562: onslaught Jun 22, 2016

Most English words that originate from Germanic languages may be related to such as languages as German or Dutch, but originate from Old English. Nonetheless plenty of words are of Germanic origins that were adopted more recently, commonly due to culturally significant events. The word, 'onslaught', which starting in the 17th century spelled 'anslaight', comes from the Middle Dutch, 'aenslag' meaning blow/strike upon'. The change in the spellings of the ending was created from the back-formation of the now obsolete 'slaught', which is an alternative form of 'slaughter'. The turn of the 17th century when the word was adopted was also the time of the start of the Anglo-Dutch wars, when many onslaughts took place, as well as increased contact between speakers of the two languages.