Change

Part of speech: verb, noun

Pronunciation: /t͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒ/

Definitions

1. To make or become different in form, appearance, or nature ; money returned as the difference when a purchase is paid with more than the cost ; coins or small denominations of currency
2. The act of altering something to a new state or condition ; an amount of money given back after a transaction ; loose currency used instead of bills or notes
3. The process of becoming unlike what it was before ; the balance of money received after payment exceeds the price ; physical money in the form of coins rather than paper bills

Etymology: The verb "change" carries an unexpected idea of crookedness. Its ancestor in Gaulish, "cambion", meant "change" but was related to a Celtic root meaning "twisted" or "crooked", suggesting that to change was to bend or turn aside from a straight path. That Celtic root may go back to a Proto-Indo-European word for "crooked", though this link is uncertain. Latin borrowed the idea as "cambiare", "to exchange, barter", and the noun "cambium", "exchange". That Latin word also gave English a doublet, "cambium", which entered English as a technical term. Late Latin reshaped the verb into "cambiare", which Old French took as "changier". Middle English then adopted it as "changen" and "chaungen" from Old French, and English has used the word since the 13th century. Its sense of money returned comes from the same exchange idea. The noun descends from Old French "change", formed from the verb, and English used it for swapping one thing for another, then for the coins handed back after a purchase. The older English verb "wenden", meaning "to turn", was largely displaced by this newcomer, so "wend" survives only as a relic.

Synonyms: alter, modify, transform, shift, adjust

Antonyms: remain, stay, preserve, maintain, continue