Etymologically
Log in

wiþ

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 18:42. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

wiþ[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wiþrą (“toward, against”), probably in a shortened form; the full form is Old English wiþer.[1][2] The short form is shared with Old Frisian with, Old Saxon with and Old Norse við.[2][1][3] The full form is Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌸𐍂𐌰 (wiþra), viðr, withar and Old High German widar.[4][5]

Kroonen and Orel explain the Germanic word as a comparative of the particle Proto-Indo-European *wi (“apart”), like Sanskrit वितरम् (vitarám, “further”).[4][5][1] Köbler gives the same base, Proto-Indo-European *u̯itero- (Pokorny 1176).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record is the will of Abba the reeve (833×839), a Kentish single sheet held to be contemporary: Abba leaves land wið ðan ðe he ðy geornliocar hire ðearfa bega “on condition that he look after her needs the more eagerly”.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

The basic sense is “against”: motion toward or against a thing, opposition, fighting and defence, and also nearness, association and exchange (“for, in return for”).[8][9][1] The case shades the sense: with the genitive it marks the direction of motion, “towards”, as in wende he hine west wið Exanceastres “he turned west towards Exeter”.[9] Wiþ þæm þe means “on condition that”, and the word could also be a conjunction “until”.[2][1][3]

In Middle English the word, with, moved from opposition to company and union, partly under the influence of viðr, and took the place of mid; the old sense of opposition survives in compounds such as English withstand.[10][11]

Timeline

  • 833×839 – wið ðan ðe “on condition that” in the will of Abba.[6][7]
  • 844×845 – wið ðaem londe “in exchange for the land” in a charter surviving in a single sheet of the mid-ninth century.[12][7]
  • s. ix med. – arisað wið me “rise up against me” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.[13][7]
  • s. ix/x – fultomes bædon wið Piohtas “asked for help against the Picts” in the Parker Chronicle.[14][7]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. (with genitive) towards, in the direction of.[9][1]
  2. against, in opposition to; opposite.[8][9][1]
  3. with, along with; near, by.[8][1][3]
  4. for, in exchange for.[9][1]
  5. compared with.[1]

Conjunction

  1. until.[3]
  2. wiþ þæm þe on condition that, provided that.[2][1]

Word family

  • wiþstandan
  • wiþsacan
  • wiþcweþan
  • wiþtēon
  • þǣrwiþ

Descendants

  • Middle English wiþ (→ English with; Scots wi)[1]
  • wiþer

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 401
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wiþ
  4. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 590
  5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 464
  6. ^ a b The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 1482
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ 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. wið
  9. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1247
  10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ 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)
  12. ^ The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 204
  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. 329
  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. 83