Archaic KJV Word
Water
Modern equivalent: H2O
What Was Lost
The narrative arc of water. In scripture, water is chaos (Genesis 1), judgment (the Flood), salvation (Red Sea), provision (rock in the wilderness), and divine life (Jesus's living water). Every water reference echoed this entire story. Baptism in water was death and resurrection enacted in the element that carried all these meanings.
Closest Survivor in Modern English
water (still used but the theological resonance of chaos, deliverance, and divine life has dried up)
Peak Usage (1611)
KJV Genesis 1:2 -- 'The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters'; John 4:14 -- 'A well of water springing up into everlasting life'
Died still used but desacralized (~1700)
Hebrew mayim ('waters') carried deep theological freight -- waters were the primordial chaos God ordered, the Red Sea He split, the Jordan He parted, and the living water He promised. Modern usage reduced it to H2O.
What Replaced It
“H2O”
Chemical compound; mayim was theologically charged -- both the chaos God ordered and the life He gives
“liquid”
Generic physical state; water in scripture was a character in the divine drama
“hydration”
Biological need; living water was the indwelling presence of God Himself