gecynd

Forms

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *gakundi.^[1] The prefix ġe- is added to cynd "nature, kind", which is also used alone.^[1][2] The only close cognate is Old High German gikunt (“nature”).^[1][3][4]

The Old High German word is a verbal abstract in *-ti- made to the root Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”).^[3] Köbler derives the simplex from Proto-Germanic *kundaz (“born, descended”), which Kroonen explains as the old participle of that root.^[5][6] It is a feminine i-stem, also often neuter, with the plural ⟨ġecyndu⟩.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is first recorded in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20, 890×897): a man is wholly blear-eyed ðonne his mod & his andgit ðæt gecynd ascirpð "when nature sharpens his mind and understanding" and he then spoils it himself with bad habits.^[9][10]

Semantic evolution

Its main senses are nature, kind, manner and condition, and grammatical gender;^[8] Bosworth and Toller also give "generation" and the genitals, and "offspring".^[8] Toller's Supplement adds "birth" and "a native place, that to which one has a natural right": in the Chronicle for 1086 Normandy was William's gecynde.^[11] In the Orosius it is the nature of a kind of animal, nædrena gecynd "the nature of snakes".^[12][10] Clark Hall lists also "origin", "race, species" and "character".^[2] It renders Latin natura.^[13]

Clark Hall connects it with Middle English i-cunde.^[2]

Timeline

• 890×897 – ðæt gecynd “nature” in the Pastoral Care.^[9][10]
• s. x¹ or x²/⁴ – nædrena gecynd “the nature of snakes” in the Old English Orosius.^[12][10]
• s. x med. – Nis nan gecynd þe wið hire scippendes willan winne “there is no nature that strives against its creator's will” in the Old English Boethius.^[14][10]
• s. x² – on ða beteran gecynd “into the better nature” in Andreas (Vercelli Book).^[15][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. nature, natural disposition; kind, manner, condition.^[8][16]
2. race, species; origin, birth.^[2][11]
3. a native place; that to which one has a natural right.^[11]
4. (grammar) gender.^[8][2]
5. generation; the genitals.^[8]
6. offspring.^[8]

Word family

• ġecynde
• ġecyndelīċ
• ġecyndlim
• ġecyndnes
• ġecyndbōc

Related words

• cynd

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 79
3. ^ a b Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de
4. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 67
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. cynd
6. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 310
7. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 2.67
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 382
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 e 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 c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 308
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. 249
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gecynd
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. 296
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. ^ Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 61