Peabody’s diction seems to be largely affected by the life experiences that he went through. His religious background and his encounters with life in general made him use various archaic words and phrases in writing his will to infer meanings that can be said to be slightly different from the contemporary meaning. The spellings and pronunciation has also been changing with time.
Peabody uses the word ‘despose’ severally. Its spelling is currently ‘dispose’. OED defines it as partying with, settle or getting rid of. Apparently, Peabody uses the word to refer to willingness or inherit. “Shall despose my wife”. OED defines temporal as things that relate to earthly life and not eternity. Peabody uses it to refer to ‘earthly possessions’ that God had given him. OED defines movables as some form of property that one rightfully owns and that the property can be transferred from place to place. In the will its meaning is broader. Peabody uses ‘moveables’ to refer to property. OED defines current as something that is present or contemporary. Peabody uses ‘currant’ to refer to the prevailing pay that was satisfactory during his time. OED defines needful as being needy, distressed or requisite. The meaning in Peabody’s will was slightly broader. He uses it to refer to something that was necessary.
Peabody uses some words to refer to different meanings in the will. This was due to the fact that during those times the words had a broader meaning and was quite different to narrow it down to a specific meaning that would hold in all cases. The will reflects the importance that was accorded to chattels then. The concrete vocabularies used ascertain this. However, the words kept on changing from generation to generation.
In the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Paine, the following is the definition of words used in the context. Almanac (also, especially in titles, almanack) it is a noun, with the meaning of an annual calendar which entails statistical information and essential dates for instance tide tables and astronomical data. While in the Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, the word means the dates of last year.
Design can be used either as a noun or verb. As noun, it has two definitions according to Oxford Dictionary. First definition is a plan produced to show the function or working of an object before it is made. Secondly, it is a purpose, intention or planning which exists or may thought to exist behind an action or a fact. As a verb (with object) design means deciding upon the functioning and look of object, typically by making a detailed drawing of it. According to Thomas, design is used as a noun, meaning a intension that exist behind a fact. In his sentence, men embarked in controversy, from different motive and with various design.
Seed-time, according to OED the word is being syllabicated to be a noun which means the sowing season. However, according to Thomas the word mean is that it was a season of sowing continental union, honor and faith. Suffer (verb) according to OED the word means experience or being subjected to unpleasant. While in the Common Sense, Thomas means archaic tolerant, quoted in his sentence he said “he is rather offer plain arguments, simple facts and common sense than to divest him of prejudice, prepossession or suffer” this shows that he did wanted to be subjected to unpleasant.
Prepossession is an adjective especially when often used in negative, as per OED the word means appealing or attractive in appearance. According to Thomas, prepossession means appealing which is also the synonym of the word.
MOCCASINS
Moccasins could mean a soft leather shoe. The kind of the leather shoe does not have a separate heel and its sole is turned up sideways and sewn into a simple gathered seam. The etymology of the word can be traced in the 17th century where the Algonquian residents of North America plaited unique shoes. Chippewa is its oldest form and still used in the united states.
CANOE
The likely meaning of the canoe can be a small boat that is designed to move in the water with the help of a paddle. The word originated in 1550s in a context of West Indian. The word was used by Columbus and it had been extracted from Spanish Canoa. English speakers extended the word to mean rough-made boats.
JERKING
In relation to our setting, the word means cutting meat into long strips and later exposing the meat to smoke or sun-drying the meat. To jerk is to cut meat. In 1540s, jerk meant to strike with a whip. In the 17th century, it became a method of meat preservation. In the early 19th century, a jerk could mean a very stubborn and ineffectual character.
RAPID
The origin of the word is traced in the 1630s in France. The word was used to mean , moving quickly, hastily or swiftly. In our setting, rapid has been used to mean a group of people who has a certain goal or objective.
Sellotape: it is a proprietary name that originated in 1949 in Great Britain. In Britain, it is a transparent adhesive tape made of cellulose. Americans use it as a verb to mean sealing using a tape. The word can be attributed to the Britons enterprising culture. They made the sellotape for sale.
Dustbin: in British English, it refers to the things that one throws away because they no longer need them. In American English, it refers to a container or place where wastes can be placed. It started in 1848 from dust and bin.
Flyover: it was initially fly-over. It originated in the US in 1901 where it was used to refer to bridges. By 1931, it was used to refer to aircrafts. Its use came about as a result of the industrial revolution. In American English, it refers to a ceremony where several airplanes fly close together as people watch. In Britain it refers to an overpass above a road.
Pillar box is a noun word despite of its different meanings; it is also a syllabicated word. According to OED it means a large red cylindrical community mailbox. A definition used in the British dictionary. While in American, is a tall vertical structure which used to support for a building or a person or a thing regarded as reliably providing important support for something. The name originated between the years 1855-1860. British Territories used pillar box in mailing which was postal operated.
Maize (noun) originated in the year 1550s from Cuban Spanish. I British it means a grain with the seed still in rather than a particular plant. Locally understood to denote the leading crop in America, referred as a corn, maize was introduced to the areas where rice did not grow well.
Work cited
Onions, C T, R W. Burchfield, and G W. S. Friedrichsen. The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. Oxford: Clarendon, 1966. Print.
Simpson, J A, and E S. C. Weiner. The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2009. Print.
