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 | |||
oasis | n | - | win (cf. Ic. vin) | |
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 | - | |
obituary | n | - | Roufrithsoned Engliſh: byodening (cf. "by-" + "yode" +"-en" + "-ing") | |
object | n | ware, thing, mark, body, goal, end | ||
objection | n | gripe, againsay | 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 | must, binding, making | needyness/neediness (<OE néadignes), mustdeed | |
obligatory | adj | bound, binded | must, must-do, mustdo, mustdeed, needy | |
obliged | adj | bound | writhen (<OE gewriþen) | |
obliging | adj | willing-hearted | ||
oblique | adj | slanting, sideways | sheel (<OE sċeolh and akin to Du scheel) | |
obliquely | adv | aslant | athwart | |
oblivion | n | forgetfulness, unawareness | forgottenhood | |
oblivious | adj | clueless, careless, heedless, unwitted | - | |
obrium | n | shame | - | |
obscene | adj | foul, lewd, shameless | - | |
obscure | vb | darken, bedim, befog, overmist, overshadow | thester | |
obscure | adj | thester, dim, bedimmed, unlit, swart, overmisted, shady | unswotel, dighel (<OE deagol, cf. SW. dölja/IC. dylja; spelling derived from ME diȝel of same meaning), deagle (<OE dígol) | |
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, oversee |
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 | foreset, 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, awin (<OE āwinnan and <ME awinnen) | |
obvious | adj | straightforward | bare-nebbed, swotel, openknowledgeful (cf. NHG offenkundig) | |
obviously | adv | sheerly | markedly, opensightly (cf. NHG offensichtlich) | |
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 | beset (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 akin to NHG Geschehen), belimp (<OE belimp) | |
ocular | adj | - | eyely | |
ocean | n | mere | highsea, fivelway (<OE fifelwæġ), whaleway (<OE hwælweġ, "sea"), haff (<OE heaf "sea, ocean"), 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 | - | |
Odin | n | Weden, Woden | - | |
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: agive, bequeath |
n: shore | |
offering | n | gift, handout | shoring | |
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 | - | -hew (<OW -hīwe) | |
oil | n/vb | slick, wax, fat | lime, fattybree, smearstuff (German:Schmierstoff) | |
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, bodeful | - | |
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, undertake |
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, withstand; fight, go against, againstand, buck | again-go, hild, sake | |
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 | yoke |
nithe, thrutchness (<OE þrycnes) | |
oppressive | adj | sweer (<OE swǣr) | ||
optimise (optimize) | vb | smoothen, better | winfullen, winfulledge | |
optimism | n | yaysaying | hopethinking, sunny braining | |
optimist | n | yaysayer | brightsider, hopethinker, sunny-brainer. | |
optimistic | adj | - | brightsided, hopethinking, sunny-brained, yaysaying | |
optimum | adj | best | - | |
optional | adj | can be waled, | corely | |
oracle | n | - | godspeaker (<OE godspræce) | |
oral | adj | uttered; unwritten, spoken | mouthly (cf. NHG mündlich) | |
orange | adj | yellow-red (or) yellowred | fall | |
orange | n | - | eastern apple, midricapple (cf. Du. sinaasappel; appelsien; NHG Apfelsine) | |
orangutan | n | - | rutherwere, red ape | |
oratory | n | outswettling, beadhouse | ||
orbit | vb/n | go around | spor, pathbow, fallbow, eferfall | |
orca | n | killer whale | swordwhale (<NHG Schwertwal) | |
orchard | n | - | nutgrove, nutyard, ovetgrove, ovetyard (for disambiguation with "wortyard") | |
orchestra | n | - | swaygathering, gleeband | |
orchid | n | - | ballockwort (<ME beallocwirt) | |
ordain | vb | foreset; foresay; doom; call | tee (<OE teon) | |
order | n |
setup, fettle, kilter command: behest group: board, brotherhood, fellowship char: breed, feather, ilk, kind |
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, tool
biology: innard, wetware |
workern (calque) | |
organization | n | board, brotherhood, fellowship, body | shiplaying (cf Ic. skipuleggja) | |
organize | vb | tidy (up); make up | stight, shiplay | |
oriental | adj | eastern | - | |
orientation | n | - | akinting | |
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, bedecking |
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
fish hawk (<SC) |
- | |
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 | - | |
overdue | adj | overowed, overripe(ned) | ||
overemphasize | vb | overplay, overshow, overstrain | - | |
overpopulation | n | overcrowding | - | |
overpower | vb | forset | - | |
overtax | vb | overburden, forset | - | |
ovum | n | - | eggling | |
oxidize | v | rust, sour | ||
oxygen | n | breath of life | chemistry: sourstuff, breathloft | |
oxymoron | n | - | sharpdull (calque) | |
oyster | n | clam | - |