About a week or two ago, Dr. Richardson mentioned that as Lakehead students, we have access to the Oxford English Dictionary Online Version. He said it was a great tool for looking up not only the meanings of words, but also the history of their usage. When Dr. Pound used the word “horse” as an example of a word that has only an arbitrary connection to the animal it represents, I was curious: just where did the word “horse” come from? So I decided to look it up in using the OED Online.
This being my first time using the OED, I had to find it on the Library website. I’m extremely glad Dr. Richardson told me how to find it, otherwise I probably would not have. On the Library Homepage, click on Online Encyclopedias, Etc, then scroll down to Dictionaries. It’s the first one listed. You’ll have to log in using your email address and password if you’re off campus. If you haven’t already, definitely check -the OED out. It’s got a lot of really detailed information about individual words and who knows when you might need it!
For anyone who is curious, “horse” was first used as the animal in writing in c825. The first example I was able to understand comes from c1205.
An Acquaintance with Letters 