hackneyed English · revision 1972

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈhæk.nid/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the past participle of the verb [[hackney]],^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from the noun ''hackney'', a horse for hire.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Merriam-Webster dates the adjective to 1735.^(MW Collegiate) The OED dates the sense “trite” to 1749 and “kept for hire” to 1767.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A hackney was an ordinary horse kept for riding or hire.^(Etymonline) The verb meant to use a horse for riding (1570s) and then to make something common by indiscriminate use (1590s).^(Etymonline) So ''hackneyed'' came to describe words and ideas used so often that they have lost their freshness (1749).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Compare [[hack]], a writer who will write anything for hire.^(Etymonline) The OED also records a sense “experienced, practised”, sometimes with a hint of weariness (1760).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1570s – verb ''hackney'', to use a horse for riding.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1590s – verb, to make common by overuse.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1749 – trite, stale.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1760 – experienced, habituated.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1767 – kept for hire (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Made trite and commonplace by overuse; stale.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' Kept for hire.^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[unhackneyed]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hackney]]

+ * [[hack]]

+ * [[trite]]

+ * [[banal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}