oferdon

Forms

oferdōn (irregular; third-person singular present oferdēþ, past singular oferdyde, past plural oferdydon)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Old English ofer- + dōn, "over" + "do".^[1][2] Köbler compares Old Frisian overduā and Old High German ubartuon, and Etymonline calls it a common Germanic formation.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest dated record is in Ælfric's Lives of Saints in Cotton Julius E. vii (early eleventh century), translating a Latin proverb: Omnia nimia nocent, þæt is ealle oferdone þing dæriað “all things overdone do harm”.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Ælfric uses it again in the Catholic Homilies, of correction that should be tempered with love, na mid wælhreownysse oferdon “not overdone with cruelty”.^[6] Toller's Supplement adds another instance of the proverb from a later homily.^[7]

Middle English overdon meant to act without measure or to carry something to excess;^[8][3] Etymonline notes the later senses of overtaxing oneself and of cooking food too long, in English overdo.^[8][3]

Timeline

• s. xi in. – ealle oferdone þing “all things done to excess” in Ælfric's Lives of Saints.^[4][5]
• a1325 – Middle English overdoot, glossing French in the Bibbesworth glosses.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. to overdo, do to excess.^[6][9]
2. oferdōne þing excesses.^[10][7]

Descendants

• Middle English ouerdon (→ English overdo)^[1]

Related words

• dōn

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. oferdōn
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ 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. 282
5. ^ a b Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
6. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 731
7. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 658
8. ^ a b c 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)
9. ^ Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 255
10. ^ Nerthus: An Online Lexical Database of Old English, Universidad de La Rioja, nerthusproject.com (derivational paradigms, via the Nerthus Project's open data)