Originally Posted By: BranShea
I've always liked the word vertigo, such a compact word to say "fear of heights" and nice in form.


Vertigo doesn't mean 'fear of heights'. I means 'dizziness', a dizziness that may be set off by being in the heights, but not a fear of heights in itself.

The symbol ð is prounced like the th in that, the other th symbol, þ, is pronounced like the th in thin. This, at least, is the modern interpretation. In OE the two symbols were pretty much interchangeable, being voiced or unvoiced depending on their placement in a word. The same word might be spelled with either depending on the dialect or the whims of the writer.