oasis English · revision 1661

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əʊˈeɪsɪs/ ''(UK)''; /oʊˈeɪsɪs/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|oasis]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|ὄασις|tr=óasis]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) probably of Egyptian origin;^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) compare Coptic ''wahe'', ''ouahe'' “dwelling place, oasis”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Barnhart and Etymonline say it also came partly through French ''oasis''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The same Egyptian source produced Arabic ''wāḥa''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A fertile spot in the Libyan desert; hence any fertile spot in the middle of a desert (1613 in the OED and Merriam-Webster, 1616 in Barnhart).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The name first referred to the fertile places of the Libyan desert^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and was then extended to any watered, green spot in a desert.^(OED 1989)^(AHD) By 1800 it was used figuratively for any fertile place in the midst of a waste,^(Etymonline) and so for any refuge or pleasant relief from surrounding difficulty or unpleasantness.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1605–15 – Random House's dating.^(RHWU)

+ * 1613 – a fertile spot in the Libyan desert.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * by 1800 – figurative.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A fertile, green area in a [[desert]], watered by a spring or well.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A place or situation that offers [[refuge]] or pleasant relief from difficult surroundings, as in ''an oasis of calm''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[haven]]

+ * [[refuge]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}