die [ME] In surviving Old English texts the usual way of saying ‘to stop living’ is to *starve or to swelt, or by a phrase incorporating the word *dead. The form swelt survived in dialect, but has probably now died out. Die appeared in the early Middle Ages and came from an old Scandinavian word. To die hard, ‘to disappear or change very slowly’, is now generally used of habits or customs, but its origins lie in public executions. It was originally used in the 1780s to describe criminals who died struggling to their last breath on the infamous Tyburn gallows in London. A few years later, during the Peninsular War (fought between France and Britain in Spain and Portugal from 1808 to 1814), Lieutenant-Colonel Sir William Inglis, commander of the 57th Regiment of Foot, lay severely wounded on the front line of the Battle of Albuera. He refused to be carried to safety, and urged his men to ‘Die hard!’ They followed his brave example, sustaining heavy loss of life, and all of the dead were found with their wounds on the front of their bodies. The battle was eventually won, and their heroism earned them the nickname ‘the Die-hards’. In the early 20th century political circles took up the name to describe those who were determinedly opposed to reform, and the term diehard can still refer to someone who is stubbornly conservative or reactionary. See also dice.