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Etymology and origin of the Old English word side

side1 side, flank

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
800–850 Corpus Glossary
Inherited from
Proto-Germanic *sīdǭ
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *sīdaz

Pronunciation

Forms

sīde f (weak n-stem; genitive singular sīdan, nominative plural sīdan)[1]

Etymology

The word for the side is inherited from Proto-Germanic *sīdǭ.[1][2] It is found also in Old Norse síða, Old Frisian sīde, Old Saxon sīda and Old High German sīta.[2][3][4] Orel and Holthausen derive it from the adjective Proto-Germanic *sīdaz (“long, wide”), Old English sīd;[2][3][1] Wiktionary explains the sense as developing from "long" through "broad surface" to "side".[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is first recorded in the Corpus Glossary (s. ix¹), where side glosses Latin lumbus "loin".[5][6] In the Vespasian Psalter gloss (s. ix med.) on sidan noðdaeles renders latera aquilonis "the sides of the north" in Psalm 47.[7][6]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller begin with the side or flank of a living being, then the side of a house, ship or other thing, the side as a direction ("on one side … on the other"), and the side of descent, on the father's or mother's side.[8] In the medical texts it is the side of the body in pain.[8] In John's Gospel it is the side opened with a spear.[8] It glosses Latin latus and lumbus.[4]

It continued as Middle English side, English side.[9][10]

Timeline

  • s. ix¹ – side glossing lumbus in the Corpus Glossary.[5][6]
  • s. ix med. – on sidan noðdaeles “on the sides of the north” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.[7][6]
  • 890×897 – bi ðære earce sidan “by the side of the ark” in the Pastoral Care.[11][6]
  • s. x med. – wið þære swiðran sidan sare “for pain in the right side” in Bald's Leechbook.[12][6]
  • Middle English – side “side of something”.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. the side, flank of a person or animal.[8][4]
  2. the side of a house, ship or other thing.[8]
  3. a side as a direction: on this or that side.[8]
  4. a side of descent, the father's or mother's side.[8]

Descendants

  • Middle English side (→ English side; Scots side; Scots syde)[1]

side2 silk

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
Borrowed from
Latin seta
Ultimate origin
Latin saeta

Pronunciation

Forms

sīde f (nominative plural sīdan)[1]

Etymology

The word for silk is borrowed from Late Latin sēta (“silk”), from Classical Latin saeta (“bristle”).[1][13] Wiktionary places the borrowing in Proto-West Germanic, as Proto-West Germanic *sīdā, the source also of Old High German sīda (“silk”).[1] The Old High German word comes from a Romance or Vulgar Latin *sēda (“silk”).[14] Bosworth and Toller compare the Romance words for silk.[15] Durkin lists it among the Latin loans for clothing and textiles.[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bosworth and Toller cite it from a monastic colloquy, where sīdan glosses Latin sericum "silk"; that text has no dated manuscript in the corpus record.[15]

Meanings

Noun

  1. silk.[15][16][4]

Word family

  • sīdwyrm

side3 widely

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
950–1000 Genesis A (Junius 11)
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *sīdaz

Pronunciation

Forms

sīde (adverb)[1]

Etymology

The adverb meaning "widely" is formed from Old English sīd (“wide, ample”) + -e.[1][4] The adjective goes back to Proto-Germanic *sīdaz, whose descendants include the adverbs Old Frisian sīde (“deep”) and Old High German sīto (“slack, loose”).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record is in Genesis A in the Junius manuscript (s. x²), where the heavenly dwellings wæron gesette wide and side "were set far and wide".[17][6]

Semantic evolution

It is nearly always paired with wīde in wīde and sīde "far and wide".[8] Alone it glosses Latin prolixius "more amply".[8][18] In Middle English side meant "long, low" and "widely", and the phrase wide and side continued.[9]

Timeline

  • s. x² – wide and side in Genesis A (Junius 11).[17][6]
  • s. xi med. – Godes lof rærde, wide and side “raised God's praise far and wide”, annal 959 of the Chronicle D.[19][6]
  • Middle English – wide and side “far and wide”.[9]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. widely, amply, extensively;[8][20] wīde and sīde far and wide.[8][20]
  • sīd

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 329
  3. ^ a b c d Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 292
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sīde
  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. 76
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 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
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 870
  9. ^ a b c d 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)
  10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ a b Durkin, Philip (2014), Borrowed Words: A History of Loanwords in English, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 112
  14. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de
  15. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 871
  16. ^ Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 175
  17. ^ 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. 513
  18. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 703
  19. ^ 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. 318
  20. ^ a b 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. sīde

Related etymologies

  • coc · also from Latin
  • pic · also from Latin
  • butere · also from Latin
  • rose · also from Latin
  • sacc · also from Latin
  • torr · also from Latin
  • port · also from Latin
  • cipp · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Side.” Etymologically, 16 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ang/side. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·