That was not what I meant. (I)

When working through the list of words it never fails to astonish me how often words have not only changed in meaning completely, but have even come to mean the opposite of the earlier sense. And who can we blame? Those who speak the language - or perhaps speak the language badly, would be a better way of describing it.

Idiom, a distinctive expression or turn of phrase, began in the sixteenth century as a reference to a specific language.

Improve must surely have always meant 'make better', surely? But no. For in the sixteenth century there are plenty of written used where the word is clearly used to mean 'make profit'.

Impudent or 'cheeky' today, but the word actually tells us its meaning of 'not pudent' and therefore was used to mean 'immodest. lacking decency' in the fourteenth century.

Inane comes from Latin, and instead of meaning 'mad, crazy' as used today, was first used in English to mean 'empty'.

Industry meant 'skill' or 'dexterity' in the fifteenth century, not seen in a manufacturing sense until the eighteenth century.

Infants today are young children, but for nearly the entire existence of the English language it simply referred to a child of any age.

Infest today suggests being subjected to an attack by hordes of undesirables, but originalyl described the 'swarm' of anything, be it undesirable of not.

Inmate today suggests someone who resides in an institution and who would not be there by choice. When the word was first used in English it was simply referred to one residing at another's premises, such as a lodger or tenant.

Inn, today a word which can only be a pub or perhaps a hotel. Yet in the fourteenth century we all lived in inns, for every dwelling was referred as such.

Insulate is to keep separate, detach, today. But when first used in English it described somewhere 'made into an island'.

Insult would be insulting to define in the modern sense, so we'll stick with the sixteenth century sense meaning 'to triumph over'.

Interfere originates from the Latin inter 'one another' and ferire 'to strike', and thus what is used today to mean 'meddle' began as being used to mean 'to strike each other'.

Invent or 'devise' today, was a fifteenth century word meaning 'to come'.

Investment has a financial meaning today, but began in the sixteenth century meaning 'to clothe'.

Involve is derived from the Latin onvolvere or 'to roll in', which is exactly what it meant in the fourteenth century.

Item is an individual object today, but in the fourteenth century meant 'also' which, if the list is itemised, and 'item' inserted before each then that makes perfect sense.

Iran Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest Iranian cities and starting with the capital, Tehran.

Tehran's origins are uncertain. The name probably dates back to the earliest days of the city itself, that history goes back at least 7,000 years. Of course that has not stopped speculation. Perhaps it comes from Tiran or Tirgan and meaning 'the abode of Tir', he the Zoroastrian equivalent of the Greek deity Mercury. Another idea is this represents 'a warm place', while an official guide gives Tah 'end or bottom' and Ran 'mountain slope' and it does lie at the foot of the Alborz Mountains.

Mashhad is named after the last resting place of Imam Reza, the eighth Shia Imam. Interred in the village of Khorasan, this was changed to the modern name of Mashhad meaning 'the place of martyrdom'.

Isfahan comes from the Middle Persian Spahan, understood as 'place of the gathering army'.

Shiraz is more than four thousand years old, yet the oldest record of the name is less than half that. It is derived from the son of Shah Tahmuras.

Tabriz has several explanations, most often to come from tap-riz and a reference to the thermal springs here. Others suggest the King Tiridates II of Armenia gained revenge for his brother's death by driving out Ardashire I of the Sassanid Empire in AD246, with ta-vrezh meaning 'the revenge'.

Ahvaz has a rather complex history but is thought to come from an Old Persian and referred to 'the land of the Huzis'.

Urmia is thought to come from Indo-Iranian urmi 'wave' and urmya 'undulating, wavy'. This refers to the location near a lake and surrounded almost entirely by rivers, and thus the inference is 'water town'.

Rasht is thought to be from the verb reshtan meaning 'weaving' and a reference to one of the many early industries here.

Zahedan is a plural form of the Arabic zahed meaning 'pious'.

Yazd is from Yazdegerd I, a Sassanid ruler of Persia, his name meaning 'made by God'.

Ardabil comes from the Avesta Artavila and means 'holy place'.

Bandar Abbas has a long history and always uppermost known as a port and the names reflect that. Indeed, Bandar Abbas literally translates as 'harbour port'. For most of its existence it was known as Gameroon, this from gumruk with in root in 'commerce'.

Arak is a term given to this place since the medieval period and means 'the edge'.

Sanandaj had originally been known as Saneh or 'castle'. Subsequently it became known for the location of the castle and Sanandaj means 'castle at the foot of the mountain'.

Dezful speaks of itself as 'the fortified bridge' from the Persian diz pul.

Khomeyni Shahr was named to honour the Ayatollah Khomeini, but had earlier been known as Sedeh, from seh dedge 'three castles'.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.