-
323
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great was bron -
450
Roman words
Many of the words passed on from this era are those coined by Roman merchants and soldiers. These include win (wine), candel (candle), belt (belt) and weall (wall). -
500
Iron Age
the iron age begins -
Aug 24, 1014
Aethelred the Unready
He was driven out of England by the Danes.
He had married a Norman woman so he sought refuge with his brother-in-law, the Duke of Normandy. -
May 23, 1066
french words
Thousands of French words become embedded in the English vocabulary, most of which are words of power, such as crown, castle, court, parliament, army, mansion, gown, beauty, banquet, art, poet, romance, chess, colour, duke, servant, peasant, traitor and governor. -
May 23, 1244
king of france
King of France demands allegiance to France. -
May 23, 1348
The black death
black death hit europe -
May 23, 1349
English in schools.
English in schools is started to be learned -
May 23, 1360
Alliterative morte darthur
Alliterative Morte Darthur, one of the last Arthurian romances in English. -
May 23, 1376
black prince dies
Death of the Black Prince, eldest son of Edward III. -
May 23, 1384
English in schools.
English now used in schools -
May 23, 1385
wyclif bible
Wyclif Bible was created -
May 23, 1400
new latin words
Many thousands of Latin words come into the language, most of which are connected to religion, medicine, law or literature. These words include scripture, collect, immortal, history, library, solar, recipe and genius. -
May 23, 1400
chaucer dies
Death of Chaucer. -
May 23, 1417
Royal clerks
Royal clerks use English for official writing. -
May 23, 1453
End of french war
End of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) against the French. -
derided words
Words hated by Johnson, and omited from his dictionary, include bang, budge, fuss, gambler, shabby, and touchy. -
Johnson's dictionary.
Johnson's dictionary is made. -
from the western world
In an age of inventions and contraptions, of science & industry, of expanding cities & smog-gurgling factories the language must swell to accommodate new ideas. -
The saxsons
They were the most prominent group of the Germanic tribes that invaded England. The other two main tribes were the Angles and the Jutes. The word England is derived from the word Angles (Engles). -
latin words
Many of the new words derived from Latin refer to religion, such as altar, mass, school, and monk, but others are more domestic and mundane such as fork, spade, spider, tower, and rose. -
the vikings
These raiders and settlers bring almost 2000 new words into the English vocabulary. Words derived from Norse include anger, awkward, cake, die, egg, freckle, muggy, reindeer, silver, skirt and smile. Many Northern English dialect words still bear traces of Scandinavian languages, as do many place names such as Whitby and Grimsby.
