Words associated with the weather very well illustrate how English has used derivatives to expand its vocabulary.
[1] English words referring to, for example, agriculture, domestic life and weather conditions are firmly rooted in Germanic.
Old English: hāt; Modern English: hot; Modern Dutch: heet
OE: ċeald; ME: cold; MD: koud
OE: cōl; ME: cool; MD: koel
OE: forst; ME: frost; MGmn: Frost
OE: īs; ME: ice; MD: ijs
OE: reġn; ME: rain; MD: regen
OE: reġnboga; ME: rainbow; MD: regenboog
OE: snāw; ME: snow; MD: sneeuw
OE: storm; ME: storm; MD: storm
OE: sunne; ME: sun; MD: zon
OE: wearm; ME: warm; MD: warm
OE: wind; ME: wind; MD: wind
After the Norman Conquest of 1066 a large number of Old / Middle French words of Latin origin were imported to England, enhancing the language with words that are largely not synonyms but are connected to the original Latin meaning. English vocabulary was not always displaced but sat alongside Latin derivatives which tend to be abstract, technical, or elevated in register. This has added considerable nuance to English.
hot │ calorie < La: calor, -ōris [3/m]
cold │ frigid (of a person’s emotion); refrigerator; fridge* < La: frīgidus, -a, -um
*possibly from the French product name Frigidaire; compare Hoover for vacuum cleaner
frost │ pruinose (frosted in appearance) < La: pruīna, -ae [1/f]
ice │ glacial; glacier < La: glaciēs, -ēī [5/f]
rain │ pluviometer < La: pluvia, -ae [1/f] or pluvius, -a, -um
snow │ niveous (resembling snow) < La: nix, nivis [3/f]
storm │ tempestuous < La: tempestās, -tātis [3/f]
sun │ solar < La: sōl, -is [3/m]
warm │ tepid < La: tepidus, -a, -um
wind │ ventilate < La: ventilō, -āre [1]: expose to a draught
A nice example where the Latin word with the same original meaning is reassigned to mean something different:
rainbow │ iris < La: (Late) īris, -idis
[2]
OE: birnende; ME: burning │ ardent < La: ārdeō, -ēre [2]; La: fervent < ferveō, -ēre [2]
What is interesting, and possibly annoying to non-native speakers of English, is the way in which such words overlap in both literal and figurative usage, one at times preferable to another. You can say a burning building or a burning desire, but you cannot say an ardent building!
a burning building
a burning desire
fervent heat
fervent activity
ardent prayers
[3] Displacement: sometimes a word is displaced because another word takes over part of its meaning — or because history intervenes (we have Vikings and Normans to thank for that!).
OE: heofan
[i] sky
[ii] heaven
One meaning displaced by Old Norse: ský, but retaining heofan as “heaven”.
And then the Normans come:
celestial < La: caelestis, -e < caelum, -ī [2/n]
This sits alongside the Old English heofonlīċ: heavenly.
Are celestial and heavenly simply useful synonyms for essays? Not quite.
Heavenly (Germanic) is warmer and more emotional. It can mean divine, blissful, or simply extremely pleasant: heavenly music, a heavenly view, a heavenly taste.
Celestial (Latin-derived) is cooler and more elevated. It often belongs to astronomy or formal description: celestial bodies, celestial sphere, celestial navigation.
They overlap in meaning, but they differ in tone and register. English has not merely accumulated synonyms — it has layered them. And that layering is part of what makes the English language both expressive – and occasionally exasperating.
