Are you one of those people who love antiques? You hang around yard sales
on weekends for some rare item that might be up for sale. You stop at every
antique mall on your way to grandpa's house. In a way, you love to travel
back in time.

If you're one of those folks, consider this week's words as unpackng the
antique trunk of the English language. Linguistically, they're called
archaic terms. They were once everyday words, but today they reveal their
age. They have an old-time appeal.

Not that these words show any wear and tear. They're still ready to serve,
patiently waiting in the pages of dictionaries, even though labeled as
senior citizens of the language. They haven't called it quits. They still
have their shingles up. Verily, I urge you to become better acquainted with
them.


stalworth (STOL-wurth) adjective

   Stalwart: strong, dependable, firm.

[From Middle English, from Old English staelwierthe (serviceable),
from stathol (support) + weorth (worth).]

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

  "That the theorists were on the money speaks well for the power of
   scientific speculation and calculation and is a testament to the
   stalworth pundits of the last half century who nurtured a field."
   Minas Kafatos and Andrew Michalitsianos; Supernova 1987A in the
   Large Magellanic Cloud; Cambridge University Press; Jun 9, 1988.

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............................................................................
Be careful how you interpret the world: it *is* like that. -Erich Heller,
essayist (1911-1990)

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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/stalworth.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/stalworth.ram

Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/stalworth.html

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