Wednesday, April 06, 2005
word essay-pretty-Lauren
The word “pretty” started out with different spellings and different meanings and it is now down to one spelling and three different meanings. Some of the old spellings of pretty included: prati, praty, prayty, preatie, perty, putty, and there are many more. In Old English, pretty meant cunning, crafty, artful, wily, or astute. It has changed a lot over the course of the year and now it means attractive, very, or fairly. “Pretty” is a very common word used daily by people. It can be used formally or informally. “Pretty” started out in Old English and has continued through out the years with different meanings; it is now extremely widespread and can be used in many different settings.
“Pretty” has changed meanings from the time of Old English to the 15th century to the present.
In the Old English Language, “pretty” meant cunning artful, or astute. Then in the 15th century “pretty” received several different meanings. In the 15th century, “pretty” changed to clever and skillful. Also in the 15th century, “pretty” still had different spellings. Holinshed quoted in Chron. II, “Andrew White a good humanician, a pretie philosopher” (Oxford English Dictionary 1332). In this case, “pretty” is “pretie” and it means he was a skilled philosopher. Another popular meaning it had was ‘nice’ like excellent, admirable, or pleasing. “Pretty” also meant having beauty without majesty or stateliness. Hearne quoted in Collect. (O.H.S.) VII, “She was a very pretty woman, and is still only too fat” (1333). In this quote, “pretty” is used to describe a woman as beautiful. “Pretty” also could mean considerable in number, quantity, or extent. Currently it only has three meanings. It can describe something as attractive or beautiful; in this case, it usually only refers to women or feminine objects such as a flower, a dress, decorations, etc. It can also mean very, like in “I’m pretty close to finishing.” It can also mean fairly or enough like in “pretty much.”