[FRIAM] Pondering weird english words

[Barry MacKichan]

Much more than you asked for…

“lax” is “loose’, as in morals and bowels.

“Re-“ is more complicated. From the Oxford English dictionary:

“re-, prefix

of Latin origin, with the general sense of ‘back’ or ‘again’, 
occurring in a large number of words directly or indirectly adopted from 
Latin, or of later Romanic origin, and on the model of these freely 
employed in English as a prefix to verbs, and to substantives or 
adjectives derived from these.
   In earlier Latin re- was used before consonants, and red- before 
vowels or h-, as in redīre, redimĕre, redhibēre (rarely in other 
cases, as in red-dĕre). The latter form appears in Eng. only in a few 
words which are ultimately of Latin origin, as redeem, redemption, 
redintegrate. In later Latin the form with d was no longer in use, and 
re- was employed before vowels as well as consonants, as in 
reædificāre, reagĕre, reexpectāre, reillūmināre, etc.
In a few words adopted from French the prefix has so coalesced with the 
main part of the word that its real nature is obscured. In some cases 
this is due to the combination of re- with another prefix, as ad- (Fr. 
a-) or in- (Fr. en-). For examples of these types, see ransom, rally, 
rampart.

2.2 The original sense of re- in Latin is that of ‘back’ or 
‘backwards’, but in the large number of words formed by its use, the 
prefix acquires various shades of meaning, of which the following are 
the most clearly marked. a.2.a ‘Back from a point reached’, ‘back 
to or towards the starting-point’, as in recēdĕre to draw back, 
recurrĕre to run back, redūcĕre to lead back, referre to carry back, 
refugĕre to flee back, remittĕre to send back, respicĕre to look 
back, retrahĕre to pull back, revocāre to call back. Sometimes the 
sense of ‘backwards’ is also implied, as in resilīre to spring back 
or backwards. The return of light and sound is expressed in such verbs 
as relūcēre and renīdēre to shine or flash back, reboāre to bellow 
back, resonāre to echo, resound. In many cases the idea of force is 
present, as in reflectĕre to bend back, repellĕre to drive back, 
reprimĕre to force back, rescindĕre to cut back; hence arises the 
sense of resistance, as in reluctārī to struggle against, repugnāre 
to fight against, reclāmāre to cry out against, recūsāre to refuse. 
Occasionally the sense passes into that of ‘away’, as in removēre 
to move back or away, revellĕre to pull away or off. b.2.b ‘Back to 
the original place or position’, as in recondĕre, repōnĕre, 
restituĕre, etc. to put back, replace; freq. implying ‘back to one's 
hands or possession’, as in recipĕre to take back, redimĕre to buy 
back, rependĕre to pay back, resūmĕre to take back. c.2.c 
‘Again’, ‘anew’, originally in cases implying restoration to a 
previous state or condition, and frequently occurring as a secondary 
sense in verbs of the two classes already mentioned; further examples 
are recreāre to create again, reficĕre to make again, reformāre to 
form again, renovāre to make new again, refrīgēscĕre to grow cold 
again, revirēscĕre to grow green again. This naturally passes into 
cases where the action itself is done a second time, as recoquĕre to 
cook or bake again, refricāre to rub again, regenerāre to produce 
again, retractāre to handle again, etc. This class of words is largely 
augmented in later Latin, as reædificāre to build again, rebaptizāre 
to baptize again, etc. Many of these later compounds have been adopted 
in English, and have chiefly supplied the models for the new formations 
illustrated in §5. d.2.d In some cases re- has the same force as Eng. 
un-, implying an undoing of some previous action, as in recingĕre to 
ungird, reclūdĕre to unclose, to open, refīgĕre to unfix, resignāre 
to unseal, revēlāre to unveil. More rarely it expresses direct 
negation, as in reprobāre to disapprove of. e.2.e ‘Back in a 
place’, i.e. ‘from going forward’, with verbs of keeping or 
holding, as retinēre to hold back, religāre to tie back or up, 
refrēnāre to rein back, reprehendĕre to (seize and) keep back; or 
‘without going on or forward’ with verbs of rest, as remanēre, 
residēre, restāre to stay or stop behind, requiēscĕre to stay quiet, 
etc. Other shades of this sense appear in relinquĕre to leave behind, 
reservāre to keep back, store up.
   Even in Latin the precise sense of re- is not always clear, and in 
many words the development of secondary meanings tends greatly to 
obscure its original force. This loss of distinct meaning is naturally 
increased in English, when the word has been adopted in a sense more or 
less remote from the strict etymological significance of the two 
elements which compose it. In many cases the simple word to which the 
prefix is attached is wanting in English; in others a change of sound or 
shifting of stress frequently assists in disguising its original sense.
In the Romance languages, as in later Latin, extensive use was made of 
re- as a prefix in verbs and verbal derivatives, and some of the words 
thus formed are among the earliest which were adopted in English, the 
immediate source being OF. To these and later adoptions from French 
belong many of the commonest words beginning with re-, as rebate, 
rebound, rebuke, rebut, recoil, redress, refresh, regain, regard, 
regret, remark, etc.

3.3 Words formed with the prefix re- first make their appearance in 
English about the year 1200. In the Ancren Riwle, the first text in 
which such forms are prominent, there occur recluse, recoil, record, 
relief, religion, religious, and remission. Towards the end of the 
century Robert of Gloucester uses rebel, receit, release, relic, relief, 
remue, repent, restore, revest. In the 14th c. the stock is largely 
increased, especially in the writings of Langland, Chaucer, Wyclif, and 
Trevisa, and by the year 1400 the number in common literary use is very 
considerable. During the 15th c. the additions are of less importance, 
but about the middle of the 16th an extensive adoption of Latin forms or 
types begins; the French element at this time is small in comparison, 
though it includes some important words. Towards the end of the 16th c. 
re- begins to rank as an ordinary English prefix, chiefly employed with 
words of Latin origin, but also freely prefixed to native verbs, a 
practice rare before this period, though Wyclif, Trevisa, and others 
have renew (after L. renovāre). Such formations, however, are common in 
Elizabethan writers: Shakespeare has recall, regreet (frequent), relive, 
requicken, resend, respeak, restem, retell (thrice), and reword, and 
many others occur in contemporary literature, as rebuild, recast, 
refind, reflow, regather, etc. Since 1600 the use of the prefix has been 
very extensive, though the number of individual formations appears to 
have been smaller in the 18th century than in the 17th and 19th.
   The rapidly increasing use of re- in the early part of the 17th c. 
is strongly marked in the dictionaries of Florio and Cotgrave, both of 
whom freely invent forms with this prefix to render Italian or French 
words which begin with it. Many of these reappear at a later date, and 
most of them might be formed again at any time: the following may be 
quoted as specimens of those which have obtained little or no currency 
in later writers.“

--Barry


On 30 Dec 2018, at 12:58, Gillian Densmore wrote:

> While reading a book last night  talking about some characters 
> relaxing.
> I've always been curious. If Re: is to do again. then what was laxing
> supposed to be?
> Many people on this and the wed-tech list are REtired.  So do you get 
> Tired
> again then quit being a worker ?
> I seriously get these kind of words.
> Any guesses where they came from?
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