A history of the English Language

168.
Enrichment from Native Sources.
By far the greater part of the additions to the English vocabulary in the period of the 
Renaissance was drawn from sources outside of English. The popular favor shown to all 
kinds of foreign words seems to have implied a disparagement of English resources that 
was resented in some quarters. Gabriel Harvey remarked that “in Inglande… nothinge is 
reputid so contemptible, and so baselye and vilelye accountid of, as whatsoever is taken 
for Inglishe, whether it be handsum fasshions in apparrell, or seemely and honorable in 
behaviour, or choise wordes and phrases in speache, or anye notable thinge else…that 
savorith of our owne cuntrye and is not ether merely or mixtely outlandishe.”
34
But, as 
we have seen, there were purists like Cheke, and there were also others who believed that 
English could very well develop new words from old roots or revive expressions that had 
gone out of use. Cheke was so strongly opposed to the borrowing of Latin and Greek 
words that he sought wherever possible English equivalents. Thus, in his translation of 
the Gospel of St. Matthew, where the Authorized Version reads 
lunatic
he wrote 
mooned,
and in the same way he said 
toller
for 
publican, hundreder
for 
centurion, foresayer
for 
prophet, byword
for 
parable, freshman
for 
proselyte, crossed
for 
crucified, gainrising
for 
resurrection
. The poets, of course, were rather more given to the revival of old words, 
especially words that were familiar to them in Chaucer. For this reason their revivals and 
new formations that suggested an older period of English were sometimes referred to as 
“Chaucerisms.” Among poets who consciously made use of old words to enlarge the 
poetical vocabulary the most important was Spenser, although there were also others, 
such as Thomas Drant, the translator of Horace, whose influence on Spenser has not been 
fully appreciated, and to a lesser degree Milton. 
These poetical innovations were of several kinds. Some were old words revived, like 
astound, blameful, displeasance, enroot, doom, forby
(hard by, past), 
empight
(fixed, 
implanted), 
natheless, nathemore, mickle, whilere
(a while before). Others were new, 
such as 
askew, filch, flout, freak
. The origin
34 
Eliz. Crit. Essays,
I, 124. 
A history of the english language 214

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of these is often uncertain; they may have been of dialectal provenience. Some were 
definitely coinages, such as Spenser’s 
bellibone
(a fair maid, possibly from 
belle et 
bonne
),
 blatant, braggadocio, chirrup, cosset
(lamb), 
delve
(pit, den), 
dit
(song), 
scruze
(apparently a telescope word combining 
screw
and 
squeeze
),
 squall
(to cry), and 
wrizzled
(wrinkled, shriveled). Finally, many were simply adaptations and derivatives of old 
words, such as 
baneful, briny, changeful, drear
(from 
dreary
),
 hapless, oaten, sunshiny,
or 
wolfish
. Some of the innovations had a look much more rustic and strange than these, 
and, as in the case of inkhorn terms and oversea words, opinion varied as to their 
desirability. Sidney criticized Spenser for the “framing of his stile to an old rustick 
language,” and Ben Jonson went so far as to say that “Spenser in affecting the ancients 
writ no language.” But the poet also had his defenders. His friend “E.K.” wrote,“…in my 
opinion it is one special prayse of many whych are dew to this poete, that he hath 
laboured to restore as to their rightfull heritage such good and naturall English words as 
have ben long time out of use and almost cleane disherited.” The defenders, moreover, 
could have pointed to the fact that the same method of enriching the language was being 
urged in France. The words that English acquired in this way are not nearly so numerous 
as those obtained from outside, but when all is said the fact remains that to Spenser and 
others who shared his views we owe a great many useful words. 
Belt, bevy, craggy, 
dapper, forthright, glen, glee, glance, surly, blandishment, birthright, changeling, elfin, 
endear, disrobe, don, enshrine, drizzling, fleecy, grovel, gaudy, gloomy, merriment, 
rancorous, shady, verdant, wakeful, wary,
and 
witless
by no means exhaust the list. Many 
of these have passed from the language of poetry into common use, and, what is equally 
important, a vital principle of English word formation was being kept alive.