-weard

Forms

-weard^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wardaz (“turned toward, facing”), an adjective from the root Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn”).^[1][2] It belongs with the verb weorþan, whose ancestor *werþaną Kroonen takes to have meant “to turn” before “to become”.^[2][3] The root is an extension of Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to turn, bend”).^[2]

The suffix has counterparts in Old Saxon -ward, Old High German -wart, Gothic -𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐍃 (-wairþs) and Old Norse -verðr,^[4] and in Old Frisian -ward and German -wärts.^[5] The form with the genitive ending, -weardes, made adverbs.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

An early record is the will of the ealdorman Oswulf and his wife Beornthryth for Christ Church, Canterbury, of 805×810: it gives the land for the hope of reward ðaes towardon lifes “of the life to come”.^[7] Its single sheet is of the ninth century, held to be genuine and contemporary by Parsons, but drafted and written in the 840s according to Crick.^[7] The Pastoral Care has on ryhtne weg toweard ðæs hefonrices “on the right way towards the kingdom of heaven”.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller call it the second part of many adjectives of position or direction, and list over thirty, among them æfterweard, foreweard, norþweard, ūpweard and tōweard.^[4] It made adjectives and nouns, and adverbs, from adjectives and prepositions, meaning “in the direction of”.^[1] Tōweard means both “towards” and “coming, future”, as in the will of Oswulf.^[7]

In Middle English the suffix appears in some hundred words, more than half of them adverbs.^[10] It is now the English suffix -ward.^[5]

Timeline

• 805×810 – ðaes towardon lifes in the will of Oswulf (S 1188), in a single sheet of the ninth century.^[7]
• 890×897 – toweard ðæs hefonrices in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[8][9]

Meanings

Suffix

1. forming adjectives and nouns of position or direction: facing, toward.^[4][1]
2. forming adverbs of direction.^[1]

Word family

• tōweard
• andweard
• foreweard
• æfterweard
• hāmweard
• inweard
• ūtweard
• norþweard
• sūþweard
• ūpweard
• -weardes

Descendants

• Middle English -warde (→ English -ward; Scots -wart; Scots -art)^[1]

Related words

• weorþan

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. -weard
3. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 581
4. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1176
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 742
7. ^ a b c d 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 1188
8. ^ 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. 499
9. ^ a b Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
10. ^ 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)