Etymologically
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growan

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈɡroː.wɑn/[1]

Forms

grōwan (strong class 7; third-person singular present grēwþ, past singular grēow, past plural grēowon)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *grōan, from Proto-Germanic *grōaną (“to grow, become green”).[1] The strong verb is shared with Old Norse gróa (“to grow, become green”) and Old Frisian grōwa (“to grow”), while Old Saxon grōian and Old High German gruoen (“to grow green, thrive”) are weak.[2][3][4][5]

Holthausen, Köbler and Wiktionary connect it with grēne (“green”) and græs (“grass”) and the root Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- (“to grow, become green”).[6][7][1] Orel calls it of unknown origin.[8] It is a strong verb of class 7 with ⟨ēo⟩ in the past.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first recorded in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20, 890×897): Ac ðonne grewð ðæt sæd suiðe wel ðara worda, ðonne sio mildheortnes ðæs lareowes geðwænð & gelecð ða breost ðæs gehierendes “But the seed of the words grows very well when the teacher's kindness softens and moistens the hearer's breast”.[10][11] The Old English Bede says of Britain that on sumum stowum wingeardas growaþ “in some places vines grow”.[12][11]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller translate it “to grow, increase, spring, sprout”, with Latin crescere, germinare and virere.[13] Of a plant it also means to be green and flourish: in the Old English Boethius on lencten hit gréwþ, and on hærfest hit fealwaþ “in spring it grows green and in autumn it withers”.[14] It is often paired with blōwan (“to bloom”), as of the herb in the Herbarium that can only be known ðonne heó gréwð and bléwð “when it grows and blooms”.[14][13]

It lived on as Middle English grouen, English grow;[15][16] Etymonline notes that Middle English applied it to people from about 1300 and to animals from the fifteenth century, in place of weaxan.[15][16]

Timeline

  • 890×897 – grewð ðæt sæd “the seed grows” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).[10][11]
  • s. x in. or xi¹ – wingeardas growaþ in the Old English Bede (Tanner 10).[12][11]
  • s. x med. – on lencten hit gréwþ in the Old English Boethius (Cotton Otho A. vi).[17][14]
  • s. x/xi – greow in the Beowulf manuscript.[18][19]
  • c. 1300 – Middle English grouen first used of people.[16]

Meanings

Verb

  1. of plants, to grow, sprout, spring up.[13][7]
  2. to be green, flourish.[14]
  3. to increase.[13][7]

Word family

  • ġegrōwan
  • fullgrōwan

Descendants

  • grēne
  • græs

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  3. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 190
  4. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. grōwa
  5. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de
  6. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 139
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. grōwan
  8. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 143
  9. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 348
  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 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. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 491
  14. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 488
  15. ^ a b c 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)
  16. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  17. ^ 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
  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. 344
  19. ^ 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. grōwan