ræd

Forms

rǣd m (strong a-stem; genitive singular rǣdes, nominative plural rǣdas)^[1] Also spelled rēd.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *rād, from Proto-Germanic *rēdaz (“advice, counsel”).^[1][3] The noun has exact counterparts in Old Frisian rēd, Old Saxon rād, Old High German rāt and Old Norse ráð.^[4][5][3] Orel and Köbler derive it from the strong verb Proto-Germanic *rēdaną (“to advise, decide”), the source of Old English rǣdan.^[4][3] Kroonen traces that verb to Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₁dʰ-, with cognates in Indo-Iranian meaning "to succeed, to fit".^[6]

The Middle English Dictionary sets the West Saxon form with ⟨ǣ⟩ beside an Anglian form with ⟨ē⟩.^[7] Bosworth and Toller list the spelling ⟨rēd⟩ as a variant.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is recorded in forms not shared with the verb rǣdan from the Old English Orosius (s. x¹ or x²/⁴), where the Roman priests gelærdan … swelce niwe rædas "taught such new counsels" as they had often foolishly given before.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller distinguish four senses: advice given; prudence and good sense; a course of action resolved on, a plan, a decree; and what is advisable, a benefit.^[10] In the laws it stands for counsel, for the consent of the councillors (mid witenan ræde), for an ordinance and for one's own decision.^[11] In Beowulf the plural ēċe rǣdas means lasting gain, eternal benefit.^[5][12][9]

It continued as Middle English red "advice, counsel".^[7] Etymonline describes it as very common in Old and early Middle English, leaving literary use in the seventeenth century before an archaic revival as English rede.^[13]

Timeline

• s. x¹ or x²/⁴ – niwe rædas “new counsels” in the Old English Orosius.^[8][9]
• s. x² – Is eow rædes þearf “you have need of counsel” in Elene (Vercelli Book).^[14][9][10]
• s. x ex. – hlyste he godes rædes “let him listen to good counsel” in Ælfric's Catholic Homilies I.^[15][9][16]
• s. x/xi – ēċe rǣdas “eternal gain” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[12][5]
• Middle English – red “advice, counsel”.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. counsel, advice.^[10][5]
2. good sense, prudence, reason.^[10]
3. a plan or resolution; a decree, ordinance.^[10][11]
4. (law) consent; one's own decision.^[11]
5. what is advisable; benefit, gain, help.^[10][5]

Word family

• rǣdbora
• rǣdlēas
• rǣdfæst
• unrǣd
• folcrǣd

Descendants

• Middle English red (→ English rede; Scots rede)^[1]

Related words

• rǣdan

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 789
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. rǣd
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 303
5. ^ a b c d e 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. rǣd
6. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 408
7. ^ 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)
8. ^ 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. 249
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c d e f Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 781
11. ^ a b c Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 180
12. ^ 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. 344
13. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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. 704
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. 407
16. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 683