Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of figures -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations and conventions -- 1 Introduction -- 2 A brief history of the English lexicon -- 3 Categories of meaning -- 4 Tracing the development of individual words -- 5 How and why words change meaning -- 6 Larger categories -- 7 English colour terms: A case study -- 8 Language and culture -- 9 Metaphor and metonymy -- 10 The big picture and a look ahead -- Glossary of key terms -- References -- Index