Etymologically
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treow

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treow1 tree

Pronunciation

Forms

trēow n (strong a-stem; genitive singular trēowes, nominative plural trēowu)[1] Also trēo, trīow and trȳw;[1][2][3] trew in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.[1][2][3]

Etymology

The tree is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *treu, from Proto-Germanic *trewą (“tree”).[1][4] The Proto-Germanic neuter is continued by Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌿 (triu, “stick, piece of wood”), Old Norse tré (“tree, mast, beam”), Old Frisian trē and Old Saxon trio.[4][5][6] In German the word is lost, except in compounds.[7]

Kroonen calls it the Indo-European word for “wood” and “tree” and sets up Proto-Indo-European *dréu-o-;[4] Wiktionary derives the Germanic form from the oblique stem *dréw- of Proto-Indo-European *dóru (“tree”).[4][1] Holthausen and de Vries compare Ancient Greek δόρυ (dóru, “wood, spear”) and Old Irish daur (“oak”).[8][9] Köbler puts it under Pokorny's root Proto-Indo-European *deru- (“tree”).[10] De Vries rejects Benveniste's view that the root first meant “firm, strong” and the tree was named from that: the tree, he argues, has to be the starting point.[9] Kroonen and Holthausen refer from it to the words behind teoru “tar” and trog “trough”.[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in the mid-ninth century: the Old English gloss of the Vespasian Psalter writes trew his over the Latin “arbusta eius” of Psalm 79:11, “its trees” (or “shrubs”) beside the cedars that the vine covers.[11][3] In the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20, 890×897) a man goes into the wood “treow to ceorfanne”, to cut wood, when the axe flies off its handle and kills his companion.[12][3]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller give the senses in the order a living tree, wood as a material, trees collectively (a wood), and a piece of wood: a beam, log, stake, staff or cudgel.[2] Sweet adds the gallows and the Cross: the dreamer of the Dream of the Rood sees “syllicre treow”, the most wondrous tree, raised in the air.[13][14][3] In the charters it names trees used as boundary marks, such as a “Frigedæges treow”.[15] The laws fine a man for each great tree he cuts in another's wood without leave.[2][16]

The word lived on as Middle English tre, now English tree.[17][18]

Timeline

  • s. ix med. – trew his “its trees” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.[11][3]
  • 890×897 – treow to ceorfanne “to cut wood” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).[12][3]
  • s. x med. – the tree that is clad in bark against winter storms in the Old English Boethius.[19][3]
  • s. x² – syllicre treow, the Cross, in the Dream of the Rood (Vercelli Book).[14][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. a tree.[2][10]
  2. wood as a material.[2][13]
  3. (collective) trees, a forest.[2]
  4. a piece of wood: a beam, log, stake, staff or cudgel.[2]
  5. the gallows; the cross of Christ.[13][15]

Word family

  • æppeltrēow
  • ċedertrēow
  • eletrēow
  • fīctrēow
  • palmtrēow
  • pīntrēow
  • wudutrēow
  • trēowcynn
  • trēowwyrhta
  • trīewen

Descendants

  • Middle English tre (→ English tree; Middle Scots tre; Middle Scots tree)[1]

treow2 loyalty

Pronunciation

Forms

trēow f (strong ō-stem; genitive singular trēowe, nominative plural trēowa)[1]

Etymology

The loyalty is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *treuwu, from Proto-Germanic *trewwō (“fidelity, pledge”).[1][20] Orel takes the noun to be the adjective Proto-Germanic *trewwaz used as a noun;[20] Wiktionary derives it from the adjective Proto-Germanic *triwwiz (“true, faithful”), the source of Old English trīewe.[20][1] The noun is continued by Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐌰 (triggwa, “covenant”), Old Frisian triūwe, Old Saxon treuwa and Old High German triuwa.[20][21][22]

Kroonen reconstructs the adjective as Proto-Germanic *trewwu- (“loyal, trustworthy”) and compares Old Prussian druwit (“to believe”) and Old Irish derb (“certain”).[23] He adds that it may be connected with the Indo-European word for “wood” behind the tree word, with a shift of meaning like that of Latin rōbustus (“made of oak; strong”) from rōbur (“oak”).[23] Köbler too sets the loyalty word beside the root of the tree word in Pokorny.[21] Holthausen compares Greek, Old Irish, Lithuanian and Welsh words for “firm, sure, strong” and refers to Walde and Pokorny.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is first recorded in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20, 890×897), where a man who leaves the chill of unbelief and yet becomes of lukewarm faith is said to be “wlacra treowa”, and true repentance shows God one's humility and treowa, devotion.[15][12] The Parker Chronicle (from s. ix/x) uses the plural of pledges given to King Alfred: the Northumbrians and East Angles had sworn oaths, “& þeh ofer þa treowa” they joined the raiding armies, “and yet in spite of those pledges”.[24][3]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller arrange the senses as faith kept to a promise, troth; loyalty to a person, fealty; the faith of the stronger to the weaker, grace, favour and help; a pledged word, promise, covenant or league; and faith in something, belief and trust.[2] The plural is often used with the force of the singular.[2][13] In Beowulf Hildeburh had no cause to praise the good faith of the Jutes.[2][25] The plural of the Middle English form, Middle English trewe “faith, covenant”, gave English truce.[18]

Timeline

  • 890×897 – wlacra treowa “of lukewarm faith” in the Pastoral Care.[15][12]
  • s. ix/x – ofer þa treowa “in spite of the pledges” in the Parker Chronicle.[24][3]
  • s. x/xi – Eotena treowe “the good faith of the Jutes” in the Beowulf manuscript.[26][25]

Meanings

Noun

  1. faith kept to a promise, good faith, troth.[2][25]
  2. fidelity, loyalty to a person.[2][13]
  3. grace, favour, help shown by the stronger to the weaker.[2]
  4. a pledged word; a promise, agreement, covenant or league.[2][13]
  5. faith in something, belief, trust.[2]

Word family

  • trēowloga

Descendants

  • trēowþ
  • untrēow
  • untrēowþ
  • trīewe
  • trēowan
  • trūwian
  • teoru
  • trog

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1013
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
  4. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 522
  5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  7. ^ Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 639
  8. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 353
  9. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 597
  10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. trēo
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ a b c d 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
  13. ^ a b c d e f Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 198
  14. ^ 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. 704
  15. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 725
  16. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 214
  17. ^ 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)
  18. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  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. 296
  20. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 410
  21. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. trēow
  22. ^ 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)
  23. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 523
  24. ^ 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. 83
  25. ^ a b c 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. trēow
  26. ^ 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. 344