# Words: sorted by age **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 12, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-sorted-by-age/643832 "2012-12-12T15:34:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-sorted-by-age/643832/1 "2012-12-12T15:34:09Z")
Many dictionaries provide dates of first usage but most stubbornly remain sorted alphabetically. Is there a facility or reference that orders common English words by how old they are? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-sorted-by-age/643832/2 "2012-12-12T15:43:22Z")
A dictionary that tried that scheme would be unusable. There’s be no way of finding a word without some very extensive cross referencing that would make it very difficult to find a specific word. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-sorted-by-age/643832/3 "2012-12-12T16:00:38Z")
A _printed_ dictionary would be unusable. A software dictionary with multiple sort options could do this and still be usable. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-sorted-by-age/643832/4 "2012-12-12T16:15:47Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > A dictionary that tried that scheme would be unusable. There’s be no way of finding a word without some very extensive cross referencing that would make it very difficult to find a specific word. it would need an index. ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-sorted-by-age/643832/5 "2012-12-12T16:22:40Z")
I was certainly thinking more of an online resource. But, while it’s true such a printed reference would be useless for how we use a normal dictionary, it would support a narrow set of uses unsupported by a normal reference. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-sorted-by-age/643832/6 "2012-12-12T16:47:00Z")
We don’t know when most words emerged. The best we can do is comment on their earliest appearance in literature, which doesn’t really tell us how old it is - it could have been used in conversation hundreds of years before its appearance in written works. And upon recovering new archaeological evidence I imagine this gets revised quite often. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-sorted-by-age/643832/7 "2012-12-12T17:31:01Z")
Seriously interested? Join and inquire at a site called [Wordorigins.org Discussion Forums](http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/forums/). ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-sorted-by-age/643832/8 "2012-12-12T19:44:20Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > A dictionary that tried that scheme would be unusable. There’s be no way of finding a word without some very extensive cross referencing that would make it very difficult to find a specific word. We have this thing now called “the Internet”, you may have heard of it… Sorry, too snarky. I agree that this would be near-useless for a print dictionary, but there’s no reason a website couldn’t provide a list of words sorted this way with a search box attached. And now that I’m thinking of it, it really is a good idea. There will probably be a lot of “unknowns” though, I wager. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-sorted-by-age/643832/9 "2012-12-12T19:52:10Z")
[You might find this Youtube interesting.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0phq7litTc&feature=player_embedded)