Historical Semantics

doi:10.1017/9781009205702.020

17 - Historical Semantics

from Part III - The Long View by Levels and Areas

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 October 2025

Kathryn Allan

Edited by

Laura Wright and

Raymond Hickey

Show author details

Laura Wright: Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Raymond Hickey: Affiliation:
University of Limerick

Book contents

Get access

Summary

The questions of how and why words change meaning are integral to any history of English. Semantic change is complex, since it always takes place in a particular social and historical context, and one change in the system may lead to others. Words also have different meanings at different times for different speakers, and the neat descriptions of changes that are often presented in the literature do not always take account of the polysemy that is always involved. After a summary of the evolution of this branch of historical linguistics, this chapter describes different tendencies in semantic change, and the ways in which changes can be motivated, offering a structural classification of such change. It goes on to consider change in each period of the history of English, exploring the meaning of compounds in Old English, the relationship between the meanings of borrowed words and their etymons in Middle and Early Modern English, and the impact of conscious efforts to change the meanings and usage of socially sensitive words in Late Modern English. Each section is informed by detailed discussions of varied semantic histories, drawn from a range of historical and contemporary dictionaries, corpora and text collections.

Keywords

semantic change polysemy variation borrowing language contact

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: The New Cambridge History of the English Language
Context, Contact and Development
, pp. 611 - 665

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009205702.020 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2025

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Allan, Kathryn. 2007. Excellence: a new keyword for education? Critical Quarterly 49.1: 54–78.10.1111/j.1467-8705.2007.00749.xCrossRef Google Scholar

Allan, Kathryn. 2008. Metaphor and Metonymy: A Diachronic Approach. Publications of the Philological Society 42. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar

Allan, Kathryn. 2010. Tracing metonymic polysemy through time: material for object mappings in the OED. In Winters, Margaret, Tissari, Heli and Allan, Kathryn (eds.), Historical Cognitive Linguistics. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 163–196.10.1515/9783110226447.163CrossRef Google Scholar

Allan, Kathryn. 2014. An inquest into metaphor death: exploring the loss of literal senses of conceptual metaphors. Cognitive Semiotics 5.1–2: 291–311.10.1515/cogsem.2013.5.12.291CrossRef Google Scholar

Allan, Kathryn. 2015. Lost in transmission? The sense development of borrowed metaphor. In Diaz-Vera, Javier E. (ed.), Metaphor and Metonymy across Time and Cultures. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 31–50.10.1515/9783110335453.31CrossRef Google Scholar

Allan, Kathryn. 2021. Metaphor, metonymy and polysemy: a historical perspective. In da Silva, Augusto Soares (ed.), Figurative Language: Intersubjectivity and Usage. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 287–305.10.1075/ftl.11.09allCrossRef Google Scholar

Anonymous. 1878. The French in Indo-China. The Edinburgh Review, or Critical Journal. 147 (January 1878): 52–82.Google Scholar

Anonymous. 1590. An excellent ditty made vpon the great victory, vvhich the French king obtayned against the Duke de Maine, and the Romish rebels in his kingdome, vpon Ashwednesday being the fourth day of March last past. 1590 To the tune of the new Tantara. London. EEBO. University of Michigan Digital Collection. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A02995.0001.001.Google Scholar

Bauer, Laurie. 1988. Introducing Linguistic Morphology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar

Behrens, Heike. 2017. The role of analogy in language processing and acquisition. In Hundt, Marianne, Mollin, Sandra and Pfenninger, Simone E. (eds.), The Changing English Language: Psycholinguistic Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 215–239.10.1017/9781316091746.010CrossRef Google Scholar

Campbell, Lyle. 2013. Historical Linguistics. An introduction. Third edition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar

CALDT = Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary and Thesaurus. https://dictionary.cambridge.org.Google Scholar

Cienki, Alan. 2010. Frames, idealized cognitive models, and domains. In Geeraerts, Dirk and Cuyckens, Hubert (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 170–187.Google Scholar

Hall, Clark, John, R. 1960. A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Fourth edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar

Collins English Dictionary. www.collinsdictionary.com.Google Scholar

Coulson, Seanna. 2006. Metaphor and conceptual blending. In Brown, Keith (ed.), Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Second edition. Vol. VIII. Oxford: Elsevier, pp. 32–39.10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01098-1CrossRef Google Scholar

Cruse, D. Alan. 1986. Lexical Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar

Crystal, David. 2014. Words in Time and Place: Exploring Language through the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

Curzan, Anne. 2014. Fixing English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139107327CrossRef Google Scholar

De Smet, Hendrik. 2010. Grammatical interference: subject marker for and the phrasal verb particles out and forth. In Traugott, Elizabeth and Trousdale, Graeme (eds.), Gradience, Gradualness and Grammaticalization. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 75–104.10.1075/tsl.90.06desCrossRef Google Scholar

DOE = Dictionary of Old English: A to I online. 2018. Ed. Cameron, Angus, Amos, Ashley Crandell, Healey, Antonette diPaolo et al. Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project. https://doe.artsci.utoronto.ca/.Google Scholar

DOEWC = Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus. 2009. Compiled by Healey, Antonette di Paolo, with John Wilkin, Price and Xiang, Xin. Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project. https://doe.artsci.utoronto.ca/.Google Scholar

Durkin, Philip. 2014. Borrowed Words: A History of Loanwords in English. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199574995.001.0001CrossRef Google Scholar

Durkin, Philip. 2009. The Oxford Guide to Etymology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

Durkin, Philip and Allan, Kathryn. 2016. Borrowing and copy: a philological approach to Early Modern English lexicology. In Auer, Anita, González-Diáz, Victorina, Hodson, Jane and Sotirova, Violeta (eds.), Linguistics and Literary History: In Honour of Sylvia Adamson. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 71–86.10.1075/lal.25.05durCrossRef Google Scholar

EDD = English Dialect Dictionary. Ed. Wright, Joseph 1898–1905. 6 vols. Oxford: Henry Frowde. EDD Online 3.0, ed. Manfred Marcus 2019. https://eddonline-proj.uibk.ac.at.Google Scholar

EEBO = Early English Books Online. http://eebo.chadwyck.com/home.Google Scholar

Emerson, Waldo, Ralph. 1909 [1870]. The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson in 12 Vols. Vol. VII: Society and Solitude. Fireside edition. Boston/New York.Google Scholar

English, W. K., Engelbart, D. C. and Huddart, Bonnie. 1965. Computer-Aided Display Control: Final Report. Menlo Park, CA: Stanford Research Institute.Google Scholar

Evelyn, John. 1955 [1675]. The Diary of John Evelyn. Vol. IV: Kalendarium, 1673–1689. Ed. de Beer, Esmond. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/actrade/9780198187516.book.1CrossRef Google Scholar

Forshall, Josiah and Madden, Frederic (eds.). 1850. The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal Books in the Earliest English Version Made from the Latin Vulgate by John Wycliffe and his Followers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

Geeraerts, Dirk. 1997. Diachronic Prototype Semantics: A Contribution to Historical Lexicology. Oxford: Clarendon Press.10.1093/oso/9780198236528.001.0001CrossRef Google Scholar

Geeraerts, Dirk. 2010. Theories of Lexical Semantics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

GED = Google English Dictionary. Oxford Languages. Online via google.com.Google Scholar

Harley, Heidi. 2006. English Words: A Linguistic Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar

Haspelmath, Martin. 2006. Against markedness (and what to replace it with). Journal of Linguistics 42: 25–70.10.1017/S0022226705003683CrossRef Google Scholar

Hemingway, Ernest. Pound, To Ezra, [c. 22 April 1925]. In Sandra Spanier, DeFazio III, Albert J. and Trogdon, Robert W. (eds.), The Letters of Ernest Hemingway. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 325–328.Google Scholar

Hickey, Raymond. 2006. Productive lexical processes in present-day English. In Mair, Christian, Heuberger, Reinhard and Wallmannsberger, Josef (eds.), Corpora and the History of English: A Festschrift for Manfred Markus. Heidelberg: Winter, pp. 153–168.Google Scholar

Hickey, Raymond. 2020. The interplay of internal and external factors in varieties of English. In Kytö, Merja and Smitterberg, Erik (eds.), Late Modern English 6 Proceedings. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 43–64.10.1075/slcs.214.02hicCrossRef Google Scholar

Hornsby, David. 2018. A new dialect for a new village: evidence for koinézation in East Kent. In Wright, Laura (ed.), Southern English Varieties Then and Now. Berlin: Gruyter de Mouton, pp. 74–109.10.1515/9783110577549-004CrossRef Google Scholar

HTE = Historical Thesaurus of English. Version 4.21. 2020. Ed. Kay, Christian, Alexander, Marc, Dallachy, Fraser, Roberts, Jane, Samuels, Michael and Wotherspoon, Irené. Glasgow: University of Glasgow. https://ht.ac.uk/.Google Scholar

Hughes, Geoffrey. 2000. A History of English Words. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar

Johnson, Stephen. 2021. Smurf, nerf, buff, and more old words with new meanings you should know. Lifehacker, 21 October 2021. https://lifehacker.com/smurf-nerf-buff-and-more-old-words-with-new-meanings-1847909088.Google Scholar

Kay, Christian and Allan, Kathryn. 2015. English Historical Semantics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.CrossRef Google Scholar

Lakoff, George and Johnson, Mark. 1980. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar

Lehrer, Adrienne. 1985. Markedness and antonymy. Journal of Linguistics 21: 397–429.10.1017/S002222670001032XCrossRef Google Scholar

Lyons, John. 1968. Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139165570CrossRef Google Scholar

MacCabe, Colin and Yanacek, Holly (eds.). 2018. Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

Malory, Beth. 2022. The transition from abortion to miscarriage to describe early pregnancy loss in British medical journals: a prescribed or natural lexical change? Medical Humanities 48.4: 489–496.10.1136/medhum-2021-012373CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

MED = Middle English Dictionary. 1952–2001. Ed. Lewis, Robert E., Kurath, Hans, Kuhn, Sherman M. et al. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Online edition in Middle English Compendium. Ed. Frances McSparran et al. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000–2018. http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/med/.10.3998/mpub.6334CrossRef Google Scholar

Mencken, Louis, Henry. 1961. Letters of H. L. Mencken. New York: Knopf.Google Scholar

Meyrowitz, Norman and Van Dam, Andries. 1982. Interactive editing systems: Part 1. Computing Surveys 14.3: 321–352.10.1145/356887.356889CrossRef Google Scholar

Minkova, Donka and Stockwell, Robert. 2009. English Words: History and Structure. Second edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRef Google Scholar

Murphy, M. Lynne. 2006. Antonymy and incompatibility. In Brown, Keith (ed.), Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Second edition. Vol. I. Oxford: Elsevier, pp. 314–317.10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01023-3CrossRef Google Scholar

Murphy, M. Lynne. 2010. Lexical Meaning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511780684CrossRef Google Scholar

Nevalainen, Terttu. 2000. Early Modern English lexis and semantics. In Lass, Roger (ed.), The Cambridge History of the English Language, Vol. III: 1446–1776. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 332–458.10.1017/CHOL9780521264761.006CrossRef Google Scholar

OED = The Oxford English Dictionary. 1884–1928; Supplement and Bibliography 1933. Supplement, 1972–1986. Second edition 1989. Additions Series, 1993–1997. Third Online Edition (in progress), March 2000–. www.oed.com/.Google Scholar

OLD = Oxford Latin Dictionary. Ed. P. G. W. Glare. Second edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

Robinson, Justyna. 2010. ‘Awesome’ insights into semantic variation. In Geeraerts, Dirk, Kristiansen, Gitte and Peirsman, Yves (eds.), Advances in Cognitive Sociolinguistics. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 85–109.10.1515/9783110226461.85CrossRef Google Scholar

Robinson, Justyna. 2012. A sociolinguistic approach to semantic change. In Allan, Kathryn and Robinson, Justyna (eds.), Current Methods in Historical Semantics. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 199–232.Google Scholar

Samuels, Michael. 1972. Linguistic Evolution: With Special Reference to English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139086707CrossRef Google Scholar

Sandow, Rhys. 2022. Attention, identity and linguistic capital: inverted style-shifting in Anglo-Cornish dialect lexis. English Language and Linguistics 26.4: 677–695.10.1017/S136067432100040XCrossRef Google Scholar

Spencer, Andrew. 1991. Morphological Theory. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar

Sylvester, Louise, Tiddeman, Megan, Ingham, Richard and Allan, Kathryn. 2022. The semantics of word borrowing in late medieval English. Paper presented at the International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Oxford, 1–5 August 2022.Google Scholar

Timofeeva, Olga. 2010. Non-finite Constructions in Old English with Special Reference to Syntactic Borrowing from Latin. Finland: Société Néophilologique.Google Scholar

Traugott, Elizabeth. 2006. Semantic change: bleaching, strengthening, narrowing, extension. In Brown, Keith (ed.), Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Second edition. Vol. XII. Oxford: Elsevier, pp. 124–31.Google Scholar

Traugott, Elizabeth. 2010. (Inter)subjectivity and (inter)subjectification: a reassessment. In Davidse, Kristin, Vandelanotte, Lieven and Cuyckens, Hubert (eds.), Subjectification, Intersubjectification and Grammaticalization. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 29–74.10.1515/9783110226102.1.29CrossRef Google Scholar

Traugott, Elizabeth. 2017. Semantic change. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics. https://oxfordre.com/linguistics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acrefore-9780199384655-e-323.10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.323CrossRef Google Scholar

Traugott, Elizabeth and Dasher, Richard. 2002. Regularity in Semantic Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar

Trier, Jost. 1931. Der deutsche Wortschatz im Sinnbezirk des Verstandes: Die Geschichte eines sprachlichen Feldes I. Von den Anfängen bis zum Beginn des 13. Jahrhunderts. Heidelberg: Winter.Google Scholar

Wright, Laura. 2023. The Social Life of Words: A Historical Approach. Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell.Google Scholar

Zimmermann, Richard. 2019. Studying semantic chain shifts with Word2Vec: FOOD>MEAT>FLESH. In Tahmasebi, Nina, Borin, Lars, Jatowt, Adam and Xu, Yang (eds.), Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Computational Approaches to Historical Language Change. Florence: Association for Computational Linguistics, pp. 23–28.CrossRef Google Scholar

Accessibility standard: WCAG 2.0 A

Why this information is here

This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

Accessibility Information

The PDF of this book conforms to version 2.0 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), ensuring core accessibility principles are addressed and meets the basic (A) level of WCAG compliance, addressing essential accessibility barriers.

Content Navigation

Table of contents navigation
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.

Index navigation
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.

Reading Order & Textual Equivalents

Single logical reading order
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.

Short alternative textual descriptions
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.

Visual Accessibility

Use of colour is not sole means of conveying information
You will still understand key ideas or prompts without relying solely on colour, which is especially helpful if you have colour vision deficiencies.

Structural and Technical Features

ARIA roles provided
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.