wilde

Forms

wilde^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz (“wild”).^[1][2] The adjective is found in all the old Germanic languages: Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌸𐌴𐌹𐍃 (wilþeis), Old Norse villr (“astray, wild”), Old Frisian wilde, Old Saxon wildi and Old High German wildi.^[3][4][2]

Its further origin is uncertain.^[4] Holthausen and de Vries compare Welsh gwyllt (“wild, uncultivated”), and de Vries thinks a connection with Old Norse vǫllr (“field”) very unlikely.^[3][4] Wiktionary, following Kroonen, derives it from Proto-Indo-European *welt- (“wild”) and sets it beside Proto-Celtic *gʷeltis (“wild, mad”), the source of the Welsh word and of Irish gealt (“lunatic”), and Kroonen also relates Proto-Germanic *walþuz (“forest”).^[1] Köbler suggests, with a question mark, the root Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“hair, wool, grass, forest”).^[2][5] Boutkan finds no Indo-European etymology and takes the Welsh word as the only cognate.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record is in the Pastoral Care, in the manuscript of 890×897: “Swa swa wildu hors, ðonne we hie æresð gefangnu habbað, we hie ðacciað & straciad mid bradre hanða” (“Just as with wild horses: when we have first caught them, we pat and stroke them with a broad hand”).^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

The word is used first of all of animals that are not tame or broken in, as in wilde dēor “wild beasts”, wilde oxa glossing Latin “bubalus” and wilde assa glossing “onager”; in the glosses it renders “agrestis” and “indomitus”.^[9][2] In the Boethius a harper plays so that the wild beasts stand as still as if they were tame.^[10][8] Horses that run loose are said to run wilde.^[11] The plant names use it for the wild species beside the garden one: wilde mealwe is the common mallow, wilde popiġ the common poppy.^[12][13] Of land it means uncultivated or desert, and wilde fȳr is fire on the heaths.^[14] A homily uses it of people who are uncivilised, the heathen gathered from all the world.^[11] The word occurs in the poems as well as in prose.^[8]

The word lived on as Middle English wilde, now English wild.^[1][6]

Timeline

• 890×897 – wildu hors “wild horses” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[7][8]
• s. x med. – wildu dior “wild animals” in the Old English Boethius.^[10][8]
• s. x² – wildu deor in Daniel in the Junius manuscript.^[15][8]
• s. x² – in The Phoenix and The Fortunes of Men in the Exeter Book.^[16][8]
• c. 1000 – ðā wildan dēor ðe on wudum eardiað in Ælfric's Hexameron.^[1]

Meanings

Adjective

1. of animals: untamed, not domesticated, not broken in.^[9][14][2]
2. of plants: growing wild.^[12]
3. of land: uncultivated, desert.^[14]
4. of people: uncivilised.^[11]

Word family

• wilddēor

Descendants

• Middle English wilde (→ English wild; Middle Scots wild; Middle Scots wyld)^[1]

Related words

• wildor

Usage notes

Bosworth and Toller give a separate adjective wilde “having power, strong”, found in comparatives such as wieldre in the Orosius and wyldre in the Benedictine Rule, and refer to ġewilde.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wilde
3. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 396
4. ^ a b c de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 664
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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. 499
8. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1224
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. 296
11. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 746
12. ^ 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. mealwe, wilde
13. ^ Bierbaumer, Peter; Sauer, Hans; Klug, Helmut W.; Krischke, Ulrike, eds. (2007–), Dictionary of Old English Plant Names, Graz, oldenglish-plantnames.org, p. s.v. popig, wilde
14. ^ a b c Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 228
15. ^ 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. 513
16. ^ 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