beodan

Forms

bēodan (strong class 2; third-person singular present bīett, past singular bēad, past plural budon)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *beudan, from Proto-Germanic *beudaną (“to offer, bid”).^[1][2] The verb is common Germanic: Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌱𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽 (anabiudan, “to command”), Old Norse bjóða (“to offer”), Old Frisian biāda, Old Saxon biodan and Old High German biotan.^[2][3][4]

Its root is Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to be awake, aware”), which also gave Ancient Greek πυνθάνομαι (punthánomai, “to learn”) and Sanskrit बुध्यते (búdhyate, “to wake”).^[1][2] Köbler explains the root as “to be awake, to observe, to make aware”.^[5] De Vries reports Porzig's view that the root meant “to wake, to notice”, and that in the western Indo-European languages it moved to “make aware”, then “warn” and “command”.^[4]

It is a strong verb of the second class: past singular bēad, past plural budon, past participle boden.^[6] In the second and third person singular present the Germanic diphthong /eu/ became /iu/ before the following /i/, and West Saxon i-umlaut then gave bȳtst and bȳtt.^[7] The early West Saxon of the Pastoral Care writes the diphthong both ⟨eo⟩ and ⟨io⟩, with ⟨bīodan⟩ beside the more frequent ⟨bēodan⟩.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first recorded in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20, 890×897): the voice from above told Moses ðæt he sceolde beodan Arone “that he should command Aaron” that none of his kin should offer bread to God.^[9][10] The Parker Chronicle, written from about 900, has it in the annal for 905, where the king het beodan ofer ealle þa fird “had it proclaimed to the whole army” that they should all leave together.^[11][10]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller begin with “to command, bid, order”, then “to announce, proclaim”, and so “to bode, to threaten”: in The Seafarer the cuckoo sorge beodeð “foretells sorrow”.^[6] Toller adds the senses to summon, as when all the councillors were called to the king, and to levy a tax.^[12] With ūt it means to call out an army and to banish: in the Chronicle for 1048 man bead him ut “he was ordered out of the country”.^[12][13] It also means to offer, give or grant, the sense it has in Beowulf.^[12][14] Used reflexively it means to behave towards someone.^[13][15] In the glosses it renders Latin “commendare”, “nuntiare” and “praecipere”.^[5]

It lived on as Middle English beden “to offer”, whose forms were influenced by bidden.^[16] The English word bid in the sense “to offer a price” comes from it.^[17]

Timeline

• 890×897 – ðæt he sceolde beodan Arone “that he should command Aaron” in the Pastoral Care.^[9][10]
• s. ix/x – het beodan ofer ealle þa fird “had it proclaimed to the whole army” in the Parker Chronicle, annal 905.^[11][10]
• s. x² – sorge beodeð “foretells sorrow” in The Seafarer, in the Exeter Book.^[18][6]
• s. x/xi – budon “offered” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[19][14]

Meanings

Verb

1. to command, to bid, to order.^[6][5]
2. to announce, to proclaim; to bode, to threaten.^[6][13]
3. to summon; with ūt, to call out an army, to banish.^[12][13][15]
4. to levy a tax.^[12]
5. to offer, to give, to grant.^[12][14]
6. (reflexive) to behave towards someone.^[13][15]

Word family

• ābēodan
• bebēodan
• forbēodan
• ġebēodan
• misbēodan
• boda
• bodian
• bydel
• ġebod

Descendants

• Middle English beden (→ English bid; English bede; Scots bid)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 43
3. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 19
4. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 40
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bēodan
6. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 84
7. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 3.7
8. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 5.156
9. ^ 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
10. ^ 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
11. ^ 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
12. ^ 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. Suppl. 79
13. ^ a b c d e Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 41
14. ^ a b c 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. bēodan
15. ^ a b c Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 43
16. ^ 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)
17. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
18. ^ 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
19. ^ 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