halig

Forms

hāliġ (comparative hāliġra, superlative hālgost)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *hailag, from Proto-Germanic *hailagaz (“holy”), an adjective made from *hailaz (“whole, healthy”) with the suffix *-gaz; in Old English terms it is hāl (“whole”) with -iġ.^[1][2][3] Its cognates are Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌲𐍃 (hailags) (on the Pietroassa ring), Old Norse heilagr, Old Frisian hēlich, Old Saxon hēlag and Old High German heilag, all “holy”.^[2][4][5] Köbler traces the base to the root Proto-Indo-European *kailo- (“whole, unhurt”) (Pokorny p. 520).^[5]

The inherited ⟨*hailag⟩ passed through the stages ⟨*hālæġ⟩ and ⟨*hāleġ⟩ before reaching its Old English shape: the Proto-Germanic /ai/ appears as ⟨ā⟩, and the suffix vowel reached ⟨i⟩ only after i-umlaut had ceased, so it did not umlaut the root.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record is in the Northumbrian Cædmon's Hymn written in the Moore Bede, copied in or after 737: God is “haleg scepen”, “the holy Creator”, who first made heaven as a roof for the children of men.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In the Old English texts the adjective renders Latin sanctus and sacer, also beatus and festus in glosses.^[5][8] Toller's Supplement orders the senses as set apart for religious use (holy ground, a holy day, a cemetery); said of God, and once of a heathen deity; of angels, prophets, apostles and saints; of things belonging to God; of persons of godly life; and, of animals, tame as opposed to wild.^[9] Used as a noun, it meant a holy thing or a holy person, a saint.^[9] In Beowulf it is an epithet of God.^[10] After the conversion it was the usual word for Latin sanctus.^[11] With 1,703 tokens in 400 texts it is among the common adjectives of the corpus.^[7]

It continued as Middle English holi, now English holy; the noun use lies behind English hallow “a saint”.^[11]

Timeline

• c. or after 737 – haleg scepen “holy Creator” in Cædmon's Hymn in the Moore Bede.^[6][7]
• s. ix med. – Mid ðone halgan halig ðu bis “with the holy you will be holy” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[12][7]
• 890×897 – in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[13][7]
• s. x/xi – hālig God in the Beowulf manuscript.^[14][10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. set apart for religious use, consecrated, sacred.^[9][5]
2. holy, of God; once of a heathen deity.^[9][10]
3. holy, of angels, prophets, apostles and saints.^[9]
4. of godly life, free from sin.^[9]
5. of animals, tame.^[9]
6. as a noun: a holy thing; a holy person, a saint.^[9]

Word family

• hālga
• hālgian
• hāliġnes
• hāliġlīċe
• hāliġdōm
• unhāliġ

Descendants

• Middle English holy (→ English holy; Scots haly; Scots halie)^[1]

Related words

• hāl

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 151
3. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 335
4. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 148
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hālig
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. 60
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 505
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. 502
10. ^ a b c 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. hāliġ
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ 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. 329
13. ^ 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
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. 344