Staff B of the English Wordbook.
Basic abbreviations:
- OE = Old English
- ME = Middle English
- SC = Scots
- WF = West Frish
- NF = North Frish
- SF = Saterlandish Frish
- WLG = West Low Theech
- ELG = East Low Theech
- NL = Netherlandish
- NHG = New High Theech
- IC = Icelandish
- HIC = High Icelandish
- NO = Nornish
- SW = Swedish
- DN = Danish
- MLG = Middle Low Theech
- MNL = Middle Netherlandish
- MHG = Middle High Theech
- OF = Old Frish
- OS = Old Saxish
- OHG = Old High Theech
- ON = Old Norse
- GO = Gottish
- PWG = Or-West-Theedish
- PG = Or-Theedish
For a full list of etymological and other abbreviations used in these wordlists, see: Offshortenings.
| Chancery English | Class | Anglish/English | ||
| Attested | Unattested | |||
| bacchanal | n | - | beership (<OE ġebeorscipe) | |
| bacil | n | - | rodling, rodmoss | |
| bachelor | n | stag | - | |
| bacon | n | (British) fatty ham, rasher | (Commonwealth): lende meat, back meat, back ham. (America): swinestrip, pigstrip, bouke meat, bouke ham, maw meat, maw ham.
Spick (Scots, <OE spiċ) | |
| bacteria | n | - | rodlife, splitmoss, stafflings | |
| badger | n | brock | - | |
| badminton | n | - | featherball (cf. NHG Federball) | |
| baggage | n | belongings | bundlepack | |
| baguette | n | French loaf | stickbread, Pariser (NHG), whitepolebread (NHG:Stangenweißbrot) | |
| bail out | vb | pack out, peel off, pull out, run along | - | |
| bailiff | n | sheriff, steward | shire reeve | |
| balaclava | n | - | head-sock, woolhat | |
| balance | n/vb |
steady; match, make up for, even up; weigh; settle, work out, reckon, tally composure: strength of mind or will |
tue (<OE Tiw ~ god of justice) evenweight, likeweight device: meter (OE metan) | |
| bald | adj | bare, peeled, stripped; naked; bright-line, straightforward | - | |
| baleen | n | whalebone | - | |
| ballad | n | jingle, folk song | strollsong | |
| ballet | n | - | fairtumb, toe-tumb | |
| ballistics | n | - | shootlore, guncraft | |
| balloon | n/vb | bladder; snowball, spread, swell, wax | loftball (cf. NHG Luftballon) | |
| baloney | n | twaddle | - | |
| baluster | n | - | holdershaft | |
| bamboo | n | - | treereed (cf. H. Ic. baðmreyr) | |
| banal | adj | everyday, hackneyed | - | |
| banality | n | everydayness | - | |
| banalize | vb | hackney | - | |
| banana | n | - | moonpod, moonapple, moonbairn, yellow-finger | |
| bandage | n/vb | bind, swaddle, swathe, wreathe | - | |
| bandit | n | crook, outlaw, robber | gunman | |
| banish | vb | cast out, kick out, run off, throw out, turf out, ban (<OE bannan) | fleme (<OE aflieman) | |
| banister | n | - | handsill | |
| bank | n | institution: benchhouse | ||
| banknote | n | greenback | - | |
| bankrupt | adj | broke, spent, in the red, on your upperes | - | |
| banner | n | jack, streamer | fan | |
| banquet | n | feed, spread | guestmeal | |
| baobab | n | - | apebreadwood (cf. NHG Affenbrotbaum) | |
| baptism | n | christening; seating | fulwightening (<OE ġefulwihtnian) | |
| Baptism of the Lord | n | Lord's Christening | Lord's Fullwightening | |
| baptize | n/vb | christen; seat |
clepe (arch.), fulwight (<OE fulwiht), depe (in OED)/dip (<OE dypan, dépan, dyppan), fulwighten (<OE ġefulwihtnian) | |
| bar | n |
rod; benchmark, yardstick counter: taproom, watering whole |
- | |
| bar | vb | ban, forbid, freeze out, shut out; shut off, wall off | - | |
| barb | n | prick | beardling | |
| 'barber' | n | Beardscratcher (NHG:Bartkratzer),Haircutter (NHG:Haarschneider) | ||
| barbarian | n/adj | heathen; rough, wild; ruthless | fremd n: woss (cf. OE herewosa, Du. woest) | |
| barbarous | adj | heartless | reethy (<OE reðig "savage") | |
| barbeque | n | - | braai (Afrikaans), stickwork | |
| bargain | vb | cheapen, haggle | - | |
| barge | n | scow, lighter, flatboat, narrow boat | nake (<OE naca, cf. NHG Nachen, Du. aak)
longboat | |
| barometer | n | weatherglass | thringmeter (meter = mete + er; one who metes) | |
| baron(ess) | n | - | freelord(lady), athel(-ing/-in), thane | |
| barracks | n | - | wyehut | |
| barracuda | n | - | toothfish | |
| barrage | n | wall | rithcleat | |
| barrel | n | coop, tub, drum, tun, keg, firkin, vat; boatload, fistful, good deal | - | |
| barrelmaker | n | cooper | - | |
| barren | adj | bare, bony, dead, empty, waste | child: bairnless | |
| barricade | n | bar, cleat, bulwark | - | |
| barrier | n | - | forsetting, forditching | |
| barter | n/vb | - | wrixletrade | |
| base | n | bedrock, bottom, footing, footing, ground, groundwork, keystone, root, underpinning, warp and woof; bridgehead, foothold; heart, seat; foot, rock bottom
military: holdout stathol (<OE) |
hernstone/hirnstone (OE hyrn 'corner') headquarters: headfourths physics: lyestuff | |
| base | vb | ground, hang, rest, build | bestaddel | |
| base | adj | low, mean | - | |
| baseball | n | - | hardball (in analogy to softball) | |
| baseless | adj | groundless | ordless | |
| basement | n | - | underground | |
| basic | adj | bare-bones | - | |
| basically | adv | mostly, all in all, mainly, at heart, in itself, on the whole | - | |
| basil | n | - | mistle (<OE mistel) | |
| basis | n | bedrock, bottom, footing, footing, ground, groundwork, keystone, root, underpinning | hernstone | |
| basket | n | maund |
cawl, windle (<OE) | |
| basketball | n | - | hoopball, cawlball, windleball, hoops (American slang) | |
| bass | n | wicker fish-basket:
haske (ME) |
lows; lowsinger | |
| basin | n | bowl, sink; bed, trough
of a river: watershed |
- | |
| bastard | n/adj | n: bye-blow, lovechild, whoreson, mong adj: misbegotten, unfathered, underbred |
dogling (cf. OE docincel), mongling (replacing French suffix -rel with English suffix -ling) calligraphic script, adj: twimade | |
| batik | n/vb | - | dotting, waxdying, waxdye | |
| batrachian | n/adj | - | tailless (calque of Gk. anura) | |
| battalion | n | throng, crowd | sheltrum (cf. OE scildtruma) | |
| batter | vb | beat, strike, cudgel | - | |
| battery | n | cell pack | beater sparkhouse, glarload (Calque <Icelandic, amber+load, from Greek (electric=amber) feed pack (from "power pack", but swapping "power" for "feed", which has the same meaning but is Germanish) | |
| battery bear | n | moon bear | - | |
| battle | n |
hurly-burly, clash |
gouth (OE gūð), stride (cf. OE stridan, Du. strijd), bede (cf. OE beadu) | |
| battlefield | n | - | wyefield, gouthfield, bedefield, clashfield | |
| battleship | n | - | dreadnaught, fightship | |
| Bavarian | adj | - | Bairish | |
| bay | n | inlay, bight; cove (sheltered) | - | |
| bayonet | n | goad | buss-stinger (cf. Ic. byssustingur) | |
| BCE (Before Common Era) | n | BC (Dionysian) | BNE (Before Nowen Eld), BAE (Before Allshare Eld), BME (Before Mean Eld) | |
| beach volley | n | - | beach flightball (cf. Ic. blak) | |
| beak | n | bill, neb | - | |
| beat | n | smite |
slecg(<OE slecgettan) slee (<OE slēan) | |
| beau | n | swain, ladfriend, fop | - | |
| beautiful | adj | sheen, comely, faire, good-looking, handsome, sightly; nifty, sterling, | wlitty (<OE wlitig)
Sheen (end of late ME) moy (Scots) (W.Fris. moai) | |
| beauty | n | sheen, comeliness, becomeness, fairness, handsomeness, looks, loveliness, prettiness, sightliness; eyeful, knockout; bee's knees, standout | wlittiness
sheenhood (cf. NHG schönheit) fayer (<OE fæger) fairhood Schonhood <span>(cf. NHG schönheit) | |
| because | conj |
as, as long as, being as (how), being that, for, inasmuch as, now, seeing, whereas, by way, since, therefore (sentence framework is flipped), in that, given that because of owing to, by dint of, by sake of, seeing that. For-that, For-the, For-why, For-than (all attested in OE) |
forwhy because, forof because of (obsolete)
befrum afteras (cf. Sw. “eftersom”) on grounds of/that (cf. Norw. på grunn av) beway (shortening of by way) for that (<OE for + þatt); note that no hyphen is used forthy that (<OE for þÿ þe; cf. ME forrþi þatt) | |
| bedaub | vb | besmear | - | |
| beef | n | cowflesh | rotherflesh (compare Du. rundvlees NHG Rindfleisch) | |
| behavior | n | bearing, ways | uptreading | |
| beige | n | dun (in OE, but possibly Celtic rather than Germanic), dusty (dust-hued), sandy (sand-hued) | yellowgray, yellowbrown | |
| Belarus | n | - | Whiterus(land), (cf. NGH Weißrussland), White Rusynland, White Ruthenland | |
| belfry | n | - | bergfrith | |
| Belgium | n | - | Belgland | |
| belladonna | n | - | deadly nightshade, dwale | |
| bellicose | adj | brawly, hawkish | wyelusting, fightsome | |
| belligerent | adj | hotheaded | wye dreeing | |
| benefactor | n | - | well-doer (<OE wel-doend) | |
| benefit | n | wellfare; windfall, godsend | foredeal (cf. Sc. fordel, Fr. foardiel), freme (in OED, <OE fremu)
public: folkrede (<OE folcrǽd) | |
| benefit | vb |
help |
theen, freme (<OE fremian) | |
| benevolent | n | kind-hearted, good | - | |
| benign | adj | harmless | - | |
| berate | vb | upbraid | threap | |
| beret | n | - | flathat | |
| berg | n | barrow, berry | - | |
| beryllium | n | - | greenstuff, sweetstuff | |
| besiege | vb | beleaguer; harrow, beset, rack | umsit (<OE ymbsittan) | |
| bestiality | vb | - | deerlust, wightlust | |
| betray | vb | backstab, sellout, two-time; give away; lead on, rat on, beswike, betrick | bewray (wray), forrede (<OE forrǽdan, cf. Dan. forræderi, Swed. förräderi, Du. verraden, NGH Verraten) (see rede) | |
| betrayer | n | deep throat, fink, nark, rat, whistleblower; backstabber, two-timer | forreder (<OE forrǽda) | |
| beverage | n | drink, quencher | - | |
| bi- | pref | two- | twi- | |
| biannual | adj | - | halfyearly | |
| bias | n/adv | leaning, one-sidedness; athwart adv | roodways adv | |
| Bible | n | Holy Book | Cristbook when refering to Christianity | |
| bibulous | adj | spongy, thirsty; drunken | soaksome | |
| bicameral | adj | two-roomed | two-halled, twistalled, twostalled, twifack, twifackly | |
| Bicol | n | Sidefolk, Bicol | ||
| Bicolano (People) | n | Sidefolkishlander, Bicollander | ||
| Bicolano Language | n | Sidefolkish Tung, Bicol Tung | ||
| bicycle | n | two-wheeler | farewheel (cf. NHG. Fahrrad) | |
| bidet | n | saddlebath | - | |
| bidirectional | adj | two-way | twiway | |
| biennial(ly) | adj/adv | - | halfyearly | |
| biker | n | - | wheeler | |
| bikini | n | - | two-bit (cf. Eng. two-piece) | |
| bilateral | adj | two-sided | - | |
| bile bear | n | moon bear | - | |
| bill | n | reckoning, lawing | (legislative) onwarp (cf. NHG, entwurf Du. ontwerp), forstell (cf. Du. voorstel, W.Fris. foarstell) , forslay/forslog (cf. Norw. forslag) | |
| billabong | n | oxbow | - | |
| billion | nm | - | thrisand, thursand | |
| binary | adj | Tweil/Twile (Twi+le) | ||
| binoculars | n | field glasses |
farlooker, farsights (calque of N.Pers. دوربین - dur "far" + bin "sight") twiëyen (calque) | |
| biochemistry | n | lifeblendlore | - | |
| biochemical | adj | lifeblendish | - | |
| biography | n | - | lifetale, lifesdraught, lifewrit | |
| biology | n | - | lifelore, Livingknow (German:Lebenskunde) | |
| biome | n | - | lifehood (bio -> life + oma -> mass of something) | |
| BIOS (Basic Input Output System) | n | - | BIOS (Bottom Input Output Setup) | |
| bipedal | adj | two-legged | - | |
| birthplace | n | - | birthstead, kenningstow (<OE cenningstōw) | |
| biscuit | n | cookie | twobake, cakeling | |
| bisect | vb | cleave, halve, carve in two | halfcut, rend, twicut | |
| bisexual | n | - | twiluster | |
| bison | n | wisent | - | |
| bittern | n | - | havelbleat/havenbleat (<OE hæfelblæte, 'hæfenblæte) | |
| bitumen | n | blacktop | - | |
| bivalve | n | clam | - | |
| bizarre | adj | weird, offbeat, far-out, outlandish | - | |
| blackpowder | n | - | blackdust | |
| Blairite | n | - | Blairer | |
| blame | vb/n | wite, guilt, chide | threap(ing) | |
| blasphemy | n | swearing | hosp (<ME) godsmear, holyshending | |
| blatant | adj | glaring | - | |
| blemish | vb | mar | andmark (cf. Ic. and-marki) | |
| blemish | n | mar, flaw, fleck | - | |
| blemishless | adj | clean, fair, flawless, fleckless | furb | |
| blizzard | n | - | snowstorm (calque) | |
| block | n | cleat (cf. Sw. kloss) | - | |
| vb | - | forset, forditch | ||
| blond (Germanic) | adj | fair, flaxen, golden-brown, light, snowy | - | |
| blouse | n | keel | - | |
| bludgeon | vb | club, cudgel | - | |
| blue | adj | blow (rhymes with now) | - | |
| blue titmouse | n | - | hikemouse (<OE hīkemāse) | |
| blurb | n | outline, upshot | - | |
| bodyguard | n | - | holdand (<OE healdend) | |
| boffin | n | - | witshipper | |
| bog | n | mire | - | |
| bogus | adj | wrong, fake | - | |
| boil | vb | well up, seethe, foam, sizzle: simmer | well (<ME wellen) | |
| boilersuit | n | overalls | - | |
| bomb | n | blow sky-high | blaster | |
| bombard | v | - | beshoot (cf. NHG beschießen, Du. beschieten) | |
| bonanza | n | windfall, stroke of luck | wealth or | |
| bondage | n | yolk, thraldom | haft (<OE hæft, cf. NHG Haft) | |
| bonnet | n | hood, brimless hat | - | |
| boomerang | n | - | andglider | |
| boondocks | n | nowhere, sticks | backwater, sleepy hollow | |
| bordello | n | whorehouse, brothel | - | |
| border | n | brim, hem, ring, rand, rim, edge, outskirts, mark | mire (<OE mære) | |
| boron | n | - | weldstuff | |
| boss | n | foreman, head, leader | - | |
| botany | n | - | wortlore, grasslore | |
| bottle | n | flask | - | |
| bouillon | n | brew, dishwater | - | |
| boulevard | n | broadway, bullwark | - | |
| boulevardier | n | - | townfrealser | |
| boundary | n | end, line; brim, frame, hem, ring | mire (<OE mære) | |
| boundary tree | n | - | meartree (<OE gemærtrēo) | |
| bountiful | adj | bighearted, openhanded | estful, givle | |
| bouquet | n | - | bloomset | |
| bourbon | n | - | Kentucky lifewater | |
| bourgeois | n | hidebound, highborn | highbred, highburger | |
| boustrophedon | adj/n | adj: as the ox plows
n: oxplowwriting |
- | |
| boutique | n | - |
wear shop, clothing shop, clothes shop | |
| bovine | adj | cowlike | neatly (<OE nēat + ly), rotherlike | |
| bowel | n | gut | tharms (<OE) | |
| bra | n | breastshirt, breastholder, boobsling | - | |
| brace | n | fastener, clasper | - | |
| bracelet | n | wristband, armband, bee | trind, wristling | |
| braces (dental) | n | - | toothfasteners (cf. NHG Zahnspange) | |
| bracket | n | - | winkle (<OE wincel), holdknot (cf. Dn. hyldeknægt) | |
| braggart | n | boaster, show-off, blower | - | |
| braille | n | - | The Blind's rune | |
| brake | n/vb | - | undershot (<OE underscyte) | |
| branch | n |
bough, limb; feeder |
- | |
| brassiere | n | - | armward | |
| brave | adj | bold, doughty, fearless, gutsy, manful, stalworth | thriste (<OE þrīste, cf. NHG dreist)
ellen | |
| bravo! | interj | well done! | - | |
| brawl | n | flite, free-for-all | - | |
| bray | n | heehaw | - | |
| Brazil | n | - | Rudland; Emberland | |
| Brazilian pine | n | - | glimtree fir | |
| Brazilwood | n | - | rudwood | |
| breach of peace | n | - | grithbruck (<ME griðbruche) pl: grithbrucken, frithbreach | |
| breakable | n | brittle | brickle | |
| break into pieces | vb | - | kniss (<OE cnyssan) | |
| breve | adj | short | - | |
| brewery | n | brewhouse | brewern | |
| bribe | vb | buy off | - | |
| bric-à-brac | n | "by hook or by crook" | - | |
| brick | n | - | bakestone (cf. Du. baksteen, NHG Backstein) | |
| bricolage | n | do-it-yourself | happenmade | |
| brief | adj | short, small, little | ||
| brief | n | writ | ||
| brief | vb | say, speak, tell, bid, write | ||
| briefs | n | - | legless undershorts | |
| brilliance | n | brightness | lixing (<OE līxung) | |
| brilliant | adj | shining | - | |
| brisk | adj | swift, frisky | ferk | |
| broccoli | n | - | sproutcole | |
| brochure | n | flyer, handout | leafel | |
| bromine | n | - | stenchstuff, stinkstuff | |
| bronze | n/adj | |||
| copperbrass, redore | ||||
| browser | n | web crawler | - | |
| bruise | n | lill | - | |
| brunch | n | - | morgenmete, brekkie | |
| brunette | adj | black, dark, swart, swarthy | - | |
| brush | n/vb | - | brust (<ME brust, cf. Du. borstel, NHG Bürste, | |
| brutal | adj | tough; heartless | - | |
| bryophyte | n | moss | - | |
| buccaneer | n | freebooter | seareaver | |
| bucket | n | pail, boatload (amount) | stoop, amber (<OE amber), cowl (<OE cýfl) | |
| buckle | n | clasp | - | |
| buckle | vb | fasten, clasp | - | |
| Buddism | n | Buddhadom, Budishdom | ||
| budget | n | nest egg; pool, stock | - | |
| buffalo | n | wild ox, wisent | - | |
| buffer | n | ward, shelter | lanestow | |
| buffet | n | - | foodboard | |
| buffoon | n | clown (likely North Germanic) | - | |
| bullet | n | slug, bolt, lead, ball, shot | streal (<OE strǣl), thother/thudder (<OE Þōðer, "ball"), gunstone (obsolete), gunstane (scots, obsolete) | |
| bulletin | n | - | newtidings | |
| bullion | n | ingots | - | |
| bulldozer | n | - | mickle shovel | |
| bully | n | - | browbeater, strongarmer | |
| bully | vb | manhandle, mess over (slang); browbeat, strong-arm | - | |
| bun | n | puff | - | |
| bunch | n | lot | - | |
| bungalow | n | - | flackdwelling (flack = level) | |
| bungler | n | - | addlebrain, addlehead | |
| buoy | n | - | beacon, floatmark; lifeward | |
| bureau | n | board, setup, shop | revehouse, ambight | |
| bureaucracy | n | - | boardom, reevedom (state) beadledom (church)ambightfulness (based on OE ambight - for office) | |
| burgeon | vb | bud, bloom, blossom | - | |
| burglar | n | stealer, thief, housebreaker | housebreacher | |
| burglary | n | housebreaking, theft, housebreach | - | |
| burgle | vb | steal, plunder, thieve | housebreach | |
| burlesque | adj | - | funnish (Italian burla "trick, fun" + -esque < PIE *-iskos > PG *-iskaz > OE -isc > NE -ish) | |
| bus | n | - | folkwain, streetswain (cf. Ic. strætisvagn) | |
| bust | n | chest, breast | - | |
| butcher | n | - | fleshmonger | |
| butler | n | steward | flasker, mugbearer | |
| butter | Milksmear, Cowsmear, Daysmear/Dysmear (all attested in OE Day/Dy akin to Dairy in Mod.E) | |||
| button | n | switcher | nop/nap (<OE cnæp) | |
| buzzard | n | - | mousehawk (<OE mushafoc) | |
| bypass | n | skirt, shunt; overlook; shortcut, sidestep | by-ago | |
| bypast | adj | bygone | - | |
| byte | n | - | eightcleft | |