hindrian

Forms

hindrian (weak class 2; third-person singular present hindraþ, past singular hindrode, past plural hindrodon)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hindrōną (“to hinder”), made to *hinder (“behind”).^[1] Holthausen derives it from the adverb hinder (“behind, back”).^[2] Köbler sets up the Proto-Germanic verb as *hindarōn.^[3] It has cognates in Old Frisian hinderia, Middle Low German hinderen, Old High German hintarōn and Old Norse hindra (“to keep behind, hinder”).^[2][3][4] Cleasby and Vigfússon gloss the Old Norse verb first as to keep behind.^[5]

Etymonline derives it from a root meaning “behind” and gives the ground sense as to put or keep back.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is recorded twice in the corpus, both times in the same sentence of Wulfstan's Institutes of Polity, on the duties of a wise king: a he sceal hæþendom hindrian and hyrwan “he must always hold back and despise heathendom”.^[7][8] The earlier manuscript with the passage is CCCC 201, of the first half or middle of the eleventh century; the other is Junius 121, of the third quarter.^[9][10][8]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller translate the verb as to hinder, obstruct, keep back or repress;^[7][11] Sweet gives only repress.^[7][11] The prefixed participle appears in the Peterborough Chronicle's annal for 1003: when the leader weakens, þonne bið eall se here swiðe gehindred “then the whole army is greatly hindered”.^[8] Nerthus derives the verb from hinder by zero derivation.^[12]

The word lived on as Middle English hindren, recorded before 1200 in the Trinity Homilies, where it means to harm or injure.^[13] Etymonline notes that the sense to put or keep back is recorded in English only from the late fourteenth century; the word is now English hinder.^[6]

Timeline

• s. xi¹ or xi med. – hæþendom hindrian “to hold back heathendom” in Wulfstan's Institutes of Polity (CCCC 201).^[9][8]
• s. xi³/⁴ – the same sentence in the Junius 121 copy of the Institutes.^[10][8]
• 1003 – gehindred “hindered” of an army in the Peterborough Chronicle's annal for that year.^[8]
• a1200 – Middle English hindreð “harms” in the Trinity Homilies.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. to hinder, obstruct, keep back.^[7][3]
2. to repress, check.^[7][11]

Word family

• ġehindrian

Descendants

• Middle English hindren (→ English hinder; English hynder)^[1]

Related words

• hinder
• hindan

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 160
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hindrian
4. ^ Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. hindra
5. ^ Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 262
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 537
8. ^ a b c d e f Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
9. ^ 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. 105
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. 517
11. ^ a b c Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 111
12. ^ 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. hindrian
13. ^ a b 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)