Join Amazon Prime and get unlimited Free One-Day Delivery. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
31 used & new from £17.00
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (Hardcover)

by Chambers (ed.) (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
RRP: £30.00
Price: £19.50 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £10.50 (35%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Wednesday, July 22? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
22 new from £17.27 9 used from £17.00

Frequently Bought Together

Chambers Dictionary of Etymology + The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories (Oxford Paperback Reference) + The Concise Dictionary of English Etymology (Wordsworth Reference)
Price For All Three: £29.58

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories (Oxford Paperback Reference)

The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories (Oxford Paperback Reference)

by Glynnis Chantrell
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £6.49
The Concise Dictionary of English Etymology (Wordsworth Reference)

The Concise Dictionary of English Etymology (Wordsworth Reference)

by Walter W. Skeat
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £3.59
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language

by David Crystal
4.7 out of 5 stars (9)  £22.49
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (Oxford Paperback Reference)

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (Oxford Paperback Reference)

by T. F. Hoad
2.0 out of 5 stars (4)  £7.14
The Chambers Dictionary

The Chambers Dictionary

by Chambers Harrap Publishers
4.9 out of 5 stars (17) 
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 1284 pages
  • Publisher: Chambers Harrap (6 Aug 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0550142304
  • ISBN-13: 978-0550142306
  • Product Dimensions: 25.4 x 18 x 6.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 83,290 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #21 in  Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Linguistics > Historical & Comparative Linguistics > Etymology

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
Etymology Dictionaries
   Dictionary.Inbox.com    Fast Online Dictionary Results. With Free Dictionary Toolbar. 
Chambers encyclopedia
   www.Ask.com    Find the Best Results for Chambers encyclopedia. Ask us! 
  
 

Product Description

Review

‘The best of scholarship ... the most user-friendly of etymological dictionaries’

(University of Georgia )

Product Description

With over 30,000 entries, Chambers Dictionary of Etymology is a prestigious and scholarly dictionary that explains where English words come from. An important etymological resource for the expert, it is also a useful reference source for the general reader.

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below
(1)
See all 2 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Chambers Dictionary of Etymology
73% buy the item featured on this page:
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology 4.2 out of 5 stars (6)
£19.50
The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories (Oxford Paperback Reference)
14% buy
The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories (Oxford Paperback Reference) 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£6.49
The Concise Dictionary of English Etymology (Wordsworth Reference)
8% buy
The Concise Dictionary of English Etymology (Wordsworth Reference) 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£3.59
Dictionary of Word Origins
3% buy
Dictionary of Word Origins 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£5.99
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
155 of 156 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Correction of a false statement, 3 Dec 2004
By D. Brodsky (France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is the first review I have written, but I felt it necessary to correct a false statement in another review, particuarly since 28 of 32 people found the review (which gave the book only 1 star) helpful. Specifically,

QUOTE A lot of the words don't go back to the real origin. "Street' for example is said to be derived from the Latin "Strata" or "paved road", when the Latin actually comes from the Semitic, "Serat" for "straight road".UNQUOTE

Semitic "Serat" (also Arabic "Sirat") comes from Latin (via Greek as an intermediary) not the other way around as asserted by the reviewer. There is simply no doubt about this. As pointed out in the Chambers Dictionary, "Strata" is the past participle of the Latin verb STERNERE ("to lay down", "to spread out") which shares a common INDO-EUROPEAN origin with the Germanic root which is the basis of English STREW. I have not seen ANY etymological dictionary that has a different explanation, and I have consulted authoritative ones in English, French, Spanish, Italian and German. In English, this origin is confirmed by, among others, (i) the Oxford English Dictionary, (ii) the American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

A second comment of the same reviewer was

QUOTE The dictionary also lists many languages that use a specific word without telling us about the source of the word, which is what etymology is about.UNQUOTE

In fact, my impression is that the Chambers Dictionary gives far more information than other comparable etymological dictionaries in terms of the ultimate roots of words. Taking a word at random, for "make", Old English macian is traced back through Old Saxon makon to Proto-Germanic *makojanan from the Indo-European root *mag-. It is also shown to be cognate with Old High German mahhon, Old Frisian makia, Greek magenai ("to be kneaded, be molded") and mageus ("baker"), Old Slavic mazati ("anoint"), among others.

The Chambers Dictionary is one of the best I have seen, particularly in view of its not unreasonable price.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource., 20 Jun 2007
By T. Holmewood (Oxford, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is an excellent etymology dictionary. If I could sum it up with a single signifier, it would be CLEAR!

I compared this with the OED in-store and found that the clarity of entries - definition, history - in the Chambers by far exceeded that of its competitor - especially its minimal use of abbreviations (of which the OED was laden). Not only does the perspicuity of its entries place it above the OED, the Chambers' clear typeset, complimented by its leaf quality, elevated it even further over that of its ugly other, whose use of some obscenely obscure Romanesque font really didn't flatter its crude sheets of recycled Financial Times.

I would strongly advise this for those who are untrained in linguistics and/or philology. The OED retails at twice the price of Chambers, and from my perspective is 'clearly' inferior. This reference book will - for a long time to come - have its place by my bedside.

OED = Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars an informative reference explaining how words originated, 19 Dec 2000
This is an impecably researched book and makes fascinating reading. It explains how the words we use today originated and when.

My only criticism of the book is that it has adopted American spellings of words in certain cases, e.g. smolder, rather than smoulder.

But it is competatively priced against the other etymology dictionaries. So, you pays your money and you takes your choice.

Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Pastime !
This book is equally useful (and endlessly fascinating) to the serious researcher as to someone simply interested in words, where they originate from, and particularly to those... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Evi

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible.. Horrible..
I was very disappointed with this dictionary. A lot of the words don't go back to the real origin. "Street' for example is said to be derived from the Latin... Read more
Published on 14 Feb 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating dictionary
This is a dictionary you will not want to put away and is extremely user-friendly.
Published on 11 Dec 2001

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (1 discussion)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
Review by David Cash 0 July 2007
› See all discussions...  
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Feedback

The Body Shop

The Body Shop - Vitamin C Skin Boost
Protect and boost your glow with The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Boost.

›Shop The Body Shop

  

Make A Wish

Get what you want with an Amazon.co.uk Wish List Make sure you always get what you want with an Amazon.co.uk Wish List.

›More info on Wish Lists

  

Up to 53% off Braun Series Shavers

Braun Series 3 390cc Clean & Renew System Rechargeable Foil Electric Shaver
Get in touch with your smooth side with Braun Series shavers, now with Gillette blade technology.

›Discover Braun Series at Amazon.co.uk

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates