An etymologist's look at everyday 20th century words no longer used

Note it is often said the OED not only adds words each year but removes others. This is not the case, the OED merely marks some as 'obsolete' or 'no longer in use'. Here are some which you may or may not remember.

Regulo was a number used to give a setting on a temperature scale in gas ovens in Britain. It would often be heard or seen on television and in recipes: "Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, regulo 6" or "220 degrees, regulo 7". Today we hear the phrase "gas mark" but the scale is the same. The term 'regulo', while not specifically a trade name, was used by manufacturers for many years. It is clearly derived from 'regulate', itself from Latin regula 'a straight piece of wood' and Proto-Indo-European reg 'move in a straight line'.

Fuzzle is a word meaning 'to make drunk, the confuse' and likely a mispronunciation of fuddle also meaning 'to get drunk' and today still seen in 'befuddle'.

Resistentialism was a theory that inanimate objects showed spiteful behaviour. Confused? (Or even fuzzled?) The idea being that such things as a ball refused to bounce correctly and would have to be chased - when really the ball had been bounced incorrectly; or keys would deliberately hide - and not that the owner had forgotten where they had put them. No wonder the word fell out of use.Clearly derived from 'resist', as in not doing what is expected, this verb came to English through Old French and Latin from Proto-Indo-European sta 'to stand, make firm'.

Lumming spoke of how gentlemen would go for a walk after a meal and smoke (usually a pipe). This has its origins in the slang term 'lum', a reference to the flue drawing smoke from an open fire into the chimney and away from the house.

Aerodrome began to give way to 'airport' from 1909 and has now disappeared entirely. It comes from the Greek aerodromos 'running through the air', and first used as a name for an early flying machine.

Overmorrow is not tomorrow but the day after tomorrow. Clearly from 'morrow', a word sharing an origin with 'morning' in coming to English through the Germanic languages and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European mer 'to blink, twinkle', and a reference to the breaking of the new day.

Groak is to 'stare at someone eating', presumably in the hope of being offered a share. Origins are obscure, although it is tempting to suggest it is related to 'gaek' and 'gawp'.

Thrape is to punish, beat, to thrash. Latterly rarely used in the physical sense, but more likely used to describe a verbal tirade, and also a heavy defeat in a sporting contest.

Synonym Etymologies D

Continuing the look at synonyms through the eyes of the etymologist, this time it is the letter D and dull, as in 'dreary'.

Dull, as used in reference to colour or brightness, is unknown prior to the end of the 14th century. This comes from its use in referring to a tool or weapon being blunt - and that also the reason 'dull' has been used to mean 'slow in understanding' - and can be traced back to Proto-Indo-European dhul from the root dheu 'dust, vapour, smoke'.

Dreary is first used in Old English dreorig and meaning 'cruel, bloody, blood-stained', and came to English through the Germanic line with similar meanings. Ultimately this can be traced to Proto-Indo-European dhreu meaning, depending on the context. 'to fall, flow, drip, droop'. Hence the original 'dripping with blood' has changed to become 'dismal, gloomy' - and one would think blood loss to that extent would hardly make anyone pleased.

Dismal also began with a rather different meaning, for in the early 15th century the sense was 'unlucky, inauspicious'. This came to English from Old French and Medieval Latin, the latter dies mali 'evil or unlucky days', and tracing back further from Proto-Indo-European dyeu 'to shine' and mel 'bad, wrong'.

Drab had been used in the 16th century as a term for a 'dirty or untidy woman' (and worse), but this is connected to an Old French word drap. Here the meaning is 'yellowish-grey' or other similarly lifeless colour by the 18th century and earlier still simply described the thick woollen cloth of unremarkable colour.

Banal, as in 'hackneyed' or 'lacking distinction', has the same origin as 'ban' and is not difficult to see. The Germanic root of both words saw Old Norse banna 'to curse, prohibit', German bannen 'expel, banish', and back to Proto-Indo-European bha 'to speak'. The same cluster of words has also given us 'bandit' and 'contraband'.

Tedious came to English from Old French tedieus and Late Latin taediosus with the same meaning. While of uncertain etymology, it seems likely to be related to words such as Old Church Slavonic tezo and Lithuanian tingiu which both mean 'dull'.

Boring is another where the etymology is uncertain, but probably came to English from French and likely used in the sense of 'boring a hole' where progress might be made but a very slow and laborious pace.

Lifeless is the opposite of life, and the only word we need to examine. All Germanic roots refer to 'body, person' and the like, which earlier forms use as 'continuance, perseverance', this showing the links to earlier still Proto-Indo-European leip 'to stick, adhere'. Hence the longtime sense of 'life' is actually 'not to die'.

Insipid came to English from the French around the early 17th century, and is derived from Latin sapere to 'have a taste' and used more to refer to flavours as it is related to sapidus 'tasty' and also to the modern word 'sapient'.

Wearisome is clearly from 'weary' and both words from the Germanic group which have never had any other meaning than 'to exhaust, make tired'.

Bland is from the Latin blandus 'smooth-talking, flattering, alluring', and thus has virtually changed to the opposite meaning. Tracing this back further takes us to Proto-Indo-European mel 'soft' which, it could be argued, could be lead to the word in both the positive and negative sense of 'bland'.

Flat is not used in the 'dull, tedious, boring' sense until around 1870, when it went even further to mean 'total failure'.