Fossil word

A fossil word is a word that is broadly obsolete but remains in currency because it is contained within an idiom still in use.[1][2]

Fossil status can also occur for word senses and for phrases. An example for a word sense is 'navy' in 'merchant navy', which means 'commercial fleet' (although that sense of navy is obsolete elsewhere). An example for a phrase is 'in point' (relevant), which is retained in the larger phrases 'case in point' (also 'case on point' in the legal context) and 'in point of fact', but is rarely used outside of a legal context.

English-language examples


See also

References

  1. fossil. Additions Series, 1993 (Second Edition, 1989 ed.). Oxford English Dictionary. A word or other linguistic form preserved only in isolated regions or in set phrases, idioms, or collocations
  2. Curme, George Oliver (1931). Syntax. D. C. Heath and Company.
  3. Quinion, Michael. World Wide Words
  4. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/helter-skelter
  5. Yahoo dictionary kith and kin
  6. Phrase Finder at loggerheads
  7. Phrase Finder in the offing
  8. "Starting Off With a Sha-Bang". tldp.org. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  9. Phrase Finder 'short shrift'
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.