• About this book


• 1: Introduction


• 2: What is a Word? Which Words Need Etymologies?


• 3: Are Words Coherent Entities?


• 4: Word Formation


• 5: Lexical Borrowing


• 6: The Mechanisms of Borrowing


• 7: Change in Word Form


• 8: Semantic Change


• 9: Etymology and Names


• 10: Conclusion


• Glossary


• Suggested for Further Reading


• References


• General Index


• Index of Word Forms

Philip Durkin is Principal Etymologist of the Oxford English Dictionary. He trained as a medievalist and historian of the English language at the University of Oxford, where he completed a doctorate on previously unedited Middle English prose texts. He is a well-known speaker on English etymology. His publications include articles in scholarly journals, such as Transactions of the Philological Society, Dictionaries, and Critical Quarterly. He is Honorary Treasurer of the Philological Society, the oldest learned society in Great Britain for the study of language and languages

The best introduction to word history ever published combines scholarship with readability. OED's chief etymologist shows how words originate and change. He explores the histories of place and personal names and explains how to use different kinds of evidence, historical as well as linguistic. This is a book for everyone interested in words.