change

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The act or result of something becoming different.

   There has been a big change in the weather.

2. 2
   noun

   The money you get back when you pay more than the cost.

   I paid with a twenty and got my change.

3. 3
   noun

   Coins, rather than paper money.

   I had some change in my pocket for the bus.

4. 4
   verb

   to become different or make something different

   The leaves change colour in autumn.

Multiword verbs with change

• change over Phrasal verb A1

  to switch from one method, system, or arrangement to another

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Change came through Old French from Latin cambire, meaning “to exchange or barter.” Its ultimate origin may be Celtic, possibly borrowed by the Romans from the peoples of ancient Gaul or Britain.

From Middle English changen, chaungen, from Old French changier, from Late Latin cambiāre, from Latin cambīre (“to exchange, barter”), derived from the noun cambium (“change”) (whence was loaned the English doublet cambium), from Gaulish cambion, earlier *kambyom (“change”), related to Proto-Celtic *kambos (“twisted, crooked”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱh₂(e)mbos, *(s)kh₂(e)mbos (“crooked”). More at skimp, scam; see also Proto-Indo-European *kh₂em-. Cognate with Italian cambiare, Portuguese cambiar, Romanian schimba, Sicilian canciari, Spanish cambiar. Used in English since the 13…

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary