Archaic Words
Oct. 21st, 2014 07:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
charisstomaToday we had students in the Library finding articles on their year-long project. One student had an archaic word come up and bite her in the title of her article. Whither.
I was delighted and cackled with glee. This disturbed the student ever so slightly *GRINS* Maybe it was that I kept repeating whither.
So I present you with whither, whence, thence, and hence. AND THEN a ??friend?? mentioned wist and wilst
Skip this if this bores or annoys you. It's mainly just for me.
whither
adv
1. to what place?
2. to what end or purpose?
conj
3. to whatever place, purpose, etc
[Old English hwider, hwæder; related to Gothic hvadrē; modern English form influenced by hither]
whence
adv.
1. From where; from what place: Whence came this traveler?
2. From what origin or source: Whence comes this splendid feast?
conj.
1. Out of which place; from or out of which.
2. By reason of which; from which: The dog was coal black from nose to tail, whence the name Shadow.
[Middle English whennes : whenne, whence (from Old English hwanon; see kwo- in Indo-European roots) + -es, genitive sing. suff.; see -s3.]
Usage Note: The construction from whence has been criticized as redundant since the 18th century. It is true that whence incorporates the sense of from: a remote village, whence little news reached the wider world. But from whence has been used steadily by reputable writers since the 14th century, most notably in the King James Bible: "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help" (Psalms). Such a respectable precedent makes it difficult to label the construction as incorrect. Still, it may be observed that whence (like thence) is most often used nowadays to impart an archaic or highly formal tone to a passage, and that this effect is probably better realized if the archaic syntax of the wordhttp://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/mdash.gifwithout fromhttp://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/mdash.gifis preserved as well.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003
thence
adv.
1. from that place: I went to Paris and thence to Rome. Therefrom.
2. from that time; thenceforth.
3. from that source. Thereof.
4. from that fact or reason; therefore.
[1250–1300; Middle English thennes=thenne thence) + -es -s1] thannes, from thanne, from Old English thanon; related to Gothic thanana, Old Norse thanan]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
hence
adv.
1.
a. For this reason; therefore: handmade and hence expensive.
b. From this source: They grew up in the Sudan; hence their interest in Nubian art.
2. From this time; from now: A year hence it will be forgotten.
3.
a. From this place; away from here: Get you hence!
b. From this life.
[1225–75; Middle English hens, hennes=henne (Old English heonan) + -es -s1]
[Middle English hennes, from here : henne (from Old English heonan; see ko- in Indo-European roots) + -es, adv. suff.; see -s3.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved
wist
v.
Past tense and past participle of wit2.
wit2 (wɪt)
v.t., v.i. past and past part. wist; pres. part. wit•ting.
Archaic. to know.
Idioms:
to wit, that is to say; namely: an overwhelming victory, to wit, a landslide.
[before 900; Middle English; Old English witan, c. Old Saxon, Gothic witan, Old High German wizzan, Old Norse vita; akin to Latin vidēre, Greek ideîn to see, Skt vidati (he) knows]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
whilst
Whilst is a formal word which has the same meaning as 'while'. It is used in both time clauses and concessive clauses.
Her sister had fallen whilst walking in her sleep at night.
Raspberries have a matt, spongy surface whilst blackberries have a taut, shiny skin.
conj.
Chiefly Brit. while.
You do not use whilst in conversation, and it is not used in American English.
[1325–75; Middle English whilest= whiles + parasitic -t as in amongst, amidst]
I was delighted and cackled with glee. This disturbed the student ever so slightly *GRINS* Maybe it was that I kept repeating whither.
So I present you with whither, whence, thence, and hence. AND THEN a ??friend?? mentioned wist and wilst
Skip this if this bores or annoys you. It's mainly just for me.
whither
adv
1. to what place?
2. to what end or purpose?
conj
3. to whatever place, purpose, etc
[Old English hwider, hwæder; related to Gothic hvadrē; modern English form influenced by hither]
whence
adv.
1. From where; from what place: Whence came this traveler?
2. From what origin or source: Whence comes this splendid feast?
conj.
1. Out of which place; from or out of which.
2. By reason of which; from which: The dog was coal black from nose to tail, whence the name Shadow.
[Middle English whennes : whenne, whence (from Old English hwanon; see kwo- in Indo-European roots) + -es, genitive sing. suff.; see -s3.]
Usage Note: The construction from whence has been criticized as redundant since the 18th century. It is true that whence incorporates the sense of from: a remote village, whence little news reached the wider world. But from whence has been used steadily by reputable writers since the 14th century, most notably in the King James Bible: "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help" (Psalms). Such a respectable precedent makes it difficult to label the construction as incorrect. Still, it may be observed that whence (like thence) is most often used nowadays to impart an archaic or highly formal tone to a passage, and that this effect is probably better realized if the archaic syntax of the wordhttp://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/mdash.gifwithout fromhttp://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/mdash.gifis preserved as well.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003
thence
adv.
1. from that place: I went to Paris and thence to Rome. Therefrom.
2. from that time; thenceforth.
3. from that source. Thereof.
4. from that fact or reason; therefore.
[1250–1300; Middle English thennes=thenne thence) + -es -s1] thannes, from thanne, from Old English thanon; related to Gothic thanana, Old Norse thanan]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
hence
adv.
1.
a. For this reason; therefore: handmade and hence expensive.
b. From this source: They grew up in the Sudan; hence their interest in Nubian art.
2. From this time; from now: A year hence it will be forgotten.
3.
a. From this place; away from here: Get you hence!
b. From this life.
[1225–75; Middle English hens, hennes=henne (Old English heonan) + -es -s1]
[Middle English hennes, from here : henne (from Old English heonan; see ko- in Indo-European roots) + -es, adv. suff.; see -s3.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved
wist
v.
Past tense and past participle of wit2.
wit2 (wɪt)
v.t., v.i. past and past part. wist; pres. part. wit•ting.
Archaic. to know.
Idioms:
to wit, that is to say; namely: an overwhelming victory, to wit, a landslide.
[before 900; Middle English; Old English witan, c. Old Saxon, Gothic witan, Old High German wizzan, Old Norse vita; akin to Latin vidēre, Greek ideîn to see, Skt vidati (he) knows]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
whilst
Whilst is a formal word which has the same meaning as 'while'. It is used in both time clauses and concessive clauses.
Her sister had fallen whilst walking in her sleep at night.
Raspberries have a matt, spongy surface whilst blackberries have a taut, shiny skin.
conj.
Chiefly Brit. while.
You do not use whilst in conversation, and it is not used in American English.
[1325–75; Middle English whilest= whiles + parasitic -t as in amongst, amidst]
