Wednesday, April 29, 2015

A-to-Z Challenge: Y

Today’s word is yearn, because by now I’m yearning for the end of this month.



Yearn comes from the Old English giernan/geornan/giorna, to strive, be eager, beg, demand, things like that. It comes from the Proto Germanic gernjan, to desire, and Proto Indo European gher-, to like/want. Apparently it’s related to the word “hortatory”, which is encouraging someone, not a place to keep whores, and also the second word in as many days that I’ve never heard of. Anyone got any sentences for that one?

Sources

Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English

10 comments:

  1. Ray tried his best to hortatory Sam not to keep whores in his closet...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alex's comment is awesome. I can't beat it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Now, those two words don't seem to go together.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hortatory. That's the first time I've heard that word, so you're not alone in learning a new one.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The evolution of words was part of today's lesson. I thought of you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello there.
    You did good to stick with the challenge thus far...only one more letter to go!
    Thanks for sharing.

    Entrepreneurial Goddess

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm always yearning for something, a few minutes of peace and quiet, to be able to ride my horse again--we'll see how the body does this summer--have more time for writing, fledge my last kid, lol!

    hortatory: Jill was making her way through a book of hortatory sermons her great-aunt Hortense gifted her.

    Sia McKye Over Coffee

    ReplyDelete
  8. We will hortatory everyone who finishes the A/Z challenge!

    betty

    ReplyDelete
  9. There seems to be some discrepancy over it but I'm calling hortatory a noun. I'm sending you some hortatory to get to the end of the month (only the end of the day, now). You're welcome!

    ReplyDelete
  10. hortatroy - I think a place to keep whores sounds like a better definition ;) I love all these little titbits, thanks for so many.
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

    ReplyDelete

Please validate me.