Mysteries of vernacular: Bewilder - Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough
Reviewer: Jessica Ruby

Mysteries of vernacular: Bewilder, to confuse or puzzle completely. The root of the word bewilder can be traced back to the Old English word wilde, which was used to refer to something that was in a natural state, uncultivated, or undomesticated.

Over time, the word wild was often linked to the Old English word deor. Deor, which was derived from an early Indo-European root that meant breathe, was initially used to describe any untamed animal or beast.

This eventually morphed into the modern word deer, meaning a ruminant of the family Cervidae. The two Old English words, when mashed together, became wilderness, meaning a tract of uncultivated land, primarily inhabited by undomesticated beasts.

From the word wilderness, the word wilder was born. To wilder someone was to lead him astray or lure him into the woods. In the 1600's, the prefix be, meaning thoroughly, was compounded with wilder as a way of tacking on a little extra punch.

Someone who was bewildered was thoroughly lost in the wild. From this winding background, bewilder eventually evolved into our current definition, to be completely confused.