æt

æt¹ at

Pronunciation

• /æt/^[1]

Forms

æt (preposition)^[1] Also spelled et and at.^[2] Anglian has a rare ot, as in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[3][4]

Etymology

The word for “at” is inherited from Proto-Germanic *at (“at, toward, to”).^[1][5] The preposition is Gothic 𐌰𐍄 (at), Old Norse at, Old Frisian et, Old Saxon at and Old High German az.^[5][6][7] It goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd (“near, at”).^[5][1] Orel relates it to Latin ad, Oscan az and the Old Irish prefix ad-.^[6] German and Dutch lost the word and use their equivalents of "to", while the Scandinavian languages lost "to" and use "at" instead.^[8]

The final consonant was kept, as in other monosyllables.^[9] In unstressed use the vowel was not always raised in the Vespasian Psalter, which has ⟨æt⟩ beside ⟨et⟩.^[10] Kentish charters of the first half of the ninth century spell it ⟨æt⟩.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The preposition is first recorded in the will of Abba, dated 833×839 and surviving in a contemporary single sheet.^[12][11] Abba speaks of the land þe ic hæbbe, & me God lah, & ic æt minum hlafordum begæt “that I have, and God lent me, and I obtained from my lords”, with æt in the sense “from” after a verb of getting.^[12][13]

Semantic evolution

With the dative it marks the place at or near which something is, the time at which something happens, and the person with whom something rests.^[14][15] After verbs of taking, receiving, learning or buying it means "from".^[14][13] Place-names were often given with æt and the dative plural, as in æt Hǣþum for Haddeby.^[14] In Beowulf it is frequent in phrases of battle such as æt hilde and æt guðe.^[13] It renders Latin “ad”, “apud”, “iuxta”, “in” and “de” in glosses.^[7][14]

The word lived on as Middle English at, English at.^[1][8]

Timeline

• 833×839 – æt minum hlafordum “from my lords” in the will of Abba.^[12]
• s. ix med. – Ot ðet “until”, over Latin “donec”, in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[16][4]
• s. x/xi – æt hilde, æt guðe and other phrases of battle in the Beowulf manuscript.^[17][13]

Meanings

Preposition

1. with the dative, of place: at, near, by, in.^[14][13]
2. of time: at, at the time of.^[15][2]
3. after verbs of taking, receiving or learning: from, of.^[14][3]
4. with, before, for, against.^[14][1]
5. in place-names: at, in (æt Searobyrg “at Salisbury”).^[3][15]
6. (rare) with the accusative: to, up to, as far as.^[1]

Descendants

• Middle English at (→ English at; Scots at)^[1]

æt² eating, food

Pronunciation

• /æːt/^[1]

Forms

ǣt m^[1] Also neuter or feminine.^[18][14] Anglian ēt: the Lindisfarne gloss has the genitive etes.^[19][18]

Etymology

The word for “eating, food” is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *āt, from Proto-Germanic *ētą (“the act of eating; food”), which was made from *etaną (“to eat”).^[1] The noun is shared by Old Norse át, Old Frisian ēt, Old Saxon āt and Old High German āz "carrion".^[20][18] With Lithuanian ėda and Proto-Slavic *ěda it continues a lengthened-grade noun of the Indo-European root for "eat".^[20] Köbler gives the root as Proto-Indo-European *ed-.^[18] Bosworth and Toller relate it to the preterite singular of etan "to eat".^[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is first recorded in Genesis A in the Junius manuscript, of the second half of the tenth century.^[21][4] After the Flood, Noah began to eorðan him ætes tilian “to seek food for himself from the earth”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller give the senses "food" and "eating".^[14] Poetic records include Genesis A, Exodus, Daniel, Andreas, The Phoenix, Judith and Soul and Body.^[14][4] In Beowulf the raven tells the eagle how he fared æt æte “at the meal” on the slain.^[22]

Timeline

• s. x² – ætes tilian “to seek food” in Genesis A (Junius 11).^[21][4]
• s. x² – æfter æte “after eating” in The Phoenix (Exeter Book).^[23][14]
• s. x³/⁴ – etes “of eating” in the Lindisfarne gloss to Mark 6:31.^[24][19]
• s. x/xi – æt æte “at the meal” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[17][22]

Meanings

Noun

1. food.^[14][3]
2. eating.^[14][3]
3. a meal.^[22]

Descendants

• Middle English ete (→ English eat; Scots ait)^[1]