þurst

Forms

þurst m (strong a-stem; genitive singular þurstes, nominative plural þurstas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *þurstu, from Proto-Germanic *þurstuz (“thirst”).^[1][2] Related nouns are Old Saxon thurst, Old High German durst and Swedish törst.^[2][3] Old Norse þorsti and Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍃𐍄𐌴𐌹 (þaurstei) have other suffixes.^[3][4] Orel takes the noun from an unattested adjective *þurstaz “thirsty” and connects it with the strong verb *þersaną.^[2]

The root is Proto-Indo-European *ters- (“to dry”).^[4][1] Holthausen compares Ancient Greek τέρσομαι (térsomai, “to become dry”), Sanskrit तृष्यति (tṛṣyati, “is thirsty”), Latin torreō (“to parch”) and Old Irish tart (“thirst”).^[3] Wiktionary reconstructs a *tu-noun *térs-tu-s and compares Proto-Celtic *tartus.^[1]

The variant þyrst takes its vowel from the verb þyrstan.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is first recorded in the mid-ninth-century gloss of the Vespasian Psalter, at Psalm 68: & in ðurste minum drynctun mec mid ecede over “et in siti mea potaverunt me aceto”, “and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller list the word both in the literal sense and figuratively.^[7] The poems pair it with hunger, as in the Christ and the Phoenix, where neither hunger nor thirst reaches the blessed.^[7] In the Boethius it is the thirst of greed that wealth cannot quench (se ðurst … heora gitsunga).^[7] In glosses it renders Latin “sitis”.^[4] It continued as Middle English thirst, whose figurative sense “vehement desire” is recorded from about 1200.^[8][9]

Timeline

• s. ix med. – in ðurste minum “in my thirst” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[5][6]
• s. x¹ – people perish for þurste ge for hæte “from thirst and heat” in the Old English Orosius.^[10][6]
• s. x med. – a remedy wið magan bryne & þurste “for burning of the stomach and thirst” in Bald's Leechbook.^[11][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. thirst, the need for drink.^[7][4]
2. (figurative) a strong craving, as for wealth.^[7]

Word family

• ungemetþurst

Descendants

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

Related words

• þyrstan
• þyrstiġ

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 430
3. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 372
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. þurst
5. ^ a b 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. 329
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1081
8. ^ 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)
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ 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. 249
11. ^ 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. 412