Many words that existed in Old English did not survive into Modern English. There are also many words in Modern English that bear little or no resemblance in meaning to their Old English etymons. Some linguists estimate that as much as 80 percent of the lexicon of Old English was lost by the end of the Middle English period, including many compound words, e.g. ('bookhouse', 'library'), yet the components 'book' and 'house' were kept. Certain categories of words seem to have been more susceptible. Nearly all words relating to sexual intercourse and sexual organs as well as "impolite" words for bodily functions were ignored in favor of words borrowed from Latin or Ancient Greek. The Old English synonyms are now mostly either extinct or considered crude or vulgar, such as arse/ass.

Some words were forgotten while other near-synonyms in Old English replaced them ('limb' remains in common use, but remains only dialectally as lith). Many of these changes came with the introduction of Old Norse and Norman French words, while others fell away due to natural evolution.

Animals

Modern English has no Germanic words for 'animal' in the general sense of 'non-human being'. , , , and were all eclipsed by 'animal', 'beast', 'creature' and 'critter'. : squirrel. Displaced by Anglo-Norman and Old French , from Vulgar Latin , diminutive of , variant of Latin , from Ancient Greek (). Compare German , Dutch , Icelandic , Swedish , Danish , Norwegian . : 'lizard'. Lizard was borrowed into Middle English from Old French , from Latin .American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. The earliest occurrence of the word (spelled ) is in the poem Piers Plowman (written about 1360–1399). Old English does survive dialectally as ask ('newt', 'eft', 'lizard'): cf. German , Dutch . : 'burbot'. The Old French word had replaced by the Middle English period.AHD Online, 'Burbot' , accessed October 2007. 'Burbot' first occurred in English around 1475. The modern descendant of , 'eelpout', is occasionally used for the burbot, although it has come to define a different animal. : 'caterpillar' (see ). : 'dove', 'pigeon' has survived dialectally as 'culver', which the AHD believes comes from Vulgar Latin colombula. The OED acknowledges this possibility, but asserts that it is more likely native. 'Culver' is first attested in English around 825 and 'dove' around 1200. The Middle English dove is thought to come from Old English, but the assumed form () is not attested, cf. below. It is most likely to have been common Germanic.AHD Online, 'Dove' , accessed October 2007. : 'animal', 'beast'. is the etymon of English 'deer', although as 'deer' is attested as early as around 893 by Alfred the Great. At some point in the Middle English period the more specific meaning of 'deer' became common, with the original meaning becoming lost by the end of the period. Compare German , Dutch , Swedish , Danish and Norwegian , Icelandic . : 'pelican'. The word pelican was borrowed into Middle English, ultimately from Ancient Greek. : 'duck', 'drake'. 'Drake' first appeared around 1300 and was lost thereafter. The AHD says the origin is unknown. Old High German seems to be a combination of (cognate of Old English ) and (cognate of drake), but the OED holds that the conjectured cognate in Old English (unattested ) "has no basis of fact". The word likely has a PIE origin, compare Latin , Lithuanian antis and Old Greek nēssa ('duck'). 'Duck' comes from a theoretical Old English word , presumably from the verb ('duck', 'dive'). Compare with the German , Dutch , Common Scandinavian and. : 'butterfly'. Old English had the word (of dubious origin, although the ultimately Greek word "butter" is the first element) as early as 1000 which overtook the Germanic fifalde. Compare with Old High German , German , Old Saxon , Southern Dutch , Old Norse , Icelandic , Swedish . : 'ibex'. 'Ibex' is borrowed from Latin originally written ibecks in Edward Topsell's "The historie of foure-footed beastes" (1607). '' is a compound of ('wooded height', 'mountain') (compare with Gothic ('mountain'), Old High German ('Ore Mountains')) and ('buck') (compare with modern German , Dutch ('ibex'), English stonebuck). , : 'creature'. , the etymon of English 'shape', is documented as far back as around 1050. It had many meanings in Old English: 'creature', 'creation', 'structure', 'form', 'figure', 'configuration', 'pudendum', 'decree' and 'destiny'. 'Creature', ultimately from Latin, was borrowed around 1300 before the borrowing of the word 'create'. ('creation', 'origin', 'constitution', 'nature', 'species') has the same etymological root as . It is documented as early as 888 and occurs with this meaning in various forms as late as around 1579, as schaft. Compare to Dutch past participle for the verb ('to shape') German ('to shape'), ('creature'). : 'mullet'. The OED lists as a dialectal name for a large pike and has a citation as late as 1847, but it is not listed in any modern dictionary. 'Mullet' was borrowed into Middle English, ultimately from Ancient Greek. It is probably akin to ('hook'). Compare with modern English hake, Dutch ('hake'), German ('esox'). : 'bittern'. 'Bittern' entered Middle English around 1000 as which was borrowed from Old French . : 'jay'. The Old French word was borrowed into Middle English around 1310. The AHD states that it may come from the Latin forename Gaius, but it gives no reason for the semantic change. The OED does not address the Gaius theory, only stating that it cannot be identified with Old French ('gay'). It instead states that it is from Old High German ('swift', 'quick', 'lively') without mentioning the likelihood. Compare with German . : 'curlew'. The Middle English form was borrowed from Old French , which may be onomatopoeic. The OED also believes that it is probably onomatopoeic, but notes that it was assimilated with ('courier'), which is ultimately from Latin ('to run'). : 'creature'. (See gesceap.) : 'caterpillar', literally 'leaf-worm', 'leaf insect'. Webster's Dictionary (1897) lists 'leaf-worm' as "a caterpillar that devours leaves", but no modern dictionaries list it. The cawel in was a loan from Latin ('cabbage') and it was last attested around 1000, as . ('caterpillar') is attested as far back as Old English (around 1000 in the writings of Ælfric) and as late as 1398, as . (meaning roughly 'meal' as in 'mealworm') is attested only in the compound , but it has many well-documented cognates in other Germanic languages, such as Old Icelandic and Swedish. The second component shares its root with 'shave'. The ultimately Latin-derived caterpillar was first borrowed into English around 1440 as . : 'caterpillar'. (See ). Compare with Dutch (meel = flour, which it likes to eat and can be found in). : 'dolphin', 'porpoise', literally 'sea-swine'. It is attested in Bald's Leechbook from the 10th century. The OED does not list 'mereswine' as archaic or obsolete, but the last citation given is by Frank Charles Bowen in his Sea Slang: a Dictionary of the Old-timers' Expressions and Epithets (1929). The OED lists sea-swine ('porpoise') (the last citation being for 1884) as "obsolete except dialectic". Dolphin entered English in the 12th century: it is ultimately from Ancient Greek. Compare with Dutch ('harbour porpoise', lit. sea-swine) and German ('porpoise', literally 'pig's whale'). : 'buzzard', literally 'mouse-hawk'. It is not clear which bird of prey was being referred to. The meanings that the OED lists for 'mouse-hawk' are short-eared owl, hen harrier and rough-legged buzzard, but 'mouse-hawk' is an alternate name, not the main name. The Middle English word was borrowed around 1300, ultimately from Latin . : 'mastiff'. The word mastiff was borrowed around 1387, ultimately from Latin. : 'cormorant'. Cormorant was borrowed around 1320 as cormerant, ultimately from the Latin words for raven and sea. Probably akin to (or a variant of) ('cormorant'). Compare with German , Common Scandinavian skarv. : 'dormouse'. Dormouse (first attested in English around 1425) is not a combination of door and mouse. Some lexicographers, including the editorial staff of the AHD, believe that it came from Anglo-Norman ('inclined to sleep', 'hiberating'), which is ultimately from Latin ('to sleep'). The OED, citing the Dutch words ('sleep rat') and ('sleep mouse'), acknowledges the possibility of this derivation, but also suggests that the first element is akin to Old Norse ('benumbed'). : 'pheasant'. Pheasant was borrowed into English in 1299 as fesaund, ultimately from Ancient Greek. : 'serpent', 'snake', 'dragon', 'insect'. The OED lists all entries of with this meaning as archaic. The latest citation with this meaning is from William Morris's book The Life and Death of Jason (1867). The modern sense of worm goes back as far as 1000. Compare with Swedish , Nynorsk orm ('snake', 'serpent').

Body parts

: 'anus' (literally arse-exit). Anus did not enter English until 1658 and was adopted directly from Latin, with no intermediary. The OED says that arse (the of is its etymon) is "obsolete in polite use". The AHD tags ass as "vulgar slang". As late as 1704, Jonathan Swift wrote "after your Arse" in his book The Battle of the Books, which simply meant 'behind you'. (See .). , , : 'body'. (See also: .) : 'radius (bone). The word is Latin and its specific anatomical meaning was first used in English in 1615. : 'body','trunk'. (which was at various times spelled and ) is attested as far back as around 900 and the last citation given with this more general meaning is from around 1400. However, the last citation with the meaning of 'corpse' is from 1895. The word is used in compounds such as lych-gate, lych-owl (so called because its screeching was thought to forebode death) and (the watch kept over a dead body at night). The word is etymologically akin to like, so its original meaning is thought to be 'form', 'shape'. (See also: ) Compare with the following words in other languages for 'corpse': German , Dutch , Swedish , Norwegian and Danish . , : 'body'. (See also: .) Compare with German ('corpse'), Dutch , Swedish , Nynorsk and Danish . : 'joint', 'limb'. (later spelled lith) is attested as early as around 900 and the latest citation in the OED is 1872. The OED considers all modern occurrences to be archaic or dialectal. However, the phrase "life and limb" may be an altered form of an earlier "lith and limb"; cf. "kith and kin". Compare with German Glied, Dutch , Swedish , Danish and Norwegian . : 'diaphragm'. : 'face'. The OED gives the modern definitions of the Scottish, Irish English, Northern English for neb, such as 'bird's beak' and 'an animal's nose', but the last citation given with the meaning 'a person's face' is from 1525. (See also: .) Compare English ness ('promontory'), Dutch ('beak'). , : 'armpit'. Armpit first appeared in English as around 1400. The former is now used dialectally as oxter ('armpit', 'arm'), and it is probably akin to axle. Compare with German , Dutch , Swedish (shoulder), Norwegian (shoulder). : 'face'. (See also: .) Compare with German , Swedish . : 'face' (See also: .) Compare with German , Dutch . : 'armpit'. (See also: .) : 'anus'. (See also: .) : 'penis'. (See also: .) Penis, which did not enter English until 1578, was borrowed directly from Latin. : 'anus'. Literally 'exit', 'out-path', (See also: .) Compare German , Dutch ('exit'). : 'penis'. (See also: .) : 'collarbone'.

Colours

: 'orange'. Literally 'apple-pale'. : 'purple'. Literally 'purple-red'. : 'orange'. Literally 'yellow-red'. : 'purple'. Literally 'whelk-purple'.

Other words

, : 'to answer'. A combination of the prefix ('against', akin to Greek anti-) and ('word'). By the end of the 12th century, had been replaced by andswerian ('answer'), (containing swear, probably Common Germanic, attested at least before 900). Compare with German , Dutch .