change English · revision 1809

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1200 (Ancrene Riwle)|origins=la cambīre}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tʃeɪndʒ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|changen]], [[bor|fro|changier|t=to change, alter; to exchange]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[der|la|cambiāre|t=to barter, exchange]], a Late Latin extension of [[m|la|cambīre|t=to exchange, barter]],^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) which is probably of Celtic, perhaps Gaulish, origin,^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)^(Barnhart 1988) akin to [[sga|camm|t=crooked, bent]].^(MWU 2024)^(Klein 1966) Klein and Etymonline trace it to a root meaning “to bend”, the sense passing from “bend” to “turn” to “exchange”.^(Klein 1966)^(Etymonline) The noun comes from [[xno|chaunge]] and Old French [[m|fro|change]], formed from the verb.^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986) The same Latin verb is behind [[exchange]].^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To alter, make different (before 1200, in the ''Ancrene Riwle'').^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the early 13th century the verb also meant “to put one thing in place of another”, and by about 1300 it was used intransitively, “to become different”.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Changing money into smaller coins or another currency is recorded from 1377,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and changing one's clothes from 1470.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The noun ''change'' was also a place where merchants met to do business (about 1400),^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and Weekley notes that it was often wrongly written ''’change'', as if short for the later [[exchange]].^(Weekley 1921) The money left over after paying is called ''change'' from the 1620s.^(Etymonline) Bell-ringers' ''changes'', any order of ringing other than the scale, gave ''ring the changes'' in the 1610s.^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921) Other senses are “death” in the King James Bible (1611),^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) “variety, novelty” (1680s, hence ''for a change''),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''change of heart'' (1828) and ''change of life'', the menopause (1834).^(Etymonline) In American slang ''change'' or ''a piece of change'' has meant money in general since the 19th century.^(GDoS)^(Dalzell 2013)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1200 – to make different (''Ancrene Riwle'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1200 – noun, the act of changing.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1230 – to substitute one thing for another.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – to become different.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1377 – to give or get money in smaller coins or another currency.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – a place where merchants meet.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1470 – to change one's clothes.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590s – ''change one's mind''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1610s – bell-ringing changes, and ''ring the changes''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1620s – the balance of money returned.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1681 – variety, ''for a change''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1834 – ''change of life''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or become different.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To replace with another: ''change one's name''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To give and receive in return: ''change places''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To give or get money in smaller units or in another currency.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To put on other clothes, or put a fresh covering on: ''change a bed''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To move from one train, bus or aircraft to another.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # Of the moon, to pass into a new phase.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act or result of making or becoming different.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # Something new or different; variety: ''for a change''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # Money in coins or smaller units.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # The money returned when more than the price has been paid.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # A fresh set of clothes.^(AHD)

+ # ''(bell-ringing)'' An order in which a set of bells is rung.^(AHD)^(Chambers 2008)

+ # ''(the change, informal)'' The [[menopause]].^(COED 2004)^(Dalzell 2013)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[changer]]

+ * [[changeable]]

+ * [[changeful]]

+ * [[changeling]]

+ * [[changeless]]

+ * [[changeroom]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[exchange]]

+ * [[interchange]]

+ * [[cambium]]

+ * [[gambit]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House distinguishes ''change'', which makes a thing distinctly different, from ''alter'', which suggests a smaller modification.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}