| pejoration |
| Definition - A change in a word's meaning over time which causes it to have an increasingly negative meaning or connotation. |
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Example - In Old English the word silly meant "blessed" or "holy." In Modern English it means "foolish." |
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Etymology - The word derives via French from the Latin pejor, worse. |
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Oxford English Dictionary - Its first citation in this sense is from 1889: "Their [sc. words'] degeneration (technically termed pejoration;…) is often due to a selection and specialization of some ethically lower connotation which may be implied in them." (As quoted from the Century Dictionary, 1939: L. H. Gray, Foundations of Language, ix. 259 ) |