Just so we’re clear that we’re all talking about the same thing…

CHANGE:

tend) Forms: 3-6 chaunge, 4 chonge, 4-6 chaynge, (5 chounge), 3, 6- change. [a. AF. chaunge, OF. change (= Pr. camge, camje, Sp. cange): late L. cambi-um exchange (Laws of Lombards), f. cambre, to CHANGE.]

1. a. The act or fact of changing (see CHANGE v. 1, 2); substitution of one thing for another; succession of one thing in place of another.

		1297	1393	1473 c1460	1553	1663	1733 1716-8	1853 1832

1297 R. GLOUC. (1724) 132 Change wor of bischopriches, & e digne sege y wys Wor ybrot to Canterbury, at at London now ys. 1393 GOWER Conf. III. 195 Thus was there made a newe chaunge. c1460 FORTESCUE Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1714) 61 In the Realme of Fraunce was never chaunge of their Kyng..but by the Rebellions of such mighty Subgetts. 1473 J. WARKWORTH Chron. 11 Alle Englonde..hatyd hym, and were fulle gladde to have a chounge. 1553 EDEN Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 31 marg. note, Chaunge of ayre is daungerous. 1663 COWLEY Verses & Ess. (1669) 136 No change of Consuls marks to him the year. 1716-8 LADY M. W. MONTAGUE Lett. I. xxix. 93 Everything I see seems to me a change of scene. 1733 MISS KELLY in Swift’s Lett. (1768) IV. 47 For God’s sake try the change of air. 1832 Prop. Reg. Instr. Cavalry III. 46 Change of Position is when the Line moves altogether off its ground, at the same time advancing or retiring one of its flanks. 1853 LYTTON My Novel (Hoppe) Said to have made a change for the better.

b. Substitution of other conditions or circumstances, variety: esp. in colloq. phr. for a change.

						1697 1681		1876 1842

1681 DRYDEN Sp. Friar Prol. 33 Our fathers did, for change, to France repair. 1697 W. DAMPIER Voy. (1698) I. xi. 314 Take 6 or 7 ripe Plantains..boil them instead of a Bag-pudding..this is a very good way for a change. 1842 TENNYSON Walking to Mail 18 He..sick of home went overseas for change. 1876 BURNABY Ride Khiva xviii, Anything for a change..we are bored to death here.

c. ? A round in dancing. Obs.

					1588

1588 SHAKES. L.L.L. V. ii. 209 Then in our measure, vouchsafe but one change.

d. spec. The passing from life; death.

						1611	1741-3	1859

1611 BIBLE Job xiv. 14 All the dayes of my appointed time will I waite, till my change come. 1741-3 WESLEY Jrnl. (1749) 56, I went to my mother, and found her change was near..She was in her last conflict. 1859 THACKERAY Virgin. lxxxiii, I fear, sir, your Aunt..is not in such a state of mind as will fit her very well for the change which is imminent.

e. to put the change upon: to deceive, mislead (a person); to make things appear to (him) other than they are. Obs.

						1693	1742 1705	1821

1693 CONGREVE Double Deal. V. iv, I have put the change upon her, that she may be otherwise employed. 1705 HICKERINGILL Priest-cr. I. (1721) 51 He put the Change upon the unthinking Senate, and ordain’d a Presbyter or Elder in the room of every Parish-Priest. 1742 JARVIS Don Quix. II. II. ix. (D.) Those enchanters..are perpetually setting shapes before me as they really are, and presently putting the change upon me, and transforming them into whatever they please. 1821 SCOTT Kenilw. iii, You cannot put the change on me so easy as you think.

f. Cricket. The substitution of one bowler or type of bowling for another in the course of a match; also, a change-bowler.

								1833 1828	1955 1912

1828 G. T. KNIGHT in W. Denison Cricket: Sk. Players 51 Each eleven..should contain at least four good bowlers, so that there may be..a change at each wicket. 1833 J. NYREN Young Cricketer’s Tutor 64 We reckoned him a tolerably good change for bowling. 1912 J. B. HOBBS Recov. ‘Ashes’ 124 A double change was tried, Mr. Douglas and Woolley relieving the opening trundlers. 1955 Times 25 June 7/4 Our opening bowlers were a house decorator and a curate, and I was first change.

g. Motoring. A change from one gear to another. So change-down, -up (see CHANGE v. 6d).

									1964 1959 1936 1912

1912 [see gear-change s.v. GEAR n. IV]. 1936 R. LEHMANN Weather in Streets I. ii. 58 The..car..drew away with its old familiar long-drawn rising moan..on the change-up. 1959 M. PLATT Elem. Automobile Engin. (ed. 2) v. 85 Decreasing car speeds with a constant throttle opening will produce ‘down’ changes… The reverse of these conditions would produce a change ‘up’. 1964 I. FLEMING You only live Twice xii. 147 The driver did a good racing change and pulled in.

2. a. The act of giving and receiving reciprocally; exchange. in change: in exchange. Obs.

			c1386 1375 a1300	c1400	1599 1562	1606

a1300 Cursor M. 28820 If ou had lede, & hade nede For to haue gold ne wald ou bede For to ma [= make] chaunge. 1375 BARBOUR Bruce XIX. 379 Of hym..chaynge wes maid For othir that men takyn had. c1386 CHAUCER Sqr.’s T. 527 Took his herte in chaunge for myn. c1400 Destr. Troy 7881 ai..made a chaunge..of hor choise lordes, Toax..was turnyt to the grekes, For Antenor. 1562 J. HEYWOOD Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 155 Chaunge is no robry, but robry maketh chaunge. 1599 SHAKES. Much Ado IV. i. 185 That I..Maintain’d the change of words with any creature. 1606 Tr. & Cr. III. iii. 27 They will almost, Giue vs a Prince of blood..In change of him.

b. spec. Exchange of merchandise, commerce.

				c1400	1536

c1400 Apol. Loll. 57 e auteris of Crist are maad e bordis of chaungis bi couetous men. 1536 BELLENDEN Cron. Scot. (1821) I. Introd. 32 Ane riche toun..quhair sum time wes gret change, be repair of uncouth marchandis.

3. A place where merchants meet for the transaction of business, an exchange. (Since 1800, erroneously treated as an abbreviation of Exchange, and written ‘Change.) Now chiefly in phr. on ‘Change, at the Exchange.

				a1400		1676 1614	1790 1712	1876 1860 1821

a1400 Octouian 793 As he toward the chounge yode. 1614 T. ADAMS in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. xii. 2 ‘A heart and a heart’; one for the church, another for the change. 1676 G. ETHEREGE Man of Mode I. i, She saw you yesterday at the Change. 1712 STEELE Spect. No. 386 5 If such a Man comes from Change. 1790 BURKE Fr. Rev. 336 It is powerful on Change. 1821 in Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) I. 49 Old stock-jobbers..are gone hobbling to ‘Change. 1860 EMERSON Cond. Life, Fate Wks. (Bohn) II. 321 What good, honest, generous men at home, will be wolves and foxes on change! 1876 GREEN Short Hist. vii. (1881) 415 Grave merchants upon ‘change.

4. a. The act of changing (see CHANGE v. 6, 7); alteration in the state or quality of anything; the fact of becoming other than it was; variation, mutation.

		a1225	1398 1340	c1400	1597		1775 1726	1876 1858 1850 1842

a1225 Ancr. R. 166 Worldliche inges et beo, ase e mone, euer ine chaunge. 1340 Ayenb. 104 He [God] is zoliche..wi-oute enye chonge eure to yleste. 1398 TREVISA Barth. De P.R. IV. ix. (1495) 93 Flewme is able to be..chaunged in to blode, and whan the chaunge is full made, etc. c1400 Rom. Rose 5441 Withoute chaunge or variaunce. 1597 HOOKER Eccl. Pol. V. lxvii. §11 A true change both of soul and body..from death to life. 1726 tr. Gregory’s Astron. I. 311 Remarkable Changes that have happen’d among the Fix’d Stars. 1775 SHERIDAN St. Patr. Day II. iv, Justice. Do you really see any change in me? Rosy. Change! never was man so altered. 1842 TENNYSON Locksley Hall 182 Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change. 1850 LYNCH Theo. Trin. ii. 20 Growth is the reconcilement of permanence and change. 1858 J. BENNET Nutrition i. 26 Change, constant change, is the law of organic life. 1876 GREEN Short Hist. ii. §1 (1882) 61 The change in himself was as startling as the change in his policy.

b. spec. Changefulness, changing humour, caprice; ‘inconstancy, fickleness’ (Schmidt). Obs.

						1675 1611 1605 1600

1600 SHAKES. Sonn. xx, A woman’s gentle heart, but not acquainted With shifting change. 1605 Lear I. i. 291 You see how full of changes his age is. 1611 Cymb I. vi. 115. 1675 DRYDEN Aurengz. I. i. 401 You bid me fear; in that your change I know.

c. Mus. Variation; modulation.

					1591			1880

1591 SHAKES. Two Gent. IV. ii. 69 Harke, what fine change is in the Musique. 1880 GROVE Dict. Mus. I. 332 Change, the word used as the short for change of key or modulation.

d. change of life: (see quot. 1834); also attrib. and ellipt. (colloq.)

								1864 1834	1959 1949 1946 1934

1834 J. M. GOOD Study Med. (ed. 4) IV. 54 note, When menstruation is about to cease, the period is called ‘the change or turn of life’. 1864 F. CHURCHILL Dis. Women VI. 237 The period occupied by this ‘change of life’ ranges from two to four years, if not longer. 1934 S. BECKETT More Pricks than Kicks 117 The mother was low-sized..admirably preserved though well past the change. 1946 J. CARY Moonlight xv. 112 Rose was in her changeshe used to fly into fearful rages. 1949 M. MEAD Male & Female xvi. 340 The old folk-phrase ‘change-of-life baby’. 1959 ‘ED MCBAIN’ Pusher x. 93 Meyer had been a change-of-life baby.

e. change of heart: conversion to a different frame of mind.

								1853 1828	1960 1940 1926

1828 in WEBSTER. 1853 J. RUSKIN Let. Dec. in W. James Order of Release (1947) xiv. 213 She passes her days in melancholy, and nothing can help her but an entire change of heart. 1926 J. S. HUXLEY Ess. Pop. Sci. vii. 69 A ‘change of heart’ as regards the essential aims of life. Ibid. 70 In most men it seems theoretically possible to produce a ‘change of heart’i.e. substitute new dominant ideas for old. 1940 ‘G. ORWELL’ Inside the Whale 155 Lawrence..like Dickens..is a ‘change-of-heart’ man. 1960 Author LXXI. 119/1 A change of heart in high places would help.

f. change of pace = sense 1b. N. Amer.

									1962 1940

1940 Time 4 Mar. 50/2 As a change of pace, a picture agency released a photograph of blank-faced Brenda Frazier showing some expression. 1962 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 29 Jan. 6/3 Mr. MacLeod might provide a badly needed change of pace.

5. Of the moon: a. Properly, the passage from one ‘moon’ (i.e. monthly revolution) to another, the coming of the ‘new moon’; b. extended more or less widely to include also the attainment of ‘full moon’, and even of intermediate phases.

			1393			1669 1604		1881 1858 1844

1393 GOWER Conf. III. 109 Of flodes high and ebbes lowe, Upon his [the Moon's] chaunge it shall be knowe. 1604 SHAKES. Oth. III. iii. 178 To follow still the changes of the Moone With fresh suspitions. 1669 STURMY Mariner’s Mag. I. I. 10 A Rule to find the Change, Full, and Quarters of the Moon.. The 29th day of October is the day of her Change, or New Moon. 1844 H. H. WILSON Brit. India I. 551 Sacrificing at the change of every moon many victims, chiefly children, to the river Ganges. 1858 in Merc. Mar. Mag. V. 365 It is high water, full and change..at 10 h. 11 m. 1881 Harper’s Mag. Nov. 810, I still have ‘em [fits] once or twice a week sometimes, always with a change in the moon.

6. That which is or may be substituted for another of the same kind; esp. in phrase change of raiment (apparel, etc.). (In this sense sometimes unchanged in the plural; see quot. 1611.)

					1592	1611		1876 1836 1815

1592 GREENE Groatsw. Wit (1617) 9 Mistresse Lamilia, like a cunning Angler made readie her chaunge of baytes. 1611 BIBLE Lev. xxvii. 33 If he change it at all, then both it, and the change thereof, shall be holy. Judg. xiv. 12 Thirtie sheetes, and thirtie change of garments. 1815 Scribbleomania 141 Who, drench’d, ne’er catch cold, though without change of smickets. 1836 DICKENS Sk. Boz (1866) 248 Four horses with clothes onchange for a coach. 1876 BURNABY Ride Khiva xxi, A change of clothes, a few instruments and my gun.

7. a. Money of a lower denomination given in exchange for a larger coin, a bank-note, etc.; hence generally, coins of low denomination (often with adj. small); also coins of one currency given in exchange for those of another. b. The balance that remains over and is returned when anything is paid for by a piece of money greater than its price.

						1691 1622	1777 1751	1875 1840

1622 MASSINGER, &c. Old Law V. i, Lysander. Your hat is too high-crowned. Gnotho. I do give him two crowns for’t, and that’s equal change all the world over. 1691 LOCKE Money Wks. 1727 II. 97 These in Change will answer all the Fractions between Sixpence and a Farthing. 1751 JOHNSON Rambl. No. 177 7 He had just received in a handful of change, the piece that he had..been seeking. 1777 SHERIDAN Trip Scarb. I. i, Can you give me change for a guinea? 1840 MARRYAT Poor Jack iv, I’ll..bring back your change all right. 1875 JEVONS Money (1878) 25 Still used as small change. Mod. No change given. Passengers are requested to examine their tickets and change before leaving.

								1864

fig. 1864 LOWELL Fireside Trav. 199 A poor Anglo-Saxon must..look twice at his small change of quarters and minutes.

c. to make change (U.S.), to calculate and return the correct amount of change to a customer.

								1865	1978 1931 1904

1865 G. A. H. SALA My Diary in Amer. I. xi. 237 ‘Making change’ is quite an art, and persons who can ‘make change’ in a store or restaurant are advertised for every day in the newspapers. 1904 ‘O. HENRY’ in World Mag. 27 Mar. 10/4 At the cashier’s desk sits Bogle… Behind a mountain of toothpicks he makes your change. 1931 W. FAULKNER Sanctuary xxvii. 327 Promise to get the kid a newspaper grift when he’s old enough to make change. 1978 S. BRILL Teamsters iv. 124 The cash registers looked..out of date..compared to the sleek digital boxes to make change in the shopping malls that line the nearby highways.

d. slang. Something given or taken in return. In such phrases as to give (a person) change, to do him a service; also ironically, to give him his deserts, ‘pay him out’; to take one’s change out of, to take one’s revenge on (a person), or for (a thing); take your change out of that! a slang expression when a ‘settler’ is given in the shape of either a repartee or a blow. So not to get any (or much) change out of: to get no return, result, or satisfaction from; to fail to get the better of (a person).

								1888 1869 1865 1864 1855 1847 1830	1954 1910

1830 GALT Lawrie T. IV. xi. (1849) 184 Take your change out of that! 1847 DE QUINCEY Secret Soc. Wks. VI. 238, I should certainly have ‘taken my change’ out of the airs she continually gave herself. 1855 THACKERAY Diary J. de la Pluche (Hoppe) Whenever I see him in a very public place, I take my change for my money. I digg him in the ribbs, or slap his padded old shoulders. 1864 TROLLOPE Small House at Allington II. xxx. 312 ‘That’s a bitter old lady.’..‘There ain’t none of ‘em get much change out of Mrs. Crump.’ 1865 DICKENS Mut. Fr. (Hoppe) If you showed me a B. I could so far give you change for it as to answer Boffin. 1869 TROLLOPE He knew, etc. II. xcvii. 369 Old Barty said something..that wasn’t intended to be kind… But he got no change out of her. 1888 MRS. H. WARD R. Elsmere I. I. vi. 140, I just love..to hear her instructing other people in their own particular trades. She didn’t get much change out of him. 1910 J. BUCHAN Prester John xii. 209 Still I said nothing. If the man had come to mock me, he would get no change out of David Crawford. 1954 J. TRENCH Dishonoured Bones ii. 62 She didn’t get much change out of Charles.

8. spec. in pl. a. Math. The different orders in which a set or series of things can be arranged; permutations (obs.). b. Bell-ringing. The different orders in which a peal of bells may be rung.
(The name has reference to a change from the ‘usual order’, viz. the diatonic scale, struck from the highest to the lowest bell; but in a wider sense, this is included as one of the changes; seeG ROVE Dict. Mus. s.v.)

						1688 1669	1751	1864

1669 HOLDER Elem. Speech (J.) Four bells admit twenty-four changes in ringing. 1688 R. HOLME Armoury III. 462/2 In..Ringing Bells..Changes or Tunes [is] when they are rung to Immitate the airy sound of a Psalme or Song. 1751 CHAMBERS Cycl., Changes in arithmetic, etc., the permutations or variations of any number of quantities; with regard to their position, order, etc. 1864 J. INGELOW Poems 140 O Boston bells! Ply all your changes.

c. to ring the changes: (a) to go through all the changes in ringing a peal of bells; fig. to go through all the possible variations of any process; to repeat the same words, statements, etc., in various ways. (Constr. on, upon; now usually contemptuous.) (b) slang: see quot. 1786, 1874.

						1670 1614	1786 1712	1874 1843

1614 T. ADAMS Devil’s Banq. 331 Some ring the Changes of opinions. 1670 EACHARD Cont. Clergy 62 They shall only ring you over a few changes upon the three words: crying, Faith, Hope and Charity; Hope, Faith and Charity; and so on. 1712 ARBUTHNOT John Bull (1755) 36 A parcel of roaring bullies..ringing the changes on butcher’s cleavers. 1786 Remark. Trials J. Shepherd 8 To initiate him into the art of what that gentleman stiled ringing the changes; that is, ingeniously substituting a worse for a better article, and decamping without a discovery. 1843 SOUTHEY Doctor lxxxvi. (D.) He could..have astounded him by ringing changes upon Almugea, Cazimi, etc. 1874 Slang Dict. s.v. Ring, ‘To ring the changes’ in low life means to change bad money for good.

9. Hunting. Phr. to hunt change: see quots., and cf. COUNTER adv. ? Obs.

						1677	1721- 1800 1704

1677 N. COX Gentl. Recreat. I. (1706) 16 When the Hounds..take fresh scent, hunting another Chase..we say, they Hunt Change. 1704 WORLIDGE Dict. Rust. et Urb. s.v. Buck-Hunting, To have a care of Hunting Counter or Change, because of the plenty of Fallow Deer that use to come more directly upon the Hounds, than the red Deer doth. 1721-1800 BAILEY, Change (among Hunters is when a Buck, etc., met by Chance, is taken for that they were in pursuit of.

10. Surveying. (See quot.) Obs.

						1669

1669 STURMY Mariner’s Mag. II. V. i. §2. 4 Provide ten small sticks..at the end of every one of those Chains, stick one of these..into the Ground, which let him that followeth take up..These Ten Chains if the distance be large, you call a Change, and so you may denominate every large distance by Changes, Chains and Links.

11. Sc. An ale-house; = CHANGE-HOUSE.

							c1730

c1730 BURT Lett. N. Scotl. (1818) I. 68 A gentleman that keeps a Change..They call an alehouse a change.

12. Comb. and attrib. a. Comb., as change-day, -time (sense 5), change-ringer, -ringing (sense 8b), change-keeper (sense 11); change-of-address attrib.; change agent, one who initiates a movement toward social change in a group; Change Alley, a narrow street in London, scene of the gambling in South Sea and other stocks (see ALLEY); change-broker = exchange broker; change gear, gearing by which changes may be made in the relative number of turns per minute for the driving or driven shafts of lathes and similar machines; change-giving, the giving of change (sense 7b); also attrib.; change key, one adapted for opening only one set of locks, as distinguished from a master key; change lever = change-speed lever; change purse, a purse for small change; change-ratio (see quot.); change-speed, a mechanism for effecting a change of gear and thereby increasing or decreasing the speed of a cycle, motor-car, etc.; also attrib., as change-speed gear, lever, etc.; change-wheel (see quot.). See also CHANGE-HOUSE.

1959 C. P. LOOMIS in Rural Sociol. XXIV. 383 Directed social change is consciously brought about by an actor or social system representative who for convenience may be designated as the *change agent. 1971 Mod. Law Rev. XXXIV. 644 The absorption of new recruits who will act as change-agents, socialising the senior members of the [legal] profession and themselves gradually seeping into positions of authority and responsibility. 1983 Underground Grammarian Apr. 3/2 It offers golden opportunities for academies of educationism, administrative bureaucracies,..even guidance counsellors and change-agents.

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1837 CARLYLE Fr. Rev. VI. v, Poor sub-lieutenant Duhamel, innocent *Change-broker.

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1633 T. JAMES Voy. 18 It flowes on the *change day, about a eleuen a clocke.

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1908 Daily Chron. 16 May 1/6 The *change-giving rostrums were in working order. 1963 Rep. Comm. Inquiry Decimal Curr. i. 12 Their introduction [vulgar fractions]..probably makes mental calculations and change-giving slower. Ibid. ix. 229 The change-giving operations..were conducted at a more rapid tempo.

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1752 in Scots. Mag. (1753) July 338/1 Duncan Campbell *changekeeper.

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1908 Daily Chron. 14 Nov. 8/6 This..gear is now equipped with a *change-lever.

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1950 ‘S. RANSOME’ Deadly Miss Ashley viii. 84 Miss Ashley had left a *change-of-address card with the branch post office.

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1911 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 19 Apr. 24/1 The Newest Square Shaped Bag, with plain brass frames, solid leather, plain silk lining, with *change purse. 1967 ‘D. SHANNON’ Chance to Kill (1968) xv. 218 An old-fashioned change purse, with double compartments.

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1883 A. GREY in Nature XXVII. 320 The multiplier..or *change-ratio as it has been called by Professor James Thompson, is..the number of the new units of velocity equivalent to one of the old units.

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1884 Athenæum 18 Oct. 501/3 The *change-ringers have done far more evil than revolution and bigotry combined.

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1872 ELLACOMBE Bells of Ch. iii. 31 *Change-ringing is pre-eminently [an art]..which exercises the mind and body at the same time.

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1902 EDGE & JARROTT in A. C. Harmsworth et al. Motors xv. 324 The *change-speed lever is on the right hand. 1904 A. B. F. YOUNG Compl. Motorist iii. 60 The change-speed gear in its simplest and commonest form. 1907 Daily Chron. 17 Aug. 7/5 For the next [cycle] tour that I make in company I shall insist on all machines being fitted with the useful change-speed. Ibid. 11 Nov. 7/3 When the change-speed lever is pushed away from the driver, the jaw clutch engages the low gear wheels. 1922 Times 20 June 8/5 The change-speed lever provides four forward positions.., a neutral and a reverse.

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1874 KNIGHT Dict. Mech. I. 526 *Change-wheels, having varying numbers of cogs of the same pitch, are used to connect the main arbor of the lathe with the feed-screw. 1879 Cassell’s Techn. Educ. IV. 266/1 The screw is driven by means of..change-wheels from the end of the lathe-spindle.

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b. attrib. in sense ‘taking the place of another, acting as substitute, exchange-, vice-’. change-bowler Cricket, a bowler who relieves the regular bowlers in a match (cf. 1f).

								1886 1884 1875 1833	1903

1833 J. NYREN Young Cricketers’ Tutor 58 The two principal bowlers..were Thomas Brett and Richard Nyren..; the corps de reserve, or change-bowlers, were Barber and Hogsflesh. 1875 ‘STONEHENGE’ Brit. Sports I. II. i. §3. 147 The change-horses being better at the regular hunt-stable. 1884 BP. OF CHICHESTER in Times 20 Aug. 5 To keep a book..in which the name of every change-preacher should be entered. 1886 Daily News 22 July 5/1 Mr. Bonnor and Mr. Jones are also very useful change bowlers. 1903 WODEHOUSE Prefect’s Uncle xv. 214 He was essentially a change bowler.

(From the OED)