Semantic change

When new concepts need to be named, borrowing and word-formation are not the only solutions – an existing word can also undergo a change of meaning. Processes of semantic change are very common but often gradual, and therefore harder to pin down than word-formation processes. The meaning of a word can be generalized or can specialize, becoming more restricted in its sphere of reference. These processes typically lead to polysemy, when a word gains a new sense but retains the old one as well. But if there is a risk of confusion, one of the senses may be lost. This was, for instance, the case of “meat”, which in Early Modern English meant both ‘food’ in general and ‘the flesh of animals used as food’.