hælan

Forms

hǣlan (weak class 1; third-person singular present hǣleþ, past singular hǣlde, past plural hǣldon)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *hailijan, from Proto-Germanic *hailijaną (“to make whole, heal”), a verb made with the suffix *-janą to the adjective *hailaz (“whole, healthy”), the source of hāl.^[1][2][3] The verb has the same form in Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hailjan), Old Frisian hēla, Old Saxon hēlian and Old High German heilen.^[2][4] Kroonen traces the adjective to Proto-Indo-European *koi-lo-, beside Old Church Slavonic цѣлъ (cělъ, “whole”).^[3]

The ⟨ǣ⟩ is the i-umlaut of the ā that Proto-Germanic /ai/ became in Old English, so that the vowel of the verb differs from that of the adjective.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is recorded from the later tenth century.^[6][7] In Guthlac in the Exeter Book (s. x²) the saint “hælde bu tu lic ond sawle”, “healed both body and soul”, of those who came to him in need.^[6][7] The Durham Ritual gloss, added about 970, renders “Sana me domine et sanabor” with “gihæl mec driht' & ic biom hæled”, “heal me, Lord, and I shall be healed”.^[8][7]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is to make whole: to heal a sick person, in body or mind, and to cure a disease or a wound; in the Pastoral Care oil soothes and heals a wound.^[9] From this the verb also means to save, from bodily harm (Dryhten, hǣl ūsic “Lord, save us” in the Gospel glosses) as well as the soul from damnation, rendering Latin “salvare” beside “sanare” and “curare”.^[9][2] In Genesis three brothers hældon hygesorge, relieving Abraham's anxiety with brave words.^[7][10] The imperative Hǣl ūs on hēanessum renders “Hosanna in the highest”.^[4] Its present participle hǣlende is an epithet of Christ, beside the noun hǣlend.^[9] In a lunarium, where the seventh day of the moon is good for letting blood, the verb renders Latin “castrare”.^[9][11]

It lived on as Middle English helen “to cure, heal”, now English heal.^[12][13]

Timeline

• s. x² – hælde bu tu lic ond sawle “healed both body and soul” in Guthlac in the Exeter Book.^[6][7]
• s. x² – hældon hygesorge “eased his heart's sorrow” in Genesis in the Junius manuscript.^[10][7]
• c. 970 – ic biom hæled “I shall be healed” in the Durham Ritual gloss.^[8][7]
• s. x³/⁴ – to hælenne “to heal” in the Lindisfarne gloss of Luke.^[14][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. to heal, make whole, of a sick person.^[4][9]
2. to cure a disease or a wound.^[9][15]
3. to save, from harm or from damnation.^[9][2]
4. to ease, allay, of grief or anxiety.^[1][7]
5. to hail, greet, in hǣl ūs “Hosanna”.^[4][11]
6. to castrate.^[9][2]

Word family

• ġehǣlan
• hǣlend
• tōhǣlan

Descendants

• Middle English helen (→ English heal; Scots heal)^[1]

Related words

• hāl
• hǣlu

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hǣlan
3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 200
4. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 500
5. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 5.79
6. ^ 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. 223
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
8. ^ 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. 204
9. ^ 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. 496
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. 513
11. ^ a b Nerthus: An Online Lexical Database of Old English, Universidad de La Rioja, nerthusproject.com (derivational paradigms, via the Nerthus Project's open data), p. s.v. hǣlan
12. ^ 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)
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. 291
15. ^ Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 165