A youth who attended the cows.

Beefeater – Yeoman of the Guard of the Tower of London.

MdE Eater – servant; the highest class of servants, who ate beef.

Barn - originally the places for storing barley;

Bible – L. "biblia" a diminutive of “biblos” ( the inner bark of papyrus).

Originally meant any book made of papyrus, paper.

Blackguard – originally a humble servant of the household who rode with

the pots and pans to guard them during the passage of a

wealthy household.

Blackleg – originally a sporting man of low type wearing black legging or topboots.

Blackmail – originally a tribute paid by Border farmers to free-booter in

return of protection.

Bread – originally a fragment or a small piece.

Bribery – lumps of bread given to beggars.

Budget – Fr. bouge (a sack full of money); bougette – the diminutive of “bouge”.

Boor – originally “ a villager”, “a peasant”, now “a clumsy or ill-bread fellow”.

Butler – originally a man in charge of wine

Cabinet – the executive council of a government. It. Cabinetto – “ a little

room” (Kings taking their visitors into their private room)

Camp – L. “exercising ground for the army”, campus.

Candidate – candidus (white); Romans seeking high office in the state were

dressed in white togas.

Canteen – It. Cantina – a wine cellar.

Chap – chap-man, one who sells gold in a cheap market.

Corn – originally meant “grain”.

Country – L. contrata, “the opposite”.

Cheep – OE “ceap” (bargain, price);Cf. German “kaufen”.

Deer – OE deor – originally any kind of wild beast.

Citizen – the inhabitant of the city, later – person who has rights in a state.

Dairy – AS daege, MdE dey – a maidservant.

Dairy – the place where she carried out her work.

Daizy – “day’s eye” – the flower folds up in the morning and re-opens at the

dawn of the day.

Economy – GK oikos (a house) + nomos (a law); originally the relation to

home expenditure and income.

Ecstasy – GK ek (out) + statis (a standing) – “out of standing”, displacement.

Fee – A-S feoh (cattle). Cf L. pecunia (money) derived from pecus (cattle);

“capital is derived from “capita” (head of cattle).

Foreigner – MdE “living out of doors”.

Fool – L. follis (a wind-bag) with the plural “folles” (puffed-out cheeks).

Fond – OE “foolish”

Fowl – OE fuzol – any bird (Cf. G. Vogel).

Good-bye – a contraction of “God be with you”; the French say "adieu" (a Dieu – I commend you to God).

Glad – OE “bright”, “shining”.

Girl – originally a child of either sex (gyrel – a long dress).

Gossip – sib or gesip – A S kinsman; originally god-sip, related to one of the service of God, such as a sponsor in baptism. The present use of the word "gossip" arose probably from the practice of god-parents meeting together to have a chat.

Hangar – any shelter in ME – building where aircraft are housed.

Holocaust - GK holos “whole” and Kaio “ I burn”. In the biblical sense it

was a sacrifice completely consumed by fire.

Hospital – a place to receive guests or travellers.

Husband – AS hus ( a house) + bondi was Norse for a freeholder or yeoman. A husband was a house-holder from his position as head of the household.

Idiot – GK idios – “private”, “one’s own”, GK i d i o t e s signifying a man in private life, as distinguished from one holding an official position with a higher intellect and education. Now – a person who is weak in mind or deficient in common sense.

Journal – Fr. “daily”, later – any periodical.

Kidnap – kid is slang for “child” ( a kid is a young goat); and nap (nab) is slang for “steal”.

King – AS cyn (people, nation).The suffix –ing meant “of”, in the sense of

“son of”. Cyning – son of the nation or of the people.

Knave – AS knave (boy), German Knabe – a boy in someone’s employ. Cf. Knight – a man servant (German Knecht). Knight has become an honour,

knave – a dishonour.

Lady - the bread-kneader. AS hlaef-dize, lae-dize (hl f – a loaf of bread, dize

– to knead)

Marshal – OE maresceale , a servant in charge of horses.

Meat - edible flesh of killed animals.

Minister – L. “a servant”, “an attender”.

Daughter - Skr – a milker.

Son – Skr “Sunu” – derived from “su” – to beget.

Pipe - originally a musical instrument.

Poison - L. Potio (any drink).

Queen – AS cwen (a woman). In OE cwen was an ordinary term for a wife and also applied to the wife of a king or important personage.

Persona - L. the mask used by an actor.

Quick – AS “living”, not dead. Cf. R. живой.

Ready - originally prepared for a ride.

Rival – L. Rivalis (living on the opposite bank of the river; rivus – a stream).The antagonism of such dealers over their fishing rights led to the word being used with disputes of all kinds.

Sad – in the original meaning it represented firmness, settled steadiness, material heaviness, resoluteness.

Shrew - together with "shrewd" came from the same Mediaeval English “shrew”, a type of mouse with a long sharp nose whose bite was poisonous.

Scene – GK “a tent or covered place”, ME – stage.

Snob - W. Thackeray has coined it from the entry against the names of “commoners” in the lists of colleges – “S. nob” (which stood for sine nobilitate – “not of noble blood”). In Cambridge, snob is still a college word for a townsman as distinct from gownsman ( a member of the University).

Soldier – from Latin solidus (“ a piece of money”). The Roman soldier was a hireling, or mercenary, engaged with money to fight.

Spinster – originally one who span. No woman in AS period was fitted to wife until she had spun for herself her body, table and bed linen. The task of spinning was delegated to the unmarried woman of the house who were spinners or spinsters.

Starve - AS steorfan – to die.

Steward – AS stigweard (stigo –“a sty” and weard “a ward”). It dates back to the days when most of England was forest, and the chief wealth of the Saxon landowner was pigs. A man who drove the pigs home and kept watch and ward over them was a stigweard.

Style – L. A pointed stick used for writing.

Teach – originally “to show”.

Tide – originally meant "time".

Token – originally meant “mark”, in ME – the evidence.

Villain – in feudal days a serf attached to the villa of his lord. In earlier days due to the arrogance persisted between feudal lords and their servants a villain became a through- paced scoundrel.

Wife – originally any female, now – a married woman.

Window – AS vindauga (vindre – “wind”, auga – “eye”). In AS days before the introduction of glass windows were opening in a wall and were uncovered except for shutters or curtains.They also served the purpose of giving air to the room.

A M E R I C A N I S M S

Campus – территория университета, колледжа.

Watcher – наблюдатель за правильностью проведения выборов, назначенный партией.

Junior college – колледж с двухгодичным неполным курсом.

Barbecue – пикник на открытом воздухе, где угощают мясом, жаренным на вертеле.

Prohibition – запрещение продажи спиртных напитков, «сухой закон».

Fraternity – студенческое братство, землячество.

Octaroon – октарон (ка), человек с 1\8 негритянской крови.

Drive-in – ресторан, кино, магазин для автомобилистов на открытом воздухе.

Nickel – монета в пять центов.

Dude ranch – ранчо в стиле «дикого запада», где проводят отпуск городские жители.

Attorney General – главный прокурор штата.

Selectman – член городского правления (в штатах новой Англии).

Cottager – дачник.

Wrangler – пастух, гуртоправ.

Ranger – лесничий, лесник, лесной объездчик.

Electoral college – коллегия выборщиков (на президентских выборах).

Repeal – отмена (сухого) закона.

Drugstore – аптека-закусочная, торгующая кроме лекарств различными товарами.

Barracoon - закон для негров-рабов (историзм).

Township – местечко, район (часть округа); участок земли в 6 кв. миль.

Fiver – пятидолларовая банкнота.

Commuter – пассажир, пользующийся сезонным или льготным билетом.

Bartender – буфетчик, бармен.

Pitcher – 1) кувшин 2) игрок бейсбольной команды, подбрасывающий мяч.

The Depression – американский кризис 1929-1930 гг.

Wardheeler – прислужник политического «босса», следующий за ним «по пятам».

Canvasser – член комиссии, проверяющий правильность результатов выборов.

Sorority – женское землячество в университете.

Broad-wife – жена раба, принадлежащего другому хозяину (историзм).

Vietnik – участник войны во Вьетнаме.

Rodeo – соревнование ковбоев в ловле скота с помощью лассо, езде на необъезженных лошадях.

Double-header – соревнование, состоящее из двух встреч между одними и теми же бейсбольными командами.

Cheerleader – болельщик футбольной команды, руководящий хоровым скандированием на трибуне.

Tenderloin – перен. район города, где полиция собирает дань с уголовных элементов.

Faculty – профессорско-преподавательский состав.

Mixer – общительный человек.

Brotherhood – профсоюз железнодорожных рабочих.

Butcher – разносчик в поезде.

Frontier – район, прилегающий к границе продвижения первых переселенцев, окраина США.

Dry goods – текстильный.

GOP (Grand Old Party) – шутливое название республиканской партии.

Wetback – кличка мексиканских эмигрантов, которым приходится вплавь переправляться через пограничную реку Рио-Гранде.

Brainwasher – пропагандист, занимающийся идеологической обработкой личного состава.

Witch hunt – «охота за ведьмами», преследование свободомыслящих граждан США.

Casketeria – похоронное бюро.

Hitch-hiker – бесплатно путешествующий на попутных автомобилях.

Clock-watcher – ленивый работник.

Carpet-bagger - ист. «саквояжник», северянин, добившийся влияния и богатства на юге (после войны 1861-1865гг.). Современное значение: политический авантюрист.

C O N T E N T S

Seminar 1. Lexicology as a branch of linguistic science. 4

Fundamentals of English Lexicography. 4

Senimar 2. Etymological survey of the English vocabulary.

Native words VS borrowed words. 6

Senimar 3. Etymological survey of the English vocabulary (cont.).

Borrowed words against their historical background. 7

Seminar 4. Word Stucture. Affixation. 9 9

Seminar 5. Word-Building. 11 11

Seminar 6. Semasiology. 13

Seminar 7. Semasiology (cont.) 15

Seminar 8. Phraseology. 17