AULD

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7419
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

AULD

Postby Dr. Goodword » Thu Dec 31, 2009 6:56 pm

• auld •

Pronunciation: awld • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: (Scots English) Old.

Notes: In most English-speaking regions December 31 is celebrated as New Year's Eve. The celebration was previously known as Old Year's Night, which continues in English-speaking Guyana and some other areas of the Caribbean.

In Play: Many English speakers around the world sing the very popular Scottish song, Auld Lang Syne "Old Long Since" at midnight Old or New Year's Eve, including those living in Auld Reekie "Old Smoky", a sobriquet of Edinburgh, Scotland, and elsewhere in the Auld Warld. No doubt we will be hearing it around the New World as well in the wee hours tonight.

Word History: Today's Good Word was eald in Old English, a word which developed into Modern English old and Scots English auld. The original Proto-Indo-European root, *al- meant "grow, nourish", and with the suffix -to (*al-to) meant "grown" but went on to become English auld and old. With the suffix -m, it turned up in Latin almus "nourishing", the feminine of which is the alma in alma mater "the nourishing mother" = a school from which you graduate. Alumnus and alumna are based on the same root; they mean "student, pupil" in Latin, from alere "to nourish".
• The Good Dr. Goodword

Perry
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2306
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:50 am
Location: Asheville, NC

Postby Perry » Fri Jan 01, 2010 8:47 pm

May auld anxieties be forgot, and never called to mind!
"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Lately it hasn't been working."
Anonymous

LukeJavan8
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 4423
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:16 pm
Location: Land of the Flat Water

Postby LukeJavan8 » Fri Feb 05, 2010 12:41 pm

Alere: to nourish. Auld: old. Interesting cousins.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 65 guests