Posted by rpcman on October 07, 1999 at 14:50:38:
In Reply to: Etymology posted by Tom on October 07, 1999 at 11:41:16:
: Dictionaries try to represent usage not etymologies.
Good dictionaries do include etymology though.
: The word "eager" which now refers entirely to an
: affective state, orignally referred to a certain kind of a river--one that was inclined to overflow
: its banks.
This would be useful to have in a dictionary since you can see where the word came from. Clearly its current meaning is based in large part on its original usage. However, it is a false analogy to the subject at hand since many, if not most atheists, call themselves a-theists because they are non-theists in direct corrleation with the etymology of the word.