silly

silly
\ \ [OE] In one of the more celebrated semantic volte-faces in the history of the English lexicon, silly has been transformed over the past millennium from ‘blessed, happy’ to ‘stupid’.
\ \ The word goes back ultimately to a prehistoric West Germanic *sǣliga, a derivative of *sǣli ‘luck, happiness’. It reached Old English as gesǣlig, still meaning ‘happy’, but as it evolved formally in Middle English through seely to silly, its meaning developed via ‘blessed’, ‘pious’, ‘innocent, harmless’, ‘pitiable’, and ‘feeble’ to ‘feeble in mind, foolish’. The related German selig retains its original meaning ‘happy, blessed’.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Silly — steht für: Silly (Band), eine deutsche Band Silly ist der Name folgender geographischer Objekte: Silly (Belgien), eine Stadt in Belgien Silly (Burkina Faso), eine Gemeinde und ein Departement in Burkina Faso Silly en Gouffern, eine Gemeinde im… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Silly — Datos generales Origen Berlín Este (RDA) Información artística …   Wikipedia Español

  • Silly — Sil ly, a. [Compar. {Sillier}; superl. {Silliest}.] [OE. seely, sely, AS. s?lig, ges?lig, happy, good, fr. s?l, s?l, good, happy, s?l good fortune, happines; akin to OS. s[=a]lig, a, good, happy, D. zalig blessed, G. selig, OHG. s[=a]l[=i]g, Icel …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • silly — [sil′ē] adj. sillier, silliest [ME seli, sili (with shortened vowel), good, blessed, innocent < OE sælig, happy, prosperous, blessed (akin to Ger selig, blessed) < sæl, happiness < IE base * sel , favorable, in good spirits (> Gr… …   English World dictionary

  • silly — O.E. gesælig happy (related to sæl happiness ), from W.Gmc. *sæligas (Cf. O.N. sæll happy, Goth. sels good, kindhearted, O.S. salig, M.Du. salich, O.H.G. salig, Ger. selig blessed, happy, blissful ), from PIE root …   Etymology dictionary

  • Silly — Silly, in addition to its dictionary definitions, may refer to: * Silly, Belgium, a town in Belgium * Silly (band), an East German rock group from the 1970s …   Wikipedia

  • Silly — Le nom est surtout porté dans l Eure et Loir. Il désigne celui qui est originaire de Silly (ou Sillé), nom de plusieurs communes et de divers hameaux. Dans cette région, on pensera notamment à la commune de Silly en Gouffern (61). Sens probable… …   Noms de famille

  • silly — ► ADJECTIVE (sillier, silliest) 1) lacking in common sense or judgement; foolish. 2) trivial or frivolous. 3) Cricket denoting fielding positions very close to the batsman: silly mid on. ► NOUN (pl. sillies) informal ▪ …   English terms dictionary

  • Silly — Silly, Dorf im Arrondissement Soignies der belgischen Provinz Hennegau; 2600 Ew …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • silly — index fatuous, frivolous, inept (inappropriate), ludicrous, puerile, superficial, vacuous Burton s Legal …   Law dictionary

  • silly — 1 *simple, foolish, fatuous, asinine Analogous words: *irrational, unreasonable: *stupid, slow, dull, dense, crass, dumb: vacuous, *empty 2 *foolish, absurd, preposterous …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

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