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couth - adj., having good manners, refined, sophisticated. n., polish, refinement.
As an Old English word, cuth meant known, as in famous, from the past participle of connen, to know. It died in the 16th century while its negation uncouth lived on, in the senses of foreign > uncivilized > rude > awkward. In 1898, couth was re-back-formed with an evolved meaning.
Follow-up to tapster and -ster as a feminine ending: I just came across "chidester" in the Canterbury Tales, as in a woman who chides (which meant more scold or nag back then -- it's softened over the centuries).
---L.
As an Old English word, cuth meant known, as in famous, from the past participle of connen, to know. It died in the 16th century while its negation uncouth lived on, in the senses of foreign > uncivilized > rude > awkward. In 1898, couth was re-back-formed with an evolved meaning.
Follow-up to tapster and -ster as a feminine ending: I just came across "chidester" in the Canterbury Tales, as in a woman who chides (which meant more scold or nag back then -- it's softened over the centuries).
---L.
