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SILLY

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 109 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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SILLY , weakly foolish, stupid. This is the current sense of a word which has much changed its meaning. The O.E. sxlig (usually gescelig) meant prosperous, happy, and was formed from srel, See also:

time, See also:

SEASON (0. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year)

season, hence happiness, cf. Icel. stela, See also:

BLISS, CORNELIUS NEWTON (1833– )

bliss; Ger. selig, blessed, happy, &c., probably also allied to See also:

Lat. salvus, whole, safe. The development of meaning is happy, blessed, See also:

innocent or See also:

SIMPLE

simple, thence helpless, weak, and so foolish. The old provincial and Scottish word for a See also:

CAUL (from O. Eng. calle, Fr. tale, a cap)

caul (q.v.) was " silly-how," i.e. " lucky cap." The development of meaning of " simple," literally " onefold " (Lat. simplex), See also:

PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain, artless, hence unlearned, foolish, is somewhat parallel. A See also:

SPECIAL

special meaning of " simple," in the sense of medicinal herbs, is due to the supposition that each See also:

HERB (Lat. herba, grass, food for cattle, generally taken to represent the Old Lat. forbea, Gr. 4op(3i1, pasture, <0p/3Ew, to feed, Sans. bharb, to eat)

herb had its own particular or simple medicinal value.

End of Article: SILLY

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