hlaf

Forms

hlāf m (strong a-stem; genitive singular hlāfes, nominative plural hlāfas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *hlaib, from Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz (“bread, loaf”).^[1] Its cognates are Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃 (hlaifs), Old Norse hleifr and Old High German leib.^[2][3][4]

The origin is unknown.^[5] Kroonen finds no further etymology; he mentions a possible link with the first part of Middle High German lebekuoche (“gingerbread”) and calls the old comparison with Ancient Greek κλίβανος (klíbanos, “oven”) spurious.^[2] Wiktionary allows a loan from an unknown language or a late Germanic formation, and notes that the Greek comparison goes back to Walde.^[1] Holthausen also compares the Middle High German word.^[3] Etymonline mentions a link with hlifian (“to tower”), from bread rising.^[6]

Proto-Germanic /ai/ appears in Old English as ⟨ā⟩, as in this word.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated record is in the will of Abba the reeve (833×839), which survives as a contemporary single sheet: among the yearly render to the community at Folkestone are CCCC hlafa “four hundred loaves”, with malt, cheese, an ox and six sheep.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

It was the usual Old English word for bread; brēad is rare, both in that sense and as “bit, morsel”.^[9] Bosworth and Toller list both senses, bread and a single loaf, with many kinds of bread named in Ælfric's glossary: leavened, coarse, wheaten, baked on the hearth or in the oven.^[10] Liebermann notes that the loaf of the laws was of a roughly fixed size and was small.^[11] It renders Latin “panis” in the glosses and “oblatio”.^[5] It is the first part of hlāford (“lord”), from *hlāf-weard “guardian of bread”.^[12]

It became Middle English lof “a loaf of bread”, now English loaf, which is now only used of a single loaf.^[13][9]

Timeline

• 833×839 – CCCC hlafa “four hundred loaves” in the will of Abba, a contemporary single sheet.^[7][8]
• s. ix med. – se ðe et hlafas mine “who ate my bread” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[14][8]
• late 13th c. – the English form loaf, by Etymonline's date.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. bread; food.^[10][5][15]
2. a loaf.^[10][11]

Word family

• hlāford
• hlǣfdīġe
• hlāfǣta
• hlāfmæsse
• hwītehlāf

Descendants

• Middle English lof (→ English loaf; Scots laif)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 228
3. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 162
4. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 170
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hlāf
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ 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 1482
8. ^ a b c 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 Durkin, Philip (2014), Borrowed Words: A History of Loanwords in English, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 209
10. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 540
11. ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 115
12. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 202
13. ^ 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)
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. 329
15. ^ Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 112