I saw a workshop on OEDILF on the word "abarcy," by Eric Andersen, who has posted on Wordcraft. While it isn't in Onelook nor on Google (except for some foreign mentions and the OEDILF limerick), it is listed in the online OED, but only with this one comment:

" ‘Insatiableness’ Bailey vol. II. 1731. The L. and Eng. seem alike fictions."

The L. and Eng. seem alike fictions? Does that mean OED doesn't think this a word? Why would they list it then? We know they don't list all words that were in Bailey's Dictionary.

Here is Eric's limerick:

An insatiable maiden named Marcy,
With an interesting form of abarcy,
Was compelled to consume
Any form of legume
To be found in the ground in Canarsie.

The word is listed in Bailey's 1731 dictionary (which does not list the e-word) and seems to come from the 17th century Latin dictionary by Du Cange Glossarium mediae et infimae Latinitatis (Glossary of Medieval and Late Latin). Abartia does not appear in Lewis & Short's Oxford Latin Dictionary, nor does the Greek abartia, from which it allegedly comes appear in Liddell & Scott's Greek dictionary.

Wow...I can always count on Wordcrafters. The comments in the workshop about word verification were: "I suspect that I had looked this up in my library's old OED but I'm not positive. Before FAing this one, Eric, we'll need a source." and: "Without looking it up in the OED, I would have surmised from the context that the word referred to a disease that was cured by eating legumes." That was the extent of discussion about verifying the word (the limerick was first posted on July 6, 2004). That's why I think the collaboration with Wordcraft is so valuable because while they are good at meter/rhyming/punctuation etc., we are good at validating definitions/word verifications, etc.

I became interested in this word because of the very succinct OED note, which I almost never see. Zmj, would you consider it an appropriate word for an English dictionary? What does the 1731 Bailey's say about it? I clicked your du Cange link, but it's in French...which doesn't help me.

BTW, the e-word is definitely cited in one edition of Bailey's dictionary; I saw it when I was at Powell's Book Store in Portland, so I am sure of that. Perhaps Shu recalls which edition it was?

The Bailey's 1731 just gives the gloss 'insatiableness' and the Greek word that the Latin word comes from.

The e-word is not in the 1731 (second edition), but is in the one that was digitized and put online by Rutgers. It has many more Greek and latin words in it added by an editor who came after Bailey died.

The Du Cange link is to an English language Wikipedia article. I just tried it, and it's still in English. Since it's early in the OED, first couple of pages, it might be that the OED editorial policy hadn't solidified yet, as to what would make it in and what wouldn't.

So...in your opinion it's an English word?

I read the information from Wikipedia. However, I tried to link to the du Cange Glossarium mediae et infimae Latinitatis in the External links section at the bottom. I wanted to find the discussion about abarcy there.

So...in your opinion it's an English word?

Ah, for the days when I could say, simply, this is a word, and that isn't. Let's look at it a little more.

Bailey's Dictionary (1731): "Abarcy n[abartia, L. of άβαρτια, Gr.] Insatiableness"

OED, 1st ed.: "[Abarcy. [ad. med. L. abartia 'insatiabilitas' Du Cange] 'insatiableness' Bailey vol. II. 1731. The L. and Eng. seem alike fictions.]"

But also, two entries down: "[Abarstic, -ke. a 'Insatiable,' Cockeram 1626. Du Cange connects it with \abartia; Blount 1712. berstan to burst: 'who has so large a Belly that tho' 'tis full it will not burst.' Some error.]"

The first thing that caught my eye on the OED entry is that the complete entry is delimited within square brackets. Not sure what that means, but it must mean something. Another thought is that several dictionaries are quoted, Du Cange for Medieval and late Latin, Bailey, Henry Cockeram The English dictionarie, or an interpreter of hard English words, and Thomas Blount Glossographia, or a dictionary interpreting such hard words ... as are now used. These last two sound like classic lists of inkhorn words. Anyway, I notice that Johnson's dictionary does not have abarcy, and I am still trying to find the correct volume of Du Cange to provide a look into where he may have taken the word.

It really doesn't seem like a word to me. I don't think it's inclusion in the OED is a mistake. Since it occurs in more than one dictionary, maybe the editor decided to let people know that it is not a real word.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

That's what I love about this board.

While we can get chatty and snarky and superficial sometimes, we also can come up with excellent, well-researched data and make the most intellectual posts that belong in Verbatim or some other fine journal.

Thanks, Zmj!