steorra

Forms

steorra m (weak; genitive singular steorran, nominative plural steorran)^[1]

• Northumbrian: stearra in the Lindisfarne gloss.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *sterrō, a variant of *sternō, from Proto-Germanic *sternǭ (“star”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr (“star”).^[1] The forms with geminate ⟨-rr-⟩ are West Germanic, Old Frisian stēra, Old Saxon sterro and Old High German sterro, while Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍉 (stairnō), Old Norse stjarna and sterno keep the ⟨-n-⟩.^[3][4] Outside Germanic the same word is Ancient Greek ἀστήρ (astḗr), Latin stēlla, Welsh seren and Hittite ḫašter-.^[3][4] Köbler, following Pokorny, connects it with the root Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“to spread, strew”).^[5]

According to Wiktionary, Kroonen explains the two Germanic stems from an n-stem whose oblique cases had ⟨-rn-⟩, assimilated to ⟨-rr-⟩ by Kluge's law.^[1] Hogg notes that West Germanic gemination did not affect /r/, so the ⟨-rr-⟩ of the word must go back to a Germanic form of its own, and the ⟨eo⟩ is the regular breaking of /e/ before r and a consonant.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in the mid-ninth-century gloss of the Vespasian Psalter: For ðon ic gesie heofenas werc fingra ðinra monan & steorran ða ðu gesteaðulades “For I shall see the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have established”, over the Latin of Psalm 8.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

The word means a star and renders Latin “stella”; it is also used of a comet, steorra, se is cweden comēta in the Old English Bede.^[2][5] The Boethius names the same bright star morgensteorra and ǣfensteorra, and calls the Bear the star that never goes down in the west.^[2] The Chronicle records the stars that appeared during an eclipse of the sun.^[9]

The word lived on as Middle English sterre, now English star.^[10][11]

Timeline

• s. ix med. – monan & steorran in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[8][9]
• s. ix/x – steorran hie ætiewdon “stars appeared” during an eclipse, in the Parker Chronicle, annal 540.^[12][9]
• s. x in. or xi¹ – a comet called steorra in the Old English Bede (Tanner 10).^[13][2]
• s. x med. – morgensteorra and ǣfensteorra in the Boethius (Otho A. vi).^[14][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. a star.^[2][5][15]
2. a comet (steorra, se is cweden comēta).^[2]

Word family

• ǣfensteorra
• morgensteorra

Descendants

• Middle English sterre (→ English star; Scots ster)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 918
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 375
4. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 320
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. steorra
6. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 4.12
7. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 5.22
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. 329
9. ^ 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
10. ^ 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)
11. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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. 83
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. 531
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. ^ Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 183