English words first attested in Chaucer
English words first attested in Chaucer, or special manuscript words of Chaucer, are a set of about two thousand English words that Geoffrey Chaucer is credited as being the first use found today in existing manuscripts. This does not mean that he was the person to introduce these words into English, but that the earliest extant uses of these words are found in Chaucerian manuscripts. The words were already in everyday speech in 14th century England (especially London) and other parts of Europe. The claim is that these words are found for the first time in written manuscripts where he introduced them in one of his extensive works from 1374 - 1400 as the first author to use these particular words. Many of Chaucer's special manuscript words from the 14th century are used today:
absent, accident, add, agree, bagpipe, border, box, cinnamon, desk, digestion, dishonest, examination, finally, flute, funeral, galaxy, horizon, infect, ingot, latitude, laxative, miscarry, nod, obscure, observe, outrageous, perpendicular, Persian, princess, resolve, rumour, scissors, session, snort, superstitious, theatre, trench, universe, utility, vacation, Valentine, veal, village, vulgar, wallet, and wildness.
- 1 Etymology
- 2 List
- 2.1 Canterbury Tales General Prologue
- 2.2 The Knight's Tale
- 2.3 The Miller's Tale
- 2.4 The Reeve's Tale
- 2.5 The Cook's Tale
- 2.6 The Man of Law's Tale
- 2.7 The Wife of Bath's Tale
- 2.8 The Friar's Tale
- 2.9 The Summoner's Tale
- 2.10 The Clerk's Tale
- 2.11 The Merchant's Tale
- 2.12 The Squire's Tale
- 2.13 The Franklin's Tale
- 2.14 The Physician's Tale
- 2.15 The Pardoner's Tale
- 2.16 The Shipman's Tale
- 2.17 The Prioress's Tale
- 2.18 Tale of Sir Topas
- 2.19 The Tale of Melibee
- 2.20 The Monk's Tale
- 2.21 The Nun's Priest's Tale
- 2.22 The Second Nun's Tale
- 2.23 The Canon's Yeoman's Tale
- 2.24 The Manciple's Tale
- 2.25 The Book of the Duchess
- 2.26 The Parson's Tale
- 2.27 Parlement of Foules
- 2.28 The Romaunt of the Rose
- 2.29 The House of Fame
- 2.30 Boece
- 2.31 Anelida and Arcite
- 2.32 Troilus and Criseyde
- 2.33 The Legend of Good Women
- 2.34 Treatise on the Astrolabe
- 2.35 Miscellaneous poems
- 3 Usages
- 4 See also
- 5 Footnotes
- 6 References
- 7 External links
Christopher Cannon, in The Making of Chaucer's English, gives a complete detailed work on the etymology of Chaucer's special manuscript words and references the Middle English Dictionary (MED) definitions and etymology of each of these words. He points out that the MED does not give details on the etymology of many of Chaucer's derived words, including many compounds, some participial adjectives, and most gerunds. Cannon also points out that, while the Oxford English Dictionary lists Chaucer as the first cited author of these words, it also is mostly silent on the etymologies of these particular derived words. Cannon furnishes a complete list of Chaucer's special manuscript words with their etymology.
Historian Albert Baugh points out that some of Chaucer's aureate words came from Latin or French origin. Some of Chaucer's aureate words like laureate, mediation, and oriental eventually became a part of everyday English. Baugh points out that the innovations of word development into common speech and everyday usage, such as these Chaucer words, is of considerable interest in the history of style.
Below is a complete list of the 1977 Chaucer's special manuscript words that are first found in the existing manuscripts below as listed in the Oxford English Dictionary as being the first cited author. Some now have different spellings and others are given the "root" word definition. Some of these words are now dated or obsolete. These manuscript words first found written in Chaucer's work, from The Canterbury Tales and other of his publications as shown below, were published in the 14th century.
Canterbury Tales General Prologue
acate, affile, alight, ambler, army, arrive, bagpipe, begster, borax, bourdon, bracer, bream, cape, ceruse, chape, clasp, cordial, dagger, debtless, digestible, dormant, Flandrish, foot-mantle, foster, gaud, hostelry, householder, in, jingle, knob, licentiate, line, luce, magic, magician, marrowbone, mercenary, miscarry, moral, pardoner, parvis, patent, perse, session, significavit, stew, wallet, whistling
The Knight's Tale
alan, attourne, breastplate, broid, buckle, cerrial, chaas, Circe, citrine, clottered, collared, execute, expel, expulsive, feminie, fluttery, funeral, gigge, holm, howl, huntress, intellect, kemp, lacing, laxative, Lucina, melancholic, menacing, mishap, mortal, mover, murmur, murmuring, muzzle, naker, narcotic, nymph, obsequy, obstacle, opie, opposite, oyez, parament, party, perturb, pharmacy, plain, portraiture, possibility, princess, progression, refuge, renting, returning, save, saving, serie, shouting, smiler, strangle, strangling, tester, thoroughfare, turret, vanishing, variation, vital, vomit, whippletree, winged
The Miller's Tale
The Reeve's Tale
The Reeve's Tale is about two clerks tricking a miller. This tale is possibly based on Boccaccio's sixth story in The Decameron.
The Cook's Tale
The Cook's Tale is a tale of an apprentice named Perkins who is fond of drinking and dancing. He ultimately is released from his master and moves in with a friend. This friend's wife is a prostitute. The story becomes more 'seedy', continuing the downward trend of the preceding tales.
The Man of Law's Tale
The Man of Law's Tale is a story about a Christian princess named Constance. She is to marry a Syrian Sultan on condition that he convert to Christianity. His mother gets involved and sets her adrift at sea.
The Wife of Bath's Tale
The Wife of Bath's Tale is a tale about marriage. Scholars have associated this story as one of the so-called "marriage group" of Chaucer tales.
annex, ascendant, ba, bum, bumble, caterwaul, chose, disfigure, Ecclesiast, inclination, lure, Martian, peace, preamble, preambulation, resemblance, reveller, sip, spaniel, squire, stubborn, taur, vacation
The Friar's Tale
The Summoner's Tale
The Summoner's Tale is a tale in defense of the satirical attack by the Friar.
The Clerk's Tale
The Merchant's Tale
The Squire's Tale
The Squire's Tale is a tale of the Squire who is the Knight's son. The tale is an epic romance about a novice warrior and lover with more enthusiasm than experience. It is quite explicit and descriptive.
The Franklin's Tale
The Physician's Tale
The Physician's Tale is a domestic drama about the relationship between a daughter and her father.
The Pardoner's Tale
The Pardoner's Tale is a tale in the form of a moral example.
The Shipman's Tale
The Prioress's Tale
The Prioress's Tale story is of a child martyr killed by Jews.
Tale of Sir Topas
Tale of Sir Topas is a self-portrait of Chaucer in an unflattering and humble manner. He presents himself as a reserved awkward person.
The Tale of Melibee
The Tale of Melibee is an intentionally boring tale.
accidental, accomplish, annoyful, anoyful, arbitration, blameful, brigue, chincher, chinchery, commit, counterwait, damnably, desiring, edifice, especial, estable, examination, examining, formal, garnison, hotchpotch, information, mishappy, persevere, pertinent, retain, withholding
The Monk's Tale
The Monk's Tale is a collection of seventeen short stories on the theme of tragedy. These are of Lucifer, Adam, Samson, Hercules, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Zenobia, Pedro of Castile, Peter I of Cyprus, Bernabò Visconti, Ugolino of Pisa, Nero, Holofernes, Antiochus, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Croesus. The Monk's Tale De Casibus Virorum Illustrium of these illustrious men is modeled after Boccaccio's De Casibus Virorum Illustrium of illustrious men.
afear, annunciate, appurtenant, armless, centaur, Cerberus, clubbed, consecrate, conspiracy, contributary, cursedly, customance, custumance, hexameter, humblehede, importable, leonine, lim-rod, misery, misgovernance, monster, morality, Occident, orient, officer, Persian, pompous, precept, proverb, Septentrion, size, sperm
The Nun's Priest's Tale
The Nun's Priest's Tale of the Cock and the Hen, Chanticleer and Partlet poem is a vigorous and comical beast fable and mock epic.
The Second Nun's Tale
The Canon's Yeoman's Tale
ablution, amalgam, ammoniac, argol, arsenic, blunder, bole, calcination, calcining, cered, chalk-stone, citrination, clergial, coagulate, corrosive, crude, cucurbit, elixir, fermentation, fusible, gris, hayne, hazelwood, induration, ingot, introduction, lamp, luna, lunary, magnesia, malleable, mollification, orpiment, pellitory, porphyry, proffered, prowl, rap, rehearsal, relent, rosary, sal, sluttish, sol, sublime, sublimed, tartar, test, vitriol
The Manciple's Tale
The Manciple's Tale is a story of a purchasing agent for a law court telling a fable about Phoebus Apollo and his pet crow.
The Book of the Duchess
The Parson's Tale
The Parson's Tale is a prose treatise on virtuous living.
annoyance, appertain, ardour, ardor, arrogant, barring, bending, castle, closure, clotheless, consideration, contract, contumacy, create, curiousness, cutted, dedicate, departed, dishonesty, durable, elation, embracing, emprise, eschew, furring, gabber, hernia, homicide, homily, hostler, humiliation, impudent, manslaughter, material, mistrest, mortification, mystery, natural law, nigromancian, observe, ordure, ours, paling, parting, pax, perdurable, performing, platly, pounced, pouncing, raffle, replenish, retraction, slumbery, somnolence, springer, sticking, strangeness, sustenant, talker, thunderclap, total, trey, uncharitably
Parlement of Foules
abstinent, bedside, blossomed, cackling, Cupid, disfigurate, dishevel, disobeisant, entitle, facund, formel, formal, horologe, messagery, mirthless, tercel, tiercel, tercelet, tiercelet, uncommitted, untressed, valence, Valentine, west
The Romaunt of the Rose
The Romaunt of the Rose is an allegorical dream, in which the narrator receives advice from the god of love on gaining his lady's favor, her love being symbolized by a rose.
absent, communably, forwelk, fresh, fur, galantine, guerdon, habit, householding, jacounce, jagounce, jargon, jocund, lambskin, lightsome, lozenge, mansuete, masonry, mavis, medlar, mendicity, mendience, miscoveting, misway, mourning black, muid, nock, non-certain, obscure, overgilt, outwine, outstretch, outsling, palasin, papelardy, par coeur, parochial, patter, praise, prill, prime temps, Proteus, quail-pipe, racine, ravisable, recreandise, refraining, reft, resemblable, return, reverie, ribanding, rideled, riverside, roin, roinous, rose-leaf, sailour, Sarsenish, satin, savorous, scutcheon, seemlihead, shutting, slitter, smallish, snort, squirrel, suckeny, tassel, terin, thick-set, thread, timbester, tissue, tress, tretis, villainsly, volage, waterside, well-arrayed, well begone, well beseen, well-fed, wyndre
The House of Fame
The House of Fame is a love poem based on works by Ovid and Virgil. The allegorical poem consists of a dream that journeys to two temples, The House of Fame and The House of Rumour which are various aspects of truth and falsehood.
accustomance, check, act, agreeable, airish, appearance, arrivage, arrival, assail, babery, blaze, burned, cadence, casually, celestial, clarion, congealed, conservative, corbet, cornemuse, covercle, crowding, dear-bought, desesperat, dissimulation, doucet, dowset, ducat, duration, encumbrous, existence, feminine, fouldre, fumigation, galaxy, gig, greenish, harmony, Hebraic, herald, herd-groom, herewithal, humble, inclined, inclining, intermeddle, lee, lilting, masty, Milky Way, minstrelly, misgovernment, ray, renovelance, rumble, scissors, signal, spring, stellify, sorceress, sweynt, syllable, tewel, tuel, tinned, unshut, upper
abashing, accordable, add, address, adjection, adjoust, adjudge, administer, admonishing, admonition, agreeability, agreeably, albeit, alien, all-utterly, amenuse, amenusing, amoved, annoying, annoyously, anointed, arbitry, Arcturus, ardent, armourer, asperness, assigned, astoning, attaste, attemper, attemperance, attention, auster, autumn, awaiter, beholder, bespot, betiding, biting, blandishing, blissfulness, border, byname, Caurus, cavern, celebrable, centre, center, coemption, coetern, commonality, commove, complish, compotent, compound, comprend, compress, conject, conjoin, conjunction, conjuration, consequent, conservation, consular, contagious, continuation, contrary, convenient, corollary, corrige, Corybant, credible, declaring, decreet, defeat, definish, delicate, delie, delye, deluge, demonstration, despoiling, destinable, destinal, differing, disarm, discording, discourse, disincrease, disordinance, dispensation, dispense, dissolve, distempre, distrait, divide, divination, division, dull, durability, during, eager, echinus, egality,
empoisoning, emprent, enbaissing, enchafe, enchantress, encharge, endamage, endark, enduring, enhance, enlace, ensampler, entach, entech, entalent, environing, eschaufe, establish, estimation, eternity, everyday, eve-star, evidently, exceed, exempt, exerce, exercitation, exiling, fellness, fellowship, felonous, festivally, fleeing, flitting, fluttering, foleye, forline, formly, fortuit, fortunel, fortunous, frounce, furthest, gaping, gastness, geometrian, ginner, gizzard, glaring, glow, governail, guerdon, guideress, habitacule, habitation, harmfully, henter, Hesperus, hider, honeyed, honied, hustlement, hydra, ignorant, imaginable, immovability, immovable, impair, imperial, impetre, imply, imposition, imprint, inconvenient, indifferently, indignation, inestimable, infect, infinity, infirm, inhabit, interchanging, intercommuning, interlace, interminable, jangling, jaw, jointure, knower, lash, leecher, lost, luxure, manifest, Marmaric, marvelling, marveling, meanly, misdrawing, misknowing, miswandering, movability, mowing, mutable, necess, nilling, orphelin, overlight, over-swift, overthrowing, overwhelve, perdurability, plungy, poetical, porism, portionable, presentary, previdence, pronouncer, proportionable, purveyable, reasoning, reddy, redoubt, reduce, remount, rending, replenished, replication, requirable, resist, resolve, resounding, resounding, rhetorian, roil, roundness, rower, rumour, sarplier, scaping, scorkle, semblable, senatory, sensibility, sensible, shadowy, showing, similitude, simplicity, singler, Sirius, skilling, slaked, slead, smoking, smoothness, stadie, starlight, starry, speculation, Stoician, suasion, submit, summit, superfice, supply, sway, sweller, tempest, theatre, theater, thenceforth, thunderer, thunderlight, tragedian, tragedy, tranquillity, transport, troublabla, tumbling, twitter, two-footed, unagreeable, unassayed, unbetide, unbowed, uncovenable, undepartable, undiscomfited, undoubtous, uneschewable, unexercised, ungentle, unhoped, universal, universality, universality, unleeful, unmovablety, unparegal, unperegal, unpiteous, unpiteous, unplight, unplite, unraced, unscience, unsolemn, unstanchable, unstanched, untreatable, unusage, unweened, unwit, unworshipful, unwrap, upheaping, used, variant, vengeress, voluntarily, weening, weeply, withinforth, witnessfully, wood
Anelida and Arcite
Anelida and Arcite is a retelling of an old Roman story previously written by Boccaccio.
Troilus and Criseyde
abbetting, abusion, accident, accord, accusement, adieu, adorn, adverse, advertence, advocary, a-game, agree, alembic, aloud, alter, ambassador, appoint, argument, alite, ambage, amphilbology, argument, Aries, a-root, asfast, askance, asper, aspre, astrologer, atrede, attendance, attrition, atwixt, audience, augury, avaunter, await, bawdry, bay, beblot, befalling, benignity, bestiality, betrend, beware, blossomy, bounteous, burn, bypath, calculing, captive, casual, childishly, chittering, circle, circumscrive, collateral, combust, comedy, complain, complete, conceit, concord, conserve, consolation, constraint, continuance, convers, counterpoise, cramp, crow's foot, cumber-world, curation, dart, defeit, defet, define, deliber, deliberation, derring do, desespeir, desesperance, desesperaunce, determine, digression, direct, disadvance, disadventure, disblame, disconsolate, discordable, discordant, disdainous, disjoint, dispone, disport, disposition, disseverance, dissimule, distil, distill, disturn, divineress, dulcarnon, embassador, enchant, enterpart, entune, erratic, estately, estrange, exchange, excusable, execute, executrice, expert, eyed, faithed, farewell, fatal, fate, faun, feasting, fervently, fetching, finally, firmly, fix, forbysen, forlose, forpass, fury, future, gaure, goodlihead, good night, goosish, governance, graceless, groof, grufe, guide, half-god, hardiment, hawking, heinous, hemisphere, herdess, heroner, hollowness, homecoming, horizon, howne, humbly, hust, immortal, impression, increase, in-eche, infernal, influence, infortune, inhelde, inhielde, injure, inknit, intendment, interchange, intercommune, janglery, jeopard, Jove, jumper, just, kankedort, knotless, let-game, lethargy, liberty, lign-aloes, loadstar, lodestar, martial, mask, melodious, misaccount, misconstrue, misforgive, mislived, mismeter, molest, muck, mucker, munch, mutability, natal, native, new, nouriture, occidental, oriental, ounded, outring, overcarve, over-haste, over-rede, palaceward, palaceward, palaestrial, parody, peoplish, philosophical, phrenetic, plumb rule, pole arctic, predestiny, pregnant, Progne, proverb, qualm, racket, rackle, railed, refigure, refrain, refreid, reheting, reprehension, repression, resistence, resort, resport, return, revoke, Robin, rootless, rosy, royal, ruin, safeguard, saluing, sand, satyr, scrivenliche, secondly, sentiment, shapely, signifer, sling-stone, slink, sliver, snowish, soar, sob, space, strangely, subtilty, sugared, sunnish, surplus, supprise, teary, tempestous, testy, thriftily, thrifty, trance, transitory, transmew, trapdoor, tremor, unapt, unbody, unbridled, unbroided, uncircumscript, undeserved, unespied, unfeelingly, unhappily, universe, unkissed, unlikeliness, unlove, unmanhood, unnest, unprayed, unsheathe, unsitting, unswell, unthrifty, untied, untormented, untroth, unwist, urn, vapour, verre, vetch, virtueless, voidee, voluptuous, vulgarly, vulture, wantrust, weak, well-shapen, well-willy, wester, wieldy, womanhood, womanish, wrongfully, yfled, yold, yolden
The Legend of Good Women
The Legend of Good Women is a dream vision love poem.
accompass, adulation, agrote, angel-like, angrily, appete, appetite, arguing, bedote, bench, betraising, bleeding, box, bridled, browd, clift, complaining, countryward, crinkled, distain, during, emboss, ensure, eternally, everything, famous, father-in-law, felicity, figuring, fingering, fleuron, forgiving, foundation, fret, gledy, graciousness, imagining, infinite, joining, knightly, lure, Mantuan, paper-white, penful, presenting, radevore, reclaiming, renownee, ruled, seemliness, skirmishing, stately, storial, subtilly, subtilely, tidife, tidive, tuteler, toteler, virelay, well, wifehood
Treatise on the Astrolabe
adding, aline, almanac, almucantar, almury, altitude, Arabic, Arctic, arm-hole, Arsechieles tables, azimuth, calculer, Capricorn, coldness, compilator, concentric, couching, crepuscule, cross-line, denticle, depression, descension, direct, distant, elevate, elevation, elongation, embelif, epicycle, equal, equator, equinox, fraction, Gemini, gerful, Greek, half-ebb, hence-forthward, indeterminate, intercept, introductory, latitude, line-right, longitude, lop-web, meridian, perpendicular, possibly, precedent, rete, retrograde, right angle, scale, Scorpio, second, septentrional, site, solid, solsticion, succedent, Taurus, tortuous, tropic, unstrange, usward, utility, vulgar
Below are words first attested to in his miscellaneous poems.
- An ABC
- Balade to Rosemounde
- Chaucers Wordes unto Adam, His Owne Scriveyn
- Complaint to His Lady
- Lak of Stedfastnesse
- Lenvoy de Chaucer a Scogan
- Lenvoy de Chaucer a Bukton
- The Complaint unto Pity
- The Complaint of Chaucer to his Purse
- The Complaint of Mars
- The Complaint of Venus
- The Former Age
- The Truth
- Womanly Noblesse
accumbrous, advocatrice, ancille, artillery, aspen, benevolence, besprent, blaspheme, blasphemer, cannel-bone, carrack, carack, cart-wheel, castigation, causer, collusion, comeliness, complaint, confeder, convict, coverter, craze, create, dapple-grey, delicacy, desespeire, desperation, distrouble, down, dullness, dulness, emboss, enfortune, enlumine, entune, envoy, envy, errant, eterne, fattish, fawn, feigned, fers, fickleness, fleshy, flute, forloin, fortune, fortuned, furious, gere, glazing, half-word, hearse, Hercules, humblesse, inconstance, interess, jane, knack, lake, lambish, lancegay, leer, likeliness, limer, litster, lustihead, meet, midpoint, overstrew, prose, rechase, resign, royalty, scant, seeming, solein, solitude, sore, sough, sturdily, suffisance, suing, surmount, sweaty, tall, Tantalus, tapet, Tartary, tickleness, tongued, traitress, traitoress, Turkey, tyranny, uncorven, uncoupling, unforged, ungrubbed, unsown, weld, well-faring, well-founded, whirling, wildly, wildness
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Below are some of the words first found in Chaucer's manuscripts that we use today and how they were used in his poems in the 14th century.
|word||Middle English usage||Modern English usage||Poem and estimated year it came out|
|annoyance||Suffrance suffreth swetely alle the anoyaunces||Tolerance suffers sweetly all the annoyances||The Parson's Tale, c. 1386|
|approach||whan she approched to jhesu Crist||when she approached Jesus Christ||The Parson's Tale, c. 1386 |
|aspect||Som wikke aspect or disposicioun||Some evil disposition or aspect||The Knight's Tale, c. 1385|
|begger||And been a beggere; heere may I nat dwelle||And be a beggar; here I cannot dwell||The Franklin's Tale, c. 1386|
|cense||Gooth with a sencer on the haliday||Went with a censer on the holy day||The Miller's Tale, c. 1386|
|centaur||He of Centaures layde the boast adoun||Of centaurs laid he all the boastings down||The Monk's Tale, c. 1375|
|chose||For if I wolde selle my bele chose||For if I would go peddle my belle chose||Wife of Bath's Tale, c. 1386|
|cinnamon||My faire bryd, my sweete cynamome?||My cinnamon, my fair bird, my sweetie||The Miller's Tale, c. 1386|
|citrine||His nose was heigh, his eyen bright citryn||His nose was high, his eyes a bright citrine||The Knight's Tale, c. 1386|
|consecrate||And was to God Almighty consecrate||And was to God Almighty consecrated||The Monk's Tale, c. 1375|
|consideration||Heere bihoveth the consideracioun of the grace Of jhesu crist||here it behooves one to give consideration to the grace of Jesus Christ||The Parson's Tale, c. 1386|
|conspiracy||Ful privily hath made conspiracie Against this Julius||Full secretly did lay conspiracy Against this Julius||The Monk's Tale, c. 1386|
|contract||whan the soule is put in oure body, Right anon is contract original synne||when the soul is put into a body, immediately is contracted original sin||The Parson's Tale, c. 1386|
|create||And Al be it so that God hath creat alle thynges In right ordre||And though it be that God has created all things in right order||The Parson's Tale, c. 1386|
|depart||Shal nat departe from his hous||Will not depart from his house||The Parson's Tale, c. 1386|
|derive||That every part dirryveth from his hool||That every part derives but from the whole||The Knight's Tale, c. 1385|
|desk||Hadde prively upon his desk ylaft||Which book he'd privately on his desk left||The Franklin's Tale, c. 1386|
|digestion||The norice of digestioun, the sleep||The nurse of good digestion, natural sleep||The Squire's Tale, c. 1395|
|disfigure||She sholde tellen of his disfigure.||She'd tell of his disfigurement impure.||Wife of Bath's Tale, c. 1386|
|dismembering||ne swereth nat so synfully in dismembrynge of crist by soule||swear not so sinfully, thus dismembering Christ by soul||The Parson's Tale, c. 1386|
|displeasant||Moost displesant to crist, and moost adversarie.||this sin is most displeasing to Christ, and most hateful.||The Parson's Tale, c. 1386|
|double-tongue||Now comth the synne of double-tonge||Now comes the sin of the double-tongued||The Parson's Tale, c. 1386|
|durable||Remoeven harmes and to han thynges espiritueel and durable||removal of evils and to obtain things spiritual and durable||The Parson's Tale, c. 1386|
|exaltation||For he was neigh his exaltacioun||For he was near his exaltation||The Squire's Tale, c. 1386|
|execute||That executeth in the world over al||That executes in this world, and for all||The Knight's Tale, c. 1385|
|fart||Of fartyng, and of speche daungerous.||Of farting and of language haughtyish.||The Miller's Tale, c. 1386|
|feast||He leet the feeste of his nativitee||He let the feast of his nativity||The Squire's Tale, c. 1386|
|femininity||How wonnen was the regne of femenye||Was gained the realm of Femininity||The Knight's Tale, c. 1385|
|forge||That in his forge smythed plough harneys||Who in his forge smithed plow parts||The Miller's Tale, c. 1386|
|funeral||Putte in the fyr of funeral servyse||Lighted the sacred funeral fire||The Knight's Tale, c. 1385|
|galaxy||See yonder, lo, the galaxyë||lo, see yonder the galaxy||The House of Fame, c. 1380|
|hexameter||Of sixe feet, which men clepe examétron||In six feet, which men call hexameter||The Monk's Tale, c. 1375|
|homicide||Of worldly shame? certes, an horrible homicide.||Certainly, such a one is called a horrible homicide.||The Parson's Tale, c. 1386|
|howl||Shrighte emelye, and howleth palamon||Shrieked Emily and howled now Palamon||The Knight's Tale, c. 1386|
|humiliation||Nat sory of his humiliacioun.||not sorry for his humiliation.||The Parson's Tale, c. 1386|
|huntress||With bowe in honde, right as an hunteresse||With bow in hand, like any right huntress||The Knight's Tale, c. 1385|
|kneading||He hadde yboght hym knedyng tubbes thre||Procured these kneading-tubs, or beer-vats, three||The Miller's Tale, c. 1386|
|laborious||And myn office is ful laborous||My job is most laborious||The Friar's Tale, c. 1386|
|laureate||Fraunceys petrak, the lauriat poete||Francis Petrarch, the laureate poet||The Clerk's Tale, c. 1386|
|laxative||Vomyt upward, ne dounward laxatif.||By vomiting or taking laxative||The Knight's Tale, c. 1385|
|lure||With empty hand men may none haukes lure.||With empty hand men may no falcons lure||Wife of Bath's Tale, c. 1386|
|magician||In al the lond magicien was ther non||In all that land magician was there none||The Monk's Tale, c. 1375|
|menacing||By manasynge of mars, right by figure.||The menacing of Mars, in likeness sure||The Knight's Tale, c. 1385|
|mercenary||He was a shepherde and noght a mercenarie.||He was a shepherd and not mercenary.||Canterbury Prologue, c. 1387|
|Milky Way||Which men clepeth the Milky Wey||which men call the Milky Way||The House of Fame, c. 1384|
|muzzle||And folwed hym with mosel faste ybounde||And so they followed him, with muzzles bound||The Knight's Tale, c. 1385|
|noble||And saluces this noble contree highte.||Saluzzo is this noble region bright.||The Clerk's Tale, c. 1395|
|nymph||The nymphs, the fauns, the hamadryades||The nymphs, the fauns, the hamadryades||The Knight's Tale, c. 1385|
|observe||Jhesu Crist and his freendes observede to shewen in hir lyve.||Jesus Christ and His friends observed in their lives.||The Parson's Tale, c. 1386|
|outrageous||outrageous wratthe dooth al that evere the devel hym comaundeth||outrageous wrath does all that the Devil orders||The Parson's Tale, c. 1386|
|Persian||and it shal be To Meedes and to Perses geven||and it shall be To Medes and Persians given now||The Monk's Tale, c. 1375|
|philosophical||To the and to the, philosophical Strode||and to you, philosophical Strode||Troilus and Criseyde, c. 1374|
|plumage||As wel of plumage as of gentillesse||As well of plumage as of nobleness||The Squire's Tale, c. 1395|
|princess||Though that she were a queene or a princesse||Although she be a queen or a princess||The Knight's Tale, c. 1385|
|resound||That all the wode resouned of hire cry.||rill all the wood resounded mournfully.||The Squire's Tale, c. 1395|
|scissors||Withoute rasour or sisoures||not the kind with razor or scissors||The House of Fame, c. 1384|
|session||At sessiouns ther was he lord and sire||At county sessions was he lord and sire||Canterbury Prologue, c. 1386|
|soar||I woot wel, for to sore As doth an hauk||I have no cause to soar like a hawk||Troilus and Criseyde, c. 1374|
|superlative||Ther nys no thyng in gree superlatyf||There is no pleasure so superlative||The Merchant's Tale, c. 1386|
|superstitious||Of swich a supersticiuos cursednesse.||Of such a superstitious wickedness.||The Franklin's Tale, c. 1386|
|thick and thin||thurgh thikke and thurgh thenne.||through thick and thin.||The Reeve's Tale, c. 1386|
|vacation||Whan he hadde leyser and vacacioun||When he had leisure and took some vacation||Wife of Bath's Tale, c. 1386|
|wallet||His walet lay biforn hym in his lappe||His wallet lay before him in his lap||Canterbury Prologue, c. 1387|
|Wikisource has original text related to this article:|
|Wikisource has original text related to this article:|
- Middle English
- English literature
- Medieval literature
- Middle English literature
- Dictionary of Old English
- Middle English Dictionary
- Oxford English Dictionary
- Shakespeare's influence: Vocabulary
- Cannon, p. 129
- Cannon, pp. 231-233
- Vivian Cook. "Chaucer’s words". Retrieved 2010-02-28.
- Cannon, pp. 226-230
- Phelan, pp. 61-70
- Baugh, pp. 193-4
- Fisher, pp. 7-8
- Cannon, 224-460
- Simpson, Weiner, et al, The Oxford English Dictionary. According to the Library of Congress for those that have academic library subscribing to the OED, here are the steps you can use to find such a list of words:
- Once you are in the OED Online, select "Simple Search" found at the bottom of the screen.
- Enter the word Chaucer in the box on the upper left of the screen where it says Search for
- For the next box below labeled "in," use the pull-down arrow and click on "first cited author."
- Most Universities and Colleges and many large public libraries have OED Online where the reference librarian can give you a listing.
- The listing output shows Chaucer's works where he is cited as the first cited author of these words and the year the work was published.
- Baugh, pp. 186
- Baugh, p. 186
- Cannon, p. 232
- The Wife of Bath's Prologue
- Medieval Sourcebook: Boccaccio: The Decameron - Introduction
- The Knight's Tale Prologue
- "award" - The Physician's Tale, line 202 This man shall have his slave, as my award.
^ "praise" - The Romaunt of The Rose, line 6930 I praise nothing whatever they see.
- The Romaunt of the Rose
- Oruch, Jack B., "St. Valentine, Chaucer, and Spring in February," Speculum, 56 (1981): 534–65. Oruch's survey of the literature finds no association between Valentine and romance prior to Chaucer. He concludes that Chaucer is likely to be "the original mythmaker in this instance." Colfa.utsa.edu - "St. Valentine, Chaucer, and Spring in February." Chaucer as Valentine mythmaker
- Geoffrey Chaucer (14th century). "Anelida and Arcite". Wikisource. Retrieved 2010-02-28. Check date values in:
- Geoffrey Chaucer (14th century). "Balade to Rosemounde". Wikisource. Retrieved 2010-02-28. Check date values in:
- Geoffrey Chaucer (1386). "Classic Literature - The Canterbury Tales". Canterbury Tales. About.com Classic Literature. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
- Geoffrey Chaucer (1374–1395). "Chaucer in the Twenty-First Century". various poems. eChaucer, Chaucer in the Twenty-First Century. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
- Baugh, Albert Croll, A History of the English Language, Prentice-Hall 1978, London. ISBN 0-13-389239-5.
- Brown, Peter, A companion to Chaucer, Wiley-Blackwell, 2002. ISBN 0-631-23590-6.
- Burnley, David, A guide to Chaucer's language, Macmillan, 1983. ISBN 0-333-33532-5.
- Cannon, Christopher, The making of Chaucer's English: a study of words, Cambridge UP, 1998. ISBN 0-521-59274-7.
- Chaucer, Geoffrey, The works of Geoffrey Chaucer, Macmillan, 1898.
- Chaucer, Geoffrey, The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer: The house of fame, The legend of good women , Editor: Walter William Skeat. Clarendon, 1894.
- Cousin, John W., A short biographical dictionary of English literature, Babylon Dreams, 1910. ISBN 1-60303-696-2.
- Davis, Norman, A Chaucer Glossary, Clarendon, 1979. ISBN 0-19-811171-1.
- Elliott, Ralph Warren Victor, Chaucer's English, Deutsch, 1974. ISBN 0-233-96539-4.
- Fisher, John H., The emergence of standard English, UP of Kentucky, 1996. ISBN 0-8131-0852-7.
- Gardner, John, Life and Times of Chaucer, Barnes & Noble, 1999. ISBN 0-7607-1281-6.
- Gosse, Edmund, English literature : an illustrated record , Heinemann, 1906.
- Hales, John Wesley (1887). "Chaucer, Geoffrey". In Stephen, Leslie. Dictionary of National Biography 10. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- Horobin, Simon, Chaucer's language, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. ISBN 1-4039-9356-4.
- Langer, William Leonard, An encyclopedia of world history, ancient, medieval and modern ..., Volume 1, Houghton Mifflin, 1948.
- Phelan, Walter S., The Study of Chaucer's Vocabulary, Computers and the Humanities, Vol. 12, No. 1/2, Medieval Studies and the Computer, 1978.
- Stearns, Peter N., The Encyclopedia of world history: ancient, medieval, and modern , Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001. ISBN 0-395-65237-5.
- Tatlock, John S. P., The Development and Chronology of Chaucer's Works, BiblioBazaar, 2009. ISBN 1-110-65731-5.
- Simpson, J. A., Weiner, E. S. C., The Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford UP, 1989, Reprinted 1991. ISBN 0-19-861186-2.
- Wallace, David, Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron, Cambridge UP, 1991. ISBN 0-521-38851-1.