Abandon, to proclaim openly; to denounce; then to cast out. (From Low Lat. bannus, an edict.) The earlier meaning still survives in the phrase, “banns of marriage.”

Brat (a contemptuous name for a child), a Celtic word meaning rag. In Wales it now means a pinafore.

Admire, to wonder at.

Brave, showy, splendid.

Allow, to praise (connected with laud).

By-and-by, at once.

Amuse, to cause to muse, to occupy the mind of. “Camillus set upon the Gauls, when they were amused in receiving their gold,” says a writer of the sixteenth century.

Carpet, the covering of tables as well as of floors.

Animosity, high spirits; from Lat. animosus, brave.

Carriage (that which carries) meant formerly that which was carried, or baggage. See Acts xxi. 15.

Artillery (great weapons of war), was used to include bows, crossbows, etc., down to the time of Milton. See P. L. ii. 715; and 1 Sam. xx. 40.

Cattle, a doublet of chattels, property. Lat. capitalia, heads (of oxen, etc.) Chaucer says, “The avaricious man hath more hope in his catel than in Christ.”

Awkward, going the wrong way. From M. E. awk, contrary. “The awk end” was the wrong end. “With awkward wind” = with contrary wind.

Censure (blame) meant merely opinion; from the Lat. censeo, I think. Shakespeare, in Hamlet i. 3. 69, makes Polonius say: “Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.”

Charity (almsgiving) meant love; from Lat. carus, dear, through the French.

Blackguard, the band of lowest kitchen servants, who had to look after the spits, pots, and pans, etc.

Cheat (to deceive for the purpose of gain) meant to seize upon a thing as escheated or forfeited.

Bombast (an inflated and pompous style of speaking or writing), cotton-wadding.

Cheer, face. “Be of good cheer” = “Put a good face upon it.” “His cheer fell” = “His countenance fell.”

Boor (a rough unmannerly fellow), a tiller of the soil; from the Dutch boawen, to till. (Compound neighbour.) In South Africa, a farmer is still called a boer.

Churl (an uncourteous or disobliging person) meant a countryman. Der. churlish. (Shakespeare also uses the word in the sense of a miser.)

Clumsy, stiff with cold. “When thou clomsest with cold,” says Langland (14^th century) = art benumbed. (Cognates, clamp, cramp.)

Explosion, a hissing a thing off the stage.

Companion, low fellow. Shakespeare has such phrases as “Companions, hence!”

Firmament, that which makes firm or strong. Jeremy Taylor (seventeenth century) says, “Custom is the firmament of the law.”

Conceit (too high an opinion of one’s self) meant simply thought. Chaucer was called “a conceited clerk” = “a learned man full of thoughts.” From Lat. conceptus, a number of facts brought together into one general conception or idea. Shakespeare has the phrase “passing all conceit” = beyond all thought.

Fond, foolish. The past participle of A. S. fonnan, to act foolishly.

Count (to number) meant to think (2 with 3, &c.) with; from Lat. compŭto, I compute or think with. Count is a doublet, through French, of compute.

Frightful, full of fear. (Compare the old meaning of dreadful.)

Cunning, able or skilled. Like the word craft, it has lost its innocent sense.

Garble, to sift or cleanse. Low Lat. garbellare, to sift corn.

Danger, jurisdiction, legal power over. The Duke of Venice says to the Merchant, “You stand within his danger, do you not?” M. V. iv. 1. 180.

Garland, a king’s crown; now a wreath of flowers.

Defy, to pronounce all bonds of faith dissolved. Lat. fides, faith.

Gazette (Italian), a magpie. Hence the Ital. gazettare, to chatter like a magpie; to write tittle-tattle. (It was also the name of a very small coin, current in Venice, etc.)

Delicious, too scrupulous or finical. A writer of the seventeenth century says that idleness makes even “the soberest (most moderate) men delicious.”

Generous, high-born. Lat. genus, race. Compare the phrases “a man of family;” “a man of rank.” Shakespeare has “the generous citizens” for those of high birth.

Depart, part or divide. The older version of the Prayer-Book has “till death us depart” (now corrupted into do part).

Gossip, sib or related in God; a godfather or godmother. It now means such personal talk as usually goes on among such persons. (Compare the French commère and commèrage.)

Disaster, an unfavourable star. A term from the old astrology.

Handsome, clever with the hands.

Disease, discomfort, trouble. Shakespeare has, “She will disease our bitter mirth;” and Tyndale’s version of Mark v. 35, is, “Thy daughter is dead: why diseasest thou the Master any further?”

Harbinger, a person who prepared a harbour or lodging.

Duke, leader. Hannibal was called in old English writers, “Duke of Carthage.”

Heathen, a person who lives on a heath. (Cf. pagan, person who lives in a pagus, or country district.)

Ebb, shallow. “Cross the stream where it is ebbest,” is a Lancashire proverb. (The word is cognate of even.)

Hobby, an easy ambling nag.

Essay, an attempt. The old title of such a book was not “Essay on” but “Essay at.” From Lat. exagium, a weighing. An older form is Assay. Shakespeare has such phrases as “the assay of arms.”

Idiot (Gr. idiòtes), a private person; a person who kept aloof from public business. Cf. idom; idiosyncrasy; etc.

Explode, to drive out by clapping of the hands. The opposite of applaud. Lat. plaudo, I clap my hands.

Spenser has “Well worthy impe.”

Impertinent, not pertaining to the matter in hand.

Offal, that which is allowed to fall off.

Indifferent, impartial. “God is indifferent to all.”

Officious, obliging. In modern diplomacy, an official communication is one made in the way of business; an officious communication is a friendly and irregular one. Burke, in the eighteenth century, speaks of the French nobility as “very officious and hospitable.”

Insolent, unusual. An old writer praises Raleigh’s poetry as “insolent and passionate.”

Ostler = hosteller.  The keeper of a hostel or hotel. (A comic derivation is that it is a contraction of oatstealer).

Kind, born, inborn; natural; and then loving.

Painful, painstaking. Fuller, in the seventeenth century, speaks of Joseph as “a painful carpenter.”

Knave, boy. “A knave child” = a male child. Sir John Mandeville speaks of Mahomet as “a poure knave.”

Palliate, to throw a cloak over. Lat. pallium, a cloak.

Lace, a snare. Lat. laqueus, a noose.

Pencil, a small hair brush. Lat. penecillus, a little tail.

Livery, that which is given or delivered, Fr. livrer; from Lat. liberare, to free. It was applied both to food and to clothing. “A horse at livery” still means a horse not merely kept, but also fed.

Peevish, obstinate.

Magnificent, doing great things; large-minded. Bacon says, “Bounty and magnificence are virtues very regal.”

Perspective, a glass for seeing either near or distant things.

Maker, a poet.

Pester, to encumber or clog. From Low Lat. pastorium, a clog for horses in a pasture.

Manure, to work with the hand; a doublet of manœvre. (Lat. manus, the hand.)

Plantation, a colony of men planted.

Mere, utter. Lat. merus, pure. Shakespeare, in “Othello,” speaks of the “mere perdition of the Tukish fleet.” “Mere wine” was unmixed wine.

Plausible, having obtained applause. “Every one received him plausibly,” says a seventeenth-century writer.

Metal, a mine.

Polite, polished. A seventeenth-century writer has “polite bodies as looking glasses.”

Minute, something very small. Lat. minutus, made small; from minus, less. Cognates,  minor; minish; diminish; etc.

Pomp, a procession.

Miscreant, an unbeliever. Lat. mis (from minus), and credo, I believe; through O.Fr.  mescréant.

Preposterous, putting the last first. Lat. præ, before; and post, after.

Miser, a wretched person. Lat. miser, miserable.

Prevaricate, to reverse, to shuffle. Lat. prævaricari, to spread the legs apart in walking.

Nephew, a grandchild. (Lat. nepos.)

Prevent, to go before. Lat præ, before, and venio, I come. The Prayer-Book has, “Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings.”

Prodigious, ominous. “A prodigious meteor,” meant a meteor of bad omen.

Niece, a grandchild. Lat. neptis.

Punctual, attending to small  points of detail. Lat. punctum; Fr. point.

Novelist,  an innovator.

Quaint, skilful. Prospero, in the “Tempest,” calls Ariel “My quaint Ariel!”

Table, a picture.

Tarpaulin, a sailor; from the tarred canvas suit he wore. Now shortened into tar.

Reduce, to lead back.

Thews, habits, manners.

Resent, to be fully sensible of. Resentment, grateful recognition of.

Thought, deep sorrow, anxiety. Matthew vi. 25. In “Julius Cæsar,” ii. 1. 187, we find, “Take thought, and die for Cæsar.”

Restive, obstinate, inclined to rest or stand still. “To turn rusty” (= resty) is to turn obstinate.

Trivial, very common. Lat. trivia, a place where three roads meet.

Retaliate, to give back benefits as well as injuries.

Tuition, guardianship. Lat. tuitio, looking at.

Room, space, place at table. Luke xiv. 8.

Uncouth, unknown.

Rummage, to make room.

Union, oneness; or a pearl in which size, roundness, smoothness, purity, lustre, were united. See “Hamlet,” v. 2. 283. A doublet is onion—so called from its shape.

Sad, earnest.

Unkind, unnatural.

Sash, a turban.

Urbane, living in a city. Lat. urbs, a city.

Usury, money paid for the use of a thing.

Sheen, bright, pure. Connected with shine.

Varlet, a serving-man. Low Lat. vassalettus, a minor vassal. Vartlet and valet are diminutives of vassal.

Shrew, a wicked or hurtful person.

Vermin was applied to noxious animals of whatever size. “The crocodile is a dangerous vermin.” Lat. vermis, a worm.

Silly, blessed.

Villain, a farm-servant. Lat. villa, a farm.

Sincerity, absence of foreign admixture.

Vivacity, pertinacity in living; longevity. Fuller speaks of a man as “most remarkable for his vivacity, for he lived 140 years.”

Soft, sweetly reasonable.

Wit, knowledge, mental ability.

Spices, kinds—a doublet of species. (A grocer in French is called an épicier.)

Worm, a serpent.

Starve, to die. Chaucer says, “Jesus starved upon the cross.”

Worship, to consider worth, to honour.

Sycophant, “a fig-shower” or informer against a person who smuggled figs. Gr. sukon, a fig; and phanio, I show.

Wretched, wicked. A. S. wrecca, an outcast.