Staff O of the English Wordbook.
Basic abbreviations:
- OE = Old English
- ME = Middle English
- PG = Or-theedish
- SC = Scots
- SW = Swedish
- Dan. = Danish
- ON = Old Norse
- OS = Old Saxon
- NHG = New Hightheech
- IC = Icelandish
- H.IC = High Icelandish
- Du. = Netherlandish
- Fris. = Freesish
For a full list of etymological and other abbreviations used in these wordlists, see: Offshortenings.
| Chancery English | Class | Anglish/English | ||
| Attested | Unattested | |||
| obedient | adj | hearsome, law-abiding | bowel (<OE beogol), buxom, eathmood (<OE eaþmod) | |
| obedience | n | hearsomeness | buxomness, youngerdom, hearness, thegning | |
| obelisk | n | needle, shaft | stonerock (<OE stanrocc) | |
| obese | adj | full, podgy, overweight | fatsoughty (cf. NHG fettsüchtig) | |
| obey | vb | heed, fulfill, follow, bow, give in, give way, meet | - | |
| obfuscate | vb | becloud, muddy | - | |
| object | n | ware, thing, mark, body, goal, end | ||
| objection | n | gripe | gaintale | |
| objectionable | adj | - | frainworthy | |
| objective | n/adj | goal, target; fair-minded, open-minded | unsided | |
| objectivity | n | open-mindedness, evenhandedness | unsidedness | |
| obligate | vb | bind, make | - | |
| obligation | n | binding, making | needyness/neediness (<OE néadignes) | |
| obliged | adj | bound | writhen (<OE gewriþen) | |
| oblique | adj | slanting, sideways | - | |
| obliquely | adv | aslant | athwart | |
| oblivion | n | forgetfulness, unawareness | forgottenhood | |
| oblivious | adj | clueless, careless, heedless, unwitted | - | |
| obscene | adj | foul, lewd, shameless | - | |
| obscure | vb | darken, bedim, befog, overmist, overshadow | thester | |
| obscure | adj | thester, dim, unlit, swart, overmisted, shady | unswotel | |
| obsequious | adj | cringing, beggarly, bootlicking, brownnosing, fawning, groveling, sniveling, spineless | - | |
| observant | adj | awake, open-eyed | yeming | |
| observe | vb | follow, goose-step; eye, behold, catch, mark, look at, witness; mind, watch, keep an eye on, bewatch |
yeme (<OE gieman), umwlat (<OE ymbwlātian) Beaughten (<NHG. beachten, beobachten) see aught | |
| observer | n | witness, onlooker, beholder | - | |
| obsess | vb | grip | - | |
| obsessive compulsive disorder | n | brainlock | - | |
| obsidian | n | - | ravenflint (cf. Ic. hrafntinna)
rownglass (cf. Du. lavaglas) | |
| obsolete | adj | outworn, rust, timeworn | out of brook forold (cf. Dn. forældet/NHG. veraltet) | |
| obstacle | n | block, hurdle | - | |
| obstinate | adj | headstrong, willful, steadfast | - | |
| obstetrics | n | - | birthhelp (cf. NHG geburtshilfe) | |
| obstruct | vb | block, fetter, hamstring, shackle, hold up | forslow, forset (<OE forsettan) | |
| obstruction | n | hindering, hinderness, hitch | - | |
| obtain | vb | get, reap, win, net, come by, draw, land | fang, beget | |
| obvious | adj | straightforward | bare-nebbed, swotel | |
| obviously | adv | sheerly | markedly
opensightly (cf. NHG offensichtlich) | |
| Óðinn/Odin | n | Weden, Woden | ||
| occasion | n | time; opening | sele (<OE sæl), meal | |
| occasional | adj | here and far between | - | |
| occasionally | adv | here and there, now and then | - | |
| occidental | n/adj | western | - | |
| occipital bone | n | - | skullend, backskull | |
| occupied | adj | busy, tied-up | beseted (cf. Du bezet, NHG besetzt) | |
| occupy | vb | - | beset (cf. Du bezetten, NHG besetzten) | |
| occur | vb | befall, happen, come about | sheen (<OE sceon)
betide | |
| occurrence | n | befall, happening | sheening (<OE ġescēon, cf. NHG Geschehen), belimp (<OE belimp) | |
| ocean | n | mere | highsea, fivelway (<OE fifelwæġ), whaleway (<OE hwælweġ, "sea")
highsea, worldwater, the blue moor, the floatway, sailroad, the bree, the brine, the foam | |
| octagon | n | - | eightside | |
| October | n | - | Winterfulth, Winterfulthmonth, Winterfullmoonmonth (<OE) | |
| octopus | n | - | armfish, eightfoot (calque from Greek), inkfish (calque from German) | |
| ode | n | song | ||
| odds | n |
likelihood; at odds: out of step | - | |
| odour | n | smell, stench | duft | |
| oenophilia | n | - | winelust | |
| oesophagus | n | - | kiteway | |
| offend | vb | smite, upset, gall, wound, anger | grill, shend
beloath (cf. NHG beleidigen) | |
| offensive | adj | loath, loathsome | - | |
| offer | vb/n | n: bid
vb: bequeath, agive | - | |
| offering | n | gift, handout | - | |
| office | n | - | ambight (calque), needright, note (<OE notu), shire, week (<OE wice) | |
| officer | n | beadle, sheriff | ambighter, ambight (<OE ambeht), shireman | |
| official | n/adj. | steward, sheriff, reeve; acknowledged | - | |
| -oid | sfx | - | -hue (<OW -hīwe) | |
| oil | n/vb | slick, wax, fat | lime, fattybree | |
| ointment | n | salve | - | |
| okay | adj | all right | - | |
| old fashioned | adj | stick-in-the-mud, old time, old world, old line | - | |
| Old Testament | n | - | Old Bond, Lawsetness (OE ǽgesetnes) | |
| oleaginous | adj | fatty | limy | |
| olfactory | adj | smell | - | |
| -ology | sfx | -lore | - | |
| omen | n | boding, foreshadowing, token, warning, straw in the wind, writing on the wall | foretoken | |
| ominous | adj | doomy, ill-boding, black-boding, threatening | - | |
| omit | vb | leave out, drop | outlet (cf. NHG auslassen; pron. out-LET)
waylet (cf. Du. weglaten) | |
| omnipotent | adj | almighty | - | |
| omniscient | adj | all-knowing,
alwitty (from "The Prick of Conscience") | - | |
| onomatopoeia | n | - | hearword,
clang-aping (calque of NHG. Schallnachahmung) wordmaking (calque of the greek onoma "word, name" + poiein "compose, make,"), loudwork (calque of NHG. Lautmalerei), loudedighting | |
| onion | n | - | ramson, chipe (<OE cípe) ramps (<OE hramsa) | |
| opera | n | - | singplay | |
| operate | vb | work, run |
medical: scythe, snithe bedrive (cf. NHG betreiben) | |
| operation | n | - | medical: scything, snithing
military/police: undertaking | |
| opinion | n | thought, think-so, what one thinks, the way one sees things | wen (<OE), atlum (<ON ætlum), meaning (cf. NHG Meinung), onsight (cf. NHG Ansicht) | |
| opossum | n | - | whitedeer (cf. Powhatan aposoum) | |
| opponent | n | witherling | withstander, witherman | |
| opportune | adj | timely, well-timed | haply (<OE gehæplice) | |
| opportunity | n | opening | - | |
| oppose | vb | be against, buck, withstand; fight | hild, sake (<OE sacan) | |
| opposite | n | - | gainmatch, witherdeal, gaindeal (cf. NHG gegenteil), withersake, witherthing | |
| opposite | adj | withering | overright (Dorset), athwart (with object), fornent (Northern) | |
| opposition | n | withstander | gainstanders, witherers | |
| oppressed | adj | downtrodden | - | |
| oppress | vb | tread down | aheavy (<OE āhefigan), athrutch (<OE āthryccan), offthrutch (<OE ofþryccan), fortheen (<OE forþēon), smite (<OE ġesmætean), thrysm (<OE ġeþrysmian), hollow (<OE hōlian), oversim (<OE ofersȳman), sweer (<OE swæran, weigh down) | |
| oppression | n | - |
nithe, thrutchness (<OE þrycnes) | |
| obrium | n | shame | - | |
| optimum | adj | best | - | |
| optimism | n | yaysaying, hopethinking | - | |
| optimist | n | yaysayer, hopethinker | brightsider | |
| optional | adj | can be waled, | corely | |
| oracle | n | - | godspeaker (<OE godspræce) | |
| oral | adj | uttered; unwritten, spoken | mouthly | |
| orange | adj | - | fall, yellowred (<OE geoluhread) | |
| orange | n | - | eastern apple, midricapple (cf. Du. sinaasappel; appelsien; NHG Apfelsine) | |
| orangutan | n | - | rutherwere
redape | |
| oratory | n | outswettling, beadhouse | ||
| orbit | vb/n | go around | spor, pathbow. | |
| orca | n | killer whale | ||
| orchestra | n | - | swaygathering, gleeband | |
| orchid | n | - | ballockwort (<ME beallocwirt) | |
| ordain | vb | doom; call | tee (<OE teon) | |
| order | n |
setup command: behest group: board, brotherhood, fellowship char: breed, feather, ilk, kind fettle, kilter |
fading (<OE fadian) command: befeal (<ME befelen, OE befēolan, cf. NHG Befehl) | |
| order | vb | bespeak, bid, behest
arrange: tidy, set up |
bebid (<OE bebod), behight (<OE behatan) command: befeal (<OE befēolan, cf. Du bevelen, NHG. befehlen), for delivery: bestell (cf. NHG/Du. bestellen) arrange: fade | |
| orderly | adj | smooth, well-run, shipshape, trim, spotless, tidy | - | |
| ordination | n | - | hoding (<OE hádung) | |
| organ | n | book; means, tool
biology: innard, wetware | workern (calque) | |
| organization | n | board, brotherhood, fellowship, body | shiplaying (cf Ic. skipuleggja) | |
| organize | vb | tidy (up), neaten; make up | stight, shiplay | |
| oriental | adj | eastern | - | |
| orifice | n | hole, mouth, opening | - | |
| origin | n | root, wellspring, beginning, birth, stem, upspring, ere- | point: ord, orspring, onstanding (cf. NHG Entstehung) cause: frume (<OE fruma) | |
| original | adj | ere-, erst, first, new, fresh | ordly, orspringly (<NHG. ursprünglich) (see or- ), firstmost | |
| original | n | ere-, firstling | - | |
| originally | adv | at first, ere- | orspringly (<NHG. ursprünglich) | |
| originate | vb | stem, arise, come from, ere- | andstand (cf. NHG entstehen)
upspring (Eng.) | |
| ornament | n | dizen |
freatwing (<OE frætwung), gleng/gling (<OE gleng) moon-shaped: live (<OE hlīfa) | |
| ornament | vb | bedeck, deck, trim, bedizen | - | |
| ornamentation | n | setoff, trim | - | |
| ornithology | n | - | birdlore | |
| orphan | n | - | sunderling, lonechild, lonegrower, elderless | |
| orthodox | adj | mainstream; by-the-book | liefful (<OE léafful), bookly | |
| orthodoxy | n | lorespell | - | |
| orthography | n | rightspelling (< G Rechtschreibung) | ||
| osprey | n | seahawk | - | |
| ossicle | n | - | earbone | |
| osteology | n | - | bonelore | |
| osteoporosis | n | - | bone brittling, bonebrittleness | |
| ostrich | n | - | strutter (<OE stryta) | |
| outcry | n | uproar | - | |
| outdated | n | outworn, rusty | tided out | |
| outmanoeuvre | vb | outsmart, outshine, outwit | - | |
| outperform | vb | outdo, outshine | - | |
| oval | n | - | eggshape | |
| overbalance | vb | slip, tumble, lose your footing; upset, keel over | ||
| overcharge | vb | overload, overweigh | - | |
| overemphasize | vb | overplay, overshow, overstrain | - | |
| ovum | n | - | eggling | |
| oxidize | v | rust, sour | ||
| oxygen | n | breath of life | chemistry:
sourstuff, breathloft | |
| oxymoron | n | - | sharpdull (calque) | |
| oyster | n | clam | - | |
