Old Vs New: Definition Theatre: Thursday September 3, 2009

Harvest time has arrived yet again. I love the ending of summer into autumn. The colors of the leaves, the ripening fruits... Today's list of words all has the same 'harvest' theme. Since this is such a long season, this particular subject will come up often with new words each time. Now sit back, enjoy your morning coffee and relive some old words from olden times. Imagine yourself at a harvest festival 120 years ago, or picking an apple straight from an orchard, not having to worry about all the pollution absorbed in to it, and staring at the blue sky and white puffy clouds, not at the layer of thick smog hindering the view. Things were different back then. Let's see how through their definitions...

* (1883) Apple: n. a fruit; pupil of the eye

**(2003) Apple: n. 1. A firm, round, edible fruit. 2. The tree it grows on.

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* (1883) Crop: n. the harvest; the stomach of a bird; --v.t. to cut off; to reap

**(2003) Crop: n. 1. A saclike part of a bird's gullet in which food is stored before digestion 2. Any agricultural product, growing or harvested 3. The yield of any product in one season or place 4. A group 5. The handle of a whip 6. Riding whip 7. Hair cut close to the head

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* (1883) Festival: a. pertaining to a feast; --n. a feast, a solemn day

**(2003) Festival: n. 1. A time or day of feasting or celebration 2. A celebration or series of performances

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* (1883) Harvest: n. the season for gathering ripe grain; the crop gathered; effects; --v.t. to gather a crop when ripe

**(2003) Harvest: n. 1. The time of the year when grain, fruit, etc. are gathered in 2. A season's crop 3. The gathering in of a crop 4. The outcome of any effort - vt., to gather in (a crop, etc.)

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* (1883) Plow, plough: n. an instrument to turn and break the soil; --v.t. to turn up the ground with a plow

**(2003) Plow: 1. A farm implement used to cut and turn up the soil 2. Any implement like this, as a snowplow -v.t. 1. To cut and turn up (soil) with a plow 2. to make (one's way) through by or as if by plowing -vi 1. To use a plow 2. To move (through, into, etc.) with force 3. To plod 4. To begin work vigorously. {British-plough}

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* (1883) Pumpkin: n. a plant and its fruit

**(2003) Pumpkin: n. a large, round, orange-yellow, edible gourdlike fruit that grows on a vine.

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* (1883) Scarecrow: n. a thing to frighten birds

**(2003) Scarecrow: n. a human figure made with stick, old clothes, etc., put in a field to scare birds away from crops.

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* (1883) Scythe: n. an instrument for mowing grass.

**(2003) Scythe: n. a tool with a long, single-edged blade on a long, curved handle, for cutting grass, grain, etc.
(pronounced sith, like in Star Wars)
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Sources:

* "American People's Dictionary of the English Language and Peoples Manual", copyright 1879 & 1883, by John Marshall Wood. Pgs. 19, 73, 113, 133, 208, 220, 242 and 244

** "Webster's New World Dictionary", copyright 2003 by Wiley Publishing, Inc.Pgs 30, 158, 240, 296, 495, 522, 573 and 578