Etymologically
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swete

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈsweː.te/[1]

Forms

swēte (comparative swētra, superlative swētest)[1] Northumbrian swœ̄te.[2] Mercian swoete, as in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.[3][4][5] Beside it stands swōt, without i-umlaut.[6][7]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *swōtī, from Proto-Germanic *swōtuz (“sweet”), from Proto-Indo-European *swéh₂dus (“sweet”).[1][2] The adjective is found in Old Norse sœtr, Old Frisian swēte, Old Saxon swōti and Old High German suozi.[6][8][9] Kroonen calls it the Indo-European word for “sweet”, of the same origin as Sanskrit स्वादु (svādú), Ancient Greek ἡδύς (hēdús) and Latin suāvis.[6][8][1] Orel takes Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐍄𐌹𐍃 (sutis, “mild, yielding”) for its zero grade;[8][6] Kroonen finds this less certain because of the different meaning.[8][6]

Most of the northwest Germanic forms go back to a ja-stem that took the place of the old u-stem; the Old English swōt shows no umlaut and keeps the older type.[6] Hogg and Fulk class the word as a u-stem.[7] With i-umlaut, the /ō/ became /œ̄/, kept in Northumbrian, and unrounded to /ē/ in West Saxon.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective is first recorded in the Vespasian Psalter gloss of the mid-ninth century, in Psalm 24: dryhten swoete & reht “the Lord is sweet and upright”, over Latin dulcis et rectus dominus.[4][5] The Pastoral Care (890×897) says that alms paid out of robbery bring forth nanne swetne wæsðm “no sweet fruit”.[10][5]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller begin with sweetness of taste: the fruit that is swá swéte “so sweet” in Genesis B, and the doctor in the Old English Boethius who gives the healthy a mild, sweet drink and others a bitter one.[11] Sweet adds “fragrant”, “untainted” and “agreeable, pleasant”.[12] In plant names it marks fragrance, as in swēte wyrt for cinnamon, or a sweet kind of apple.[13][14] It also appears in charter bounds, as a sweet apple tree in a grant of 958.[15]

It lived on as Middle English swete, English sweet, also as a noun, “sweetness”.[16][3]

Timeline

  • s. ix med. – dryhten swoete in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.[4][5]
  • 890×897 – nanne swetne wæsðm in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).[10][5]
  • s. x med. – a sweet drink, drenc … swétne, in the Old English Boethius (Cotton Otho A. vi).[17][11]
  • s. x² – Iċ eom on gōman ġēna swētra “I am sweeter still in the mouth” in a riddle of the Exeter Book.[1][18]
  • a1225 – Middle English muchel swete “much sweetness” as a noun.[16]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. sweet to the taste.[11][12][9]
  2. sweet-smelling, fragrant.[12][13]
  3. pure, untainted.[12][1]
  4. pleasant, agreeable; of sound, harmonious.[12][1]

Word family

  • swētnes
  • swētlīċe
  • swētan
  • swōte
  • unswēte

Descendants

  • Middle English swete (→ English sweet; Scots swet; Scots sweit)[1]
  • swōt

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 227
  3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c 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
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d e f Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 503
  7. ^ a b Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 4.7
  8. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 398
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. swœ̄te
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 952
  12. ^ a b c d e Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 189
  13. ^ a b Bierbaumer, Peter; Sauer, Hans; Klug, Helmut W.; Krischke, Ulrike, eds. (2007–), Dictionary of Old English Plant Names, Graz, oldenglish-plantnames.org, p. s.v. wyrt, swēte
  14. ^ 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, swēte
  15. ^ Middendorff, H. (1902), Altenglisches Flurnamenbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 131
  16. ^ a b 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)
  17. ^ 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
  18. ^ 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