word

Forms

word n (nominative plural word) (strong a-stem)^[1] Also uord.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *word, from Proto-Germanic *wurdą (“word”).^[1][2] The noun is found in all the old Germanic languages: Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌳 (waurd), Old Norse orð, Old Frisian word, Old Saxon word and Old High German wort.^[2][3][4]

Outside Germanic it matches Latin verbum (“word”) and Lithuanian vardas (“name”);^[2] Kroonen reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *h₂urdʰo-, with the laryngeal only if a Hittite verb meaning “to curse” belongs here.^[2] Köbler derives the noun from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to say, speak”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is first recorded in a Kentish charter of 805×810 by which Oswulf and his wife Beornthryth grant land to Christ Church, Canterbury, confirmed by Archbishop Wulfred: Ic ðonne Wlfred … ðas forecuaedenan word fulliae “I, Wulfred, then fulfil these aforesaid words”.^[5][6] Its single sheet of the ninth century is held to be genuine and contemporary by some scholars, but Crick argues that it was drafted and written in the 840s.^[5] The Vespasian Psalter gloss of the mid-ninth century has Word min mid earum onfoh dryhten “Receive my words with your ears, Lord” for Latin “Uerba mea auribus percipe”.^[7][6]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller begin with “a word, a single part of speech”, and in the plural words forming connected speech.^[8] From this the noun covers speech and statement, a command or directions, news and report, and fame.^[9][3] In the grammar it also means “verb”.^[9] It renders Latin verbum and sermo in glosses, and names the Word, the Son of God.^[3] In the laws it is used for a single word (a term of abuse), for connected speech, for a promise, and in the pairs “word and deed” (word ⁊ weorc) and “word and pledge” (word ⁊ wedd).^[10] In Beowulf it is often set against deeds, worda ond worca.^[11] The meaning “promise” and the sense “Holy Scripture” were already Old English.^[12]

The noun lived on as Middle English word, now English word.^[13][12]

Timeline

• 805×810 – ðas forecuaedenan word “these aforesaid words” in charter S 1188, in a ninth-century single sheet.^[5]
• s. ix med. – Word min “my words” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[7][6]
• 890×897 – the noun in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[14][6]
• 10th century – þās word ācwið “speaks these words” in The Wanderer.^[1]
• s. x/xi – worda ond worca “of words and deeds” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[15][11]

Meanings

Noun

1. a word; in the plural, words, speech.^[8][11]
2. an utterance, statement, sentence.^[9][3]
3. (grammar) a verb.^[9]
4. a command, directions.^[9]
5. news, report; a story.^[9][3]
6. fame, glory.^[9]
7. (law) a promise.^[10]
8. the Word, the Son of God.^[3]

Word family

• bīword
• bēotword
• ġylpword
• meþelword
• witword
• wordcwide
• wordfæst
• wordiġ
• wordriht

Descendants

• Middle English word (→ English word; Middle Scots word; Middle Scots wourd)^[1]

Usage notes

Köbler lists a second noun word “thornbush”, which glosses Latin rubus and has no known origin.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 600
3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. word
4. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 405
5. ^ a b c 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 1188
6. ^ a b c d Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
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. 329
8. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1264
9. ^ a b c d e f g Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 233
10. ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 248
11. ^ 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. word
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ 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)
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. 499
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. 344
16. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. word 2