Medieval words that changed meaning

[Imperial Dave]

https://www.medievalists.net/2024/12/words-changed-meaning-middle-ages/

Very silly 

[Erpingham]

Well, it seems to have left you in good cheer 

[Imperial Dave]

I find these things fascinating as you know 

[Erpingham]

For a more military one, try chariot.  In medieval English this could mean a vehicle for battle (e.g. in reference to classical times) but what the reader/listener envisaged may have been different to the modern view. It could also mean a fancy carriage for the nobility but a common meaning was a lighter four wheeled wagon used in agriculture, haulage and military baggage roles. The two-wheeled vehicle meaning comes to the fore later, due to a confusion of the words chariot and charette, the latter being a light two wheeled cart.

[Imperial Dave]

As in your chariot awaits....

[Erpingham]

Another good one is naughty, which originally held  quite a strong meaning of wicked or malevolent but softened over time to mean mischievous and applied to children and cream cakes. It also developed a euphemistic meaning of promiscuous in Victorian times and, according to the OED, Australia has both noun and verb forms relating to this use.

[Cantabrigian]

As in your chariot awaits....

I can't help thinking that you're reading a little too much Jane Austen for a Wargamer...

[Imperial Dave]

    

[Jim Webster]

I did entitle a story 'A nice discrimination'

Which rather flummoxed a younger editor 

[Erpingham]

Another word worthy of mention occurs to me : jape. This held a similar meaning to the modern version. But it had a  second medieval meeting - to have sex. I would have thought this could have led to some misunderstandings 

[Imperial Dave]

As in a jolly jape....