Etymology and origin of the Old English word agen
agen1 against, again
- Confidence
- Established
- First attested
- 950–1050 Christ and Satan, Junius manuscript
- Ultimate origin
- Old English ongean
Forms
aġēn[1]
Etymology
The word for “against, again” is a reduced form from Old English onġēan, with its first syllable weakened.[1][2] Bosworth and Toller refer it to the same word.[3]
Semantic evolution
As a preposition with the accusative it means “against”, as in se ðe nis agén eów “he that is not against you”, glossing Latin adversum.[3] As an adverb it means “again, back”: ðá wende he on scype agén “then he went back into the ship”.[3]
Timeline
- s. x²/xi¹ – wæs forworht agén “was punished anew” in Christ and Satan in the Junius manuscript.[3][4]
Meanings
Preposition
Adverb
agen2 own
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Inherited
- First attested
- 833–839 charter S 1482
- Inherited from
- Proto-Germanic *aiganaz
- Ultimate origin
- Proto-Germanic *aiganaz
From the same root · agen2
Pronunciation
- /ˈɑː.ɡen/, [ˈɑː.ɣen][1]
Forms
āgen[1]
Etymology
The word for “own” is inherited from Proto-Germanic *aiganaz (“own”), originally the past participle of *aiganą (“to own”), as the Old English word was of āgan (“to own, possess”).[5][1][3][6] The cognates are Old Norse eiginn, Old Frisian ēgen, Old Saxon ēgan and Old High German eigan.[5][7] Compare the noun Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌲𐌹𐌽 (aigin, “property”).[8] Köbler traces the verb to Proto-Indo-European *ēik- (“to have, possess”).[7]
Proto-Germanic /ai/ appears as ⟨ā⟩, beside a form ǣgen that Toller and Köbler record.[9][7] The neuter noun for “property” is the adjective used as a noun.[10][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
The earliest dated record is the will of the reeve Abba, of 833×839, which survives in its contemporary single sheet: if his widow takes another husband, his kinsmen are to take the land and hire agefen hire agen “give her what is her own”.[11][12] The Pastoral Care (890×897) has it as an adjective: anscunige he eac his agenu “let him shun his own [faults] too”.[13][12]
Semantic evolution
As an adjective it means “own, proper, peculiar”, rendering Latin proprius: sécþ his ágen wuldor “seeks his own glory”.[3][7] In grammar it translates Latin proprius for a proper noun, and with cyre “choice” it means free will.[10] Used as a noun it means “property” in the laws, and “one's own country”.[10][2] Liebermann records se agena frigia for the owner.[14]
It continued as Middle English aghen, now English own.[15]
Timeline
- 833×839 – hire agen “her own” in the will of Abba, a contemporary single sheet.[11][12]
- 890×897 – his agenu “his own” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).[13][12]
- s. x² – godes agen bearn “God's own child” in Elene in the Vercelli Book.[16][12]
Meanings
Adjective
Noun
Word family
- āgnian
Descendants
References
- ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 30
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 28
- ^ 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. 513
- ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 6
- ^ 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. āgen
- ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ǣgen
- ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
- ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 28
- ^ 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
- ^ 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 1482
- ^ a b c d e Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
- ^ 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
- ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 9
- ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ 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. 704
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Agen.” Etymologically, 16 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ang/agen. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.
Last edited on . ·