When Did Dictionaries First Define Mope Historically?

2025-08-28 12:19:46 122

5 Answers

Owen
Owen
2025-08-31 10:31:49
I've always loved poking around word histories while waiting for my coffee, and 'mope' is a fun one. The short of it: dictionaries started recording it from early written uses in the 16th century, but the exact phrasing and senses evolved. Early instances carried meanings like 'to be foolish' or 'to roam about aimlessly,' which you don't really see in modern definitions. Over the 17th and 18th centuries lexicographers began to note the gloomier, brooding sense we now associate with it.

Major dictionary projects—those big compiled works that pull together printed citations—show the word getting fixed into the melancholic meaning by the 18th century. So when people ask when dictionaries first defined it, I'd say the printed evidence begins in the 1500s and dictionaries canonized its modern sense by the 1700s. If you're comparing editions, it's cool to watch how usage examples shift from literary snippets to more psychological descriptions.
Lily
Lily
2025-08-31 22:03:00
I was leafing through a thrift-store paperback and got sidetracked into word history—'mope' ended up being one of those words that sneaks up on you. Early printed uses date back to the 1500s, and for a while the sense wasn't strictly 'to sulk'—it could mean being silly or just hanging around. Dictionaries started to collect and standardize those uses during the 17th and especially the 18th centuries, at which point the melancholic meaning became prominent.

What I like about tracing 'mope' is how ordinary it feels across centuries: people have always had slumps and words to describe them. If you enjoy small linguistic rabbit holes, try comparing an old literary quote with a modern dictionary entry; it tells a little human story about how language settles into meaning over time.
Angela
Angela
2025-09-02 06:35:54
I get a teacherly kick from mapping words across time, and 'mope' is a solid little case study. Instead of giving a straight timeline, here's a teaching-style snapshot: first, the root verb appears in Middle English and early modern texts (think 1500s onward) often meaning to be dull, idle, or even to loiter; second, printed citations collected by lexicographers through the 17th century record variations; third, by the 18th century, authoritative dictionaries treat the sulking, melancholy meaning as standard. That progression—shifting senses captured by increasingly comprehensive dictionaries—is exactly how many common verbs evolved.

If I were assigning a micro-research task, I'd have students compare a 17th-century quotation with an 18th-century dictionary entry and a modern corpus example. It's illuminating to see not only when dictionaries first define a term, but how they choose representative citations to lock in a sense.
Uma
Uma
2025-09-02 07:59:59
When I look at older glossaries and the handful of early dictionaries I own, 'mope' pops up as a word with surprisingly old credentials. The earliest documented uses go back to the 1500s, and lexicographers in the 17th–18th centuries started pinning down its sense closer to today's meaning. The really neat thing is that dictionaries don't just invent meanings—they document shifts: wandering or foolish behavior in earlier times, then the sulky, brooding sense later. If you're curious, browsing digitized historical dictionaries or the 'Oxford English Dictionary' will show those transitions clearly, and it's a quick, satisfying read on a rainy afternoon.
Rowan
Rowan
2025-09-03 12:11:26
I've dug through a few old dictionaries and etymology notes and got kind of hooked—'mope' actually has roots that go way back. The verb shows up in Middle English as something like 'mopen' with senses around being dull, sullen, or even standing about idly. Most historical citations that dictionaries rely on point to the 1500s and 1600s for the earliest printed occurrences; that's where lexicographers start tracing it.

By the time large reference works were being compiled in earnest, the word had already shifted a bit toward the modern sense of sulking or brooding. If you want the canonical tracing, the 'Oxford English Dictionary' collects those early citations and shows the semantic drift over centuries. I still get a tiny thrill leafing through those old quotations at the library—seeing a familiar little verb climb through history is oddly comforting. If you like digging, check historical corpora or the OED entry; they give a neat timeline of when the senses were first recorded and later standardized in dictionaries.
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