obsolete
/ŏb″sə-lēt′, ŏb′sə-lēt″/
adjective
- No longer in use. an obsolete word.
- Outmoded in design, style, or construction. an obsolete locomotive.
- (Biology) Vestigial or rudimentary, especially in comparison with related or ancestral species, as the tailbone of an ape. Used of an organ or other part of an organism.
Obsolete vs. low frequency words
Is "putting a fire *out*" from an obsolete meaning of "out"?
It's "deprecated", not "depreciated"
Videos
I was reading something and came across the word sincretismo (syncretism in English) and was wondering what position do words with very low frequency of use occupy. This is surely not the best example, but the question is: do words that are rarely used, either because they belong to a specialized field or a more elevated form of the language, ever become obsolete? Or will they always be a part of the language as long as they serve their purpose?
To me, it seems that a word will exist as long as there is a context for it to be used. But does this mean that, hypothetically, in 400 years the same word could still exist even if its use was practically non-existent?
I guess what I am trying to figure out is when does a word become obsolete, and how this relates to specialized terminology that isn’t present in common language and is even scarcely used within a field. It might be a stupid question, but I would appreciate it if anyone could enlighten me on the subject.