Edited by T. F. Hoad
17,000 entries
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'?
T. F. Hoad is Fellow and Tutor in English language and Medieval Literature at St Peter's College, Oxford.
