Etymologically
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dæd

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Pronunciation

Forms

dǣd f (strong i-stem; genitive singular dǣde, nominative plural dǣde)[1] Anglian and Kentish dēd: in dedum in the Vespasian Psalter gloss, ded in the Lindisfarne gloss.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *dādi, from Proto-Germanic *dēdiz (“deed”).[1][5] The noun is shared by Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌳𐌴𐌸𐍃 (gadeþs), Old Norse dáð, Old Frisian dēde, Old Saxon dād and Old High German tāt.[5][6]

Kroonen explains it as a ti-stem made to the root Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, do”), the root of dōn.[5] Orel calls the formation identical with Lithuanian dėtis (“load”) and an Avestan noun meaning “laying down”, from the same root.[6] Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁tis (“putting, placement”).[1]

Germanic /æː/ appears as ⟨ǣ⟩ in West Saxon but as ⟨ē⟩ in the Anglian dialects, hence ⟨dǣd⟩ beside ⟨dēd⟩; i-umlaut did not affect the long front vowel.[7][8][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded, in its Mercian form, in the mid-ninth-century gloss of the Vespasian Psalter: “in dedum honda ðinra ic smegu”, I meditated on the deeds of your hands, for the Latin “in factis manuum tuarum” of Psalm 142:5.[3][9] The West Saxon form appears in the Pastoral Care (890×897), which recounts “Dauides dæda sume”, some of David's deeds.[10][9]

Semantic evolution

The word means an act or action of any kind, good or bad, and an event.[11][12] In the glosses it renders “actio”, “actus”, “factum”, “opus” and “effectus”, and mid dǣdum gelǣstan is “to carry into effect”.[13][14] In poetry it is often a heroic exploit, and Beowulf uses it often, mostly in the plural.[15][12] The laws weigh a penalty “be ðam ðe seo dæd sy”, according as the deed may be.[11][16]

It continued as Middle English dede, now English deed.[17]

Timeline

  • s. ix med. – in dedum honda ðinra in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.[3][9]
  • 890×897 – Dauides dæda sume in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).[10][9]
  • s. ix/x – for unryhtum dædum “for unlawful actions” in the Parker Chronicle.[18][9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. a deed, action, act.[11][13]
  2. an exploit, a deed of note.[12][15]
  3. an event.[12][13]

Word family

  • dǣdfruma
  • lofdǣd
  • māndǣd
  • misdǣd
  • undǣd
  • ellendǣd
  • fyrendǣd
  • ælmesdǣd
  • wundordǣd

Descendants

  • Middle English dede (→ English deed; Scots dede; Scots ded)[1]
  • dōn

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 5.80
  3. ^ a b c 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
  4. ^ Cook, Albert S. (1894), A Glossary of the Old Northumbrian Gospels, Halle: Niemeyer
  5. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 92
  6. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 72
  7. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 3.22
  8. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 3.24
  9. ^ 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
  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. 499
  11. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 192
  12. ^ a b c d Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 62
  13. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. dǣd
  14. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 143
  15. ^ 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. dǣd
  16. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 46
  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. 83