An Outline of English Speech-craft

Demagogue. Folk-leader, folk’s-ringleader, folk’s-reder.

Democracy. Folkdom.

Dental. L. dentes, teeth. A dental breath-penning is one more or less on the teeth; as, eth, ef.

Dependency. Beholdingness: – ‘As if one member would continue his wellbeing without beholdingness to the rest.’ —Carew.

Depilatory. Hairbane.

Depletion. Unfullening.

Depopulate. Unfolk, forwaste.

Deport. Behave.

Deposit (of money). Earnest, pledge, bewaring.

Deprave. Forshrew, forwarp.

Depraved. Wicked.

Desecrate. Unhallow.

Desolate. Forloned.

Deter. Forfray.

Deteriorate. Worsen.

Develop. Unfold, unroll.

Diacritical. Offmarking, offskilling, sunder-clearing.

Diæresis. An outsundering or outopening, or foropening or forsundering, of a sound into two; as, L. sylva, syl-wa, into syl-u-a.

Diæresis splits sounds in two,
As if for true you said tri-u.

Diagram. A draught, offdrawing.

Dialect. A sunder-speech, a folk-speech, a fortongueing.

Diaphanous. Thoroughshining, thoroughshowing.

Dictionary. A word-book.

Didactic. Teaching, teachsome.

Disease. The Saxon-English had about fifty pure Teutonic names of diseases, to the main of which we now give Latin names. They were ranked under some few head-words.

Cwealm (qualm) meant mostly a deadly or many-killing epidemic, as the plague or cholera, which they would call a mancwealm (manqualm). Of this word we have left only qualm with qualmish.

Adl (our addle) was another main word for disease, as an unsoundness. From this word we have addle-headed and an addled egg.

Coða, coðe, was another main word for a disease. Hence (Dorset) a cothed sheep.

Weorc, werc (our wark), was a disease of pain or achingness, as the gout or colic.

Seoc, syc, meant any sickness in which a man sinks down on his bed or is off his legs.

Braec or breach was also given for some ailings.

To these words were set others of the parts of the body which they took, or of some other marks.

Stic-adl, stitch.

Sid-adl (side-addle), pleurisy.

Lengten-adl, lent-adl, typhus.

Hip-werc (hip-wark), sciatica.

Hrop-werc (bowel-wark, belly-wark (York)), colic.

Fylle seoc, falling sickness.

Lifer seoc, liver sickness.

Lifer-adl (Aelfric), liver-addle.

Milte-seoc (Aelfric), milt-sickness.

Lenden-wyrc (Aelfric), loin-wark.

Mete-afluing (Aelfric), atrophy.

Wylde-fyr (wildfire) (Aelfric), erysipelas.

Dissipate. Forscatter.

Distribution (of prizes). Outdealing, fordealing, outgiving: – ‘Uetdieling fen da pryzen.’ —Frs. (outdealing of the prizes.)

-dom (an ending). It is our word doom, from deem, and means a state or outreach of free judgment or power; as, kingdom, freedom.

-dom. ‘The scoundreldom and the rascality of a great city.’ Scoundrelhood.Dom (from deman, to judge or rule) would be good for kingdom, popedom, sheriffdom, or mayordom. Scoundreldom would mean the might of scoundrels as ruling or judging.

Domicile. Abode, wonestead.

Ecthlipsis. An outcasting or outstriking, as of a sound; as, ‘Sing th’ Almighty’s praise’ for ‘the Almighty’s,’ or ‘I’ll go’ for ‘I will go.’