sæd

sæd¹ seed

Pronunciation

• /sæːd/^[1]

Forms

sǣd n (strong a-stem; genitive singular sǣdes)^[1] Anglian sēd.^[2] The Vespasian Psalter gloss writes sed.^[3][4]

Etymology

The word for seed is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *sād, from Proto-Germanic *sēdą (“seed”).^[1][5][2] Its cognates are Old Norse sáð, Old Frisian sēd and Old Saxon sād.^[5][6] Kroonen explains it as a noun in *-to- from the root Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“to sow”), which also gave the verb sāwan (“to sow”).^[5] Beside it stood a feminine ti-stem, the source of Old High German sāt and of the second part of Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍃𐌴𐌸𐍃 (manaseþs, “mankind”); Latin satus (“sowing”) is formed from the same root.^[5][7]

Proto-West Germanic /aː/ appears as ⟨ǣ⟩ in West Saxon and as ⟨ē⟩ in Anglian.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is first recorded in the Vespasian Psalter gloss of the mid-ninth century: & sed heara from bearnum monna “and their seed from the children of men” renders “et semen eorum a filiis hominum” (Psalm 20).^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Already in the first record the word means offspring, as Latin “semen” does in the psalm;^[8][9] Bosworth and Toller give the plant sense first, then fruit and crop, sowing, and progeny.^[8][9] The Pastoral Care uses it both for semen (oferflownesse his sædes) and for the seed of the parable that fell among thorns.^[10][4][11] In the medical texts it names the seeds of herbs such as rue and plantain.^[12][4]

The word lived on as Middle English seed, now English seed.^[13][14]

Timeline

• s. ix med. – sed heara “their seed” for Latin “semen eorum” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[3][4]
• 890×897 – Hiera sæd gefeollon on ða ðornas “their seeds fell among the thorns” in the Pastoral Care.^[10][4]
• s. x med. – rudan sæd “rue seed” in Bald's Leechbook.^[15][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. seed, what is sown.^[8][16]
2. fruit, crop; growth.^[9][16]
3. sowing.^[9][17]
4. progeny, offspring; semen.^[8][9]

Word family

• sǣdtīma
• līnsǣd
• sǣdere
• sǣdlēap

Descendants

• Middle English seed (→ English seed; Scots seed; Scots seid)^[1]

sæd² sated

Pronunciation

• /sæd/^[1]

Forms

sæd^[1]

Etymology

The adjective is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *sad, from Proto-Germanic *sadaz (“sated, full”).^[1][18] It has cognates in Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌸𐍃 (saþs), Old Norse saðr, Old Saxon sad and Old High German sat.^[18][19][6] Kroonen and Orel explain it as an old participle in *-to- of the root Proto-Indo-European *seh₂- (“to satisfy, to fill”), seen also in Latin satis (“enough”) and Lithuanian sotùs (“sated”).^[18][19][6] Old English sadian (“to become sated”) belongs to the same adjective.^[18]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective is first recorded in the Exeter Book (second half of the tenth century), in Riddle 5: Iċ eom ānhaga īserne wund, bille ġebennod, beadoweorca sæd “I am a lone one, wounded by iron, struck by the sword, sated with battle-work”.^[20][1]

Semantic evolution

The adjective takes a genitive of what one has had one's fill of: food, wine, battle.^[21][22] Bosworth and Toller note that it is never used in the sense of modern “sad”; in the poem on Brunanburh in the Chronicle (annal 937) a dead warrior lies wērig wīges sæd “weary, sated with war”.^[21] In Beowulf the wounded king is hilde sædne “sated with battle”.^[22][4]

The word lived on as Middle English sad, first “sated, weary”, now English sad.^[13][14]

Timeline

• s. x² – beadoweorca sæd “sated with battle-work” in Riddle 5 of the Exeter Book.^[20][1]
• s. x/xi – hilde sædne “sated with battle” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[23][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. sated, having had one's fill (of something, in the genitive).^[21][22]
2. weary (of something).^[21][24]

Word family

• unsæd

Descendants

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