Modern English can look very different from Old English, which was spoken from the 5th to the 11th century. Yet part of the older language never disappeared. Many Old English words still survive in some form today.
Some kept their spelling and meaning, while others changed. For example, the Old English word "rice" meant a kingdom or "powerful," not the grain we know today. But these seven familiar words have stayed surprisingly close to their older forms.
1. Cat. The Old English word was sometimes written as "catt" or "catte." Both are easy to recognize today.
2. Cool. When it described a low temperature, the Old English form was "col."
3. Friend. Its spelling has changed over the centuries, but the word and its meaning remain close to their Old English roots.
4. Night. The older spelling was "niht." Its modern form, "night," uses the letter combination "gh" where Old English had "h."
5. Often. Old English used the shorter word "oft" in much the same way that we use "often" today.
6. Sun. The word changed from "sunne" to "sun," losing two letters while keeping the same root.
7. Water. Its Old English form was "waeter," another word that has changed only slightly.
Old English may seem like a foreign language on the page, but part of it is still with us. Whenever you mention a cat, the sun, water, or a cool night, you are using words that people spoke more than a thousand years ago.