With over 17,000 entries, this is the most authoritative and comprehensive dictionary of etymology available in paperback.

This dictionary distinguishes three principal kinds of process in the evolution of words:

1. The normal development of a word within a given language, according to the regular processes of change in that language.


2. The adoption of a word from one language into some other language


3. The formation of a word on some existing word or element by means of a derivational device, or by compounding

Based on The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, the principal authority on the origin and development of English words, the Concise contains a wealth of information about the English language and its history.



Where did the words bungalow and assassin derive?

What did nice mean in the Middle Ages?

How were adder, anger, and umpire originally spelt?

And did you know that bunkum is taken from Buncombe, North Carolina, whose representative in Congress declared he was bound to 'make a speech for Buncombe'?