Analiza zmienności znaczeń wyrazu <i>kwiat</i>

Abstract

Analysis of Semantic Changes on the Example of the Word kwiat [‘flower’] The article is mainly concerned with issues related to semantic changes in the Polish language. The lexeme kwiat (eng. flower) have been described based on material from historical and modern Polish dictionaries. The word kwiat has been in the Polish language since the 15th century, initially meaning ‘colored stain’. The first definition transformed into a botanical meaning (kwiat as a plant or part of a plant). The pre-Slavic botanical meaning of the word *cvětъ gave rise to the next definitions, which have formed over the years. Kwiat means among others: ‘best thing’, ‘best part of something’, ‘youth’, ‘purity, innocence’, ‘menstruation’, ‘pustules’. However, not all of these meanings have endured to the present time. Nowadays, the potted plant is called kwiat. Key words: semantics, semantics transformations, historical dictionaries, the history of Polish language