AN etymological dictionary supplies neither pronunciations nor definitions. Here, pronunciation is indicated only where it affects the origin or the development of a word; and definitions only where, in little-known words, they are necessary to an understanding of the problem. Wherever the meaning of a word has notably changed, the sensetransformation is explained, as, for instance, in knave, marshal, phoney, adjectival rum: here we enter the domain of semantics, the science of meanings, for semantics will sometimes resolve an otherwise insoluble problem.