Transcriber's Note
Unique page headings have been retained, and appear in the left-hand margin prior to the relevant paragraph.
Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Significant amendments have been listed at the end of the text.
Greek text appears as originally printed, but with a mouse-hover transliteration, ναυσία.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
THE ROMANCE OF NAMES
"Mr Weekley inspires confidence by his scholarly method of handling a subject which has been left, for the most part, to the amateur or the crank."—Spectator. Third Edition. 6s. net.
SURNAMES
"Under Professor Weekley's guidance a study of the origin and significance of surnames becomes full of fascination."—Truth. Second Edition. 6s. net.
AN ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF MODERN ENGLISH
"One knows from experience that Mr Weekley would contrive to avoid unnecessary dullness even if he was compiling a railway guide, but that he would also get the trains right."—Mr J. C. Squire in The Observer. Crown 4to. £2. 2s. net.
A CONCISE ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF MODERN ENGLISH
The abridgment has not involved any diminution in the vocabulary; in fact, many new words such as copec, fascist, insulin, rodeo, etc., are here registered for the first time. Large Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. net.
WORDS ANCIENT AND MODERN
"We cordially recommend to the discriminating reader a book altogether fresh, amusing and delightful."—Morning Post. Second Impression. 5s. net.
All rights reserved
THE ROMANCE OF
WORDS
BY ERNEST WEEKLEY, M.A.
PROFESSOR OF FRENCH AND HEAD OF THE MODERN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, NOTTINGHAM; SOMETIME SCHOLAR OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; AUTHOR OF "THE ROMANCE OF NAMES," "SURNAMES"
"Vous savez le latin, sans doute?"—
"Oui, mais faites comme si je ne le savais pas."
(Molière, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, ii. 6.)
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.
| First Edition | March 1912 |
| Reprinted | June 1912 |
| Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged | November 1913 |
| Third Edition | May 1917 |
| Fourth Edition | January 1922 |
| Reprinted | February 1925 |
| Reprinted | January 1927 |