Sense file
How the sense moved
The archive follows the dated record first, then reads the social or rhetorical pressure that hardened, softened, narrowed, or reversed the word.
Older meaning
A graft or young shoot; later, a child or offspring, and then a little devil.
Modern meaning
A mischievous child or small troublemaker.
Research lens
A beautifully odd drift: plant growth becomes offspring, then devilry, then manageable childhood trouble.
Meaning trail
Root
young shoot or graft
The earliest word belongs to growth and planting.
Bridge
child or little devil
Newness and offspring create the path into pejorative metaphor.
Now
mischievous child
The menace survives mostly as playful energy.