ; plafond 1664 ; tourniquet 1695 ; attic 1696 ;
fiacre 1699 (named from the H6tel St. Fiacre in Paris ; St. Fiachra
was a Celtic saint of the eighth century, so the word is ultimately
Celtic) ; vinaigrette 1698. Games and dancing : capot (a term
in piquet) 1651 ; ballet 1667 ; quart (as a term at cards, 1672 ;
in fencing, 1692 ; Mod. quart, the measure, is a M.E. loan) ;
loo (abbreviated from lanterko) 1675 ; chicane 1676 ; rigadoon
1691 ; pool 1693. Art and literature : crayon 1644 ; arabesque
1656 ; burlesque 1656 (orig. Italian) ; memoirs 1659 ; bas-reliei
1667 ; aubade 1678 (orig. Spanish) ; nom-de-plume 1679 ;
group 1686 ; tableau * picture * 1699. Natural products :
aigrette 1645 ; manganese 1676 ; varec 1676 ; guillemot 1678 ;
jargonelle 1693. Dress, textiles, etc. : cravat 1656 (orig. ' a
Croat ') ; chagrin, shagreen 1656 (in the figurative sense, 1847) ;
moire * mohair * 1660 ; paduasoy 1663 ; shalloon (from the
place-name Chalons) 1678 ; ratteen 1685 ; surtout 1686 ; denim
(== serge de Nimes) 1695 ; mousseline 1696 (but the anglicized
muslin in 1609) ; batiste (from a personal name) 1697. Food and
drink : bisque 1647 ; soup 1653 ; haricot (= ragout) 1653 ;
bouillon 1656 ; champagne 1664 ; salmagundi 1674 ; compote
1693. Fashionable social terms : invalid n. 1642 (the adj.
inv&Kd, 1635, is direct from Latin) ; repartee 1645 ; forte n.
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 163
1648 ; liaison 1648 ; complaisance 1651 ; mflange 1653 ; reverie
1653 (akeady in M.E., but now reborrowed) ; naive 1654 ;
d6cor c ornament ' 1656 (as a term of the theatre, not till 1927) ;
demarche 1658 ; facade 1656 ; rapport * relationship ' 1661
(the phrase en rapport appears in 1818) ; contour 1662 ; en
passant 1665 ; malapropos 1668 ; doyen 1670 ; penchant 1672 ;
dishabille 1673 ; double entendre 1673 ; spirituelle 1673 ; suite
1673 (= train of followers ; of rooms, 1716 ; of furniture, not
till 1851) ; metier 1674 ; canaille 1676 ; faux pas 1676 ; pis aller
1676 ; routine 1676 ; nonchalance 1678 (the adj. in 1734) ;
cortege 1679 ; contretemps 1684 ; beau n. 1687 ; reservoir
1690 ; rouleau (of coins) 1693 ; par excellence 1695 ; tfite-i-tfite
1697 ; verve 1697 ; manage 1698. Miscellaneous : patois 1643 ;
ratchet 1659 ; loitis 1689,
In the eighteenth century, the French words on the whole tend
to belong to the first quarter or the last quarter. In the last
decade there appear a number of words having special reference
to the French Revolution, such as migr 1792, guillotine 1793,
carmagnole 1796 (as nickname for a French soldier ; in its first
sense, of a song and dance of this period, it is recorded first in
1827), regime 1789 (in the phrase the ancient rfyime, representing
French Vantien regime ; for ' regimen * it had already appeared
in 1776), and noyade (first in 1819). Many of the military terms
are to be associated either with the wars of the reign of Queen
Anne, or with the Napoleonic wars, fewer to the Seven Years'
War. In this century terms for food and cooking, for clothes
and textiles, are specially noticeable ; there are also a con-
siderable number of * social ' terms, and we also find the beginning
of the mountaineering terms of French origin, which become more
numerous in the next century.
Military : caisson 1704 ; pas 1704 (as a term in fortification ;
in the sense of * precedence * it is used in 1707) ; enfilade 1706 ;
bivouac 1706 (this is ultimately from Swiss-German Beiwacht) ;
pfttS (fortifications ; the sense of * pasty * is later) ; enceinte 1708 ;
corps 1711 ; lateen (sail ; Fr. voile latine) 1727 ; terrain 1727 ;
manoeuvre 1758 ; abattis 1766 ; ricochet n. 1769 ; tarbette
1772 ; echelon 1793 ; espionage 1793 ; tirailleur 1796 ; depdt
1794 ; sortie 1795 ; chasseur 1796 ; tricolor 1798 (first as
revolutionary flag) ; then, at the beginning of the nineteenth
164 HISTOEY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
century, feu de joie 1801 ; fusillade 1801 ; revet 1812 ; razee
(of warship) 1803 ; chaussfe (high-road in France, etc.) 1817.
People : digue 1711 ; solitaire * recluse ' 1716 ; savant 1719 ;
chaperon 1720 (it had been borrowed earlier in the sense of
' hood ') ; pr&aeuse 1727 ; pierrot 1741 (pienette not till 1888) ;
confrere 1753 (a re-borrowing; it had already been used in M.E.) ;
soubrette 1753 ; femme de chambre ' lady's maid * 1762 ;
protegS 1778 ; martinet 1779 ; abte 1780 ; colporteur 1796.
Buildings, furniture and other objects : chaise 1701 ; escritoire
1706 ; envelope 1707 ; entresol 1711 ; salon 1715 (French from
Italian ; saloon, which is probably directly from Italian, is
found in 1728 ; salle in 1762) ; bouquet 1716 ; gadroon, a pattern
used in architecture, 1723 ; bureau 1720 ( office ' ; as ' desk '
in 1742) ; mansard 1734 ; canteen 1737 ; diligence (' coach ')
1742 ; fauteuil 1744 ; gpergne 1761 ; pav< 1764 ; ormolu 1765 ;
boulevard 1772 ; chateau 1789 ; pis< 1797.
Dancing and games : pirouette 1706 ; carte, quarte (fencing)
1707 ; croupier 1707 ; roulette 1734 ; cotillion 1766 ; figurant(e)
(ballet-dancer) 1790 ; valse 1796.
Literature, art, music : critique 1702 ; roulade 1706 ; belles-
lettres 1710 ; bouts rimfa 1711 ; connoisseur 1714 ; faience
1714 ; coterie 1738 ; vaudeville (* a popular, topical song ')
1739 ; morceau 1751 ; vignette 1751 ; denouement 1752 ;
papier machg 1753 ; precis 1760 ; brochure 1765 ; conservatoire
1771 ; jongleur 1779 (historical, with reference to mediaeval
literature) ; nuance 1781 ; raiso&n 1777 ; trouvfcre 1795 (cf .
jongleur ; also troubadour, among words from Proven9al) ;
silhouette 1798.
Geographical, rivers, mountains, mountaineering, etc. : debris
1708 ; cul-de-sac 1738 ; glacier 1744 ; avalanche, crampon,
moraine (all in Coze's Travels in Switzerland) 1789 ; embouchure
1760 ; plateau 1796.
Animals and plants : chevrotain (a small musk-deer), loris
1774 (both in Goldsmith's Natural History); grison 1796.
cachou 1708 (cf. cashew) ; beurrl (pear) 1741 ; aubergine 1794
(in a book on Surinam).
Dress, textiles, etc. : grisette (grey fabric) 1700 ; velours
1706 ; pelisse 1718 ; tarlatan 1727 ; toupee 1727 ; cheiille 1738 ;
pompon 1748 ; rouge 1753 (earlier with reference to Heraldry) ;
THE FKENCH ELEMENT 165
moauette 1762 ; polonaise 1773 ; chignon 1783 ; epaulette 1783 ;
corduroy 1787 ; bandeau 1790.
Food and cooking : casserole, croquette, fricandeau, meringue,
ramekin, rissole, tureen 1706 ; ragout 1710 ; praline 1727 ;
matelote 1730 ; liqueur 1742 ; salmi 1759 ; plat 1763 ; blomange
1769 (this is the form on winch our modern pronunciation
depends ; it is a shortened form, either from French or from the
M.E. loan blancmanger) ; cuisine 1786 ; dejeuner 1787 ; aspic
1789 ; bechamel 1796 ; noyau 1797.
Colours, etc. : brunette 1712 ; bistre 1727 ; celadon 1768 ;
chatoyant 1798.
Medical, etc. : sac 1741 ; curette 1753 ; grippe (' influenza ')
1776 ; migraine 1777.
Social : picnic 1748 ; etiquette 1750 ; dflrat 1751 ; ffete 1754 ;
entree 1782 ; monde (society) 1765.
Personal qualities, behaviour, etc. : sang-froid 1712 ; outr
1722; r<5eherch6 1722; 6clat 1741; distrait 1748 (Lord
Chesterfield) ; empressement 1749 ; diablerie 1751 ; gauche
1751 ; morale 1753 ( moral principles 5 ; first used of troops
in 1831) ; persiflage 1757 ; ennui 1758 ; farouche 1765 ; passS
1775 ; intriguant 1781 ; insouciance 1799.
Miscellaneous : ensemble 1703 ; 6cu 1704 ; goffer 1706 ;
carte blanche 1707 (figuratively, in 1766) ; encore 1712 ;
menagerie 1712 ; hors d'ceuvre (adv. * out of the ordinary ',
Addison) 1714 (with reference to meal, 1742) ; police 1730 (civil
administration ; in modern sense, 1800) ; entrepot (commercial
dep6t) 1721 ; dftour 1738 ; hors de combat 1745 ; potpourri
(of flowers) 1749 ; embonpoint 1751 ; soi-disant 1752 ; vis-4-vis
1753 ; piaffe 1761 (of horse) ; chef-d'oeuvre 1762 ; douceur
1763 ; soup$on 1766 ; poste restante 1768 ; souvenir 1775 ;
route 1779 (cf. the earlier rout) ; coup 1791 ; gramme
1797.
The nineteenth century introduced more French words into
this country than any period since Middle English. The most
numerous are those under the headings of Art and Literature,
etc., Dress and Textiles, etc., the latter group, with Furniture,
etc., are perhaps the most typical of the centtuy ; it may be
observed that the majority of the words in these two groups
belong to the period between 1830 and 1860. Food and Cooking
166 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
are well represented, and there is a fair number of general political
terms.
Military : materiel 1814 ; parados 1834 ; sabreur 1845 ;
barrage 1859 ; fourgon (baggage-wagon) 1848 ; communigu6
1852 ; chassis 1869 (part of gun-carriage ; as part of a motor-
car, it is found first in 1903) ; frauctireur 1870 ; mitrailleuse
1870 ; melinite 1886.
People : rou 1800 ; habitat 1818 ; troupe 1825 (troop is an
older loan) ; raconteur 1829 ; attach^ 1835 (the compound
attach6~case appears in 1904) ; gallon 1839 (waiter) ; gamin 1840 ;
charg^ d'affaires 1850 ; clientele 1860 ; chauffeur 1899.
Buildings, institutions, etc. : morgue 1821 ; oubliette 1819 ;
abattoir 1840 ; lyc& 1865 ; crfeche 1882.
Furniture, and other things of Use and Ornament : chiffonier
1806 ; aventurine (a kind of glass) 1811 ; parget 1816 ;
secretaire 1818 ; jalousie 1824 ; reticule 1824 ; sachet 1838 ;
bric~4-brac 1840 ; jardiniere 1841 ; persiennes 1842 ; ch&telaine
1851; cheval-(glass) 1855; porttere 1855; 6tagfere 1858;
carte de visite 1861 ; passe-partout 1867.
Dancing and games : chassfi vb. 1803 ; 6cart6 1824 ; acrobat
1825 ; misfire 1830 ; glissade 1843 ; can-can 1848 ; croquet
1858 (a Northern French word, corresponding to crochet) ;
planchette 1860 ; b&faue 1861 ; gcossaise 1863 ; baccarat 1866 ;
coryphee 1866 ; lacrosse 1867.
Literature, art, music, and architecture : carillon 1803 ;
fabliau 1804 (historical) ; r&umS 1804 ; litterateur 1806 ; chevet
1809 ; sanserif 1830 ; dicM 1832 (metal stereotype used in
wood-engraving ; in the figurative sense, first in 1892) ;
flamboyant 1832 ; rococo 1836 ; atelier 1840 ; format 1840 ;
renaissance 1840 ; guilloche 1842 ; repertoire 1847 ; grisaille
1848 ; motif 1848 (as trimming for dress, 1882) ; baroque 1851 ;
repoussfi 1851 ; hachures (map-making) 1858 ; foyer 1859 ;
nocturne 1S62 ; doisonni 1863 ; dinanderie 1863 ; entr'acte
1863; baton 1867; aquarelle 1869; cor anglais 1870;
matinee 1880; aperpu 1882; macabre 1889 (M.E. has
this word in the phrase danse macabre) ; fin de sidcle 1890 ;
premiftre 1895.
Mountaineering : ravine 1802 ; aiguille 1816 ; crevasse 1819
(cf. the M.K loan vrevice) ; couloir 1855 ; moulin 1860 ; s&ac
THE FRENCH ELEMENT 167
1860 ; gendarme 1883 (in the sense of * policeman ' this appears
in 1796) ; n6v6 (field of snow) 1884 ; massif 1885,
Animals and plants : beche-de-mer 1814 ; guenon 1838 ;
grivet 1859 ; fer-de-lance 1880 ; griffon 1882. Immortelle 1832 ;
marguerite 1866.
Dress, textiles, etc. : rosette 1802 ; fichu 1803 ; chemisette
1807 ; pouffe 1817 (a head-dress ; as a cushion, 1884) ; moirg
1818 ; lorgnette 1820 (lorgnon 1846) ; jabot 1823 (shirt-frill ;
for women, 1881) ; crSpe 1825 ; blouse 1828 ; crinoline 1830 ;
costumier 1831 ; dcollet< 1831 ; trousseau 1833 ; lingerie
1835 ; nggligg 1835 ; peignoir 1835 ; redingote 1835 (but first
borrowed by French from English riding-coat) ; bijou 1838 ;
revers 1838 ; delaine 1840 ; appligug 1841 ; guipure 1843 ;
paillette 1843 ; crochet 1848 ; Wret 1850 (Basque cap) ; passe-
menterie 1851 ; modiste 1852 ; pigug 1852 ; postiche 1854 ;
corsage 1857 ; beige 1858 ; genappe (Belgian place-name)
1858 ; Sera 1869 ; picot 1869 ; brassard 1870 ; cretonne
(Normandy place-name, Cretori) 1870 ; frou-frou 1870 ; tricot
1872 ; layette 1874 ; chiffon (first in the plural, ' frills/ etc. ;
as material, in 1890) ; torchon 1879 ; pince-nez 1880 ; rivi&re
1880 ; ficelle 1882 ; suMe 1884 ; crfpon 1887 ; voile 1889.
Food and Cooking : ca& 1816 (coffee-house) ; gourmet 1820 ;
d la carte 1826 ; restaurant 1827 ; menu 1837 ; chef 1842.
Chasse-(cate) 1800 ; r&haufM 1805 (first in the figurative sense) ;
saute 1813 ; souffl6 1813 ; bonbon 1818 ; bain-marie 1822 ;
consonant 1824 ; purge 1824 ; vol-au-vent 1828 ; mayonnaise
1841 ; gratia 1846 ; quenelle 1846 ; frappg 1848 ; charlotte
1855 ; sorbet 1865 (1585 in the sense of ' sherbet ', which has
ultimately the same etymology) ; chartreuse 1866 ; fondant
1877; glac61882; noisette 1891 ; mousse 1892.
Vehicles : cabriolet 1823 ; char-a-banc 1832 ; coupg 1834 ;
now transferred to motor-vehicles.
Colours : ponceau (a bright red) 1835 ; cerise 1858 ; celeste
1881 ; sang-de-boeuf 1886 (especially of a deep red found in
Chinese porcelain).
Physical : svelte 1817 ; physique 1826 ; retroussS 1837 ;
timbre 1849.
Medical: rfile 1829 ; glycerine 1838 ; pipette 1839.
Social : parvenu 1802 ; surveillance 1802 ; stance 1803
168 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
(of spiritualism, 1845) ; luxe 1819 (later, train-de-luxe, etc.) ;
soiree 1820 ; flite 1823 ; dflratant 1824 (the feminine form in
1837) ; ne 1835 ; pourboire 1836 ; convenances 1847 ;
fiancfi 1853 ; demi-monde 1855 ; chic 1856 ; rente, rentier
1881 (with French pronunciation ; ci rent, borrowed in M.E.) ;
d&lassg 1887.
Qualities, behaviour, etc. : bonhomie 1803 ; exigeant 1803 ;
distingue 1813 ; mot 1813 ; savoir faire 1815 ; blasS 1819 ;
volte-face 1819 ; aplomb 1828 ; prestige 1829 (in modern sense ;
it had been borrowed earlier with the meaning of * illusion,
conjuring trick 5 ); camaraderie 1840; claque 1863; flaneur 1872 ;
flan 1880 ; flair 1881 ; reclame 1883 ; risquS 1883.
Political and diplomatic : rapprochement 1809 ; secretariat
1811 ; laissez-faire 1825 ; communism 1843 ; entente 1844 (in
the phrase entente cordiak) ; debacle 1848 (earlier in this century
in physical sense) ; impasse 1851 ; canard 1856 ; vis 1858 ;
octroi 1861 ; ftaeute 1862 ; raison d'etre 1867 ; enclave 1868 ;
chauvinism 1870 (with reference to the First Empire) ;
dossier 1880.
Miscellaneous : en masse 1802 ; litre 1810 (the word came into
use in France in 1793) ; hectare 1810 ; mirage (used by Southey
in figurative sense) 1812 ; in the physical sense, 1837 (Carlyle) ;
battue (of driving game) 1816 ; genre 1816 ; revenant 1828 ;
cabotage (coasting and coasting-trade) 1831 ; chute 1847 ;
clairvoyance 1847 ; bSte noire 1850 ; caporal (tobacco) 1850 ;
savate 1862 ; coupon 1864 ; cloche (in gardening) 1882 ; wagon-
lit 1884.
In the twentieth century words are still being borrowed from
France, though as in the nineteenth century the amount of
naturalization, anglicizing, and popularization which they
undergo varies very much. Even some quite recent loans are
on everyone's lips, while others, usually of a technical character,
have a restricted use. They are most frequent now in the
vocabulary of art, literature, the theatre (e.g. revue, vers libre,
montage), of dress (georgette, marocain, rayon, etc.), and of
mechanics, especially motoring and aviation (fuselage ; garage
1902 ; hangar ; limousine ; longeron ; nacelle).
These do not complete the whole list of recent borrowings or
occasional borrowings from French. The reader will be able to
THE FKENCE ELEMENT 169
add many more, chiefly of an abstract character, both from this
century, and from the latter part of the nineteenth. We may
conclude with a few miscellaneous ones : camouflage (1917) ;
pension (with French pronunciation) ; ballon d'essai ; borne ;
causerie ; champleve ; cire-perdue ; creme-de-menthe ; de trop ;
eclair ; enfant terrible ; entre nous ; idee fixe ; pied a terre.
And so we leave these French loans, with an acknowledgement
of our great debt to a neighbour nation, even if some of the loans
are rather unwillingly accepted. The question of repayment
does not arise.
CHAPTEE VI
LOW GERMAN AND HIGH GEKMAN
A. Low GEBMAN
Under the term Low German we include the dialects of Dutch
(sometimes called Low Franconian), Flemish, and continental
Saxon. The last-named includes the local dialects of North
Germany, and the term Low German (or Plattdeutsch) is some-
times applied specifically to these. The Low German dialects
are in many respects nearer in form to English than to High
German ; in Old and Middle English particularly the resemblance
was very close, and it is indeed sometimes impossible to decide
whether a word which is recorded perhaps first in the fourteenth
century, and which may be a Low German loan, is actually
foreign or is really a native word which has until then escaped
being recorded in writing.
Already in pre-Conquest times there were connexions between
England and the coasts of the Baltic. The racial tie between
the peoples of these countries was not entirely broken when the
Angles and Saxons left their continental homes. English
missionaries travelled and taught in North Germany ; and the
literature of that region (the most important extant specimen of
which is a poem on the Gospels, called the Heliand, dating from
the ninth century) certainly became known to Englishmen, for
we possess part of a poem on the Fall of the Angels, translated
from Old Saxon, of which fragments of the original still survive.
This poem shows certain usages and certain words which reflect
the Old Saxon original, though they did not become established
in English and can hardly be considered as loan-words.
There is ample historical evidence * of the close relations which
existed between England and the Dutch and Flemish-speaking
countries from the time of the Norman Conquest. The common
1 See especially J. F. Bense, Anglo-Dutch Relations from the Earliest Time*
to the Death of William III, 1026. Also the same writer's Dictionary of the
Low-Dutch Element in the English Vocabulary, O.tFJ?., 1926, etc.
LOW GERMAN 171
commercial interests of these countries in the Mddle Ages are
well known. Dutch, and Flemish immigrants, often skilled
workmen in various handicrafts, were constantly settling in
England, and their names are to be found in considerable numbers
in records from the beginning of the twelfth century down to the
present day. English merchants travelled, and sometimes settled,
in the Low Countries. English sheep produced the finest wool ;
Flemish weavers of the thirteenth century and later were the
best of their profession ; not only was English wool sold in
large quantities to Flanders, but Flemish workmen came to this
country to teach as well as to ply their trade. Nor was this
limited to those parts of England which were nearest to the
Continent. Wool-growing and weaving centres are known to
have existed in all parts of the country, many of the great
monastic houses, in particular, maintaining large flocks of sheep.
Hence the early Dutch and Flemish words may be found in any
part of England ; although far fewer in number, they are less
restricted in distribution than the Scandinavian loans of an earlier
period.
At the same time, trade was constant between the English
ports and those of the Hanseatie League, and this provided
at least one route by which Low German words could reach
England from the Baltic coast. English sailors and English
fishermen were constantly in touch with their Dutch neighbours ;
and in Tudor times paxticularlyj English soldiers fought side by
side with Dutch and Flemish in the wars in the Low Countries.
Then, too, religion and art both played their part as links
across the North Sea, and the honoured position of Dutch painting
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries led to the introduction
into Early Modern English of a number of Dutch words from the
vocabulary of art.
It is rather curious that there seems to be no special intro-
duction of Dutch words into English after the coming of a Dutch
prince, William m, to this country. But the lists given below
show no striking additions in the late seventeenth century which
could be ascribed to the influence of the new sovereign or his
court.
During the Early Modern and later periods English and Dutch
have come into contact or conflict in their colonies. Not many
172 HISTORY OF FOREIGN" WORDS IN ENGLISH
words seem to have been introduced into English, as a result of
the long struggle between these two nations in the East Indies.
The few exceptions are eastern words which entered English
through Dutch (e.g. bamboo ; see the chapter on Malay-
Polynesian). A more important contribution from Dutch to
English was made in South Africa. Parts of this area had been
Dutch-speaking since the seventeenth century, and when the
English at length established themselves at the Cape and
elsewhere, they adopted a number of words from Dutch settlers.
Some of these at least have become familiar in this country,
though most, as will be seen, are used with purely local reference.
Low German words came into English in the greatest numbers
in the sixteenth century, even if one considers only those which
are still in use. But a few Dutch words can be traced back as
early as the beginning of the thirteenth century.
Perhaps the earliest are poll c POLL, head * and drivel * servant '
(M.Du. polle, and M.Flem. drevel), which occur in the legend of
St. Margaret, c. 1200 ; drivel is found again in the sister-legend
of St. Eatherine, which has also another Low German word :
doten * to be foolish, rave ; DOTE ' (M.L.G. doten) ; this is to be
found also in the earlier manuscript of Lajamon (c. 1200) : me
punched pe aide mon wok dotie nou nan I, 140 ; and as a noun in
Sir Beves of Hamton : A$ilt pe, treitour, pow olde dote ! 217 ;
the noun dotard, with a French suffix, appears first in the late
fourteenth century. The earliest nautical word of Dutch origin
which we have is luff, from O.Du. loef, perhaps through Old
French. This occurs in La^amon, in reference to some device
for steering, though the exact meaning is uncertain ; other
senses developed later. Bounce, in the form bunsen (L.G.
bumseri) is used in the Ancrene Riwle (c. 1225) ; Der $e schulen
iseon bunsen ham mit tes deofles Settles [= clubs] 188 ; here the
sense is * to beat ' ; the intransitive use is not recorded till 1519.
The same text has also snccchen * SNATCH ', which seems to
be from MJDu. snaclcen, influenced by Eng. lacchen and cacchen.
The North-East Midland writer Orm (c. 1200) seems to have only
one Low German word, hucster e HUCKSTER ' in the phrase
hucsteres hope. Another East Midland poem, the paraphrase of
Genesis and Exodus (c. 1250) has the word takel * TAOKLE ' (L.G.
taJcel, a Scandinavian loan), in the sense of * gear, implements '.
LOW GERMAN 173
The word BOY, whose origin is quite uncertain, but which may
be Low German, seems to correspond most closely in form and
meaning to East Frisian boi * young gentleman ' ; it is found
first in the legend of Beket (MS. Cotton Harley 2277, c. 1300) :
$unge chiUerne and wyUe boyes also ; and a little later in the
romance of Havelok, which has also ling (fish ; Du. lenge). The
word bouse ' BOOZE, drink deeply ? also appears during
the fourteenth century ; and another Dutch word to do with
drinking, or rather brewing, is gyle * quantity of ale brewed at
one time ' (besides other technical senses) ; this occurs first in
a Yorkshire will of 1341, in the compound gyk-fatt (gyle-vat),
and later, in the form gyylde, in the Promptorium Parvulorum,
an English-Latin dictionary of about 1440. The fourteenth
century also adopted waynscot c WAINSCOT ', originally of a fine
oak imported from Holland and used for panelling (Ely Sacr.
Rolls, 1352) ; hobble (M.Du. hobbekn ' to rock from side to side * ;
out of Jieuene into helle hobleden faste Piers Plowman A I, 113 ;
c. 1362) ; splint, first in the sense of a metal plate or peg (MJDu.
splente ; He was armyd in splentes of steel Eichard Goer de Lyon
4979) ; kit (M.Du. kitte), first in the sense of ' tub ', 1375 ; flue,
a kind of fishing-net (M.Du. vloum ; j rete vocatum wade et j
fiowe Accounts of Abingdon Abbey, Camden Soc., 1388-9) ;
kilderkin e cask, half a barrel * (MDu. kindeb/n), 1390 ; skipper
(M.Du. schipper, roaster of a ship) 1390 ; and finally Lollard,
which is from M.Du. Lotta&rd, formed from the verb loUen * to
hum ' ; the Dutch word was applied first, about 1300, to members
of a fraternity who cared for the sick, and arranged funerals for
the poor ; they had achieved a reputation for exaggerated piety
and humility.
The fifteenth-century Dutch loans are nearly all nautical,
commercial, and industrial. The chief source is the Promptorium
Parvulorum (mentioned above) from East Anglia. (Words
dated 1440 are from this work, which also contains a number of
other Low German words which do not occur here for the first
time.)
Commercial : firkin 1423 in one of the Acts of Henry VI ;
probably from a MJDu. verdelkvjn) ; mart 1437 (MDu. marct,
like market, from Lat. mercatus ; in the first instances referring
to the markets of Antwerp and Bruges) ; hop (plant) 1440
174 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
(O.Du. hoppe ; England had a native humulus, but the
variety used in brewing was perhaps introduced from Flanders,
together with other things used in the brewing industry) ;
pickle (M.Du. pekel) 1440 ; spool (MDu. spoek) 1440 ;
rack n. 1440 (L.Genn. rakk ; the Prompt. Parv. has
ralcJce as equivalent to praesepe 422 ; Wyclif (and other
writers) associates it with ' manger y : at racke and at manger,
etc.) ; sled (MDu. sledde) 1440 ; selvedge (E.Mod.Du. selfegghe,
but assimilated to self + edge ; first in the Boke of Curtasye
1460, with reference to the selvedge of the * dowbull napere '
on the table) ; guilder, apparently from the Flemish gulden,
1481 (Caxton) ; corf, a kind of basket of fish, etc., 1483 (Caxton) ;
Mechlin (lace) 1483 ; excise (M.Du. extijs, from Lat.) 1494.
Nautical : marline (Du. marlijn) 1417 : buoy (M.Du. bqje,
boei) 1466 ; deck (Du. dec ' roof, covering * ; the nautical sense
seems to be a development in English of the sense e roof 3 etc.
(also found in English) ; this meaning does not appear in Dutch
till the seventeenth century) 1466 ; orlop (M.L.G. overlap)
1467 ; hoist, variant of hoise (Du. hijschen) 1490 (Caxton) ;
hoy (An hoye of Dorderyght, Paston Letters 1495 ; M.Du. hoy) ;
hose (M.Du. Tioos, the same word as Eng. hose ' stocking * ;
mah/ng of hoses for the pompes of the seid ship Naval Accounts,
Henry VII, 1495).
Military : bulwark 1430 (Lydgate) ; M.Du. has bolwerk,
probably from M.H.G. bolewerc ; it is used first of a rampart,
earthwork, etc. (cf . FT. boulevard, also from Dutch) ; the nautical
sense is not found till 1804.
Miscellaneous : pip (M.Du. pip ; Other while an hen wul ha
the pippe, / A whit pilet that wul the tonge enrounde) c. 1420
(PaUadius on Hosebondrie) ; brake, in three senses all perhaps from
Du. or L.G. : * thicket ' (M.L.G. brake) 1440 ; * instrument for
beating flax ' 1440, but the verb a little earlier, 1398 ; for
vehicle (M.Du. braeke) 1430 ; boor ' peasant ' (Du. boer 9 whence
the later Boer ; M.L.G. bur ; Of tilthe of lande treteth the boueer
Lydgate) 1430 ; loiter (probably MJDu. leuteren ; 1440, unless
the emendation of kltrande to kitrande (Pres. Part.) in the
alliterative poem of Patience 458 be accepted) ; placard 1481,
but through French plaque (cf . Mod. plaque)> which formed the
noun from the M.Du. verb pladcen * to stick * ; it was used of a
LOW GERMAN 175
formal document with a seal stuck on to it ; the suffix -ard is
French ; bruin 1481 (Caxton's translation of tlie popular epic
Reynard the Fox) ; snap n. (Du. snap) 1495 ; the verb (Du.
snappen) appears in 1530 ; groove (M.Du. groeve ' trench,
groove ' ; Wars of Alexander, fifteenth century, in the sense of
* cave ' ; later it means c channel, hollow ; mine, pit ') ; luck
(M.Du. luc ; Wher-for lucke and good Jianselle my hert y sende you
Political, Religious, and Love Poems of the XV Century).
The sixteenth century introduced a number of military words
from the Low Countries, and its close also brought us the first
of the Dutch words relating to art, most of which are recorded
first in the following century. Nautical words are still to the fore.
Commercial and industrial : gulden (early sixteenth century) ;
stiver (Du. stuiver) 1502 ; hawker (from M.L.G. JioJcer, or perhaps
from hoc * retail dealer ') 1510 ; scone (probably shortened from
L.G-. schonbrod) 1513 ; isinglass (0 JDu. huizenblas ' sturgeon's
bladder ', assimilated to glass) 1528 ; cambric (from the Flemish
place-name Kamerijk = Cambrai) 1530 ; muff (Du. mof)
1579 (Ben Jonson) ; flue, earlier floow * woolly fluff ' (MJDu.
vloe, or WJlem. vluwe) 1589 ; doit (M.Du. duit) 1594 ; anker,
a liquid measure, 1597 ; rix-doflar (Du. rijksddler) 1598.
Nautical : dock (M.Du. docke) 1513 ; splice (M.Du. splissen ;
recorded in England first of bell-ropes : Paid for SpUsyng of
v beU ropis vd Eecords of St. Mary at Hill) 1524 ; rove, originally
' to practise piracy * (Du. rooven) 1536 ; train-(oil) 1553
(Chancelour, in Halduyt's Voyages, with reference to whaling) ;
yacht (Du. jacht) 1557 ; freebooter (M.Du. vribueter ' pirate ')
1570 ; shallop 1578 (Du. sloep, through Fr. cJidoupe ; cf . sloop
in the seventeenth century) ; monsoon 1684 (originally Arabic ;
came into Dutch through Portuguese) ; reef 'ridge of rock ',
earlier riff (Du. ref, rif) 1584 ; filibuster (like freebooter, from
Du. vribuet&r ; the I is perhaps due to Du. vlieboot, Eng. flyboat
1577) 1587 ; swabber (Du. zwabber) 1592, of part of crew.
Military : sutler (Du. zootdaer) 1500 ; wag(g)on 1523 (Berners,
Froissart ; Du. wagen) ; uproar * insurrection ' (Du. oproer)
1526 ; snaffle (Du. snavel) 1533 ; snaphance, of the cock of a gun
(Du. snaphaari), 1538 in a transferred sense, of an armed robber ;
forlorn hope, originally a picked detachment leading an attack
(Du. verloren hoop * lost troop *), 1539 ; the abstract sense is
176 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
found already in 1572 ; hackbut (through Fr. haquebut, from Du.
haakbus) 1541 ; linstock 1560 (Du. lontstok ' match stick ' ;
it has been influenced in English by lint, i.e. flax used as tinder) ;
beleaguer (Du. bekgeren) 1589 ; (land)loper (Du. looper ' runner '),
before 1583.
People : younker ' young man ' (Du. jonker) 1505 ; minikin
' darling * (MDu. minnekijn) 1541 ; minx (E.ModDu. mensch,
of woman in depreciatory sense in neuter) 1542 ; palsgrave
' Count Palatine ' 1548 ; margrave (MDu. marcgrave ; The
marcgraue as thei caU him of Bruges, Robinson's translation of
More's Utopia) 1551 ; burgher 1568 ; Quacksalver (Du. kwak-
zalver), Gosson's School of Abuse 1579 ; burgomaster (Du.
burgemeester, with assimilation of the second element to master)
1592 ; wiseacre (M.Du. urijs-segger, from M.H.G. weis-sager) 1595.
Art : manikin 1570 (E.Mod.Du. manneken \ Thus, of a
Manneken, (as the Dutch painters terme it) . . . may a Giant be
made ; cf . Fr. mannequin, also from Dutch ; this appears in
English in 1911) ;*(land)scape (MDu. lantscap) 1598.
Miscellaneous : (i) Verbs : mum * to act in dumb-show '
(Mod.Du. mommen ' to mask, masquerade ') 1530, but the
noun mumming, c. 1465 ; foist (M.Du. vuysten ' to take in the
fist ' ; perhaps introduced first as a gambling term) 1545 ;
snip (Du. snippen * to cut in small pieces J ) 1558 ; spatter
(apparently a frequentative from Du. spatten ' to burst, spout ')
1582 (Stanyhurst's Mneis)\ ravel (M.Du. ravekn) 1582;
domineer (Du. domineeren, which is from French) 1588 ; split
(MDu. splitten) 1590 ; rant (M.Du. ranten) 1598. (ii) Other
words : litmus (M.Du. leecmoes) 1502, spelt ly$tmose ; fitch * pole-
cat ' (M.Du. vitsche) 1502 ; spit n., of earth in digging, 1507-8 ;
frolic adj. (M.Du. vrolyc ; And make frowlyke chere, Bale's Thre
Lawes) 1538 ; the verb in 1583 ; pad ' path, track ', 1554,
originally a slang term (Du. pad) ; siskin 1562 (M.Du. sijsken,
from L.G. zieske, from Slav, czyzik) ; kermess (Du. kermis,
from M.Du. kerk-misse) 1577.
The seventeenth century brought in rather fewer words than
the sixteenth ; they belong for the most part to the sea, to
warfare, and to art.
Commercial and industrial : coper (MDu. coper ' merchant ')
1609 ; brandy, earlier brandewine (Du. brandewijn ' vinum
LOW GERMAN 177
ardens ') 1622 ; stoker 1660 (of brewer's furnace) ; stum,
unfermented grape-juice, 1662 (Du. stom) ; duffel (from name of
town in Brabant) 1677 ; smuggle (L.G. smuggeln) 1687.
Nautical : smack (M.Du. smacke) 1611 ; keelhaul (E.Mod.Du.
kielhakn) 1626 ; garboard (Du. gaarboord] 1626 ; sloop (Du.
sloep) 1629 ; hooker (E.Mod.Du. Jioeck-boot) 1641 ; cruise (Du.
kruisen ; tHs loan belongs to the time of the first Anglo-Dutch
war) 1651 ; walrus (Du., from Swed. mllross) 1655 ; jib 1661
(this seems to be a variant of gybe 1693 ; Du. gijben) ; patroon
* master of a ship ', etc. (Du. patroon) 1662 ; yawl (Du.
jol) 1670.
Military : knapsack (Du. knapzak) 1603 ; onslaught (Du.
aanslag ; influenced by slaughter) 1625 ; furlough (Du. verlof)
1625 ; tattoo (Du. taptoe) 1644 ; blunderbuss (an altered form of
Du. dunderbus) 1654.
Art : easel (Du. ezel) 1654 ; maulstick (Du. maaktok, re-formed
with Eng. second element) 1658 ; sketch (Du. schets, a loan from
Ital. schizzo ; the Latin word from which this comes is used in
a literary sense, and is itself a loan-word from Greet) 1668 ;
stipple (Du. stippelen) 1669 ; lay-(man) e lay-figure ' (Du. leeman)
1688 ; lay-figure in 1795.
Agriculture, etc. : decoy, also coy, 1618 (Du. kooi ' cage ' ;
the source of the de- is doubtful ; it may be the Dutch definite
article) ; morass (Du. moeras, from French ; in the earlier
part of the seventeenth century many Dutchmen were employed
on the drainage of the fens) 1655.
People : outlander 1605 (Verstegan ; English in form, but
suggested by Du. uitlander) ; Dopper * Baptist ' (E.Mod.Du.
dooper ; later from S. African Dutch = member of the Dutch
Eeformed Church of S. Africa) 1620.
Miscellaneous : (i) Verbs : hanker (Kem. hankeren) 1601 ;
slur (M.Du. sleuren l to draggle ') 1609 ; drill vb. c to bore '
(E.Mod.Du. driUen) 1611 ; other senses from this or directly
from Dutch ; snort (L.G. snorten) 1619 ; shamble (M.Du.
schampekn) 1681 ; snuff (MJDu. snuffen ' to clear the nose ')
1683 ; the noun is from the verb ; hustle (Du. Jvutsekn) 1684
(Otway). (ii) Other words : spancel (M.Du. spansel) 1610 ;
skate (Du. schaatz, from Er. eschace ' stilt ', from L.G. shake
' leg ' ; so the word is, as it were, doubly from Low German)
178 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS EST ENGLISH
1656 ; slim 1657 ; spelter (L.G. spialter) 1661 (Boyle) ; abele
(Du., from Fr. ; a finer sort of white Poplar, which the Dutch call
abele 1681) ; mallemuck, the fulmar (Du. maUemok) 1694.
The eighteenth, century is specially remarkable for the
beginning of the introduction of words from South African
Dutch ; the earliest is from 1731. These are due partly to political
contacts between the two races in the Cape of Good Hope, but
mostly to the writings of travellers.
Commercial : geneva (Du. jenever, from O.Fr. genevre from
Lat. juniperus ; the word was wrongly associated in English
with the Place-Name Geneva) 1706 ; the shortened form gin
appears in 1714 ; colza (Du. Jcoolzaad = coleseed, through
French colsat, colza) 1712 ; lambrequin (Du. lamperkin, again
through French) 1725.
Nautical : schooner (this is Du. schooner, apparently borrowed
first from Eng. scoon * to skim over the water ' ; reborrowed
by English from Dutch in America) 1716 ; pea-jacket (probably
from Frisian pijekkat ; again found first in America) 1725 New
Jersey Archives ; drogher, a vessel used in the coasting-trade
of the West Indies, 1756 ; caboose (M.Du. Jcaluse) 1769 ; vaug
1769 ; scow (Du. schouw) 1775.
Military : roster (Du. rooster) 1727.
Miscellaneous : spillikin (M.Du. diminutive of spille ' pin,
peg ') 1734 ; wentletrap (Du. wenteltrap ; earlier * spiral stair ')
1758 ; mangle n. (Du. mangel ; ultimately from Greek magganon)
1774 ; dune (MDu. duun, but through French ; ultimately the
same word as down) 1790 ; moss-bunker * menhaden ' (Du.
marsbunker) 1792 ; trass, a volcanic earth used as cement,
(Du, tras, from ItaL terrazza) 1796,
South African : kloof 1731 (Medley's translation of Kolben's
Cape of Good Hope : Kloof, as the Dutch catt it ; so not really
accepted as a loan-word) ; steenbok, springbok (Masson, journey
to the Cape) 1775 ; duiker, gemsbok (Forster, Voyage Round the
World) 1777 ; ratel 1777 ; klipspringer 1785 ; eland, hartebeest,
grysbok (Sparrman, Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope) 1786 ;
krantz, earlier krauts 1798*
In the nineteenth century the greater number of Dutch loans
are from South Africa, several appearing first in newspaper
reports. A few words come first into American English.
HIGH GERMAN 179
Nautical : taffrail (Du. tafereel) 1814 ; flench, flense, a whaling
term, 1814 (the whaling industry was mainly in. the hands of the
Dutch until the late eighteenth century, after which the English
interest in it increased largely) ; specktioneer, the chief harpooner
in a whaler, (Du. spek-snijer, from spek * blubber ' + snijden
' to cut ') 1820.
Miscellaneous : sprue, a tropical disease (Du. spruw) 1825 ;
plague (French from Flemish) 1848 ; schipperke 1887.
Words borrowed by American English : spook 1801 (in an
American journal) ; waffle (Du. wafel) 1808 ; boss (Du. baas)
1822 ; dope 1880.
South African : meerkat 1801 (Barrow, Travels in South
Africa) ; aardvaxk, aardwolf 1833 ; wildebeest 1838, Veldt 1801 ;
sjambok 1804 (Dutch from Malay a reflection of the Dutch
power in the East Indies originally Persian : chabuq ' whip ') ;
biltong 1815 ; stoep, outspan (BurchelTs Travels) 1822 ; com-
mando, -military party, 1834 ; knobkerrie (the second element is
Hottentot), trek 1849 (Napier, Excursions in S. Africa) ;
predikant (Daily News) 1849 ; laager 1850 ; inspan 1850 ; spoor
(Gumming, A Hunter's Life in 8. Africa) 1850 ; mealie 1853
(Du. from Portuguese) ; commandeer (The Times, with reference
to the Boers) 1881 ; kopje (Contemporary Review) 1881 ; banket,
a gold-mining term, 1886 ; taal 1898.
B. HIGH GERMAN
There was less direct influence of High German on English in
the earlier stages of the language than we have found in the case
of French, Dutch, or Scandinavian. It has already been indicated
that French possessed a number of words which came originally
from Germanic or High German, and some at least of these came
into English during the Middle English period ; but until the
sixteenth century the only word which appears to have reached
this country directly from Southern Germany is the Old English
word for the Greeks : Creacas, which comes, it has been main-
tained, from O.H.G. Kriaha (from Lat. Graec-), in which the
initial consonant represents the regular change of g to k in the
South German dialects ; this explanation of the Old English
form is, however, doubtful.
180 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS BST ENGLISH
The most distinctive contribution of German to English has
been, in the domain of mineralogy, and though many of these
words have remained only in technical use, some are in universal
use, e.g. zinc, nickel The Germans were noted for their skill
in mining and metal-work as early as the fifteenth century, and
in the late sixteenth century German workmen (certain Almaynes)
were brought into England for working the copper and other
ores in Cumberland and elsewhere. Elizabeth incorporated two
companies for working the English mines, and many Germans
were employed by them. 1
Beginning in the sixteenth century, the first German loan-
words which can be certainly traced are the following : landgrave
1516 ; junker, a young German noble (cf. Dutch jonker, adopted
in English as younlcer), 1554 ; kreutzer 1547 ; lobby 1553 ;
originally a monastic term, coming into English from Mediaeval
Latin laubia, lobia (from O.H.G. *laubja) rather than directly
from German ; from the same Latin form the French loge is
derived, borrowed in Middle English as lodge ; kinchin * child *,
a cant term, from Germ, kindchen, 1561 ; carouse n. and vb.,
through French from Germ, (trinken) gar aus e drink to the last
drop ', 1567.
Seventeenth century loans are only slightly more numerous :
Commercial : groschen 1617 ; drill (fabric, Germ, dnllich) is
abbreviated from the earlier drilling, which is found in 1640 ;
silesia, a fine linen or cotton fabric (made originally in Silesia,
which is the Latinized form of ScMesien) 1674. Military :
lansquenet, a mercenary soldier, 1607 (Germ, landsknecht,
through French) ; plunder (Germ, plundern) 1632 ; shabrach,
a saddle-cloth (originally a Turkish word) 1667 ; sabre (through
French from Germ, sdbel, but Slavonic in origin) 1680.
Mineralogical : zinc 1651 ; guhr (from a Germ, dialect) 1686.
Products of, and things specially associated with, Germany :
hamster, a kind of rodent, 1607 ; sauerkraut 1617 ; morgen,
a measure of land, 1674 ; krummhorn, a musical instrument,
1694 ; a French version of this word appears also in the same
year (cromorne) ; and finally the German word for a water-
nymph, undine, fairly well known, though hardly naturalized
1 See the Charter of the Mines Royal, 1568, and letters concerning English
and Welsh mines and German miners, in R. H. Tawney and E, Power, Tudor
Economic Documents, voL i, London, 1924.
HIGH GEKMAN 181
(the word in German was formed from the Mod. Lat. Undina,
coined by Paracelsus).
Mineralogical and geological terms become more numerous
in the eighteenth century, forming indeed more than half of this
century's contribution. We find in addition such familiar words
as iceberg and waltz.
Military : hetman 1710 (this is actually a Polish form of the
German hauptmann, and was used for a captain or military
commander in Poland) ; uhlan 1753 (this came to us from
German, but that language borrowed it from Polish, in which it
was a loan-word from Turkish ughlan e son, youth, servant 5 ) ;
jaeger c rifleman ' (Germ, jdger, originally ' hunter ') 1776.
Mineralogical, etc. : cobalt 1728 (Germ. kdbalt y probably the
same word as Jcobold) ; seltzer (Germ, Selterser, from Belters, a
village in Prussia) 1741 ; shale, a laminated rock (Germ, schale
' scale ') 1747 ; quartz 1756 ; spath(ic) 1763 ; fel(d)spar (Germ.
feldspar) 1757 (Costa, Natural History of Fossils) ; sinter 1757 ;
gneiss, wolfram (Henckel's Pyritology) 1757 ; hornblende 1770 ;
nickel 1775 ; schorl 1779 ; meerschaum 1784 ; nephrite 1794 ;
speiss 1796 ; wacke 1796.
Products of Germany : maw(seed), seed of the opium poppy,
1730 (Germ. dial, mahsaat, cf . Germ. moJin c poppy ') ; landau
1743 (Place-Name) ; pumpernickel 1756 ; zinke, a musical
instrument, 1776 ; mangel-wurzel (Germ, mangold-iourzel ' beet
+ root ') 1779 ; waltz 1781 (the French form of this, valse,
appears in English in 1796).
Miscellaneous : zigzag (through French from Germ, zickzack)
1712 ; veneer n. 1702, vb. 1728 (a curious example of borrowing
and re-borrowing ; Germ, furnieren, which became Eng. veneer,
is from French fourner, from an O.H.G. form) ; iceberg 1774
(Germ, eisberg).
Nineteenth century : Military : fugleman (Germ, fliigelmawn,)
1804 ; landsturm 1814 ; landwehr 1815 ; and here might be
included the French kepi 1861, which is from German-
Swiss Jcdppi.
Mineralogy : gangue (through French, from Germ, gang)
1809 ; loess 1835 ; spiegeleisen 1868 ; kainite 1868 ; kiesel-
guhr 1875.
Birds and animals : lammergeier 1817 ; poodle 1825 (Germ.
182 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
pudel(hund), from L.G. pudeln ' to splasli ') ; spitz 1845 ;
dachshund 1881.
Food and drink : vermouth (French vermout, from Germ.
wermuth) 1806 ; schnapps 1818 ; lager 1853 ; kirsch 1869 ;
kiimmel 1882 ; marzipan 1891 (the origin of this German word
is unknown ; corresponding forms occur in many European
languages, including English, which has marchpane, found first
in the fifteenth century, now quite superseded by the
German form).
Music : kapellmeister 1838 ; zither 1850 ; leitmotiv 1876
(with reference to the operas of Wagner) ; humoresgue (Germ.
humoresJce) 1889.
Words relating to Switzerland : alpenstock 1829 ; yodel
(Germ, jodeln) 1830 ; edelweiss 1862.
Educational : semester (Germ, from Latin) 1827 ; kinder-
garten 1852, type of school devised by Friedrich Frobel (1782-
1852) ; seminar 1889.
Scientific : paraffin (Germ, name invented by Reichenbach in
1830) 1835 ; protein (Germ, from Greek) 1869 ; ohm 1870 (from
the name of a German physicist) ; and we may include here
veronal 1903.
Miscellaneous : kohl-rabi (Germ, from Ital. cavoli rape ' cole-
rape ') 1807 ; deckle (Germ, deckel) 1810 ; barouche (Germ. dial.
larutsche, from Ital. barrotid) 1813 ; buhl (Germ, adaptation of
the French name Boule) 1823 ; kobold 1830 ; nix, a water-sprite,
1833 ; poltergeist 1838 ; Philippine 1848 (through French from
Germ, viettiebchen, approximated to the personal name Philippe) ;
knzsaal 1849; schottische (Germ, sckottische tanz 'Scottish
dance ') 1854 ; rinderpest, a disease of cattle, 1865 ; coburg
a fabric, 1882 ; hinterland 1890 ; Zeitgeist 1893 ; rucksack 1895.
CHAPTER VII
THE ITALIAN ELEMENT
Next 1 to Latin, French, and Scandinavian, the language to
which English owes the greatest number of foreign words is
Italian. Its influence, however, extends over a shorter period,
while it must be remembered that a good many Italian loans
have come to us, not directly, but through French, and that
a good many also are not naturalized here, but retain in some
measure an Italian form or application, or both (e.g. gondola,
doge, camorra, condottiere), even though some have settled down
entirely as English words (e.g. race * stock', traffic., umbrella,
artichoke, and even volcano and macaroni). It is the vocabularies
of art, music, and literature that have acquired most from Italian
during the last three centuries, but the earliest Italian loans
were of a commercial or Trn1.ita.Ty character.
Of loans before the sixteenth century there are very few, and
all came through French. Even diplomatic relations in the Middle
Ages, and a slowly increasing acquaintance with contemporary
Italian literature during the fourteenth century (culminating
in Chaucer's translations from the Italian) seem to have brought
to this country few or no Italian terms to add to the common
stock. But when the Tudor period begins there is an inrush of
new terms from Italy, and Italian borrowing reaches its peak
in the second half of the sixteenth century. During the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries (and even in the fourteenth) there was
a direct connexion between England and Italy through the
Flanders galleys, which carried the Flemish trade ; these sailed
to Venice regularly every year, and part of the fleet touched as
regularly at three English ports on their return from Italy.
It has just been said that trade terms owe much to Italy, and
it is in these words of Tudor times that to us nowadays commerce
seems to wear its aspect of highest romance. Perhaps there is
1 See especially Mario Praz, The Italian Element in English, in Essays and
Studies by Members of the English Association, voL xv, 1929.
183
184 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
some magic in the Italian words themselves, or perhaps it is
partly literary associations that stir the mind when we read of
caravel, of frigate, of galleass, or of the ocean where
argosies with portly sail
Like signiors and rich burghers on the flood
Or, as it were, the pageants of the sea,
Do overpeer the petty traffickers,
That curtsy to them, do them reverence,
As they fly by them with their woven wings.
But even as the commerce of England was preparing to carry
the words of Italy farther and farther afield, the strength of
Italian trade was beginning to decline. From the early sixteenth
century Spain and Portugal led the way across the oceans, while
Italy's scope remained within the confines of the Mediterranean
coasts. However, while Italian commercial terms in English
increase little in number after the end of the sixteenth century,
words relating to the arts, which have by then begun to make
their appearance, accumulate fast in succeeding periods. Names
of musical instruments and types of music (beginning with the
madrigaty, terms of art and of literature (beginning with the
sonnet on the one hand, and with the "buffoon of Italian comedy
on the other), are as common as words of trade by the end of
the century.
But we must turn back to the Middle English period to consider
those words which can be traced back to Italian, even though
they came to us indirectly. To the fourteenth century belong
florin (Ital. fiorino, through French, and influenced by Latin ;
it owes its name to the fact that when first minted at Florence
it bore the city's badge, a lily), earliest in 1303, and thereafter
several times in that century ; the military alarm (from French,
from Ital. attarme = aW arme * to arms ! ') from 1325 ; million
(Chaucer, milioun ; Ital. mittione) 1362 ; commercial again in
ducat 1384 (Ital. ducato). The word Lombard reminds us of the
connexion in this country between Italians and banking ; it
acquired the general sense of * financial agent, banker ' in Old
French ; the same development of sense took place in English,
and already in the fourteenth century Langland uses Lumbardes
without geographical implication.
ITALiAJN JDLEJVIblJNT 185
In the fifteenth century brigand (Chaucer, brigaunt 1400)
brings to our minds a danger to commerce, while mizzen (Fr.,
from Ital. mezzana) 1465, and bark (Fr. barque, Ital. barca) 1475,
carry trade to sea. One article of trade is to be found in the fish-
name tunny 1480 which is (through French) from Ital. tonno
(from Latin, but before that Greek, and probably ultimately
from a pre-Hellenic Mediterranean language).
During the sixteenth century words came to us directly from
Italy, and not only by way of France. This is partly due to the
growing fashion of travel in Italy, whence many travellers
returned imbued with Italian manners and customs, as well as
with a knowledge of the language, and partly to a far closer
acquaintance with Italian literature than there had been before.
Translations from Italian became numerous, and the popularity
of Italian plots, characters, and scenes may be seen by a glance
at Shakespeare alone, to say nothing of Jonson, Massinger,
Beaumont, and Fletcher, and others of Ms successors. Poets
such as Wyatt and Surrey brought us Italian forms of verse,
and Spenser and lesser writers after him owe much to Ariosto
in characters, in episodes, in turns of phrase, if not in temper. 1
Aiiosto has indeed given us the word rodomontade (see below),
and it has been suggested that the popularity of the word yaladin
at one time is due to his influence.
Let us now consider the individual loans which belong to this
century, and make an attempt at classifying them. First, words
indicating rank and office and people in general : race (Fr.,
from Ital. razza) 1500 is now used universally ; nnncio 1528
is chiefly used now, as in the sixteenth century, of a Papal
ambassador, but it will be remembered that Shakespeare could
use it as a general term for * messenger } 2 ; poltroon 1529 is
interesting in form, since it is the first of a number of loans in
which -oon represents an Anglicizing of French -on from Ital.
-one (cf . baUoon ; bassoon ; maroon ; pmtaloon, etc.) ; artisan
(Pr. from Ital. artigicwo, cf . partisan, for the form) 1538 is now
thoroughly English ; podesta 1548 was known first, as it was used
in Italy, for the governor, under the Empire, of a city of
1 See especially B. B. C. Davis, Edmund Spenser, pp. 84- ff.
* ' She -will attend it better in thy youth/Than in a nuncio of more grave
aspect 'Twelfth NigU, I, iv.
186 HISTORY OP FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Lombardy, but its use was extended later to the chief magistrate
of other cities, though it is still confined to Italy, as is also doge
1549 (Venetian) ; partisan * supporter * appears in 1555, and
populace (Fr., from ItaL popolaccio), another word of general
application, in 1572 ; magnifico 1573 and signor 1577 were applied
to Italian noblemen and gentlemen. Other aspects of Italian
life are reflected in mountebank 1577 (Ital. montambanco) and
bravo c villain * 1597, the former now having the wider use.
Madonna is used as a form of address to a lady, in Shakespeare
and elsewhere (first in 1584) ; as a term of art, signifying a picture
of the Madonna, it is found first in 1644. Pedant is also used by
Shakespeare in the sense of ' schoolmaster, tutor '.
Social activities, customs, clothes, etc. : gambol 1503 ; scope
1534, now a word of very wide application, came into English
with the sense of * space for free exercise of movement ', though
its original meaning had been * target, mark, thing aimed at ' ;
peruke (Fr. from Ital. perruca) 1547 ; disgrace (Fr. disgratier,
Ital. disgra&iare) 1549 ; ballot, with reference to voting, 1549 ;
gondola 1549 ; carnival 1549 ; lazaretto 1549 ; (these last four
from Thomas's History of Italie) ; cassock 1550 was not always
a term of clerical dress, but was used earlier for a long, loose
gown which might be either civil or military ; as applied to
the dress of an Anglican clergyman it is used first in 1663 ;
mustachio has been referred to already under its French form
moustache (Ital. mostacdo) ; the (more or less) Italian form is
still occasionally used ; it appears in 1551 ; strappado 1560
(Ital. strappata) has had its suffix re-formed, perhaps on the
analogy of Spanish words in -ado ; most of the Italian words
in -ata have come to us with the French form of the suffix :
-ode (e.g. arcade) ; lottery 1567 (this is ultimately a Gmc. word) ;
pall-mall 1568 (Fr. pattemaitte, from Ital. pattamaglio) ; this
game is now obsolete, but its name, used also for the type of
alley in which it was played, has survived in the London street-
name Pott-Matt, which dates from 1656 ; galligaskins, still
occasionally used for a kind of breeches, or gaiters, is an irregular
form from Er. gcvrguesque from Ital. greckesca, a feminine
adjectival form meaning * in the Greek fashion, a la grecque ' ;
it is found first in 1577 ; seraglio (ItaL serr-) 1581, referring
originally to the palace of the Sultan at Constantinople ; garb
ITALIAN ELEMENT 187
1591 lias the general sense of * fashion, style, manner * ; ItaL
garbo meant ratter e grace, elegance ' ; concert 1598 is found
first as a verb, * to bring to accord, bring into agreement ? ;
the noun does not appear till 1656, in a musical sense in 1689 ;
biretta 1598, and the now obsolete card-playing term taroc,
tarot (Ital. tarocca) 1598, close this century.
Italian products, plants, etc., give us very few words at this
period : rocket (the herb), Fr. roquette, from ItaL ruchetta,
1530 ; tarantula (Ital. -ola) 1561 ; belladonna 1597 ; macaroni
(Ital. maccaroni, later maccheroni) 1599.
Terms relating to military matters, or to horsemanship, for
which the Italian was celebrated, are fairly numerous, and many
have survived, often with changed or generalized meanings.
Plastron 1506, through French, representing ItaL piastrone ;
post 1506 (Fr. from ItaL posta) was applied first to the relays of
mail-carriers who bore royal despatches ; pistol 1550 is shortened
from pistolet, a French derivative of ItaL pistol-ese, from the
Place-Name Pistoia (Tuscany) ; panache 1553 (Fr., from ItaL
pennacchio) ; partisan, a kind of pike, 1566 (ItaL partesana) ;
this seems to have become obsolete at the end of the seventeenth
century, but was revived by Scott ; cartel 1560 (ItaL carteUo)
was a written challenge ; cavalier 1560 now has several specialized
meanings, but was in origin simply a horse-soldier ; manage 1561
has now acquired a very wide application, but was once a term
of horsemanship, ItaL maneggiare, to control a horse, put it
through its paces, etc. ; cf. the French form manege n., which
retains this sense ; squadron (ItaL squadrone) 1562 ; postillion
(Fr., from ItaL postiglione) 1565 ; casemate 1575, a term in
fortification, probably represents ItaL casa, but the origin of the
second element of the word is unknown ; curvet (ItaL corvetta)
1575 n. again refers to horses ; bandolier 1577 (ItaL, from a
Gmc. stem) ; escort (Fr., from ItaL scoria] in a military sense in
1579 ; gabion (ItaL gabione) 1579 ; citadel (ItaL cittadeUa,
through French) 1586 ; musket (Fr. from ItaL moschetto) 1587 ;
due!0o) lias the two forms already in the sixteenth century,
dueUo in 1588, dud 1591 ; it may be mentioned that most of the
technical fencing-terms now used are from, or through, French,
but some appear to be Spanish, and a few, such as riposte, are
in origin Italian ; battalion (Fr., from Ital. battaglione 1589) ;
188 HISTOEY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
ravelin (Fr. from ItaL ravettino) 1589 ; parapet (Ital. -etto)
1590 ; cavalcade (Fr., from Ital. -ata) 1591 ; salvo, which now
has changed its ending from the earlier -a 1591 (Ital. salvo) \
paladin (ItaL paladino) 1592 ; bandit 1593 (ItaL landito) ;
cavesson, a horse's nose-band, 1598 (Fr. cavegon, Ital. cavezzone) ;
and finally post in the sense of c military station ' 1598, later
generalized.
Next we come to trade, beginning with the general term
traffic (ItaL traffico 1506) ; contraband 1509 ; milliner 1529 was
originally an inhabitant of Milan, bnt was later restricted to
a maker of the fancy goods from Milan, ribbons, hats, etc. ;
bankrupt has been assimilated to the Lat. past participle ruptus,
from which it ultimately comes, but is through French from ItaL
banco, rotta (1553) ; carat 1552 is ItaL carato, but beyond that is
Arab, qlrat ; soldo, a coin, 1599. Six names of vessels now appear :
caravel 1527 ; galleass (ItaL galeazza) 1544 ; skiff (Fr. esquif,
ItaL schifo from O.H.G. self, and thus cognate with ship) 1575 ;
argosy 1577 (ItaL ragusea ' (ship) of Eagusa ') ; frigate 1585
(ItaL fregata) ; settee, a type of vessel used in the Mediterranean,
1587 (from French, from ItaL saettia, from Latin sagitta ' arrow ').
Then there are a number of words indicating objects of trade :
parmesan (ItaL parmegiano ' (cheese) of Parma ') 1519 ; citron
1530 ; porcelain (Fr., from ItaL porcettano) 1530 ; artichoke
1531 (this has wandered far, for the North Italian articiocco
is borrowed from Old Spanish, which took it from Arabic) ;
majolica 1555 (from the old Italian form of Majorca) ; smalt,
a kind of blue glass, 1558 (ItaL, but in origin Gmc. and related
to smelt) 1558 ; ferret, a kind of silk ribbon, 1576 (ItaL fiorem) ;
baldachin, a rich brocaded material, usually of silk and gold
thread, 1598 (ItaL from Bcddacco = Baghdad, from which the
stuff was imported).
Architectural : cupola 1549 ; duomo 1549 ; this and piazza
are the only words in this group which did not become naturalized
in English ; cornice 1563 ; frieze (Fr. frise, ItaL fregio) 1563 ;
modfllion 1563 ; pedestal (Fr. pitdestal, ItaL piedestatto ; the
word has been influenced by Lat. ped-em) 1563 x ; pilaster
1575 ; piazza 1583 (Ital. piazza ; Lat. pJatea, whence also Fr.
place and Span, plaza, both borrowed by English ; cf . also O.E.
1 AH these from State's Architecture, 1563.
ITALIAN ELEMENT 189
pl&tse, a rare word, borrowed directly from Latin) ; belvedere
1596 ; stucco 1598 n.
Words connected with the arts : (i) Music : madrigal 1588 ;
sordine 1591 ; pandora 1597 ; viol da gamba 1597 (in the title of
Dowland's First BooJce ofSonges or Ayres) ; fugue, at first spelt
fuge 1597 (Ital. fuga ; the spelling with -ue is French). (11)
Painting and sculpture, etc. : impaste 1548 ; cameo 1561 ;
model 1575 (Ital. modello) ; pastel, a dye obtained from woad,
1578 ; later used for a paste made into crayons ; miniature
1586 ; motto 1589, a word or phrase inscribed on or beneath an
emblematic design, on a shield s etc. ; gesso 1596 ; fresco 1598 ;
mezzo-rilievo 1598. (iii) Literature : buffoon 1549 (Ital. buffone ;
like the pantaloon and the zany, a character from Italian comedy) ;
sonnet 1557 (Ital. soneto) ; villanelle 1586 (Fr. from Ital.
villanella) ; stanza 1588 ; zany (Ital. zanm, Venetian form of
Gianni = Giovanni) 1588 (this, like stanza, first in Love's
Labour's Lost) ; canto 1590 ; pantaloon 1590 ; inamorato 1592
(the feminine inamorata is not recorded in English till 1651) ;
canzone 1590, canzonet 1593 ; tercet (Fr., from Ital. terzetto) 1598.
In the seventeenth century we have an increase in the number
of words indicating Italian social customs and products, rather
fewer in the "military group, and considerable numbers of words
relating to art, music, and literature. In the preceding century
most of the loans came in during the last fifty years, but here they
seem to be fairly evenly distributed throughout the period.
Italian life and society : capriccio c caprice ' 1601 ; intrigue
vb. 1612 (Ital. intrigare) ; caprice (the Fr. form of capriccio)
1667. Charlatan (Fr., from Ital. ciarlatano) 1618 ; gala 1625,
first in the sense of ' gala dress ' ; monsignor 1635 ; incognito
1638 ; regatta (Venetian) 1652 ; cortege 1679 (Fr., from Ital.
corteggio) ; gazette (Fr., from Ital. gazzetta, a small Venetian
coin, and also a news-sheet, costing this amount) 1605, both
with reference to the Italian coin, and also for an English news-
sheet ; umbrella (Ital. om-) 1609 ; its restriction to a protection
against rain has been gradual ; to begin with it was used either
for rain or for sun ; lagoon (Ital. laguna) 1612 ; it is used in
English first with reference to the lagoons of Venice ; parasol
1616 (Ital. parasok) ; sirocco 1617 (Ital. from Arab.) ; vetturino
1617 (hardly used except in reference to Italy) ; valise (Fr.,
190 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
from Ital. valigia) 1633 ; balloon (Fr. batton, from ItaL laUone)
1634 ; cascade (Fr., from Ital. cascata) 1641 ; gambit, in chess,
1656 ; espalier (Fr., from Ital. spaUiere) 1662 ; sbiiro 1668.
Words for food were never borrowed in large numbers from
Italian : macaroon (Ital. maccarone) 1611 ; vermicelli 1669.
Geological : volcano 1613 ; granite 1646.
Trade : piastre 1611 (Ital. piastra, but originally a Spanish
coin, used by Italian traders in the Mediterranean) ; lira 1617 ;
muslin (Fr. mousseline, later borrowed in a form approximating
to the French, from Ital. mussolina, from the Place-Name
Mussolo = Mosul, in Mesopotamia) 1609 ; felucca (Ital. from
Arabic) 1628 ; mercantile 1642 ; risk (Fr. risque, Ital. TOCO)
1661 n. ; the verb in 1687 ; scudo 1644 ; padrone 1660 ; agio
1682 ; organzine, a kind of silk thread, 1699.
Military, mostly through French : attack (Ital. attacare)
1600 vb. ; rocket (Ital. roccketa) 1611 ; stiletto 1611 ;
generalissimo 1621 ; nrosketoon 1638 (Ital. moschettone) 1638 ;
fuse (ItaL fuso) 1644 ; barrack 1686 (Ital. laracca ' tent * or
other shelter) ; vedette 1690 ; caserne 1696.
Political or diplomatic : intenrancio 1641 ; manifesto 1644 ;
bulletin (Ital. luUetino, an official health-certificate) 1651.
Italian birds and plants : beccafico 1621 ; morello 1648 ;
francolin 1653 ; ortolan 1656 ; broccoli 1699.
Architectural : Most of these are now common in English ;
English architecture was much affected by Italian at this period,
especially through the influence of Inigo Jones, and other
architects who had travelled in Italy : portico 1605 ; entablature
1611 (through Fr., from Ital. intawlatura) ; villa 1611, but partly
direct from Latin w'Ba, the source of the Italian word ; in either
case the sense has now changed and is changing ; the original
sense was * country residence * ; in Italian the stress is on the
gardens and grounds rather than on the house ; grotto 1617 ;
balcony (ItaL Mcone) 1618 ; corridor 1620 ; pergola 1654 ;
catacomb 1662 (this word, from Latin, is already to be found in
O.E., catacumbcLs, but the modern word is certainly a new loan
from Italian) ; dado 1664 ; impost 1664 ; rotunda 1687.
Music : (i) Musical instruments, and types of composition,
etc. : opera 1644 ; recitative 1645 ; serenade (Fr. -ode, from
Ital. -ata) 1649 ; ritomdlo 1675 ; sonata 1694 ; solo 1695 ;
ITALIAN ELEMENT 191
theorbo, a kind of lute (Fr., from ItaL tiorba) 1605 ; spinet
1664 (Fr. espinette, apparently from the Italian personal name
Spinetti) ; pedal (ItaL peddle) 1611. (ii) Musical directions :
allegro 1632 ; largo 1683 ; piano 1683 (pianissimo in 1724) ;
presto 1683 ; vivace 1683 ; all but the first of this group are from
Purcell's Sonnatas in 3 Parts.
Art : relief, relievo (ItaL rilievo) 1606 ; morbidezza 1624 ;
girandole, a revolving jet of water, or firework, 1634 ; catafalque
1641; intaglio 1644 ; piet& 1644 ; puttil644 1 ; virtuoso 1651 ;
bust (ItaL lustd) 1653 ; profile 1656 ; vista, earlier also visto
(ItaL vista, past part., then * something seen ') 1657 ; mezzotint
1660 ; attitude (ItaL attitudine) 1668 ; filigree 1693 is apparently
from *filigreen, a variant of filigrane 1668 (ItaL filigrand) ;
cartoon (Fr. carton, ItaL cartone) 1671 ; chiaroscuro 1686.
Literature ; most of these words appear to have come in with
the numerous French words borrowed after the Restoration :
rodomontade 1612 (from the ItaL Rodomonte, the Saracen leader
in Ariosto's Orlando Furioso) ; burlesque (ItaL burlesco) 1656 ;
pasquinade 1658 ; scaramouch (Fr., from ItaL Scaramuccia,
another of the stock characters of Italian farce) 1662 ; sonnetteer
1665 ; Punch, abbreviated from Punchinello, which in the form
Polichinello, perhaps directly from Neapolitan Polecenetta,
appears in 1666 in reference to the puppet-show in which the
character takes part.
Miscellaneous : ditto 1625, as adj. ; gusto f zest * 1629 ;
bagatelle (Fr., from ItaL bagateUa) 1637; hippogriff (ItaL
ippogrifo) 1656, a fabulous monster ; parry vb. 1672.
The eighteenth century loans from Italian are of very much
the same character as those of the seventeenth, but it may be
pointed out that there are none to come under the head of
Military, and that there is a distinct increase in the number of
geological terms. A much higher proportion than hitherto comes
directly from Italian, instead of through French.
Italian life and society : cicisbeo 1718 ; cicerone 1726 ; con-
versazione 1740 ; villegiatura, residence at a country villa,
1742 ; alfresco adj. 1753 ; poco-curante adj. and n. 1762 ;
casino 1789, a public room for social gatherings.
Birds and other Italian products : avocet (Fr., from ItaL
1 These three ftom Evelyn's Diary-
192 EISTOBY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
avosetta) 1766 ; pipistrel(le) a Mud of bat, 1771 (ltd. pipistrelk) ;
maraschino 1791 ; semolina 1797.
Medical : malaria 1740 (Ital. from malaria c bad air ') ;
influenza 1743 (there was a serious epidemic of influenza in this
year ; the name had previously had a general sense of
e epidemic disease ' in Italian).
Geological, etc. : pozz(u)olana 1706 ; bronze 1721 ; lava 1750 ;
madrepore 1751 ; tufa (Ital. tufa ; cf. tuff, from FT, tuffe from
Ital.) 1770 ; breccia 1774 ; scaglia 1774 ; peperino 1777 ;
solfatara 1777 ; travertine 1797 ; cipolin, a kind of marble, 1798.
Architecture : merlon 1704 ; sode, a plinth, 1704 (Ital.
zoccolo) ; mezzanine 1711 ; colonnade 1718 ; arcade 1731 ;
loggia 1742.
Music : (i) Performers, etc. : soprano 1730 ; impresario 1746 ;
improvisatore 1765 ; maestro 1797. (ii) Instruments : mandolin
1707 ; trombone 1724 ; violoncello 1724 x ; mandola 1758 ;
pianoforte 1767 (the shortened piano first in 1803) ; viola 1797.
(iii) Porms of composition : cantata 1724 ; duetto 1724 (duet
in 1740) ; fantasia, pastorale, saltarello, terzetto, toccata, trio
1724 ; oratorio 1727 ; concerto 1730 ; aria 1742 ; arpeggio
1742 ; pasticcio 1752 (the French form pastiche not till 1878) ;
appogiatnra 1753 ; solfeggio 1774 ; tarantella 1782 ; finale
1783 ; quartet 1790 ; rondo 1797 ; barcarolle (Fr., from Ital.
barcaruola) 1799. (iv) Musical directions : da capo, forte,
fortissimo, maestoso, sostennto, staccato, tutti 1724 ; cantabile
1730; andante 1742; adagio 1746; portamento 1774;
diminuendo 1775 ; crescendo 1776 ; obbligato 1794. (v)
Miscellaneous : tempo 1724 ; libretto 1742 ; bravo, as exclama-
tion of applause, 1761 ; falsetto 1774 ; bravura 1788.
Art : picturesque 1703 (Ital. pittoresco, assimilated to picture) ;
costume 1715 ; portfolio 1722 ; terra-cotta 1722 ; virtu 1722 ;
dilettante 1733 ; bambino 1761 ; impasto 1784 ; sienna 1787 ;
torso 1797.
Literature : concetto 1737 ; fantoccini 1771 ; rifacimento
1773 ; extravaganza 1789 (Ital. es- ; the ex- is due to the common
Latin prefix).
Miscellaneous : viva 1 1700 n. ; piston 1704 (Ital. pistone) ;
1 Words dated 1724 are all from a work called A Short Explication of Foreign
Words in Music Books.
ITALIAN ELEMENT 193
riposte, in fencing (Fr., from Ital. risposta) 1707 ; spontoon, a
kind of halberd, 1708 ; poplin (Fr. popeline, earlier papaline,
from Ital. papalina, material made at Avignon, widen was a Papal
town until 1751) 1710 ; fracas (Fr. from Ital. fracasso) 1727 ;
firm, trading company, 1744 (Ital. firma) ; imbroglio 1750 ;
lotto 1778 ; condottiere 1794.
Again in the nineteenth century most of the Italian words are
direct borrowings. Considerably more than half represent music,
art, and literature.
Italian life and politics : vendetta 1855 (especially Corsican) ;
camorra 1865 ; mafia 1875 ; irredentist 1882.
Scientific : gelatine 1800 ; mofette (Fr., from Ital. (Neapolitan)
mofeta) 1822 ; nuraghe, an archaeological term, applied to a round
fort of Sardinia (1828) ; gabbro 1837 ; graffito 1851 ; magenta
1860 (a dye discovered shortly after the battle of Magenta in
1859) ; terramara 1866.
Food, etc. : rosolio, a sweet cordial, 1819 ; cantaloup 1839
(from the Place-Name Cantalupo, a Papal villa near Kome, where
the plant is said to have been grown when introduced from
Armenia) ; salame, a variety of sausage, 1852 ; risotto 1884 ;
gorgonzola (Place-Name) 1885 ; spaghetti 1882.
Medical : scarlatina 1803 ; pellagra 1811 ; ptomaine 1880.
Music : (i) Instruments : bombardon 1856 ; piccolo 1856 ;
cymbalo 1879. (ii) Performers : prima donna 1812 ; flautist
1860 ; cantatrice 1866 ; diva 1883. (iii) Forms of composition,
etc. : sestet 1801 ; sonatina 1801 ; mordent 1806 ; polacca,
a Polish dance, 1813 ; scena 1819 ; intermezzo 1834 ; cadenza
1836 ; cavatina 1836. (iv) Musical directions : rallentando
1800 ; sforzando 1801 ; tremolo 1801 ; legato 1811 ; pizzicato
1845 ; vibrato 1861 ; scherzo 1862 ; allegretto 1879 ; rubato
1887. (v) Miscellaneous : improvise 1826 ; contrapuntal 1845 ;
furore 1851 ; fiasco 1855 (with reference to musical performances,
like the previous word).
Art : studio 1819 ; replica 1824 ; tempera 1832 ; gradine
1834 ; predella 1848 ; barogue 1851 ; secco 1852 ; figurine 1854 ;
gouache (Fr., from Ital. guazzo) 1882 ; tondo, a round painting,
etc., 1890.
Literature : galanty-show 1821 ; comedietta 1836 ; sestina
1838 ; scenario 1880.
194 HtSTOKY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Miscellaneous : portolano 1850, a book of sailing directions ;
garibaldi, a kind of blouse, etc., 1862 (named from the Italian
leader of this name) ; pallone 1865 ; tombola 1880. Tirade
1801 ; maremma 1832 ; inferno 1834 ; these kst three have now
a fairly wide application.
CHAPTER VIII
THE SPANISH ELEMENT
The introduction of Spanish words into English by direct
contact, as in the case of Italian, hardly begins until the sixteenth
century. Before this time, it is true, French had handed on to us
certain terms which they had acquired from Spanish, but which
were in origin Arabic. These will be dealt with later. Of real
Spanish (Romance) words, the noun cordewan, cordwain
* Spanish leather ', from the Place-Name Cordova, through
French, and cork, probably from Spanish corcha, seem to be the
only examples of loans in Middle English, and even these are not
found till about 1440 (in the Promptorium Parwlorum).
It is after the middle of the sixteenth century that Spanish
words begin to be borrowed with some freedom, though they
are never adopted in such numbers as Italian words. A close
connexion between the courts of England and Spain obtained
for a time under Queen Mary, the daughter of Catherine of
Aragon, particularly after her marriage to Philip II of Spain,
and Spanish dons and senors and hidalgos became familiar
figures in this country. Spanish coins made their appearance, as
well as articles of trade, and a small number of military terms were
adopted at this period.
But the most interesting Spanish loan-words in this period
as well as later came in a different way. From the end of the
fifteenth century Spanish merchant-vessels were exploring the
ocean westwards from Europe, and by the time of Elizabeth
Spanish-speaking settlements were sprinkled along the coasts of
the Americas. When the naval power of England began to grow,
and Englishmen came into contact, even though this was hostile
contact, with Spaniards upon the high seas, in the West Indies
and on the coasts of Mexico and South America, they adopted
from them the names they used for the inhabitants, animals,
plants, etc., some of these being really Spanish words, now used
in specialized senses (e.g. lagwto e lizard *, used for and borrowed
195
196 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
as c alligator '), while others were taken over by the Spaniards
themselves from the natives (e.g. potato). English sailors brought
back such words to England, and many of them gained currency
rapidly as stories and products of the New World spread in this
country. Many of them appear for the first time in the tales of
voyagers collected and published by HaHuyt ; others in books
written specially to describe the lands across the ocean, such as
Eden's Decades of the Newe Worlde or West Indies, conteyning
the Navigations and Conquestes of the Spanyardes with particular
description of the, most ryche and large Landes and Islandes lately
found in the West Ocean, Frampton's loyfulle Newes from the
Newe Founde World, and, in the early part of the next century,
Purchas his Pilgrimes, Purchas his Pilgrimage, and Captain John
Smith's General History of Virginia, New England, and the
Summer Isles.
Literature, too, shows its share of interest in America, in the
use of Spanish words borrowed there, as well as in references such
as Shakespeare's to * the new map with the augmentation of the
Indies ', and by direct statement, as when Spenser speaks of the
way in which
through hardy enterprise
Many great regions are discovered,
Which to fate age were never mentioned.
Who ever heard of th' Indian Peru ?
Or who in venturous vessell measured
The Amazon huge river, now found trew ?
Or fruitfullest Virginia who did ever vew ?
(Faerie Queene, II, Introd.)
The seventeenth century shows the largest number of Spanish
borrowings, of which some relate to Spanish life, trade, politics,
etc. (duenna, toreador, junta, cortes 9 embargo, etc.), but the most
important are again American, and this relative importance holds
good through the following centuries.
Of modern English dialects, those from areas on the borders
of Spanish-speaking America, or from areas in the southern
United States where Spanish was once spoken, have the highest
proportion of Spanish words, a good many having been absorbed
there which have not penetrated into the more northerly states,
SPAOTSH ELEMENT 197
or even if they have reached these have remained on that side
of the Atlantic, though some may have become known in England
through the medium of American books. Such are chaparral,
cabattero, arroyo, vaquero, tamale, posada, poncho, hombre*
These as a class are not dealt with here, though some of those
which have become most familiar in this country will be found
given below ; most of them are farming terms.
Of words adopted by Spanish from American Indian languages,
only a few are given here, to illustrate the type of word thus
borrowed, chiefly names of plants and animals. The reader is
referred for further information to the chapter on American
Indian.
Now we must deal in turn with the four centuries from 1500
to 1800, giving the relevant words in order as they appear,
arranged under several headings. For the sixteenth century our
headings will be (i) Spanish trade and products, (ii) words
denoting persons, and titles of rank, (iii) games and dancing,
(iv) naval and military, (v) miscellaneous, and finally (vi) words
from America.
Spanish trade and products : peso 1555 ; cask 1557 (the sense
of * barrel ' developed in England from that of ' helmet ', see
casque below) ; real, a Spanish coin (originally an adjective,
= royal) 1588 ; rusk 1595 (in Drake's Voyage, in Hakluyt) ;
panada (Florio) 1598 ; anchovy 1596 (Span, anchova, possibly
from Basque anchoa in the sense of ' dried fish ') ; sherry, earlier
sherris, taken as plural, 1597 (Shakespeare, 2 Henry VI) ; sherry,
or rather shirry, appears first in Maddleton, 1608 ; it is from a
Place-Name, Span, vino de Xeres.
Persons and titles of rank : don 1523 (Wolsey, State Papers :
The Archiduke Don Ferdinando) ; infante 1555 (Eden, Decades
of the Newe Worlde), the feminine in!anta in 1601 ; senora 1579
(but senor not till 1622 ; senorita in 1845) ; renegade (Span.
renegado, a form also found in English) 1583 ; hidalgo 1594 ;
grandee 1598 (Span, grande ' nobleman ') ; santon, a European
name for a Mohammedan hermit (Span, santo ' holy ') 1599 ;
booby 1599 (Span. 6060 ' fool ').
Games and dancing : primero, a card-game, 1533 (Span.
primera) ; coranto 1564 (actually French, assimilated to Spanish
1 See Bentley, Dictionary qf Spanish Terms in English, 1925.
198 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
words in -0) ; spade (on cards) 1598 (Span, espada, orig.
1 sword ').
Naval and military : galleon 1529 (Lyndsay, Testament and
ComplayntofourSoverane ; Span.^aZeow) ; grenade 1532 (French,
from Span, granada, orig. c promegranate ') ; armada 1533 (The
Turks' armada, from a letter in Ellis, Original Letters) ; easqtue
1580 (Span, casco) ; comrade 1591 (Span, camarada ; Garrard,
Art of Warre : A Souldier in Camp must make choise of two or
three or more Camerades) ; bilbo, a sword, 1592 (from the Span.
Place-Name Bilbao) ; escalade 1598 (Span, escdlada).
Miscellaneous : tornado, first as ternado 1556 (apparently from
Span, tronada c thunder ', influenced by the Span, verb tornar
' to turn ') ; corral n. 1582 (the verb not till 1847) ; cordovan
(leather) 1591 (of. the earlier cordwain} ; calenture, a fever,
1593 ; sombrero 1598 (Halduyt : With a great Sombrero or
shadow over their heads . . . as broad as a great cart wheele) ;
cedilla (=a little z) 1599. Bastinado 1577 (Span, bastonada) ;
peccadfllo 1591 ; punctilio 1596 (Span, puntillo) ; bravado 1599
(Span. -ada).
American : (i) Persons : cannibal 1553 (Span, canibales,
from Caribes ; Eden, translation of Monster's Cosmography :
Columbus ...atye length came to the Ilandes of the Canibals) ;
cacique 1555 (Span, from Haitian ; first in Eden, Decades) ;
negro 1555 (Eden, Decades ; neger, from which nigger comes,
1568) ; mestizo 1588 ; mulatto 1595 (Drake's Voyage ; Span.
mulato). (ii) American products : guaiacum, a West Indian
tree, 1533 (in a medical work ; a Latinized form of Span.
guayaco, from a Haitian word) ; iguana 1555 (Eden, Decades) ;
alligator, earlier sometimes lagarto, 1568 (Span, el lagarto c the
lizard * ; Hortop, in 1568, has lagarto ; cf. Ealeigh, 1614 ; the
Crocodiles . . . now catted Alegattos) ; sarsaparilla, armadillo,
sassafras, batata 1577, all from Frampton, Joyfutt Newes from
the Newe Founde Worlde (note : The Batatas ... a common
fntfe in those countries ... a mcta/HL of much substance ; but
potato is a few years earlier, 1565) ; mosauito 1583 (Phillips, in
HaHuyt's Voyages : a Jcmde offlie . . . the Spanyards called them
Musketas) ; palmetto 1583 (Cotton, in Halduyt's Voyages) ;
cochineal 1586 (Span. cochiniUa, through Er. cochenille) ; banana
1597 (Span., from the native name in Guinea ; first in a book
SPANISH ELEMENT 199
on the Congo) ; bonito, the striped tunny, 1599. (iii) Miscel-
laneous : manilla 1556 ; El Dorado 1596 (Raleigh (title),
Discoverie of Guiana, with a relation of the Great and Golden
Citie of Manoa, which the Spaniards call El Dorado) ; machete
1598 (in the anglicized form matchet).
Seventeenth century : Trade : doubloon 1622 (Fr. doublon,
from Span, doblon) ; cargo 1657. People : Creole 1604 (Span.
criollo ' native ', through French) ; desperado 1610 ; toreador
1618 ; dona ' lady ' 1622 (Span, dona ; of. the recent donah
6 sweetheart ' 1873) ; picaroon * pirate, brigand, rogue ' 1624
(Span, -on) ; duenna 1668 ; matador 1674 (a term in card-
playing ; with reference to bull-fighting in 1681).
Products of Spain : dorado, a fish, 1604 ; granadilla 1613 ;
lime, fruit, 1622 (Span, lima, from Arab. Umah).
Political, etc. : embargo 1602 ; gar(r)ot n. 1622 (Span.
ganote, method of execution ; the verb first in English in 1851) ;
junta 1623 ; cortes 1668.
Naval and military : corvette 1636 (Span, corbeta) ; parade,
a muster of troops, 1656 (Span. -ada).
Games and dancing : saraband 1616 (French from Span.
zarabanda from Arabic) ; guitar 1629 (Span, guitarra) ; Castanet
1647 (Span, castaneta) ; ombre 1660 ; manille 1674 (Span.
mahlla) ; chaconne 1685 (French, from Span, chacona, probably
from Basque chucun ' pretty ').
Miscellaneous : sierra 1613 ; caracole 1614 ; olio 1643 (Span.
oUa) ; escapade 1653 ; siesta 1655 ; salver 1661 (Span, salva ;
the suffix is English) ; esplanade, a level open space, 1681 ;
plaza 1683.
American : (i) People : peon, a labourer, 1609 ; piccaninny
1657 (from Span, pequeno e little ' ; first in a book on Barbados),
(ii) Animals, plants, etc. : llama 1600 ; rfrfafthillft 1604 (D'Acosta,
History of the Indies : The ChinchiUes is another kind of small
beasts, like squirrels ; they have a wonderfuUe smoothe and soft
skinne) ; ananas 1613 (Purchas ; Span, from Peruvian nanas) ;
cockroach 1624 (John Smith, Virginia : A certaine India Bug
called by the Spaniards a Cacarootch ; Span, cucaracha) ;
manchineel 1630 (John Smith, Travels and Adventures ; Fr.
mancenille, from Span. manzaniUa) ; turtle 1657 (French tortue
from Spaa, tortuga, assimilated to Eng. turtle = dove) ; vanilla
200 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS Df ENGLISH
1662 (Span, vaynitta) ; barracouta 1678 ; pimento 1690, e Cayenne
pepper *, later * allspice ' (Span, pimienta) ; pulque 1693 ;
avocado 1697 (Span, popular substitution for Aztec aJiuacatl) ;
naseberry 1698, a West Indian tree (by popular etymology from
Span, nispero, from Lat. mespilus e medlar '). (iii) Miscellaneous :
llano 1613 (Purchas his Pilgrimage] ; muscovado, unrefined sugar,
1619 (Span, mascdbado) ; vega, a grassy plain, 1645 ; rancho,
a tut for tlie shelter of travellers, 1648 ; the use of this word
and of the anglicized ranch in the sense of ' farm ' does not appear
till the nineteenth century ; barbecue, a wooden framework used
as support for a bed or for roasting meat, 1697 (Span, barbacoa,
from Haitian) ; maroon n. 1666 (apparently from Span, cimarron
c wild J ; applied first to a fugitive slave in the West Indies ;
the verb occurs in 1724) ; tortilla 1699.
Eighteenth century : People : guadroon 1707 (Span.
cuarterori) ; albino 1777 ; stevedore 1788 (Span, estivador) ;
picador 1797.
Animals, etc. : merino 1781 ; galeeny 1796 (Span. gaUina
morisca * Moorish hen ').
Games and dancing, etc. : fandango 17 . . . ; domino 1719
(as a game in 1801) ; quadrille, a card-game, 1726 (Span,
cuartiUo, assimilated to the name of the dance) ; spadille, the
ace of spades, 1728 (Span. espadiUa) ; quadrille, a dance, 1738
(Span, cuadritta) ; bolero 1787.
Cooking : marinade 1704 ; caramel 1725.
Miscellaneous : cordillera 1704 ; flotilla 1711 ; carmine 1712 ;
mantilla 1717 ; auto-da-K 1723 (Span, auto-de-fe) ; jade 1727
(Fr. lejade, earlier V&jade, from Span, (piedra de) ijada ' stone for
the colic } , from supposed medicinal properties) ; cigar 1735
(Span, tigarro} ; xebec 1756 (Span, xabeque, probably of Eastern
origin).
American : Animals, plants, etc. : charged, dried meat, 1706
(Span, from Peruvian ; from the Span, verb charquear comes the
anglicized verb jerk 1707) ; agouti 1731 (Span, aguti, from the
S. American native name) ; cinchona 1742 ; gallinazo, American
vulture, 1760 ; alpaca 1792 (first of the animal's wool ; Span,
from Arab, al ' the ' + Peruv. paco 9 the native name), (ii)
Miscellaneous : maid 1717 (Span, from Quichua mati, a vessel
made of calabash ; later used for y&rba, mat6> a herb infused in
SPANISH ELEMENT 201
a mate and used for drinking) ; sangaree, a West Indian drink,
1736 (Span, sangria) ; hacienda 1760 ; mesa 1775 ; ratoon,
new shoot from root of sugar-cane, 1777 (Span. retoHo).
Most of the nineteenth century loans from Spanish are from
the American side of the Atlantic, relating to farming in
particular ; the majority of these come to England by way of the
United States. Two or three words from Spain itself, it will be
observed, date from the time of the Peninsular War.
Agriculture : silo 1835 (the verb ensile in 1883).
Spanish products : cigarette 1842 (through French) ; esparto
(grass) 1868 ; camisole, a kind of jacket, 1816 ; grenadine,
material, 1865 (Fr., from Place-Name Granada).
Military and political : presidio 1808 * fort, garrison town '
(still used with reference to southern United States) ; guerilla
1809 ; camarilla 1839 ; pronunciamento 1843 ; intransigent
1879 (Span. lo$ intransigentes, party of Extreme Left in the
Cortes, and in 1873-4 the extreme ^Republicans).
Games and dancing : cachucha 1840 ; monte, a card-
game 1850 ; pelota, a Basque game, but not a Basque
name, 1895.
Literature and art : picaresque 1810 (Span, picaresco, from
picaron * a rogue ') ; plateresque, a style of decoration like silver
work, 1842 (Span, -esco) ; tilde 1864.
American : (i) Farming terms : lasso 1808 (Span, lazo) ;
mustang 1808 (E. Span, mestengo) ; gaucho 1824 (probably of
Indian origin) ; rodeo 1834 ; stampede 1834 (Mexican Span.
estampida, a specialized use of the Span, word meaning ' crash,
uproar ') ; lariat 1835 (Span, la reata, the first word being the
definite article) ; vaqnero 1837 ; tolas pi. 1843 ; quirt 1851 ;
cinch ' girth * 1872 (Span, tincha) ; bronco 1883.
(ii) Plants and animals : yerba, for yerba matt, 1818 ; guaco
1822 ; pichiciago, an animal of Chile, like an armadillo, 1825
(S. Amer. Span, pichidego, of native origin) ; guaeharo 1830 ;
nutria, the fur of the coypu, 1836 (the word originally meant
' otter ') ; matico 1838 ; grama (grass) 1851 ; p6mpano, a fish
of the West Indies and southern states, 1863 (Span, pdmpano) ;
coquito 1866.
Mining : placer 1848 ; bonanza 1878 (used in minrng slang ;
in Span, the word means * prosperity ').
202 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Building : pueblo, an Indian village, 1818 (Span,
6 people'); patio 1828 ; adobe 1834.
Miscellaneous : serape, a shawl, 1847 ; vamoose 1848
(American slang, from Span, vamos c let us go ') ; canyon 1850
(Span, canon) ; dago 1888 (from Span, personal name Diego) ;
cafeteria (twentieth century ; in English the accent is usually
shifted from the penultimate to the antepenultimate) ;
tango 1913.
CHAPTER IX
LOANS FROM OTHER EUROPEAN LANGUAGES
A. CELTIC
Some account lias been given in an earlier chapter of the Celtic
loan-words which reached English during the Old English period,
chiefly from British and Irish. The next words from Celtic came
indirectly, through French, which derives a small section of its
vocabulary from Gaulish words adopted in the Gallo-Roman
period, when Vulgar Latin was displacing the Celtic language
in Gaul. Of those which passed into English, the following are
the most certainly of Celtic origin ; there are others which are
more doubtful : gravel, lawn (of grass), league, lees, marl, ouch,
quay, skein, truant, vassal (and the related valet and varlet) ;
all these are found before 1450. A little later we have toque 1505,
javelin 1513, druid 1563 (ultimately from the Old Celtic stem
*druid- ; cf . O.E. dry, from the O.Irish nominative form drui) ;
perhaps tan 1604.
The next direct loans from Celtic to English are borrowings
within the British Isles, from Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Welsh ;
very few are earlier than the late fourteenth century, in spite
of the English invasions of Ireland in the reign of Henry II.
Those from Scotland are the most numerous. Some in each of
the groups have been completely naturalized, and are applied
to things of English origin, but for the most part these things
refer to products, persons, etc., of the country from which
they come.
The first Middle English loan from Ireland appears to be kern
(Ir. ceitherri), which dates from about 1422 ; lough (Ir. loch)
is found in the latter part of the same century (the Irish Gaelic
form of this is the same as the Scottish ; see loch, below). Four
words from the sixteenth century are tanist 1538 (O.Ir. tanaiste) ;
shamrock 1571 (Campion's History of Ireland ; Ir. seamrog x ) ;
1 Note that Irish * before e or i is pronounced like sh.
203
204 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
rath 1596 (Spenser, View of the, Present State of Ireland ; Ir.
rath) ; brogue c shoe ' 1586 (Ir. brog ; J. Hooker in Holinshed :
awaie with his English attires, and on with his brogs, his shirt,
and other Irish rags). The seventeenth century gives us five :
leprechaun 1604 (Middleton, who spells it lubrican : M.Ir.
luchrupdn) ; ogham 1627 ; Tory 1646 (Ir. *toraidhe ' pursuer ',
from the verb toir * to pursue * ; applied in the seventeenth
century to certain Irish outlaws and bandits ; it is first used
in English politics in 1679 ; it appears as the name of a political
party in 1689) ; galore 1675 (Ir. go kor ( enough ') ; rapparee,
an Irish pikeman, 1690 (Ir. rapaire, a short pike). From the
eighteenth century there are only four : pollan 1713 (perhaps
from Ir. pott, an inland lake) ; banshee 1771 (Ir. bean sidhe
' fairy woman ') ; shillelagh 1772 (from the name of a village in
Co. WicHow) ; spalpeen 1780 (Ir. spailpin) ; planxty, a harp
tune, 1790. There are not many more in the nineteenth century :
florin 1809 (Iz.fiorthdn ' coarse grass ') ; blarney 1819 (originally
the name of a village near Cork) ; colleen 1828 (Ir. cailiri) ;
keen * lament J 1830 (Ir. caoine) ; carrageen 1834 (a Place-Name) ;
crannog, a lake-dwelling in Ireland or Scotland, 1851.
English has borrowed more words from Scotland than from
Ireland. The loans begin in the late fourteenth century, the
earliest appearing, as might be expected, in the English-Scottish
writers of the period, Barbour, Wyntoun, Dunbar, and later
Gavin Douglas. The word loch is in Barbour's Bruce 1375 ;
here also is mull, a headland (Gael. maoT). The next loan is from
a historical document ; this is beltane, the festival of the first
of May, in the Acts of James I dated 1424. In Wyntoun's
Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland, c. 1425, we find clan (Gael.
dann) ; clachan, a small village ; inch (Gael, innis ; Z wes
made priowe . . . Of the ynche wyih-in LoMewyne). At the
beginning of the sixteenth century, Dunbar has coronach 1500
(Gael, corronach) ; bog 1505 (Gael, bogach, from bog c soft ') ;
and ingle, a fire, 1508 (probably from Gael, aingeal 'fire').
Plaid appears in the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer for
Scotland for 1512 : Item, die vj day of May, in Air, for ane
plaid to be the King cme coit (Gael, plaide). Douglas's Mneis
has caber (Gael, cdbar ' pole * : His schaft that was als rude and
squaw / As it had beyn a cabyr or a spar, 1513), and slogan (in
LOAN-WORDS FROM CELTIC 205
the form skgorne ; Gael, slaugh-ghairm ' host ' + ' cry ').
Later words in this century are : sonsy ( fortunate, propitious '
1533 (Gael, sonas ' good luck ' ; Bellenden's Livy : discending
fra pe maist sonsy parte of hewn 1533) ; cairn 1535 (Gael, earn ;
Stewart's Chronicle of Scotland} ; the cairn-(terrier) first appears
in 1910 ; capercailzie, -ye 1536 (Gael, caputt coilk c cock of the
wood ') ; garron 1540 (Gael, gearran ; State Papers of
Henry VIII) ; strath 1540 (Gael, srath) ; kyle 1549 (Gael, caol) ;
duniwassal 1565 (Gael, duine uasal) ; ptarmigan 1599 (Gael.
tarmachan).
The few seventeenth century loans are all from the second
half of the century : strathspey 1653 (from a Place-Name) ;
caird, a travelling tinker, 1663 (Gael, ceard) ; quaich 1673 (Gael.
cuach ' a cup ', but this is itself a loan-word from Lat. caucus) ;
gillie 1681 (Gael, gitte) ; dulse, an edible seaweed, 1684 (Gael
duileasg). From the eighteenth century : whisky 1715 (Gael.
uisge beaiha, literally * water of life ') ; pibroch 1719 (in
Hardyknute, in Maidment's Scottish Ballads ; Gael. piobaireachd,
the art of playing the bagpipe) ; filibeg 1746 (Gael, feileadh-
beag ' little fold ') ; claymore 1772 (Gael, daidheamh iwbr ' big
sword ') ; cairngorm 1794 (from the name of a mountain, Gael.
Carngorm, == blue cairn) ; corrie 1795 (Gael, coire). Nineteenth
century : sporran 1818 (Gael, sporan ' purse ') ; glengarry 1858
(from a Place-Name in Inverness) ; gralloch n. and vb. 1882
(Gael, grealach).
Neither Scotland nor Ireland has given many words to English,
and words from Wales are even fewer. The earliest is crag (Welsh
craig), which is in the Cursor Mundi, about 1300. Pendragon
is used by Malory in 1470 ; it means in Welsh e chief military
leader ', and it is a compound of the Celtic pen ' head ' and
dragon, borrowed from Latin as the name of a standard.
Coracle appears in Salesbury's Welsh dictionary, 1547, in the
spelling corougle, as the English equivalent of Welsh kwrwgyl.
Penguin, though its etymology is doubtful, may have been intro-
duced by Welsh sailors, and be formed from Welsh pen ' head '
and gwyn ' white ' ; it is to be found in Parkhurst's travels, in
HaHuyt's Voyages, 1578. Cromlech is used in 1603, in Owen's
Pembrokeshire. Gwyniad dates from 1611. The next loan is
more than a century and a half later : pennifl (pi. pennittion)
206 HISTOBY OF FOKEIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
1784. Eisteddfodd (the original meaning in Welsh was * session,
meeting ') is used in an English work in 1822.
There are four words which are probably borrowed from
Cornish, though there is some doubt about each of them : gull
1430 (in a cookery book ; perhaps from Corn, guilan) ; brill
1481 (Corn, brilli ' mackerel ') ; wrasse 1672 (Corn, wrach) ;
dolmen (possibly from Cornish tolmen * hole of stone n ; first used
in a French work by Latour d'Auvergne in 1796 ; in English
first in Jeplison's Brittany 1859). Another archaeological term,
menhir 1840, is perhaps our only loan from Breton.
(B) POBTUGUESE
The introduction of Portuguese words into English has been
almost exclusively the result of friendly or hostile commercial
relations. As in the case of Spanish, there are practically no
words introduced from Portugal before the sixteenth century.
What appears to be a solitary exception is marmalade, which is
found as early as 1480, but comes through French, and not direct
as most of our Portuguese words do. (The Port, form is
marmelada, from marmelo ' quince ' ; it was originally a quince
jam, and not made of oranges.)
During the fifteenth century, Portuguese explorers had already
made their way down the coast of Africa, round the Cape, and
by sea to India, and when they were followed by the English
trading-fleets of Elizabeth's reign they had established colonies
or trading stations on the Guinea coast, on the East African
coast, in India, and as far east as China. It is in these regions
that English sailors and merchants, and in later times officials
and soldiers, have borrowed the greater number of the Portuguese
words which we now have, though a few come from Portugal
itself, and a few also from America, especially from the
Portuguese settlements in Brazil and Guiana. Very few are from
the West Indies. In fact, the sixteenth and seventeenth century
line of demarcation between the Spanish area of trade and
colonization in the west, and that of Portugal in the east, is
very clearly reflected in the words which their English rivals
adopted from each of them.
The sixteenth century gave us two or perhaps three words
LOAN-WORDS FROM PORTUGUESE 207
directly from Portugal l ; reis 1555 and milreis 1589, neither of
them naturalized in English, and perhaps padre 1584, which
may, however, be Spanish ; this word has become fairly familiar
in England of recent years. From the west came flamingo (Port.
flatnengo, perhaps borrowed in Portugal), found first in 1565 5
in Hakluyt's Voyages (Sparke) : Thefowk of the fresh riuers . . *
where of the Flemengo is one, hauing all redde feathers ; coco(nut)
1579, in Hakluyt's Voyages (T. Stevens) : Wine of the Palme tree
or of a fruite called Cocos ; molasses, still in common use in
America, 1582 (Port, melago, adopted in the plural) ; and
sargasso, the ' gulf-weed ', which still gives its name to the
Sargasso Sea, 1598 (Port. sarga$o). The first Portuguese words
to be borrowed by the English in Africa were madeira, the
wine of Madeira, 1585, and yam (Port, inhame, probably from
a native word, though this is uncertain), which is found first
in 1588. In the same year also the first words from the Portuguese
in the East are recorded : buffalo (Port, btifalo, of the Indian
buffalo ; it is not used of the American bison until the end of
the eighteenth century) 1588, from a book on China ; palanquin
1588 (ultimately of Hindi or East Indian origin) ; typhoo
(Port, tufdo, probably from Urdu tufdn ; the present English
form has perhaps been influenced by Latin typhonus, from Greek
tuphori) 1588, in Hickock's translation of Frederick's Voyages :
I went a boord of the Shippe of Bengala, at which time it was the yeere
of Touffon ; mandarin 1589 (Parke's translation of Mendoza's
History of China ; Port, mandarin, through Hind, or Malay from
Sanscrit mantrin 6 counsellor *) ; tayad&re, a Hindu dancing-
girl, 1598 (Port, bailadeira * dancer ', but through French) ;
areca (Port., from Tamil) 1599, in Hakluyt's Voyages : Great
quantie of Archa . . . which fruit they eat . . . with the leaf of an
Herbe which they call Bettett.
The seventeenth century brought us another Portuguese
wine, this time from Portugal : port, from the Place-Name which
is now Oporto, really Porto * the port ' ; this is not till 1691,
when there is a reference to 'English ships that went to Bourdeaiix
and took in wine, and after sailed to port Porto, and then came
home, pretending it to be port '. Tales of travellers in Brazil and
1 These should be contrasted with the fairly numerous loans from Spain at
this period.
208 HISTORY OF FOKEIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
Guiana record four more words : peccary 1613 (Harcourt,
Voyage to Guiana ; probably originally from a native name) ;
macaw 1668 (Port, macao) ; grouper 1697 (Dampier's Voyages :
Port, garupa) ; macaque 1698 (through. French from Port.
macaco, a Brazilian monkey ; the word was borrowed again
in the Portuguese form as the name of a South African monkey,
1774). The African name Guinea appears first (in the form ginny)
as the name of the guinea-fowl in 1620, and a little later as the
name of a coin (made from Guinea gold), in Evelyn's Diary,
1664. Another West African word is assagai (borrowed by the
Portuguese from Arabic, and ultimately Berber), which first
appears in Purchas his Pilgrimes, 1625 : 'They of Myna or the
Golden Coast, their armes are Pikes, or Assagaies, Bowes and
Arrowes * ; the spelling assegai is not found until the nineteenth
century. The word dodo is from the Portuguese doudo, meaning
6 stupid ', applied by Portuguese sailors to this bird, which is
a native of Mauritius. It is found in English first in 1628, in
a letter written by a traveller to the island (E. Altham) : c Of
m r perce you shall receue a iarr of ginger . . . and a bird caUed a
DoDo, if it live '.
The year 1600 is of considerable importance in the history of
Portuguese words in English, for it was on December 31st in
this year that Queen Elizabeth granted a charter to * The
Company of Merchants of London Trading to the East Indies '.
The regular and organized trade of the East India Company
brought about closer relations with the Portuguese traders in
the East, and the names of articles of commerce, and of things
connected with European life in India and farther east were
borrowed more freely than before. The first word recorded in
this century is from the First Letter Book of the East India
Company, and is dated 1602 : pintado, a coloured cotton cloth
(Port, pintado) : ( WffardeTls . . . of btewes and chekered stuff es,
some jwe Pinthadoes.* Other words followed quickly : caste,
but in its earlier spelling cast (Port, casta ' race, descent ') 1613 ;
emu 1613 (of the cassowary, from Port, ema, originally of the
crane ; it is not used of the Australian emu till 1842) ; com-
prador, a native servant or house-steward in India and the Far
East, still in use in China, 1615 ; tank (Port, tanque, from Lat.
stagnum * pond ') 1616, in Terry's Voyages to the East Indies :
LOAN-WORDS FROM SLAVONIC 209
' they have many Ponds, which they call Tanques . . . fill'd with
water when that abundance of Rain fals ' ; pagoda 1634 (Travels
of Sir T. Herbert ; Port, pagode) ; lorcha, a Chinese boat, 1653 ;
palmyra, and goglet, a water-vessel of porous earthenware,
1698, both from a book on travel in India (Port, palmyra,
gorgoleta).
Eighteenth century loans are fewer. From Portugal we have
moidore from the beginning of the century (1711 ; Port, moeda
d'ouro), and the title or form of address senhor from the end
(1795 ; Murphy, Travels in Portugal). From Brazil : pareira,
a drug obtained from a kind of Brazilian vine, 1715 (Port.
parreira). From Africa : palaver 1735 (Port, palavra ; the first
reference is to a talk or conference with natives of the Gold
Coast ; , later it passed into sailors' slang). From India : joss
'idol' (Port, deos ' god') and verandah (Port. varanda), 1711,
from Lockyer, Account of the Trade with India ; cangue 1727
(Port, cango), in Hamilton, New Account of the East Indies ;
ayah (Port, aia) 1780.
The nineteenth century adds very little to our stock of
Portuguese words : margosa, an East Indian tree, 1813 (Port.
amargoso), continues the Eastern loans ; the last one is of quite
a different character, and comes to us through French ; this is
massage, first found in English in 1876, and ultimately from
Portuguese amassar ' to knead '.
(C) SLAVONIC
English has at no time adopted many words from Slavonic
and only two or three are used at the present time without direct
reference to Russia, or Poland, etc. Those which are now most
familiar are sable, polka, mammoth, astrakhan, and even these
are hardly in constant, popular use. There is, however, a certain
number of Slavonic, chiefly Russian, words which may be con-
sidered as more or less anglicized in form if not in application,
almost all of them borrowed since 1550.
One Slavonic word has already been mentioned in the chapter
on Scandinavian loan-words : the Norse loan tapor-asx (see
p. 73), which came originally from the Russian topor. But this
did not survive the Old English period. A Middle English
210 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
borrowing is sable, from Old French, from Mediaeval Latin
sabelum, which represents Russian sdbol, the name of the animal ;
this appears in English in the fourteenth century.
It was not until the middle of the sixteenth century that
England came into direct relations with Russia. When
Chancellour, in 1553, sailed round to the White Sea in a search
for the North-East Passage, he opened up a new avenue for
English trade. The Muscovy Company, established in the reign
of Elizabeth, gained command of the shipping of the eastern
Baltic, and English travellers as well as merchants made their
fellow-countrymen acquainted with Slavonic words and customs.
Before this time the Dutch had had control of the Baltic trade,
and it is worth noting that at least two words have come into
English from Slavonic by way of Dutch ; these are pram,
praam, a type of boat used in the Baltic and the Netherlands,
1548 ; and the bird-name siskin 1562 (Dutch sijsken, from Slav.
czyzik).
The first batch of direct loans from Russia falls between 1550
and 1590. They are as follows : kvass 1553 (recorded by
Chancellour himself in his Hook of the Empire of Russia, in
Hakluyt) ; rouble 1554 (Hasse, in Hakluyt) ; czar and verst
1555 (both in Eden's Decades) ; moujik 1568 ; voivode 1570 (in
Hakluyt) ; beluga and sterlet 1591 (in Giles Fletcher's Of the
Russe Commonwealth),
After this there is a gap of nearly a century, which may be
partly explained by the fact that during the first half of the
seventeenth century the Eastern trade, hitherto carried on across
the continent of Europe, and through Russia, became more and
more a sea-borne trade, following the Cape route. The next
few words of Russian origin came to England through other
languages ; calash, earlier caliche, is from a Erench form ;
it appears first in the London Gazette, 1666 : The Pope taking the
air in a rich caliche ; steppe 1671 is apparently also through
French ; hospodar, the title of the governors of Moldavia and
Wallachia, from a Slavonic word meaning e lord ', comes through
Roumanian and French. It is after the visit of Peter the Great
to England in 1697 that direct loans from Russian again begin
to appear, and this visit may have been the stimulus to further
acquaintance with Russian matters on the part of Englishmen.
LOAN-WORDS FROM HUNGARIAN 211
Copeck is found in 1698 (Grail's Muscovy) ; mammoth 1706 ;
knout 1716 (Parry's State of Russia) ; ukase 1729 (Consett,
Present State of Russia, in the form oukauze) ; astrakhan 1766
(from a Place-Name ; first with reference to a coat-lining) ;
suslik 1774.
A dozen more words make their appearance in the nineteenth
century, all but two from the first half ; about half of them are
words which are pretty generally known, the rest being less
familiar : saigon 1801 ; vodka 1802 ; droshky 1808 ; mazurka
(Polish) 1818 ; samovar 1830 ; Uniat 1833 ; tondra 1841 ;
troika 1842 ; (manna)-croup 1843 (Russ. Icrupa) ; polka 1844 ;
tarantass, a vehicle, 1850 ; polynia, an open stretch of water in
an icefield, 1853 ; zemstvo 1865.
Then there is another interval, -until the twentieth century has
begun, when a small group of political words find their way to
England ; the chief of these are : duma 1905 ; pogrom 1905 ; soviet
1917; ogpu!927; bolshevik. Another recent loan is intelligentsia
1920. Finally we may mention the word robot, which is Czech,
from the stem of the verb robotifo ' to work 5 (cognate with Russ.
rabotaf) ; this became familiar from the translation of Karel
Capek's play, Rossum's Universal Robots, produced in England in
1923, and the word is now used for a machine performing the
actions of a human being, or for a human being acting
automatically.
(D) HUNGAKIAN
The language of Hungary has given very few words to English.
Two, however, are fairly old borrowings, dating from the
sixteenth century. Hussar is found in 1532 ; it came perhaps
through German, and represents Hungarian Tiuszar (perhaps
ultimately from Ital. corsaro = corsair), the name given to a
body of horsemen organized in Hungary in the fifteenth century.
Coach, earlier coche, from French, appears first in 1556 ; it is
from Hung, kocsi, an adjectival form from the Place-Name
Kocs, near Buda. The national name Magyar is recorded from the
end of the eighteenth century, and during the early part of the
present century it was popularized as the name of a particular
shape in a woman's dress or blouse. Shako was apparently
212 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
borrowed during the Napoleonic wars ; it represents a French
form of Hungarian csdJco, abbreviated from Hung. csdJcos suveg
6 peaked cap ' ; English has it first in 1815. Finally there are
a very few recent loans, of which the most familiar are czardas,
goulash, paprika.
(E) MISCELLANEOUS
Other European languages have very little representation in
English. From Basque we have borrowed (through Spanish and
French) bizarre 1648, and chaconne (Basque chucun ' pretty ')
1685. Croatian appears in the (chiefly historical) pandour,
applied to one of a body of Croatian infantrymen of the
eighteenth century ; it dates from 1747 in this country ; the
word is probably ultimately from Med. Lat. banderius, from a
Germanic word. From Corsica comes the dialect form maquis
(Ital. maccJii ' thicket '). Lapp is represented by one early loan,
morse 1475 (French, from Lapp morsha f walrus '), and one from
the eighteenth century, lemming 1713 (Norw. from Lapp.
luomek}*
To conclude we may give a small handful of words from Modern,
as distinct from Classical, Greek : romaika, a national dance,
1625 (Gk. Wwmalke) ; palikar, the follower of a military chief,
1812 (Mod. Gk. paUJcdri) ; Jdepht, a Greek brigand, 1820 (Mod.
Gk. kkphtes) ; phanariot (Mod. Gk. phanariotes).
CHAPTER X
LOAN-WORDS FROM THE EAST
(A) ARABIC
It is from Arabic that English has borrowed the greatest
number of Eastern loan-words, though it is true that a con-
siderable proportion of them have not come to us direct. Of
those which appear in the Middle English period, most have
reached us through French (which often learnt them from
Spanish), some perhaps directly from Spanish. The increasing
trade with the Levant brought England into more immediate
contact with the Arabic-speaking peoples of North Africa during
the later fourteenth century, and in the sixteenth century trade
and exploration farther east gave us a new source of Arabic loans :
the Arabic element in the dialects of India. In the present section
the Arabic words which we borrowed through Hindustani,
etc., are not dealt with, nor are those which came to us through
Turkish, which also has a fair number of words of Arabic origin ;
some notes on these will be found in the sections on Indian and
Turkish.
Apparently the earliest Arabic loan-word in English is the O.E.
mancns, the name of a coin of gold, equal to the Latin solidus ;
this represents the Arabic man-JcuS = e stamped (with a die) ',
and may have reached English from France or from Spain ;
at this time the Moors had the upper hand in Spain and southern
France, and evidence that England was influenced by Moorish
finance is afforded by the existence of a gold com, minted in
England in the time of OfEa, which besides the title Offa rex
bears also an Arabic inscription. Mancus is found in English
documents, chiefly charters, from the year 799 onwards ; it
does not, however, survive the Conquest. It appears in such
contexts as : selcwm messepreoste binnan Cent mancns goldes
(Charter 41 in Oldest English Texts, 835) 'to every priest in
Kent, a mancus of gold * ; loca, nu pu Jiafast pine mancossas,
213
214 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IS ENGLISH
pa pepu sohtest (Gregory's Dialogues 65) e look, now yon have your
mancuses, which you were seeking 9 , where the Latin original
has Ecce Jiabes solidos quos quaesisti ; bebohte his hors to twelf
mancussum (Dialogues 63) * sold his horse for twelve mancuses ',
for the Latin equum suum duodecim aure^s vendidit. Another
Old English loan is the word ealfara, a pack-horse, borrowed as
a trading or military term from Old Spanish alfaraz, from Arab.
al faros ' the horse '. This has been recorded once only : in the
eleventh century Letter of Alexander to Aristotle : xxx pusenda
ealfarena & oxna pa Se Jiwsste ~bseron ' thirty thousand pack-
horses and oxen which carried the wheat '. The same word, in
the form auferan, is found in Old French, and it is possible that
French was the immediate source of the English word.
The Arabic loan-words of Middle English begin at the end of
the twelfth century, with the word saffron in the Trinity College
Homilies, c. 1200 : Hire loimpel mt oder maked yeleu mid saffran
* her wimple white, or made yellow with saffron ' ; this is O.Fr.
safran, from Arab, za'faran. Admiral is found in the early manu-
script of La3amon's Brut, in the sense of * emir ' (from O.Fr.,
from Arab, amir al, abbreviated from a phrase such as amir-al-
bahr * emir or commander of the sea ') : pat on admiral : of
BabHoine he wes seldere e the one emir was prince of Babylon ' ;
it is used first of an (English) admiral of the fleet in Wyntoun's
Cronykil, 1423, and for the commander-in-chief of the Navy by
Capgrave in 1460.
Many of the earlier Arabic loan-words have to do with science,
especially mathematics, which had reached an advanced stage
among the Moors. The first word in this class is the now archaic
algorism, the name of the Arabic system of numeration, also
used for ' arithmetic ' ; this is to be found in the Anorene Riwle
(see p. 84), and comes to us through O.Fr. algorisme, from Arab.
al-Khowarazmi, the name of a mathematician. The next word is
more commonplace : mattress, from O.Fr., probably from Ital.
materasso, and ultimately from Arab, almatrah 'place where
something is thrown * ; also, ' a mat, bed ' : Goth, he. seide, and
maketh a bed / Of quotttene <md of materasz, Southern Legend
CoEection, c. 1290.
Fourteenth century loans are more numerous : barbican, in
the Cursor Mundi, c. 1300 (through Fr.). In the romance of
LOAN-WORDS FROM THE EAST : ARABIC 215
King Alisaunder (early fourteenth century) : acton, a doublet
of quilted cotton worn under the armour, O.Fr. auqueton, from
Span, from Arab, al-qutun ' the cotton ' (see cotton 1381) ;
cubeb, a spicy berry used for flavouring, also French from Span.,
Arab, kababah \ dragoman (O.Fr. dragoman, dragman, Arab.
targuman ' interpreter ') : Alisaundre . . . is y-come to Ardbye, /
So me saide a drogman. Other fourteenth century loans : hazard
(in Havelok the Dane) ; camphor, earlier camfre, camfire (O.Fr.
from Arab. Jcafur), Wardrobe Accounts, Edw. II, c. 1313 ; alkanet
(Arab, al-henna ; cf . henna, borrowed without the Arab, definite
article, 1600) 1326 ; lute (O.Fr. from Arab.) 1361-2 : In uno
wro ludenti in uno loyt ' for one man playing on the lute ', Durham
Account Rolls ; alchemy 1362, in Langland's Piers Plowman
(O.Fr. from Med. Lat., from Arab, al kimia, but this is from Greek
kemia) ; alembic (O.Fr. from Arab, al aribtq * the cup ', again
ultimately from Greek) 1374, in Chaucer's Troylus and Criseyde :
This Troylus in teres gan d^stille, / As licour out of alambio fulle
faste iv, 520 ; cotton (Fr. from Span, from Arab, qutun) 1381-2,
Compotus of Earl of Derby ; almagest, used primarily for an
astronomical treatise of Ptolemy, (the Arab, word has the definite
article al + a, loan from Gk. megiste), c. 1386, Chaucer's Miller's
Tale : His dlmageste and bokes gret and smale ; alkali (Arab, al
qatiy), tartar, and elixir (Arab, al-iksir), all in Chaucer's Canon's
Yeoman's Tale, note especially The Philosophre stoon, / Elixir
ckpt, we sechenfast echoon ; zenith (Fr. from Span, from Arab.
samt (ar-rds) *path overhead') 1387, Trevisa's translation of
Higden's Polychronicon ; azimuth (Fr. from Arab, as-sumut,
' the ' + the plural of samt c path, way ', as in zenith), nadir
(Ar. nadw ' opposite to '), almanac, all in Chaucer's Treatise on
the Astrolabe, c. 1391 ; the last word is of doubtful origin ; it
may be from a Spanish-Arabic al + mandJch 'calendar',
recorded in an early sixteenth century Spanish-Arabic
vocabulary, but not elsewhere in Arabic ; ream (Fr., from Arab.
rizmah ' bale ') 1392-3 ; caliph (Fr., from Arab. TchaRfah) 1393,
in Grower's Confessio Amantis, again in 1400 in Mandeville's
Travels ; amber (Fr., from Arab, 'tw&or , originally ' ambergris '),
syrup (Fr. swop, from Arab, shwab ' wine, or other drink ' ; cf .
shrub and sherbet) 1398, in Trevisa's translation of the De
proprietatibus rerum of Bartholomaeus Anglicus ; cipher (Fr.,
216 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
from Span, from Arab, fifr ; el zero 1604) 1399, Richard the
Eedeless : than satte summe, as siphre doth in awgrym, / That
noteth a place, and no thing availeth.
It will liave been noted that all of these fourteenth century
words are scientific or denote objects of trade. The same is true
of most of the words of the fifteenth century, but now we begin
to find words relating to the Mohammedan religion. Mandeville's
Travels, c. 1400, has alcoran (the Twly book Akaron), mosgue (Fr.,
from Arab, masgid), as well as bedouin (Fr., from Arab, baddwln,
pL), and lemon (Fr., from Span., from Arab, laimuri). An early
fifteenth century medical work, Lanfranc's Chirurgia, has nucha,
the spinal cord, later the nape of the neck (Med. Lat. from Arab. ;
AUe pe cordis pat comen of pe brayn and nucha), realgar (Med.
Lat., from Arab, rehj al-ghar, literally * powder of the cave ' ;
pou schalt in no maner leie perto realgar, ne noon violent pingis) ;
sumac (Fr. from Span., from Arab, summac). About 1430 we find
maxavedi, a coin, which represents the Spanish form of Arab.
Murabifin, the name of a Moorish dynasty in Spain, 1086-1147,
after which the coin was named. Caraway is in the Promptorium
Parvulorum of about 1440 (O.Span. alcaravea, from Arab, al
karawiya). Science is represented again by alidade, in an addition
(dating from about 1450) in one manuscript of Chaucer's
Astrolabe. Genet, a civet-cat (Fr., from Arab, jarnaif), appears
in 1481 in Caxton's Reynard the Fox ; tambour (Fr., from Arab.
tambur) in Caxton's Fables of Msop, 1484. The remaining words
from this century are all trade-terms : quintal, a weight of a
hundred pounds (Span., from Arab, qintar) 1470, Black Book
of the Exchequer ; antimony 1477, in a book on alchemy ; garble,
originally * to sift, remove, refuse from ' (through Italian, from
Arab, gharbala ' to sift ', perhaps itself a loan-word from Lat.
cribeUdre), 1483, in an Act of the reign of Richard III : they will
not swffre any garbelyng of iheym to be made but seUe good and
bad at so excessyf price togedyr ungarbeled ; tass (O.Fr. tasse,
from Arab, toss, * basin *) 1483, in Caxton's Dialogues ; tare,
weight of conveyance or receptacle of goods for sale, etc. (Fr.,
from Span., from Arab, tarhah, from tardha ' to thxow away ')
I486, in the Naval Accounts, Henry VII : ij bwreUes Gonne-
powdre conteyning in weight besides the tare Diy Tbs.
la the sixteenth century there is a reflection of the increase in
LOAN-WORDS FROM THE EAST: ARABIC 217
direct relations between England and North Africa, and the
Levant, in the words now introduced words denoting Eastern
persons and rank, and animals and other products of Egypt,
North Africa, etc., besides those which became articles of
commerce. Some words still reach England by way of French
or Spanish, some through Italian, but many appear to have been
learnt by English travellers direct from Arabic speakers. Rebec,
a musical instrument (cf. lute, 1361) 1509, is a French form of
Arab, rebab. Scientific terms are less common now, perhaps the
only one from this period being algebra (Ital., from Arab, al-jebr,
literally ' the putting together of broken parts '), used by Copland
in 1541. There are a few naval and military terms, none of them
directly from Arabic ; arsenal (from Arab, ddr accina'ah c work-
shop ') appears to have been borrowed in Romance as darsena
whence it passed into Italian, was borrowed by French, and then
by English ; it is recorded first in 1506, in the sense of ' dock '
(for ships) ; calibre 1567 is French from Arab, qalib ' mould ' ;
monsoon, borrowed by Portuguese from Arabic, was then
borrowed by Dutch from Portuguese, and by English from Dutch;
it is found in 1584. Eastern titles, etc. : mamelnke 1511 (Arab.
mamluk * slave ' ; used by Guylf orde : there was a grete Ambasset
of the Soldans towardes Venyce, that hadde in his companye tnany
MamoluJces) ; assassin 1531 (Ital. assassino, from Arab.
Jiashshashin, pi., literally * eaters of hashish '), already in its
modern sense ; sultan 1555 (Arab, sultan ; the feminine sultana
appears in 1585, and as the name of a kind of raisin in 1841) ;
sheikh 1577, in Eden's History of Travayk (Arab, shaikh, * old
man ') ; muezzin 1585 (Arab, mu'ab'&in, participle of adana e to
proclaim ') ; mufti, a Mohammedan priest, 1586 (Arab, muffo ;
in the modern sense of * civilian dress * it is used first in 1816) ;
cadi, a judge, 1590, in Webbe's Travels (Arab. qadt). One term
connected with the Mohammedan religion is hegira (Arab,
hvjrah) 1590. Trade terms : carat (from Ital., from Arab, qwat,
perhaps ultimately Greek) 1535, in Eden's Decades of the Newe
World ; magazine (Fr., from Arab. maJcdzin * storehouses ') 1583 ;
tariff (from Ital., from Arab.) 1591, in the sense of c list of customs
duties, etc. ; jar (Fr. jarre, from Span., from Arab, jarrah)
1592. Animals, plants, etc. : saker, a kind of falcon (Fr., from
Span, saoro, from Arab, foqr) 1521 ; artichoke (from Ital.
218 HISTORY OF FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
articiocco, from Span., from Arab. al-Jcharshuf) 1531 ; civet
(Fr., from Arab, zribad) 1532 ; tamarind (probably through Span.,
from Arab, tamr-hincfy 1533 ; tarragon 1538 (from Span., from
Arab. tarJchon) ; alcohol 1543 (Med. Lat., from Arab, al-koh'l
6 the collyrium '), senna (Arab, sana), both in a medical work,
1543 ; carob 1548 (Arab. Jcharrubah) ; apricot, earlier apricock
1551 (Fr. dbricot and Span, albarcoque, from Arabic, but ultimately
from Latin) ; ribes* 1562 ; kali 1578 (note the earlier alkali,
with the Arab, definite article) ; albacore, a fish of the Atlantic,
1579, in Stevens's Letters from Goa, 1 in Hakluyt's Voyages (Port.,
from Arab, al-bukr ' young camel ') ; roc, a fabulous Eastern
bird, 1579, in Twyne's Phisick against Fortune (Arab, rokh) ;
anil, the indigo shrub, hence a dye obtained from it, 1581 ;
sash, earlier shash (Arab, shdsh ' muslin ') 1590, Ralph Fitch, 1 in
Hakluyt's Voyages : Great Store of cloth is made there fo cotton,
and Shashesfor the Moores ; giraffe (Fr., from Span., from Arab.
zardfah) 1594 ; zibet (Ital., from Arab, zdbad, cf. rivet, above)
1594 ; calabash 1596 ; hashish 1598, in PhilKps's Discourse
of the East and West Indies, translated from the Dutch of
Linschoten ; kermes, an insect from which a dye is obtained
(Arab, qirmiz), 1598, used first in English in a transferred sense,
of the oak on which the insect lives.
During the seventeenth century more words 
