Ernest Weekley (27 April 1865 – 7 May 1954) was a British
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...
, best known as the author of a number of works on
etymology
Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...
. His ''An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English'' (1921; 850 pages) has been cited as a source by most authors of similar books over the 90 years since it was published. From 1898 to 1938, he was Professor of Modern Languages at the
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948.
Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...
.
He married
Frieda von Richthofen in 1899. Together they had three children: Charles Montague (born 1900), Elsa Agnès (born 1902) and Barbara Joy (born 1904). Weekley divorced Frieda in 1913 following her elopement with
D. H. Lawrence. Following the divorce Frieda and Lawrence married in 1914. She had been legally obliged to leave her children with Weekley because divorced adulterous women were unable to gain custody.
Frieda then cheated on Lawrence with
Angelo Ravagli during the last four years of Lawrence's life.
Frieda's life and relationships with Weekley and Lawrence are thought to be the inspiration behind Lawrence's renowned novel, ''
Lady Chatterley's Lover'', as described by
Annabel Abbs in her biographical novel, ''Frieda: The Original Lady Chatterley'' (
Two Roads, 2021).
Selected bibliography
*''The Romance of Words'' (1912; and subsequent editions in 1913 (2nd), 1917 (3rd), 1922 (4th) and 1928 (5th))
*''The Romance of Names'' (1914; and subsequent editions in 1914 (2nd), 1922 (3rd) and 1928 (4th))
**
*''Surnames'' (1916) and subsequent editions in 1917 (2nd) and 1936 (3rd)
*''A Concise Etymological Dictionary of Modern English'' (1924)
*''Words Ancient and Modern'' (1926)
*''More Words Ancient and Modern'' (1927)
*''Adjectives — and other words'' (1930)
*''Words and Names'' (1932)
*''Something about words'' (1935)
*''Jack and Jill. A Study in Our Christian Names'' (1939)
*''Words Ancient and Modern (new combined ed.)'' (1946)
References
External links
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1865 births
1954 deaths
Academics of the University of Nottingham
British philologists
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