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From: Gordon Johnson <>
Subject: Re: Nephew double meaning
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 00:23:10 +0000
References: <Z%CLb.429$ir1.2691@newsfep4-glfd.server.ntli.net> <58euvv8in0aob0772p8n9fpfrfsv8dgnmv@4ax.com> <fqkvvvc2698i99l7t4groqud8fr3nbroi1@4ax.com> <ijrvvvcm81irjmd7famuo1sco3tnhobpu9@4ax.com> <MVXLb.422$YV1.383@newsfep4-winn.server.ntli.net> <cig2001p3dbg9uo9g8ct5s18jgart84dfp@4ax.com> <4001b9ee.14703074@news.cis.dfn.de> <btuhaj$dd4$1@titan.btinternet.com>
In-Reply-To: <btuhaj$dd4$1@titan.btinternet.com>


Chris Dickinson wrote:

> Cecilia wrote:
>
>
>>Don Aitken wrote:
>>
>>>"W Johnson" wrote:
>>>
>>>>[...]
>>>>According to the Shorter OED,
>>>>examples of the following have been found:
>>>>
>>>>1. nephew was used meaning niece up to 1585.
>>>>[...]
>>>>
>>>
>>>I think that "up to" is misleading. [...]
>>>There is no implication that the
>>>cited use ceased at or soon after the
>>>date of the last cite.
>>
>>"The latest limit of an obsolete word or sense is shown by means of a
>>year preceded by a dash, as -1759."
>>The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Vol I A-M, Third Edition
>>reprinted with corrections, 1967
>>
>>Which I take to mean that the OED did not know of a (written) use of
>>the obsolete word or sense after the given date; "up to 1585" seems
>>a reasonable restatement of the OEd's "-1585".
>
>
>
> Um well, if any editor of the OED is reading this, here is an instance of
> nephew being used to mean niece in 1682, about one hundred years later:
>
> from the will of Henry Towerson the elder of Oldby [Aldby] in the parish of
> Cleator, Cumberland:
>
> "I give and bequeath to my nephew Jane Woodle ..."
> "I give and bequeath to my nephew Ellinor Hodgson ..."
> "I give and bequeath to my nephew Margrett Towerson ..."
>
>
> Chris
>
>
>
** And in Scotland also it was used up to and including the 17th
century. It could also mean : grandson; great-grandsdon; descendent.
Gordon Johnson,
Wick

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