grene

Forms

grēne^[1]

• Northumbrian grœ̄ne.^[2]
• Early groeni in the Corpus Glossary.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *grōnī, from Proto-Germanic *grōniz (“green”).^[1][2] Its cognates are Old Frisian grēne, Old Saxon grōni, Old High German gruoni and Old Norse grœnn.^[5][6][7]

Kroonen derives it from an adjective in -ni- made to the root of the verb that became grōwan.^[5] Holthausen and Orel likewise make it a derivative of the verb "to grow", and Orel compares Proto-Slavic *granь (“branch”).^[7][6] Köbler and Wiktionary trace it to Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- (“to grow, become green”).^[8][1]

The i of the suffix fronted the ō to œ̄, which Northumbrian kept in grœ̄ne, while West Saxon unrounded it to ē.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated record is in the Corpus Glossary (s. ix¹), where groeni aar “green metal” glosses Latin “aurocalcum”, brass.^[3][4] The bounds of a charter dated 846 begin on grenan pytt “to the green pit”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The adjective is used first of grass, foliage and growing things, and of other things of that colour, such as brass.^[10][11] It also describes land covered with grass or leaves: green fields, hills and roads, often in charter bounds, and figuratively the pleasant road to heaven in Christ and Satan.^[11][12] Because green is the colour of a living plant, the word also says that a plant is new or tender, full of life, or still moist and fresh;^[11][7] Holthausen glosses it "young, unripe; growing, living".^[11][7] In glosses it renders Latin “viridis”.^[8]

The adjective lived on as Middle English grene, now English green.^[1][13]

Timeline

• s. ix¹ – groeni aar for “aurocalcum” in the Corpus Glossary.^[3][4]
• 846 – on grenan pytt in the bounds of Æthelwulf's charter.^[9]
• s. x in. or xi¹ – a hill grene & fæger “green and fair” in the Old English Bede.^[14][4]
• s. x² – grene grundas in Andreas in the Vercelli Book.^[15][11]
• c. 1000 – ða grenan wyrta “the green plants” in Ælfric's Hexameron.^[1]

Meanings

Adjective

1. green in colour, of plants and other things.^[10][8]
2. covered with grass or foliage; of a tree, in leaf.^[11]
3. young, unripe, tender.^[11][7]
4. growing, living; fresh; of a vegetable, raw.^[11][1]

Word family

• grēnian
• grēnnes
• græsgrēne
• singrēne
• samgrēne

Descendants

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

Related words

• grōwan

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 227
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. 76
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 191
6. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 143
7. ^ a b c d e Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 138
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. grēne
9. ^ a b The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 298
10. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 488
11. ^ 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. Suppl. 485
12. ^ Middendorff, H. (1902), Altenglisches Flurnamenbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 61
13. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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. 531
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