bryd

Forms

brȳd f (strong i-stem; genitive singular brȳde, nominative plural brȳde)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *brūdi, from Proto-Germanic *brūdiz (“bride”).^[1][2] The noun is found in all the old Germanic languages: Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌿𐌸𐍃 (brūþs), Old Norse brúðr, Old Frisian breid, Old Saxon brūd and Old High German brūt.^[2][3][4] The Gothic word renders the Greek for “daughter-in-law”, and an Old High German gloss once has the same sense.^[5][6]

The origin is unknown.^[3][2] Kroonen rejects the old reconstruction “who is spoken for”, which rested on a wrong etymology of Sanskrit ब्रवीति (bráviti, “to say”), and tentatively connects Old Norse brúða (“bundle of flax”) and a pre-Germanic root Proto-Indo-European *bʰruH-, comparing the suffix of Proto-Germanic *magaþiz (“girl”).^[2] Köbler still compares the root *mru- (“to speak”).^[4][7] Wiktionary allows that it may be a loan from a substrate language.^[1]

The ⟨ȳ⟩ is the i-umlaut of the ū before the i of the stem ending.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest datable record is in the Old English Bede (Tanner 10, s. x in. or xi¹), where nuns who weave fine garments adorn themselves in bryda onlicnesse “in the likeness of brides”.^[9][10] In Christ in the Exeter Book (s. x²) the Virgin is the bryd who conceived without a man: “þæt þurh bearnes gebyrd bryd eacen wearð”, “that the bride became pregnant through the birth of a child”.^[11][10]

Semantic evolution

The word names a woman about to marry or newly married, and also a wife and simply a woman.^[12][13] The poetry uses it most for wives: in Genesis Adam's brȳd is Eve, Lot's brȳd looks back, and Abraham's brides bear children.^[12] In the Gospels it renders Latin “sponsa” beside brȳdguma “bridegroom”, and the church is called Christ's bride.^[12][14] Toller's Supplement withdrew the definition “one owned or purchased” that the main dictionary had given.^[15]

The word continued as Middle English bride and is now English bride.^[16]

Timeline

• s. x in. or xi¹ – in bryda onlicnesse “in the likeness of brides” in the Old English Bede.^[9][10]
• s. x² – the Virgin as bryd in Christ in the Exeter Book.^[11][10]
• s. x² – Adam's and Lot's wives in Genesis in the Junius manuscript.^[17][12]
• s. x/xi – the noble bride Natalia in the Old English Martyrology.^[18][19]

Meanings

Noun

1. a bride, a woman about to be married or newly married.^[12][4]
2. a wife, spouse.^[12][13]
3. a woman.^[12][13]

Word family

• brȳdguma
• brȳdlāc

Descendants

• Middle English bride (→ English bride; Scots bride)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 79
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 59
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. brȳd
5. ^ Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 84
6. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 5.75
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. 531
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. 223
12. ^ a b c d e f g Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 130
13. ^ a b c Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 51
14. ^ Cook, Albert S. (1894), A Glossary of the Old Northumbrian Gospels, Halle: Niemeyer, p. s.v. bryd
15. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 109
16. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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. 513
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. 281
19. ^ Rauer, Christine, ed. (2013), The Old English Martyrology: Edition, Translation and Commentary, Cambridge: D. S. Brewer (glossary), p. s.v. bryd