land

Forms

land n (strong a-stem; genitive singular landes)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *land, from Proto-Germanic *landą (“land”).^[1] The noun is shared by all the old Germanic languages: Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌽𐌳 (land), Old Norse land, Old Frisian land, Old Saxon land and Old High German lant.^[2][3]

Orel relates it to Old Irish land (“open place”), Old Prussian lindan (“valley”) and Proto-Slavic *lędo (“waste ground”).^[2] Köbler and Wiktionary trace it to Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- (“land, heath”).^[3][1] Etymonline reports that Boutkan finds no Indo-European etymology for it and suspects a substrate word.^[4]

Beside land the texts write lond, and Wiktionary also lists lænd.^[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first found in English names of estates in Latin charters: a grant of Archbishop Wulfred of 811 names ðæt Folcwining lond on Eosterge “the Folcwining land in Eastry”, and its single sheet is held to be genuine and contemporary.^[6] A grant of the same year by King Coenwulf of Mercia names Appincg lond and Suithhunincg lond, also in a contemporary sheet.^[7] In running English it opens the will of the reeve Abba (833×839), again a contemporary sheet: Ærest ymb min lond þe ic hæbbe “First, about my land that I have”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller give first land as opposed to water or air, the earth, and then a land or country, region, district or province.^[9] Toller's Supplement adds the figurative realm, as in lifgendra londes wynne “the joy of the land of the living”, and ground or cultivated soil, a field.^[10] Clark Hall and Sweet add landed property, an estate, and the country as opposed to the town;^[11][12] Clark Hall also gives a ridge in a ploughed field.^[11][12] The bounds of a grant of King Edmund begin This sindon tha land gemere “These are the boundaries of the land”.^[13]

In glosses the word renders Latin “terra”, “regio”, “patria”, “ager” and “rus”.^[3] It lived on as Middle English lond, now English land.^[14][4]

Timeline

• 811 – Folcwining lond, an estate in Eastry, in a contemporary charter of Archbishop Wulfred.^[6]
• 833×839 – min lond þe ic hæbbe in the will of the reeve Abba.^[8]
• s. ix med. – in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[15][13]
• 890×897 – in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[16][13]
• s. x/xi – cam þa to lande “then came to land”, of Beowulf swimming, in the Beowulf manuscript.^[17][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. the solid earth, land as opposed to water or air.^[9][3]
2. a country, region, district, province.^[9][11]
3. (figurative) a realm, domain.^[10]
4. ground, soil; cultivated land, a field.^[10][11]
5. landed property, an estate.^[11][12]
6. the country as opposed to the town.^[11][12]
7. a ridge in a ploughed field.^[11]

Word family

• landbōc
• landgemǣre
• landhlāford
• landlēod
• landrīce
• landscipe
• ēaland

Descendants

• Middle English lond (→ English land; Scots laund; Scots land)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 235
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. land
4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ 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. land
6. ^ 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 1264
7. ^ 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 168
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 617
10. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 604
11. ^ a b c d e f g Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 210
12. ^ a b c d Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 125
13. ^ 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
14. ^ 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)
15. ^ 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
16. ^ 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
17. ^ 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