Narrowing in linguistics

Narrowing in linguistics means when a word or phrase becomes more specific or limited in its meaning over time. For example, the word “dog” used to refer to any four-legged animal, but now it specifically means a domesticated canine animal. This is narrowing in linguistics because the word has become more specific in its meaning. One verifiable fact is that according to a study by the Oxford English Dictionary, the word “gay” has undergone narrowing in meaning over the past century. It used to mean “happy” or “carefree”, but now it specifically refers to someone who is homosexual.