Word sign-up
Instructions: go to the Middle English Compendium (available on-line: type in "Middle English Compendium" as a title on library home page and click; click on the Website; then click on "Middle English Dictionary"; click on "look up" to get a field for entering your query).
Each of these words shows up in the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales. Include the line in your paper.
Because Middle English spelling is not regularized, you'll probably need to use "wildcards" in your search, especially for longer words and words that are derived from Latin (often with a -tion ending). "Wildcards" are noted by an asterisk (*). Generally, replace the vowels with an asterisk, and also put one at the end of your word. For the word "affection," for instance, searching for af*e*n* gives you all words that have those letters in that order, without regard to how many letters are BETWEEN those particular letters. Af*e*n* results in 71 hits, and brings up affeccioun, which is the spelling of the word the Middle English Dictionary uses.
ONE
school
1. Joe Kandera
TWO
kind
1. Eric Flesch
THREE
nature
1. Meara Gilhooly
2. Rachael Homrichhausen
3. Daniel Sutton
FOUR
wit
1. Kit Kapphahn
2. Celeste Amos
FIVE
trust
1. Allison Byers
2. Katie Intraversato
SIX
affile
1. Michael Lucas
SEVEN
devout
1. Andrew Brottlund
2. Sharon Ritter
EIGHT
work
1. Nikki Gordon
2. Luke Corry
NINE
saint
1. Dar Kaufman
2. Dustin O'Donnell
TEN Back to top of page
England
1. Allison Scheubrien
2. Tyler Jayne
ELEVEN
simple
1. Hannah Kingrey
2. Wendy Schleis
TWELVE
understand
1. Nicole Tomlin
THIRTEEN
martyr
1. Megan Prouty
2. Robert Taubr
FOURTEEN
degree
1. Sharon Dunham
2. Chris Tweeter
FIFTEEN
conscience
1. Emily Casey
2. Bryan Keers
SIXTEEN
lewd
1. Caitlin Hier
2. Mike Rosenberg
SEVENTEEN
bliss
1. David Merrill
2. Jamie Goldfarb
EIGHTEEN
nice
1. Aaron Carnes
2. Rebecca Jepson
NINETEEN
pain
1. Laura McDonald
2. Andrew Clough
TWENTY
need
1. Laura Hercher
2. Hajara Quinn