Etymologically
Log in

biddan

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 18:40. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈbid.dɑn/[1]

Forms

biddan (strong class 5; third-person singular present bitt, past singular bæd, past plural bǣdon)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *biddjan, from Proto-Germanic *bidjaną (“to ask, to pray”).[1] Its cognates are Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bidjan), Old Norse biðja, Old Frisian bidda, Old Saxon biddian and Old High German bitten, all meaning "to ask" and several also "to pray".[2][3][4] The ⟨dd⟩ is the West Germanic gemination before /j/, in which the voiced fricative became a stop.[5]

The further origin is disputed.[1][2] Wiktionary's Proto-Germanic page derives it from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰedʰ- (“to ask for”), or else from Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰ- (“to bend, bow”), and denies a link with bīdan "to wait".[1] Köbler gives the same two roots with question marks.[4] Orel, on the contrary, derives the verb from Proto-Germanic *bīdaną (“to wait”), and Holthausen asks whether it belongs with bēodan "to command".[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is recorded in the will of Abba, a Kentish reeve, of 833×839, which survives as a contemporary single sheet: ic bidde & bebeode swælc monn se ðæt min lond hebbe ðæt he ælce gere agefe ðem higum æt Folcanstane, "I ask and command whoever has my land that he give every year to the community at Folkestone".[6][7]

Semantic evolution

The verb takes the person asked in the accusative and the thing asked for in the genitive, and it can also introduce a clause or an infinitive.[8][9][10] Its senses run from asking and begging to praying and, in the laws and wills, to ordering and requiring.[8][11] It glosses Latin petō, rogō, ōrō and postulō.[4]

It lived on as Middle English bidden, now English bid.[12] In Middle English it was influenced in form and meaning by the descendant of bēodan, so that English bid continues both verbs.[12][10][13]

Timeline

  • 833×839 – ic bidde & bebeode “I ask and command” in Abba's will, a contemporary single sheet.[6][7]
  • s. ix med. – in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.[14][7]
  • 890×897 – in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).[15][7]
  • s. x/xi – bæd “asked” in the Beowulf manuscript.[16][10]
  • c. 1175 – Middle English bæd in a homily of Bodley 343.[12]

Meanings

Verb

  1. to ask, request (a person, accusative, for something, genitive).[8][10]
  2. to beg, entreat.[8][4]
  3. to pray.[8][3]
  4. to order, command, require.[8][3]

Word family

  • ābiddan
  • ġebiddan
  • ġebed
  • biddere

Descendants

  • Middle English bidden (→ English bid; Scots bid)[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 45
  3. ^ a b c d Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 22
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. biddan
  5. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 4.13
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ 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. 99
  9. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 90
  10. ^ a b c d 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. biddan
  11. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 24
  12. ^ a b c 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)
  13. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  14. ^ 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
  15. ^ 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
  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. 344