druncen

Forms

druncen^[1] Past participle of the strong verb drincan (drincan, dranc, druncon, druncen), declined as an adjective: druncne, druncnum.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *drunkanaz (“drunk”), the past participle of the strong verb drincan (“to drink”) used as an adjective.^[4][5] The same participle is the adjective in Old Norse drukkinn and Old High German trunkan.^[5][6] The verb is Proto-Germanic *drinkaną, of unknown origin according to Orel.^[7][8] Köbler compares the root Proto-Indo-European *dʰreǵ- (“to draw, glide”).^[6]

Ringe and Taylor leave open whether druncnian (“to get drunk”) is an inherited verb or was made from this participle within Old English.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest datable record is the Old English Orosius (s. x¹ or x²/⁴), which tells of Alexander and Clitus “þa hie sume siþe druncne æt heora symble sætan”, “when they once sat drunk at their feast”.^[10][11][3] The Old English Bede has a feast where the company druncne wæron “were drunk” before the sparks set the roof alight.^[12][11]

Semantic evolution

The adjective means “drunk”, often with the drink in the dative: wīne druncen “drunk with wine”, bēore druncen “drunk with beer”.^[3] It is frequent in the poetry, of the feasting Danes in Beowulf, the heathens drēore druncne “drunk with blood” in Andreas, and Belshazzar's men in Daniel.^[3][13] As a noun se druncena is “the drunkard”, rendering Latin “ebriosus”.^[3][1] It glosses Latin “ebrius” and once “lentus”.^[6][3]

Clark Hall gives the English word drunken as its continuation.^[14]

Timeline

• s. x¹ or x²/⁴ – druncne æt heora symble “drunk at their feast” in the Old English Orosius.^[10][11]
• s. x in. or xi¹ – druncne wæron in the Old English Bede.^[12][11]
• s. x² – drēore druncne in Andreas in the Vercelli Book.^[15][3]
• s. x/xi – bēore druncen in the Beowulf manuscript.^[16][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. drunk, intoxicated.^[3][6]
2. (substantive) a drunkard.^[3][1]

Word family

• druncennes
• druncnian
• undruncen
• wīndruncen
• oferdruncen

Related words

• drincan

Usage notes

A noun druncen “drunkenness” is recorded beside the adjective, in the laws, the penitentials and the poem Fates of Men.^[4][14] Holthausen and Bosworth–Toller compare Old High German trunchenī (“drunkenness”).^[17][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 347
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 158
4. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 215
5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 77
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. druncen
7. ^ Seebold, Elmar (1970), Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben, The Hague / Paris: Mouton
8. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 75
9. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 38
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. 249
11. ^ 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
12. ^ 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
13. ^ North, Richard; Bintley, Michael D. J., eds. (2016), Andreas: An Edition, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press (glossary), p. s.v. druncen
14. ^ a b Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 89
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. 704
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
17. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 78