lædan

Forms

lǣdan (weak class 1; third-person singular present lǣdeþ, past singular lǣdde, past plural lǣddon)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *laidijan (“to lead”), from Proto-Germanic *laidijaną (“to make go”), the causative of *līþaną (“to go (away)”), which survives as līþan (“to go, travel”).^[1][2][3] It is cognate with Old Norse leiða (“to accompany, to conduct”), Old Frisian lēda (“to lead”), Old Saxon lēdian (“to bring”) and Old High German leiten (“to lead”).^[2][3] Köbler and Wiktionary take the base verb back to the root Proto-Indo-European *leyt- (“to go away, to depart”) (Pokorny p. 672).^[4][1]

The causative *laidijan became *lādjąn, with Proto-Germanic /ai/ as /ā/, and i-umlaut then gave the ⟨ǣ⟩ of lǣdan.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record is in the Pastoral Care in Hatton 20, written 890×897, in a quotation from Isaiah: “brec ðæm hyngriendum ðinne hlaf, & ðone widfarendan & ðone wædlan læd on ðin hus”, “break your bread for the hungry, and bring the wanderer and the needy into your house”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The verb translates Latin ducere and ferre and many of their compounds.^[7][4] Toller's Supplement starts from the sense “to cause to move with oneself”, to bring or take a person or a thing somewhere, and goes on to accompanying and guiding, marching at the head of troops, guiding by the hand, leading someone to an opinion or an action, a road leading to a place, steering a ship, and dealing with or carrying out a matter; used intransitively it means to pass one's life.^[8] It is also used of a plant bringing forth shoots and of beating the bounds of land, and wīf lǣdan “to lead a wife” meant to marry.^[9][4]

It continued as Middle English leden, now English lead “to guide”; roads are said to lead by about 1200.^[10]

Timeline

• 890×897 – læd on ðin hus “bring into your house” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[5][6]
• s. x in. or xi¹ – is lædende in synne æ “is leading into the law of sin” in the Old English Bede (Tanner 10).^[11][6]
• s. x³/⁴ – in the Old English gloss of the Lindisfarne Gospels.^[12][6]
• s. x ex. – in Ælfric's Catholic Homilies I (Royal 7 C. xii).^[13][6]
• s. x/xi – lǣdan “to lead, bring” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[14][15]

Meanings

Verb

1. to lead, bring or take a person or a thing to a place; to carry, convey.^[8][15]
2. to accompany and show the way, guide, conduct.^[8]
3. of a commander, to march at the head of.^[8]
4. to lead someone to an opinion or action, induce.^[8]
5. of a road, to lead to a place; to steer a ship.^[8]
6. to bring forth, produce; of plants, to sprout.^[7][4]
7. to pass one's life.^[8][9]
8. (charters) to mark out the bounds of land.^[9][4]

Word family

• ġelǣdan
• ālǣdan
• belǣdan
• forlǣdan
• forþlǣdan
• inlǣdan
• oferlǣdan
• onlǣdan
• mislǣdan
• lǣdere
• anbelǣdan
• inbelǣdan

Descendants

• Middle English leden (→ English lead; Scots lede; Scots leid)^[1]

Related words

• lād
• lādtēow
• līþan

Usage notes

Bosworth and Toller list a separate verb lǣdan “to excuse”, which they refer to lǣdend.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 234
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 232
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lǣdan
5. ^ 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
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 608
8. ^ a b c d e f g Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 599
9. ^ a b c 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. lǣdan
10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ 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
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. 291
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. 407
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
15. ^ a b 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. lǣdan