Word Study
changeling
CIDE DICTIONARY
changeling, n. [Change + -ling.].
- One who, or that which, is left or taken in the place of another, as a child exchanged by fairies. [1913 Webster]"Such, men do changelings call, so changed by fairies' theft." [1913 Webster]"The changeling [a substituted writing] never known." [1913 Webster]
- A simpleton; an idiot. Macaulay. [1913 Webster]"Changelings and fools of heaven, and thence shut out." [1913 Webster]"Wildly we roam in discontent about." Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- One apt to change; a waverer. Shak. [1913 Webster]
changeling, a.
- Taken or left in place of another; changed. Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Given to change; inconstant. [1913 Webster]"Some are so studiously changeling." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
changeling, n. a child believed to be substituted for another by stealth, esp. an elf-child left by fairies.
THESAURUS
changeling
agent, alternate, alternative, analogy, backup, change, comparison, copy, counterfeit, deputy, double, dummy, elf child, equal, equivalent, ersatz, exchange, fake, fill-in, ghost, ghostwriter, imitation, locum tenens, makeshift, metaphor, metonymy, next best thing, personnel, phony, pinch hitter, proxy, relief, replacement, representative, reserves, ringer, second string, secondary, sign, spares, stand-in, sub, substituent, substitute, substitution, succedaneum, superseder, supplanter, surrogate, symbol, synecdoche, third string, token, understudy, utility player, vicar, vice-president, vice-regentROGET THESAURUS
changeling
Substitution
N substitution, commutation, supplanting, metaphor, metonymy, substitute, ersatz, makeshift, temporary expedient, replacement, succedaneum, shift, pis aller, stopgap, jury rigging, jury mast, locum tenens, warming pan, dummy, scapegoat, double, changeling, quid pro quo, alternative, representative, palimpsest, price, purchase money, consideration, equivalent, substituted, ersatz, phony, vicarious, subdititious, instead, in place of, in lieu of, in the stead of, in the room of, faute de mieux.Fool
N fool, idiot, tomfool, wiseacre, simpleton, witling, dizzard, donkey, ass, ninny, ninnyhammer, chowderhead, chucklehead, dolt, booby, Tom Noddy, looby, hoddy-doddy, noddy, nonny, noodle, nizy, owl, goose, goosecap, imbecile, gaby, radoteur, nincompoop, badaud, zany, trifler, babbler, pretty fellow, natural, niais, child, baby, infant, innocent, milksop, sop, oaf, lout, loon, lown, dullard, doodle, calf, colt, buzzard, block, put, stick, stock, numps, tony, bull head, dunderhead, addlehead, blockhead, dullhead, loggerhead, jolthead, jolterhead, beetlehead, beetlebrain, grosshead, muttonhead, noodlehead, giddyhead, numbskull, thickskull, lackbrain, shallowbrain, dimwit, halfwit, lackwit, dunderpate, lunkhead sawney, gowk, clod, clod-hopper, clod-poll, clot-poll, clot-pate, bull calf, gawk, Gothamite, lummox, rube, men of Boeotia, wise men of Gotham, un sot a triple etage, sot, jobbernowl, changeling, mooncalf, gobemouche, dotard, driveler, old fogey, old woman, crock, crone, grandmother, cotquean, henhussy, incompetent (insanity), greenhorn, dunce, lubber, madman, one who will not set the Thames on fire, one who did not invent gunpowder, qui n'a pas invente' la poudre, no conjuror, fortuna favet fatuis, les fous font les festinas et les sages les mangen, nomina stultorum parietibus harrent, stultorum plena sunt omnia.For further exploring for "changeling" in Webster Dictionary Online
