96 Bulletin 142. 



of the old English word " querdlyng," meaning at first (in the fifteenth 

 century) any immature or half-grown apple, then in the seventeenth 

 century being applied to a variety suitable to be cooked while still 

 unripe, but the peculiar codling-shape seems to have determined its 

 modern application to certain varieties of apples. At the present 

 time, most horticulturists and some entomologists are spelling the 

 name " codlin " ; and sometimes the form "coddling" appears. 

 Neither of these forms or variations have any etymological evidence 

 to support them, and the name of the insect should be spelled ** cod- 

 ling-moth," as originally given in 1747.* 



* The form "codlin " was used as early as i 715 in connection with a kind 

 of apple, but seems not to have been used in speaking of the insect until a 

 century or more later. Nearly all prominent horticulturists and most Eng- 

 lish and Australasian writers now use the form " codlin-moth," but nearly 

 all American entomologists still spell it "codling-moth." While the 

 shorter form thus has the sanction of good usage, its only excuse 

 for existence, so far as we can learn from those who use it, is that 

 it is shorter and thus saves time in writing. The shortening makes it a 

 different word, both in form and pronunciation. The encyclopedias offer 

 contradictor)^ and unreliable evidence. The dictionaries are our most reli- 

 able sources of information on such questions, and although both forms are 

 given in most of them, we find that "codlin " is considered by the Century 

 Dictionary as practically obsolete, and by the Standard Dictionary is recog- 

 nized simply as a variant. Still stronger evidence in favor of the incor- 

 rectness of "codlin " is the fact that the original word is made up of "cod " 

 and the old English diminutive suffix " ling " ; and it is manifestly an inex- 

 cusable violation of etymological rules to drop the "g" of the " ng " of 

 this suffix, thus making practically a new word, simply for the sake of 

 brevity in writing, not in speaking. The most reliable authorities on com- 

 pounding words also use the hyphen in the name, thus, " codling-moth." 



As to the form " coddling-moth," noted etymological authorities (the 

 Centurv^ and Murray's New English Dictionaries) agree that there is doubt- 

 less no connection between the verb " coddle " and " codling," meaning an 

 unripe apple ; the resemblance is purely accidental, the verb appeared later, 

 and there is no required precedent form of ' ' coddling-apple." 



