aftermath English · revision 357

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɑːf.təˌmæθ/, /ˈɑːf.təˌmɑːθ/ ''(UK)''; /ˈæf.tɚˌmæθ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound of [[after]] and the obsolete or dialectal ''math'' “a mowing”,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995) which is [[inh|ang|mǣþ|t=a mowing, cutting of grass]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) ''Math'' is related to Old High German ''mād'' (modern German ''Mahd'' “mowing, hay crop”)^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU) and to [[mow]].^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A second crop of grass that springs up on the same land after the first mowing (1523).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Farmers once had several words for this second growth, including ''aftercrop'', ''aftergrass'' and ''lattermath''.^(Etymonline) The figurative use, for a state of affairs left behind by an event, is recorded by the 1650s;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) it usually refers to the consequences of something unpleasant,^(OED 1989)^(AHD) and this is now the main sense.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1523 – a second mowing, or the grass that grows after the first.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+ * by 1650s (before 1658) – figurative, a state left by an event, especially an unpleasant one.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The consequences of an event, especially a disastrous one.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # The period immediately following a ruinous event.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A second crop of grass in the same season after mowing.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mow]]

+ * [[meadow]]

+ * [[mead]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}