It was one of our project. It tracks changes in words through their history. It was not my own project but of a friend. I helped her with it.

1. An Analysis Of 50
Words And Their
Change Throughout
History

2. Historical Semantics: Classification of Linguistics
 Also known as Historical Linguistics
 It focuses on the historical
development of a language
 Thus, on the diachronic axis, one can
go back and forth in time, watching
the language with all its features
changes
 Comparisons are made to other states
of language or other times
 Also known as Descriptive
Linguistics
 Synchronic language views a
particular state of language at some
given point in time
 The study of how a language works
at a given time, regardless of its past
history or future destiny, is called
descriptive or synchronic linguistics
Diachronic Linguistics Synchronic Linguistics

3. 1. Word: Nice
 Original Meaning: “foolish, ignorant, frivolous, senseless"
 Present Meaning: "good, pleasant"
 Period of Change: Late 13c
 How The Word Changed: The word has acquired a positive connotation
over time, it used semantics process of ELEVATION to change meaning.
Its meaning changed to dissolute or extravagant in dress, then to mean
precise about looks, and then to precise about reputation and then to much
more, finally today its just a term of approval.

4. 2. Word: Silly
 Original Meaning: "worthy or blessed"
 Present Meaning: "foolish"
 Period of Change: Late 13c
 How The Word Changed : The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION. The meaning
changed to innocent and then to someone worthy of sympathy, from there
it changed to ignorant or lacking sense today.

5. 3. Word: Awful
 Original Meaning: "Worthy of respect"
 Present Meaning: "Very bad"
 Period of Change: 1809
• How The Word Changed: The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION. It comes
from Old English aghe, an earlier form of "awe" meaning "fright, terror,"
plus the suffix –ful.

6. 4. Word: Fizzle
 Original Meaning: "to the act of producing quiet flatulence"
 Present Meaning: "the act of failing at things"
 Period of Change: 19th Century
 How The Word Changed: The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION. American
college slang flipped the word’s meaning to refer to failing at things.

7. 5. Word: Wench
 Original Meaning: "female child"
 Present Meaning: "wanton women"
 Period of Change: Late 14c
 How The Word Changed: The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION. The word
first changed to female servants. From there it got its negative connotation
to wanton woman.

8. 6. Word: Fathom
 Original Meaning: "to encircle with one's arms"
 Present Meaning: "to understand after much thought"
 Period of Change: 21st century
 How The Word Changed: The meaning changed to due to a
metaphorical relation. Fathom meaning changed to measuring
instruments to measure depth of water, which metaphorically changed to
get into bottom of thing.

9. 7. Word: Clue
 Original Meaning: "a clue was a ball of yarn"
 Present Meaning: "hint, sign or evidence"
 Period of Change: after 17th century
 How The Word Changed: The change in this word is irrelevant, because
no relation can be formed between the older meaning and the new
meaning. Some say the change is metaphorical as the thread from yarn can
be used to get out of maze.

10. 8. Word: Myriad
 Original Meaning: "the number of 10,000"
 Present Meaning: "numberless, multitudinous"
 Period of Change: 1800c
 How The Word Changed: The meaning o the word gotten stronger over
time; the process is called Hyperbole in Semantics. In old times, having
10, 000 things was also considered numberless because of limited
knowledge, later when 10,000 things became common, Myriad changed to
numberless.

11. 9. Word: Naughty
 Original Meaning: "needy, having nothing"
 Present Meaning: "disobedient, bad"
 Period of Change: 1630’s
 How The Word Changed: The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION. One can
theorize that people who had nothing usually turned to evil and meaning
of Naughty also changed to evil. Later again it changed to bad behavior.

12. 10. Word: Eerie
 Original Meaning: "timid, affected by superstitious fear"
 Present Meaning: "bad, wicked"
 Period of Change: 1792
 How The Word Changed: The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION. Things that
inspire fear are wicked and bad, so the meaning got changed from
description of such objects to their nature.

13. 11. Word: Spinster
 Original Meaning: "female spinner of thread"
 Present Meaning: "woman still unmarried"
 Period of Change: 1719
 How The Word Changed: The meaning changed due to nearness in
space of the two entities but also got a negative connotation, so the
semantic process would be Degeneration and Metonymy. It originally
meant like the sound of word, women who spun. Later it changed to
unmarried women and often used not in the most positive ways.

14. 12. Word: Bachelor
 Original Meaning: "young knight"
 Present Meaning: "unmarried man"
 Period of Change: 11c
 How The Word Changed: The meaning changed due to nearness in
space of the two entities through semantic process called Metonymy.
From young knight it changed to lowest degree in university, and from
there to unmarried men. In a way the meaning can be changed due to
extinction of rank of knights and as most young persons are unmarried.

15. 13. Word: Flirt
 Original Meaning: "joke, jest, stroke of wit"
 Present Meaning: "involves playing with people’s emotions"
 Period of Change: 1862
 How The Word Changed: The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION. Some 500
years ago, flirting was flicking something away or flicking open a fan or
otherwise making a brisk or jerky motion, from there it got the emotional
connotation.

16. 14. Word: Guy
 Original Meaning: “a person name Guy Fawkes "
 Present Meaning: "fellow"
 Period of Change: 1847
 How The Word Changed: This word is an eponym. It comes from the
name of Guy Fawkes, who was part of a failed attempt to blow up
Parliament in 1605. Folks used to burn his effigy, a “Guy Fawkes” or a
“guy,” and from there it came to refer to a frightful figure. In the U.S., it
has come to refer to men in general.

17. 15. Word: Hussy
 Original Meaning: "mistress of a household, housewife"
 Present Meaning: "a woman or girl who shows casual or improper
behavior"
 Period of Change: 1650
 How The Word Changed: The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION. As having a
mistress or a paramour who is not your spouse is considered immoral, the
word changed to a negative meaning.

18. 16. Word: Egregious
 Original Meaning: "distinguished, eminent, excellent"
 Present Meaning: "exceptionally bad"
 Period of Change: Late 16c
 How The Word Changed: The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION. Some words
change their meaning to the opposite of what they used to mean because
of no known reasons. This is one of them.

19. 17. Word: Quell
 Original Meaning: " kill, murder, execute"
 Present Meaning: "to suffer pain"
 Period of Change: 1300
 How The Word Changed: The meaning of the word changed through the
process of Litotes. It became less intense in meaning.

20. 18. Word: Divest
 Original Meaning: "strip of possessions"
 Present Meaning: "selling off investments"
 Period of Change: 1570
 How The Word Changed: The meaning changed due to nearness in
space of the two entities through semantic process called Metonymy. The
space isn’t always physical, but also in abstract concepts. It used to mean
to strip someone of their possession as well as undress. It changed to
selling of investments.

21. 19. Word: Senile
 Original Meaning: " anything related to old age"
 Present Meaning: “related to senile dementia "
 Period of Change: 1848
 How The Word Changed: The word changed through the process of
Narrowing, as the meaning became more specific from a broad category.

22. 20. Word: Meat
 Original Meaning: “Food in general"
 Present Meaning: “Food of Flesh of Animals"
 Period of Change: 1901
 How The Word Changed: The meaning also changed with concept of
narrowing as it became more specific from its general origin.

23. 21. Word: Cute
 Original Meaning: "clever, shrewd"
 Present Meaning: "pretty in a youthful way "
 Period of Change: 1968
 How The Word Changed: Nineteenth-century politician Thomas
Chandler Haliburton used the word to describe a shady lawyer. The word
got a positive connotation over time, so the semantic process is called
Elevation.

24. 22. Word: Bully
 Original Meaning: "sweetheart"
 Present Meaning: "someone cruel to those weaker "
 Period of Change: 1710
 How The Word Changed: The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION.

25. 23. Word: Prestigious
• Original Meaning: involving trickery, illusion, or conjuring"
 Present Meaning: "honored"
 Period of Change: 19c
 How The Word Changed: The word got a positive connotation over
time, so the semantic process is called Elevation.

26. 24. Word: Matrix
• Original Meaning: "female breeding animal"
 Present Meaning: "pattern of lines and spaces"
 Period of Change: 1640's
 How The Word Changed: The origin dates back to ancient Rome. Its
meaning today is due to scientific advancements. It was a try on behalf of
linguists to revive ten most extinct words.

27. 25. Word: Garble
• Original Meaning: "sift, separate out impurities"
 Present Meaning: "cause something to be confusing"
 Period of Change: 1500
 How The Word Changed: The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION. It became
opposite, from separating the impurities to making things impure.

28. 26. Word: Nervous
• Original Meaning: " sinewy or strong "
 Present Meaning: " jumpy"
 Period of Change: 1660
 How The Word Changed: The word got weaker over time so the process
would be called litotes.

29. 27. Word: Assassin
• Original Meaning: "Hashish eater"
 Present Meaning: "killer of a VIP"
 Period of Change: 1660
 How The Word Changed: Hashish is a hemp plant, and the word
assassin comes from an Arabic word meaning drug addict. In Persia, the
assassins were the friends the sultan and empire helping them in their
missions to kill other enemies, from there the meaning changed.

30. 28. Word: Backlog
• Original Meaning: "largest log in the hearth"
 Present Meaning: "large number of jobs to be done"
 Period of Change: 1680s
 How The Word Changed: The meaning changed through the process
called Metaphor in historical semantics. It got a figurative connotation.

31. 29. Word: Dapper
• Original Meaning: "Brave"
 Present Meaning: "Stylish"
 Period of Change: Mid-15c
 How The Word Changed: The meaning changed due to nearness in
space of the two entities through semantic process called Metonymy. As
both brave and stylish are some what of same and attractive qualities.

32. 30. Word: Girl
• Original Meaning: "Young person, either gender"
 Present Meaning: "Young female"
 Period of Change: 1300c
 How The Word Changed: The word changed through the process of
Narrowing, as the meaning became more specific from a broad category.

33. 31. Word: Fantastic
• Original Meaning: "Existing only in the imagination"
 Present Meaning: "Exceptionally good"
 Period of Change: Late 15c
 How The Word Changed: Original meaning related to fantasy. As
fantasy is also exceptionally good later the word was also made to that
meaning. The concept can be related to Metonymy.

34. 32. Word: Buxom
• Original Meaning: "Compliant or obedient"
 Present Meaning: "Large-breasted"
 Period of Change: Late 12c
 How The Word Changed: John Milton used it this way in Paradise Lost;
he describes Death flying easily through buxom air. The meaning change
was unreasoned as no possible relation can be found.

35. 33. Word: Knave
• Original Meaning: "youth, child"
 Present Meaning: "someone dishonest"
 Period of Change: 1530s
 How The Word Changed: The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION.
Knave "rogue, disreputable fellow" comes from OE cnafa "youth, child"
(compare German Knave.

36. 34. Word: Bimbo
• Original Meaning: “little child"
 Present Meaning: "an attractive but unintelligent or frivolous young
woman"
 Period of Change: 20th century
 How The Word Changed: The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION. In 1920s
America through the pages of Variety magazine, it meant an immoral
woman or “floozie”.

37. 35. Word: Broadcast
• Original Meaning: "sown by scattering"
 Present Meaning: "transmit (a program or some information) by radio or
television"
 Period of Change: Mid 18th century
 How The Word Changed: The change is meaning is through semantic
process Metonymy, and also due to advancement in technology.

38. 36. Word: Decimate
• Original Meaning: "taken as a tenth"
 Present Meaning: "kill, destroy, or remove a large proportion of"
 Period of Change: Late Middle English 1655
 How The Word Changed: As the meaning got intense with tme, the
semantic process is Hyperbole. The brutal practice was used by the
Roman army in the fifth century BC as a way to inspire fear and loyalty.
Lots were drawn and one out of every 10 soldiers would be killed by their
own comrades.

39. 37. Word: Husband
• Original Meaning: "male head of a household and manager, steward"
 Present Meaning: "a married man considered in relation to his spouse use"
 Period of Change: Late Old English
 How The Word Changed: The Old German words “hus” and “bunda”
mean “house” and “owner”. “Husband” originally had nothing to do with
marital status at all, except that home ownership made husbands extremely
desirable marriage partners in the 13th century. So the nearest concept is
Metonymy.

40. 38. Word: Abandon
• Original Meaning: "bring under control"
 Present Meaning: "condemn someone or something to (a specified fate)
by ceasing to take an interest in them"
 Period of Change: Late Middle English
 How The Word Changed: Coming from the French phrase “mettre
abandon” meaning “to give up to a public ban”. The meaning almost got
opposite of what it was and can be considered as a Degeneration.

41. 39. Word: Addict
• Original Meaning: “A debtor awarded as a slave to his creditor”
 Present Meaning: "a person who is addicted to a particular substance,
typically an illegal drug"
 Period of Change: Early 20th century
 How The Word Changed: The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION. It comes
from the Latin addictus.

42. 40. Word: Gay
• Original Meaning: " “light-hearted or joyous"
 Present Meaning: "a homosexual, especially a man"
 Period of Change: Middle English
 How The Word Changed: The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION. In the 1630s
it acquired connotations of immorality with the term “Gay woman”
meaning prostitute or “gay house” a brothel.

43. 41. Word: Minority
• Original Meaning: "smaller"
 Present Meaning: "you refer to the people who lack strength in a place"
 Period of Change: 15c
 How The Word Changed: The word changed through the process of
Narrowing, as the meaning became more specific from a broad category.

44. 42. Word: Merry
• Original Meaning: "short, brief"
 Present Meaning: "means joy, gaiety, full of merriment, fun, lively "
 Period of Change: Late 14c
 How The Word Changed: The word got a positive connotation over time
and hence would be considered as Elevation.

45. 43. Word: Jargon
• Original Meaning: “to chatter"
 Present Meaning: "a term for complicated-sounding technical or
specialist language "
 Period of Change: Mid 14c
 How The Word Changed: Comes from Italian origins as giargone. The
word changed through the process of Narrowing, as the meaning became
more specific from a broad category.

46. 44. Word: Cunning
• Original Meaning: “Learned, Skilled, Expert"
 Present Meaning: “clever, wicked"
 Period of Change: Middle English
 How The Word Changed: The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION. As for this
word, the change is relatable.

47. 45. Word: Fond
• Original Meaning: “To be foolish, silly”
 Present Meaning: “Affectionate"
 Period of Change: Early 15c
 How The Word Changed: As the word got a positive connotation over
time, the process is Elevation.

48. 46. Word: Dog
• Original Meaning: “A specific powerful breed of dogs"
 Present Meaning: “used generally for all dogs"
 Period of Change: 16c
 How The Word Changed: The change when meaning gets more broader
like here is called widening.

49. 47. Word: Arrive
• Original Meaning: “To arrive at shore”
 Present Meaning: " To arrive”
 Period of Change: Early 14c
 How The Word Changed: The change when meaning gets more broader
like here is called widening.

50. 48. Word: Handicap
• Original Meaning: "originally, it referred to a means of securing a fair
deal once popular among medieval traders"
 Present Meaning: " refers to beggars, wounded by war and so unable to
work"
 Period of Change: 1650s
 How The Word Changed: The meaning has acquired a negative
connotative over time, so the process is DEGENERATION.

51. 49. Word: Prince
• Original Meaning: "Leader"
 Present Meaning: “son of a king"
 Period of Change: Old English
 How The Word Changed: It comes from Latin word, Princeps. The
semantic change can be considered both Metonymy and Narrowing.

52. 50. Word: Treadmill
• Original Meaning: "original treadmill was an enormous man-powered
mill used for tasks such as crushing rocks and grinding grain"
 Present Meaning: "vogue for health and fitness, and was applied to an
item of gym equipment"
 Period of Change: 1822
 How The Word Changed: The meaning is related based on appearance
and gears used in both. The semantic process can be called Metonymy.