wegan

Forms

wegan (strong class 5; third-person singular present wiġþ, past singular wæġ, past plural wǣgon)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *wegan, from Proto-Germanic *weganą (“to move, carry”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to convey, transport”).^[1][2] The strong verb is found in Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (gawigan, “to shake, move”), Old Norse vega (“to move, lift, weigh”), Old Frisian wega (“to weigh, bring”), Old Saxon wegan (“to weigh”) and Old High German wegan (“to move, weigh”).^[2][3][4] Outside Germanic it is the verb of Latin vehō (“to carry”), Lithuanian vežti (“to carry in a vehicle”) and Proto-Slavic *vezti (“to carry, drive”).^[3][5]

Kroonen calls it a verb of transport by cart, and thinks the sense “to weigh” came from “to lift”.^[2] Holthausen puts weġ (“way”), wæġn (“wagon”), wagian (“to wag”), weċġan (“to move”) and wǣġ (“weight”) with it.^[5] It is a strong verb of class 5.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first recorded in the Old English Bede (Tanner 10, of the early tenth or the first half of the eleventh century): the chief priest of the heathen religion was not allowed þæt he moste wæpen wegan, ne elcor buton on myran ridan “to bear weapons, nor to ride except on a mare”, Latin arma ferre.^[7][8][6]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller begin with “to move, bear, carry, bring”: in Beowulf hé ða frætwe wæg ofer ýða ful “he carried the treasures over the cup of the waves”, and Ælfric's Grammar gives ic wege for Latin veho.^[6] From this come “to bear up, support”, “to bear arms” and “to wear”, of weapons, gold ornaments and, in the Maxims, water that wears a helmet of ice.^[6] In poetry one carries gifts in one's mind and feelings in one's breast: Grendel heteníðas wæg “carried on his hostility”.^[6][9] The sense “to weigh, measure” is given by Köbler and Holthausen, and the laws use it of something being heavy.^[10][5][11]

It lived on as Middle English weien, English weigh.^[12]

Timeline

• s. x in. or xi¹ – wæpen wegan “to bear weapons” in the Old English Bede (Tanner 10).^[7][8]
• s. x² – Mec wǽgun feðre on lifte “feathers carried me in the air” in a riddle of the Exeter Book.^[13][6]
• s. x/xi – heteníðas wæg of Grendel in the Beowulf manuscript.^[14][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. to carry, bear, bring, transport.^[6][10]
2. to bear up, support.^[6]
3. to bear (arms); to wear.^[6][9]
4. to have within oneself; to harbour (feelings, enmity); to carry on (a feud).^[6][9][11]
5. to weigh, measure; intransitive, to be heavy.^[10][5][11]

Word family

• ġewegan
• ætwegan
• onwegan
• āwegan

Descendants

• Middle English weyen (→ English weigh; Middle Scots wey)^[1]

Related words

• weċġan
• weġ
• wæġn
• wagian
• wǣġ

Usage notes

Clark Hall lists a ġewegan “to fight” (Beowulf 2400) apart, and Köbler derives this verb from the root of wīgan (“to fight”).^[15][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 577
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 452
4. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 650
5. ^ a b c d Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 388
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1183
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. 531
8. ^ a b Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
9. ^ a b c d 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. wegan
10. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wegan
11. ^ a b c Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 238
12. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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. 223
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. 344
15. ^ Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 401