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- A woman who has lost her husband by death and has not married again. The word comes (in Old English) from an Indo-European root meaning ‘be empty’, and may be compared with Sanskrit vidh ‘be destitute’, Latin viduus ‘bereft, widowed’, and Greek ēitheos ‘unmarried man’.
www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803122400997
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The earliest known use of the verb widow is in the Middle English period (1150—1500). OED's earliest evidence for widow is from before 1400, in Cursor Mundi: a Northumbrian poem of the 14th century. It is also recorded as a noun from the Old English period (pre-1150).
Aug 9, 2023 · Meaning of the Slang Term: GOAT. The British Isles have a rich linguistic history with colloquial expressions like 'bloke', 'cheeky', 'mate', and 'blimey'. Navigate the myriad of British slang terms and idioms that offer a unique window into UK culture.
- Bollocks
- 3., and 4. Cob, Bap, and Barm
- To Have A Cob on
- And 10. Bladdered and Pissed
- Punter
- Tory
- Offie
- Tosser
- Pillock
- Cwtch
Literally,bollocks means “testicles.” Colloquially, it can be used as a general expression of annoyance or distaste; it also means “nonsense.”
All terms used to refer to a bread roll. According tothe BBC, there may be as many as 20 terms across the UK for “what is perhaps the most inoffensive foodstuff known to man.”
When someone has a cob on, that means they’re annoyed or in a bad mood. One reader of The Guardian speculated that the phrase may have come from the old practice of wearing bread as a status symbol and was originally used in a derogatory way to mean “high and mighty” before evolving to its current meaning. It might also come from the fact that male...
Both bladdered and pissed mean “drunk.” Insert basically any noun, add -edon the end of it, and it means “drunk” if you give it the right emphasis. The British have a lot of words for being drunk.
Punter has a few meanings, and it’s fairly important not to mix them up. It can be used to describe paying customers (usually as part of a crowd or audience), or it can be someone who’s gambling (they’re having a punt, as in “bet”). The third meaning? A sex worker’s client. Seriously, don’t get them mixed up.
A Tory is a member of the British Conservative Party; the word is used casually in a slightly demeaning way to denote a posh person.
Offie is short for off-license, a shop that can sell alcohol for consumption off the premises. It’s similar to a liquor store, but usually has a greater variety of non-alcohol products.
This insult for “a foolish or despicable person” probably comes from toss off, meaning “to masturbate.”
Since the 1960s, pillock has been used as a term for a stupid person, but when it originated in the 1530s it meant“penis.”
A Welsh term for a hug (pronounced “kutch,” as if it rhymes with butch)—specifically, a nice, cozy hug that makes you feel all warm inside.
- Chris Deeley
May 25, 2020 · Miriam Margolyes is not the only one in the dark about the offensive origins of popular slang words. Here are some common culprits you should think twice about using, writes Gary Nunn.
Apr 13, 2011 · Old English had on equal footing both the masculine widowa and the feminine widowe, which converge as “widow” in Early Modern English, and which is used for both genders by authors down until the 19th century. “Widower” first occurs in the 14th century as a way of disambiguating “widow”.
Sep 10, 2018 · As a prefix to a name, attested from 1570s. Meaning "short line of type" (especially at the top of a column) is 1904 print shop slang. Widow's mite is from Mark xii.43. Widow's peak is from the belief that hair growing to a point on the forehead is an omen of early widowhood, suggestive of the "peak" of a widow's hood.
What does the noun widow mean? There are 15 meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun widow , two of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
