Definitions 01

Definitions are the meaning of words. Every word has a definition - and many words have more than one! If you don't know the meaning of a word, the best thing to do is ask, or check a dictionary. It can also be fun to guess! Sometimes you have a hunch about the meaning, other times it turns out that you were confusing a word with one spelled similarly. And sometimes you can work out a word's meaning by considering the context in which it is used. Knowing the meaning of words can make such a difference in understanding what is being written or spoken.

Words follow fashions, just as music, clothing and art do. Some dictionaries even list the most popular words for particular years! It can be helpful to be aware of words that are no longer in fashion so that you can understand books written a few decades, or even centuries, ago. Sometimes words become less and less common because the world has changed and the items or ideas to which the words refer become less relevant. If a word is especially old-fashioned, it is called "archaic" and if it completely dies out from modern English, it is known as "obsolete".

See if you know the meanings of the following ten words.