This is a list of Germanic (mostly Old) English words that have been displaced by non-Germanic loanwords from other languages (mostly Latinate words), organized by the displacing words. Germanic words that were borrowed from non-Germanic languages, such as helmet, are not included, even if they include non-Germanic affixes. Such words are worthy of their own list, but I will leave that up to someone else. Very old borrowings (Old English and earlier) are counted as "Germanic" for the purposes of this list.
All of the data is from Wiktionary etymologies unless otherwise noted; it is not independently verified. Some, but not all, ME spellings checked with the Middle English Dictionary.
I add words as I come across them in my free time. If you know of some words that would make good additions to the table, feel free to add them! Just make sure they fit stylistically:
If you're not sure how to do the above, you can add your suggestions to the Talk page and I will add them.
The "Descendants" column lists modern descendants of displaced words, in those cases where the displaced words still survive, typically in different or limited senses, or otherwise limited in use (dialectal, rare, etc).
Affix | Middle English | Old English | Source of displacing word | Descendants | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
-able | -able |
-endlīċ -wierþe -bǣre -līċ |
Latin -ābilis via Old French -able | -worthy -bearing -ly |
|
re- | ed- eft- a-, o- gain- with-, wither- |
ed- eft- a- geġn-, gēan- wiþ-, wiþer |
Latin re-, sometimes via Old French re- | a- gain- with-, wither- |
|
dis- | dis- to- |
tō- te- |
Latin dis- | to- |
|
-ize | -isen | -ettan -lǣċan |
Ancient Greek -ίζειν (-ízein), through Latin -izāre and Old French -iser | ||
-ic -ical |
-isch -ish |
-isc | Latin -icus, through Old French -ique; and -al, ultimately from Latin -ālis | -ish | |
-ess | -esse | -en | Late Latin -issa, through Old French -esse; ultimately from Ancient Greek -ισσα (-issa) | ||
semi- | sam- half- |
sām- healf- |
Latin semi- | half- |
|
anti- counter- |
with- | wiþer- wiþ- |
Ancient Greek ἀντί- (antí-), through Latin anti- | wither- with- |
|
inter- | betweon- betwux- |
Latin inter- |
Word | Middle English | Old English | Source of displacing word | Descendants | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
France | Franc-rice | Francrice, Francland | Latin Francia via French France | ||
Mediterranean Sea | ? | Wendelsæ | Latin Mare Mediterraneum | Wendel Sea | The modern Wendel Sea is a borrowing from OE. |
Persia | ? | Persealand | Latin Persia | The OE name is also from Latin. | |
Ethiopian | ? | Sigelhearwa | Ancient Greek Αἰθιοπία (Aithiopía) + either English -an or Latin -ānus |
Please add suggestions on the Talk page.
Later (ME+) Germanic indirect borrowings, perhaps to be added as a separate table:
war, wig; helmet, helm; forest, weald/frith; guard/warden/guardian, ward; reward, lean/mede/scipe; cross; cry;
Most of w:Changes to Old English vocabulary would be appropriate for this page.
Month names. Which table should these go under, general or proper nouns, or perhaps a separate one?
ReordCræft's contributions have quite a few OE translations of modern words, some of them may be appropriate for the list.