Why do we never hear the word "divers" meaning "various" or "several" any more?
The last person I heard saying it was my grandad, who passed away in 1984 and it was a few years before then I heard him say it. Why did it fall into disuse?
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DragonFruit · 61-69, M
There are words that have become less used over time....it’s the evolution of language.
Many words fall into this category, and are sometimes referred to as obsolete.
In this case, “divers” was a “Middle English” word which has evolved into “diverse” in most places....though it was still in fairly common usage a few decades ago (dictionaries even vary as to whether “divers” is classified as obsolete or not).
Some words will remain in disuse, and some will enjoy a revival ( “bigly” was hardly ever used any more up until a few years ago).
Many words fall into this category, and are sometimes referred to as obsolete.
In this case, “divers” was a “Middle English” word which has evolved into “diverse” in most places....though it was still in fairly common usage a few decades ago (dictionaries even vary as to whether “divers” is classified as obsolete or not).
Some words will remain in disuse, and some will enjoy a revival ( “bigly” was hardly ever used any more up until a few years ago).