Changes to Old English vocabulary facts for kids

Imagine a time when English sounded very different! Many words used in Old English didn't make it into the Modern English we speak today. Some words changed their meaning completely. Experts think that about 80% of Old English words were lost by the time we reached the Middle English period. This happened even to many compound words, like bōchūs (which meant 'bookhouse' or 'library').

Sometimes, an Old English word was forgotten, and a similar word took its place. For example, 'limb' is still common, but lið (another Old English word for 'limb') is now only used in some dialects. Many of these changes happened when new words came into English from Old Norse (from Vikings!) and Norman French (from the Normans who conquered England). Other words just slowly faded away over time.

Animals of Old English

Modern English doesn't have many Germanic words for 'animal' in general. Old English words like dēor, gesceaft, gesceap, nēat, and iht were replaced by 'animal', 'beast', 'creature', and 'critter'.

• ācweorna: This was the Old English word for 'squirrel'. It was replaced by 'squirrel', which came from Old French.
• āðexe: This meant 'lizard'. The word 'lizard' came from Old French in the Middle English period. The Old English word āðexe still exists in some dialects as 'ask', meaning 'newt' or 'lizard'.
• ælepūte: This was the Old English word for 'burbot', a type of fish. The French word borbote replaced it in Middle English.
• cāwelwyrm: This meant 'caterpillar'. It literally meant 'cabbage-worm'.
• culfre: This word meant 'dove' or 'pigeon'. It still survives in some dialects as 'culver'. The word 'dove' became common around 1200.
• dēor: This Old English word meant 'animal' or 'beast'. Over time, its meaning became more specific, and it now means 'deer'. This change happened by the end of the Middle English period.
• dūfedoppa: This was the Old English word for 'pelican'. The word 'pelican' came into English from Ancient Greek.
• ened: This meant 'duck' or 'drake'. The word 'drake' appeared around 1300, and ened was then lost.
• fifalde: This was an Old English word for 'butterfly'. Another Old English word, butorflēoge, which is where 'butterfly' comes from, became more popular.
• firgenbucca: This meant 'ibex'. It was a compound word, meaning 'mountain-buck'. The word 'ibex' came from Latin.
• gesceaft, gesceap: These words meant 'creature'. Gesceap is related to our modern word 'shape'. It had many meanings, including 'creature', 'creation', and 'form'. The word 'creature' came from Latin around 1300.
• hacod: This was an Old English word for 'mullet', a type of fish. It's not used in modern English dictionaries, though it was once a dialect word for a large pike.
• hæferblǣte: This meant 'bittern', a type of bird. The word 'bittern' came from Old French.
• higera: This was the Old English word for 'jay', a bird. The French word jai replaced it around 1310.
• hwilpe: This meant 'curlew', a bird. The word 'curlew' came from Old French and might sound like the bird's call.
• iht: This also meant 'creature'.
• lēafwyrm: This meant 'caterpillar', literally 'leaf-worm'. While 'leaf-worm' was once used, it's not in modern dictionaries. The word 'caterpillar' came into English around 1440.
• mǣlsceafa: Another Old English word for 'caterpillar'.
• mereswīn: This meant 'dolphin' or 'porpoise', literally 'sea-swine'. The word 'dolphin' came into English in the 12th century from Ancient Greek.
• mūshāfoc: This meant 'buzzard', literally 'mouse-hawk'. It's not clear exactly which bird it referred to. The word 'buzzard' came from Latin around 1300.
• ryðða: This was the Old English word for 'mastiff', a large dog. The word 'mastiff' came from Latin around 1387.
• scræb: This meant 'cormorant', a type of bird. The word 'cormorant' came from Latin around 1320.
• sisemūs: This was the Old English word for 'dormouse'. The word 'dormouse' appeared around 1425 and is thought to come from an Anglo-Norman word meaning 'inclined to sleep'.
• wōrhana, wildhænn: These words meant 'pheasant'. The word 'pheasant' came into English from Ancient Greek in 1299.
• wyrm: This Old English word meant 'serpent', 'snake', 'dragon', or 'insect'. While 'worm' now means a small, legless creature, its older meanings are considered archaic.

Old English Body Parts

Just like animals, many Old English words for body parts were replaced by new words.

• feorhbold, feorhhold, feorhhus: These words all meant 'body'.
• hrēsel: This was the Old English word for the 'radius (bone)', a bone in your arm. The word 'radius' is Latin and was first used for this bone in English in 1615.
• līc: This word meant 'body' or 'trunk'. It's related to words like 'lych-gate' (a gate at a churchyard where a body rests) and 'lyke-wake' (a watch kept over a dead body). Its original meaning was probably 'form' or 'shape'.
• līcfæt, līchoma: These also meant 'body'.
• lið: This meant 'joint' or 'limb'. While it's mostly an archaic or dialect word now, you might still hear a phrase like "life and limb."
• midhriðre: This was the Old English word for 'diaphragm', the muscle under your lungs.
• nebb: This meant 'face'. In some dialects, 'neb' still means a bird's beak or an animal's nose.
• ōcusta, ōxn: These words meant 'armpit'. The word 'armpit' appeared around 1400. Ōcusta is now used dialectally as 'oxter'.
• ondwlita: Another Old English word for 'face'.
• onsīen: Also an Old English word for 'face'.

Old English Colours

Old English had its own names for colours, sometimes describing them in interesting ways.

• æppelfealu: This meant 'orange'. It literally meant 'apple-pale'.
• basurēadan: This meant 'purple'. It literally meant 'purple-red'.
• geolurēad: This also meant 'orange'. It literally meant 'yellow-red'.
• weolucbasu: This meant 'purple'. It literally meant 'whelk-purple', referring to a type of seashell used to make purple dye.

Other Lost Words

• andwurde, andwyrde: These words meant 'to answer'. They were made from the prefix and- (meaning 'against') and wurde ('word'). By the late 1100s, 'answer' (which came from andswerian) had replaced them.
• æðele: This meant 'noble'. There were many related words like æðelu ('noble descent') and æðeling ('hero'). These words are mostly gone from modern English, except in names like Ethel or in the flower name edelweiss. The words 'noble' and 'gentle' (meaning 'noble') came from Latin around 1230.
• ge-: This was a very common prefix in Old English. It could mean 'with' or be used for grammar, like for the perfect tense. In Middle English, it became 'y-' or 'i-'. Today, it only survives in a few words like 'handiwork' and the old word 'yclept' (meaning 'named').
• gerīm, getæl, worn: These were all Old English words for 'number'. The word 'number' came into English around 1300 from French and Latin. Getæl is related to our words 'tell' and 'tale'.
• mid: This word meant 'with' in Old English. It was used in almost all cases where we use 'with' today. By the late 1300s, 'with' had taken over. You might still see a hint of it in the word 'midwife'.
• ymb(e): This meant 'around' or 'on both sides'. It was used as both a preposition and a prefix. The only modern English word that comes directly from it is 'Ember days', a Christian event.
• wīġ: This meant 'war', 'combat', or 'martial power'. Many words related to fighting came from this root in Old English poetry. However, this root is mostly missing from modern English.

See also

• Linguistic purism in English
• List of Germanic and Latinate equivalents in English
• List of English words with dual French and Anglo-Saxon variations
• Inkhorn debate