gerecenian

Forms

ġerecenian (weak class 2; third-person singular present ġerecenaþ, past singular ġerecenode, past plural ġerecenodon)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Old English ġe- + recenian.^[1][2] The simple verb is from Proto-West Germanic *rekanōn (“to count, to explain”), made with the suffix *-ōn from Proto-West Germanic *rekan (“right, proper, straight”);^[1] Köbler gives the Germanic verb as Proto-Germanic *rekanōn (“to explain, to count”) and compares the root Proto-Indo-European *reǵ- (“straight, to direct”).^[3] Holthausen ties it to the adjective recen (“ready, quick”) and gives as cognates Old Frisian rekenia, Old High German rehhanōn and Middle Low German rekenen.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is recorded in the poem Exodus in the Junius manuscript, written in the later tenth and early eleventh centuries: Run biþ gerecenod “the mystery will be explained”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller give the sense “to explain” and the Latin exponere, explanare and interpretari;^[5] Holthausen and Köbler add “to relate” and “to pay”.^[5][4][2] Clark Hall treats it under the simple verb, with “to pay” for the simplex and “to explain, to recount, to relate” for the ġe- form.^[7] The MED derives Middle English rekenen from this verb and late Old English recenian;^[8] its modern descendant is reckon.^[9]

Timeline

• s. x² – Run biþ gerecenod “the mystery will be explained” in Exodus (Junius manuscript).^[5][6]
• c. 1200 – Middle English rekenen “to enumerate, to recount”.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. to explain, to interpret.^[5][10]
2. to relate, to recount.^[4][2]
3. to pay.^[4][2]

Related words

• recenian
• recen

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gerecenian
3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *recenian
4. ^ a b c d Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 256
5. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 430
6. ^ 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. 513
7. ^ Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 279
8. ^ 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)
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 161