giddy English · revision 1344

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɡɪd.i/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|gidi|t=mad, foolish]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[inh|ang|gidig]], a variant of ''gydig'' “insane, possessed”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) probably from [[gem-pro|*gudigaz|t=possessed by a god]], from the same root as [[god]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Mad, insane, foolish (about 1000).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word first meant possessed by a spirit, and so mad.^(AHD)^(Etymonline) In Middle English it also meant foolish, unstable and dizzy.^(AHD) The sense “elated, thoughtless” is from the 1540s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and that of having a whirling sensation in the head from 1570.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The American Heritage Dictionary calls the modern sense “lighthearted, frivolous” the final secularization of a word once tied to possession by a god.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 1000 – mad, possessed.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1547 – elated to thoughtlessness.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1570 – dizzy.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1585 – causing dizziness.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1602 – verb, to make giddy.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Feeling dizzy and light-headed.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Causing [[dizziness]], as a height.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Frivolous and lighthearted; [[flighty]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # Joyfully excited; [[elated]].^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or become giddy.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[giddily]]

+ * [[giddiness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[god]]

+ * [[dizzy]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary groups ''giddy'', ''dizzy'' and ''vertiginous'' as meaning “producing a whirling sensation and a tendency to fall”.^(AHD) Random House gives ''unstable'', ''volatile'', ''fickle'' and ''inconstant'' as synonyms of the frivolous sense.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}