read

Forms

rēad^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *raud, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz (“red”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós.^[1][2] Its Germanic cognates are Gothic 𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌸𐍃 (rauþs), Old Norse rauðr, Old Frisian rād, Old Saxon rōd and Old High German rōt.^[2][3] Kroonen explains it as an o-grade adjective beside the strong verb seen in rēodan “to redden”.^[2]

Outside Germanic it is related to Old Irish rúad (“red”), Latin rūfus (“red”) (with dialectal features), Lithuanian raũdas (“red”) and Proto-Slavic *rudъ.^[4] Wiktionary adds Ancient Greek ἐρυθρός (eruthrós, “red”) and ruber (“red”), from the root *h₁rewdʰ-.^[1] Proto-Germanic /au/ appears as ⟨ēa⟩, beside the ⟨ā⟩ of the Old Frisian form.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20, 890×897): the priest's robe was to have bells hanging on it and ongemang ðæm bellum reade apla “red apples among the bells”, which the text reads as the unity of the true faith.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The word covers a range of shades: in the glosses it renders “ruber”, “rubeus”, “roseus”, “phoeniceus”, and also “flavus”, “fulvus” and “croceus”, yellowish and tawny colours.^[7][8] It is used of plants and fruit (red clover, red grapes, roses), of gold, of fire and the sky, and of blood, as in sio reade rod “the bloodstained cross” in Christ.^[7] The Erfurt Glossary has rede clabre “red clover” for Latin “calta”.^[9] Several plant names are formed with it, among them rēad æppel “pomegranate”.^[10]

It lived on as Middle English red and survives in English red.^[11][12]

Timeline

• 890×897 – reade apla “red apples” in the Pastoral Care.^[5][6]
• s. x¹ or x²/⁴ – seo Reade Sæ “the Red Sea” in the Old English Orosius.^[13][6]
• s. x med. – hwite gimmas ge reade “white gems and red” in the Old English Boethius.^[14][6]
• s. x med. – red clover in Bald's Leechbook.^[15][7]
• s. x² – sio reade rod in Christ, in the Exeter Book.^[16][7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. red, of shades from red and purple to reddish yellow.^[7][8]
2. used of gold.^[7]
3. of fire and the sky, glowing red.^[7]
4. red with blood, bloodstained.^[7]

Word family

• blōdrēad
• geolurēad
• weolcenrēad
• wurmrēad
• wrætrēad

Descendants

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

Related words

• rēodan
• rēod
• rudu
• rūst

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 406
3. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 172
4. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 299
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 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 d e f g h Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 787
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. réad
9. ^ Pheifer, J. D. (1974), Old English Glosses in the Épinal-Erfurt Glossary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 104
10. ^ Bierbaumer, Peter; Sauer, Hans; Klug, Helmut W.; Krischke, Ulrike, eds. (2007–), Dictionary of Old English Plant Names, Graz, oldenglish-plantnames.org, p. s.v. æppel, rēad
11. ^ 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)
12. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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. 249
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. 296
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. 412
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. 223