English words that used to mean something else!

English vocabulary has been in constant evolution since the birth of the language around the 5^th century. Most of the words have been in usage for centuries now but a walk down the memory lane reveals several words that have changed in meaning over time. In some cases, the changes are so dramatic that they now mean almost the opposite of what they meant earlier. For example, the word ‘nice’, at the time of its origin, meant foolish or silly and took on a number of different meanings such as timid, reserved, fussy, precise, agreeable and kind before finally settling on its current meaning- pleasant. With changes in cultures and trends, the vocabulary also changes accordingly for a “contextual fit”. In this article, we look at some English words that had different meanings from what they do now.

Words that used to mean something else

Fantastic

Current meaning: wonderful or marvelous or extraordinarily good

Original meaning: existing only in imagination

The word fantastic originated in late 14^th century and referred to something that was imaginary or unreal like hobbits. So, the phrase “fantastic performance” in those days would mean an ‘imaginary performance’ rather than its current meaning of ‘wonderful performance’. Although its meaning of ‘imaginative’ still exists today, it is seldom used as opposed to the more informal meaning of ‘wonderful’ or ‘extraordinarily good’.

Nice

Current meaning: pleasant, attractive or delightful

Original meaning: foolish, silly or stupid

The word nice was derived from Old French nice, meaning silly or stupid. Thereafter, its meaning has undergone an extraordinary number of changes from ‘timid’ (pre 14^th century) to ‘fussy’ or ‘fastidious’ (late 14^th century) to ‘precise’ or ‘careful’ (15^th century) to ‘fine’ or ‘subtle’ to ‘agreeable’ (18^th century) to ‘kind’ or ‘thoughtful’ (early 19^th century) to its current sense of ‘pleasant’ or ‘attractive’. While its current sense has been relatively stable, if its past is anything to go by, this is probably not the end of its journey.

Meat

Current meaning: animal flesh

Original meaning: any solid food, including vegetables

Meat is derived from Old English mete, which referred to any solid food and was used to distinguish the solid foods from drinks. The word encompassed not just current-day meat but vegetables too. In fact, even till 15^th century, vegetables would sometimes be called grene mete or ‘green meat’. It was around the 18-19^th century that it started to refer exclusively to animal flesh.

Awful

Current meaning: very bad or unpleasant

Original meaning: worthy of respect or fear, inspiring wonder

The word ‘awful’ originated in about 13^th-14^th century and at the time, it actually meant the same as current-day ‘awesome’ or ‘awe-inspiring’! So, calling a person awesome today would have been the equivalent of calling a person awful then. The word ‘awesome’ originated much later in about 16^th century and till early 19^th century, both awesome and awful were synonymous. The shift in the meaning of awful began sometime in the 18^th century as it increasingly started being used to emphasize fear and dread.

Cute

Current meaning: attractive in a pretty or endearing way

Original meaning: keenly observant and intelligent, clever, shrewd

Calling someone cute in the early 18^th century would not mean that the person was attractive, but rather that the person was clever or shrewd! The word ‘cute’ was originally used as a shortened form of ‘acute’, representing shrewdness and intelligence. The origin of the current sense of pretty or endearing can be traced back to around mid-19^th century.

Naughty

Current meaning: disobedient

Original meaning: Needy, having nothing. Also, wicked

The word naughty is derived from naught, which itself originated in the 14^th century from Old English nawiht, meaning nothing. So, naughty originally referred to people who had nothing or, in other words, the poor and needy. It also had another connotation of evilness or wickedness. It was probably this connotation that later led to the tamer meaning of ‘disobedient’ in the early 17^th century.

Bully

Current meaning: one who uses strength to harm or intimidate the weak

Original meaning: sweetheart, lover

Bully meaning sweetheart? Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? But that’s how the word started. It originated in mid-16^th century derived from Dutch boele, meaning lover or sweetheart. It was a term of affection used for either sex. The meaning deteriorated over the next few years from ‘lover’ to ‘a male friend’ to ‘a fine or jolly fellow’ before finally settling on the current meaning of ‘harasser of weak’ in the late 17^th century. It is speculated that the deterioration in its meaning could be because of the influence of the word bull.

Nervous

Current meaning: tensed or anxious

Original meaning: strong and vigorous

The word nervous originated in about 14^th century, derived from Latin nervosus meaning strong, vigorous or sinewy. The meaning of “belonging to nerves” developed later in the 17^th century while the modern sense of feeling restless, tensed or anxious developed in around 1740.

Husband

Current meaning: a married man considered in relation to his spouse

Original meaning: a male who owns a house

The word husband is derived from Old Norse husbondi, which is composed of two words: hus, meaning house and bondi, meaning occupier and tiller of the soil or dweller or peasant. Thus, husband literally meant a “house-dweller” or a man who owned a house. The current sense of a married man developed some time in the late 13^th century. Guess, home ownership does make one a desirable marriage partner!