the word awkward

A discussion of word histories and origins.
shacolourdes
Junior Lexiterian
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:02 am
Location: NJ

the word awkward

Postby shacolourdes » Tue Jun 26, 2007 4:10 pm

i've tried to research the roots of the word awkward but i cannot determine them. is anyone available to help on that?? i'm just very curious as to its origins.
thank you!! ^_^

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gailr
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Postby gailr » Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:01 pm

Welcome, shacolourdes.

If you go to the alphaAgora [http://www.alphadictionary.com/index.shtml] you can type a word into the "look it up" window and be routed to a page of reference options. (The options vary with the word requested.) My favorite is The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, when that option is available. Clicking there takes you to
awkward
ETYMOLOGY: Middle English awkeward, in the wrong way : awke, wrong (from Old Norse öfugr, backward; see apo- in Appendix I) + -ward, -ward.
Clicking on that apo- will take you to the PIE roots page with additional etymology and related words info.

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You can also try etymonline.com. Entering a word will bring up the etymology (if they have it) along with the etymologies of related words.

These links should give you a good start; this crew will be happy to add their input if you care to post what you learn.

-gailr

shacolourdes
Junior Lexiterian
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:02 am
Location: NJ

Postby shacolourdes » Wed Jun 27, 2007 12:20 am

thank you very much!! ^_^
shaCOLOURdes ~ colour in shades...
there's a recessive "ll" gene somewhere in our DNA.


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