The history of the use of different words has always fascinated me. I have enjoyed reading
this book lately. It lists 1300 words whose meaning have changed over the years.
A
carol was originally a ring dance. The word
seminary started out as a word for a seed bed. In the thirteenth century a boy was usually referred to as a 'knave girl'!
Minion used to mean 'darling'. In Old English
with meant 'against'. The word
husband is, in a sense, literally derived from 'housebound' and was primarily used to refer to a man's domestic position and obligation, rather than to his marital status. And every feminist arguing for inclusive language should read the entry for
man...
It is interesting to see the words that have developed around the church. The word
lewd was originally used to mean 'lay' or 'not clerical'. The word
minister used to be far more associated with servanthood and
subordination (!) than it is now. The book traces the development of the word
atone from 'reconcile' to 'appease' to 'expiate'. The word
symbol was first used in English to refer to the Apostles' Creed. Coming from Greek (
symbolon - 'token' or 'mark of identity'), through Latin (
symballein - 'to throw together' or 'compare'), the concept was that 'of verifying one half of an identity token by comparing it with the other half.'
