Etymologically
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agan

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈɑː.ɡɑn/, [ˈɑː.ɣɑn][1]

Forms

āgan (third-person singular present āh, past singular āhte, past plural āhton)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *aigan, from Proto-Germanic *aiganą (“to possess, own”).[1][2] The verb is common to the old Germanic languages: Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (aigan), Old Norse eiga, Old Frisian āga, Old Saxon ēgan and Old High German eigan.[3][4][5] It is a preterite-present verb, with present ⟨āh⟩ and preterite ⟨āhte⟩.[6][7]

Lehmann traces it to Proto-Indo-European *eyk- (“to possess, be able”), with certain reflexes only in Indo-Iranian and Germanic;[3][4] Köbler gives the root as Pokorny's *ēik-.[3][4] Wiktionary reconstructs a perfect *h₂eh₂óyḱe.[1] The adjective āgen (“own”) and the noun ǣht (“property”) are of the same family.[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first recorded in the Pastoral Care, in the manuscript sent out by King Alfred's circle in 890×897: of David and Saul it says he his wel geweald ahte on ðæm scræfe “he had full power over him in the cave”.[8][9] The Parker Chronicle, of the turn of the ninth and tenth centuries, has it in the annal for 833: þa Denescan ahton wælstowe gewald “the Danes had possession of the battlefield”.[10][9]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is to own or possess; from it come having power over something (dōma ġeweald āgan), getting and obtaining, and causing another to own, that is giving, delivering or restoring.[11][12] It also means to have to pay, to owe, and with an infinitive to have to do something;[12] āgan ūt is to find out.[12] In glosses it renders Latin “habere” and “possidere”.[4] In the laws it is used of owning property and of having a right to something.[13]

According to Etymonline the sense “to have to repay” arose in late Old English from the phrase āgan tō ġieldanne, a rendering of Latin “debere”.[14] The verb lived on as Middle English ouen, now English owe; its preterite āhte became ought.[15][14]

Timeline

  • 890×897 – geweald ahte “had power” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).[8][9]
  • s. ix/x – ahton wælstowe gewald in the Parker Chronicle, annal 833.[10][9]
  • s. x² – ǣr hē āge wintra dǣl “before he has a share of winters” in The Wanderer (Exeter Book).[1][16]
  • s. x/xi – āh, āhte in the Beowulf manuscript.[7][17]

Meanings

Verb

  1. to own, possess, have.[11][4]
  2. to have power over, have control of.[11][12]
  3. to get, obtain.[11]
  4. to cause to own: to give, deliver, restore.[11]
  5. to have to pay, owe.[12]
  6. to have to (do something), ought.[1][12]

Word family

  • āgen
  • āgend
  • āgnian
  • nāgan

Descendants

  • ǣht

Usage notes

Written without marks, the spelling agan is also āgān “to go by, pass (of time), happen”, a compound of ā- and gān “to go”.[12][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  3. ^ a b c Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. 42
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. āgan
  5. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 2
  6. ^ Campbell, A. (1959), Old English Grammar, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. § 767
  7. ^ a b 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. āgan
  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 c d Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
  10. ^ 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. 83
  11. ^ a b c d e f Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 28
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 15
  13. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 9
  14. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  15. ^ 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)
  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. 223
  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