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Description:
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In 1882 the University of Cambridge accepted a bequest of £5,000 from the
writer John Frederick Stanford (1815–1880) for the purpose of creating a
dictionary of loan words found in English. This volume, first published in
1892, was the result. Charles Augustus Fennell (1843–1916), a classicist
and Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge was responsible for selecting the
words for inclusion. Following criteria based on Stanford's own notes, the
definition of 'anglicised words' is very broad, including words loaned
from European languages which entered common use in English after 1470 as
well as loans from further afield. Each entry includes the meaning of the
word in its original language and historical examples of usage, showing how
the meanings of anglicised words have changed subtly over time. The book
reveals the dramatic expansion of English vocabulary that resulted from the
adoption of these words.
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