Etymologically
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þing

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Pronunciation

  • /θinɡ/, [θiŋɡ], /θinj/[1]

Forms

þing or þinġ n (genitive singular þinges)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *þing, from Proto-Germanic *þingą (“appointed time; meeting; matter”).[1][2] Its cognates are Old Norse þing, Old Frisian thing, Old Saxon thing and Old High German ding, and Lombardic thinx (“legal procedure, assembly”) and Gothic 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌷𐍃 (þeihs, “time, occasion”) are related.[2][3][4]

Kroonen takes the first meaning to have been “scheduled time”, whence “assembly”, “(legal) case” and “object”, and derives the noun from the strong verb Proto-Germanic *þinhaną (“to be suitable”);[2][3] Orel too thinks it probably connected with that verb.[2][3] Köbler calls the etymology unclear and names, with a question mark, the root Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record is in the will of Badanoth Beotting (S 1510, 845×853), a contemporary Kentish single sheet: he commits his family to the lordship of Christ Church on ðæm ðingum ðe him ðearf sie “in the things they need”.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In the prose it is the general word for a thing, an object or a matter, and in the plural for goods and property; it renders Latin “res”.[8][9][5] It also names an event, an act or a condition, and in its cases it makes phrases of cause and manner: for his þingum “for his sake”, ǣniġe þinga “by any means”, nāne þinga “not at all”.[9][10] The older sense “meeting, court of justice” is also found: Klaeber finds it in Beowulf, LangScape lists it in charter bounds as “assembly”, and in Andreas it is an appointed meeting.[10][11][12] Etymonline traces the shift from “assembly” to “object” through the matter discussed at an assembly, as with French “chose” from Latin “causa”.[13]

The first sense the MED gives for Middle English thing is a substance, a thing that exists by itself; it became English thing.[14][13]

Timeline

  • 845×853 – on ðæm ðingum ðe him ðearf sie in Badanoth Beotting's will.[6][7]
  • 871×899 – mid allum ðingum ðe to londum belimpað “with all the things that belong to the lands” in Ealdorman Alfred's will.[15][7]
  • 890×897 – the noun in the Pastoral Care.[16][7]
  • s. x/xi – þing “meeting” at line 426 in the Beowulf manuscript.[17][10]
  • c. 1230 – Middle English þing “substance” in the Ancrene Wisse.[14]

Meanings

Noun

  1. a thing, object.[8][5]
  2. in the plural, goods, property.[9][18]
  3. a matter, affair, event, deed.[9][5]
  4. a cause, reason;[9] for … þingum for the sake of.[9]
  5. a meeting, assembly, court of justice.[10][9][11]

Word family

  • þingian
  • ġeþinge
  • þingstōw
  • þingræden
  • hūsting

Descendants

  • Middle English thing (→ English thing; Scots thing; Scots ting)[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 542
  3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 420
  4. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 365
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. þing
  6. ^ a b The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 1510
  7. ^ a b c d Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
  8. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1060
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 204
  10. ^ a b c d Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. þinġ
  11. ^ a b LangScape: The Language of Landscape: Reading the Anglo-Saxon Countryside, King's College London, langscape.org.uk
  12. ^ North, Richard; Bintley, Michael D. J., eds. (2016), Andreas: An Edition, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press (glossary), p. s.v. þing
  13. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  14. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  15. ^ The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 1508
  16. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
  17. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344
  18. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 222