wyrgan

Forms

wyrġan (weak class 1; third-person singular present wyrġeþ, past singular wyrġde, past plural wyrġdon)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wurgijaną (“to strangle”),^[1][2] a zero-grade causative present to the root Proto-Indo-European *werǵʰ- (“to bind, squeeze, twist”).^[1][2] It is cognate with Old Frisian wergia (“to kill”), Old High German wurgen (“to strangle, choke”) (now German würgen) and Middle Low German worgen;^[3][4][5] beside them stands the strong verb Middle High German erwergen (“to strangle”).^[3][6] Outside Germanic the root is found in Lithuanian veržti (“to squeeze, bind”) and Proto-Slavic *verzti (“to bind”).^[3][6]

Wiktionary also offers a derivation from Proto-Germanic *wargaz (“outlaw”), the source of wearg.^[1] That noun is the base of the verb wierġan (“to curse”), which shares many spellings with this verb.^[7][8] It is a weak verb of the first class.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record, and the only one in the strangling sense, is a gloss in the Corpus Glossary (CCCC 144, s. ix¹): Stangulat wyrgeð uel smorað, Latin “strangulat” (strangles) glossed “strangles or smothers”.^[10][11][9]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller define it as to throttle or strangle, and to worry as an animal does; their only Old English quotation is the Corpus gloss, and they illustrate the sense from Middle English texts where wolves worow men and lambs.^[9] Clark Hall cites it from the Corpus Glossary and Ælfric.^[12]

Its continuation Middle English worien meant to kill or injure by seizing the throat, as dogs and wolves do; the sense “annoy, vex” appears by about 1400, and the sense “strangle” went out of use after about 1600, leaving English worry.^[13][1]

Timeline

• s. ix¹ – Stangulat wyrgeð uel smorað in the Corpus Glossary (CCCC 144).^[10][11]
• c. 1300 – Middle English wirien, of an animal biting and shaking the throat.^[13]
• c. 1400 – the figurative sense “annoy, bother”.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. to strangle, throttle; to worry as a beast does its prey.^[9][12][2]

Word family

• āwyrġan

Descendants

• Middle English worien (→ English worry; Middle Scots wirrie)^[1]

Usage notes

The spellings wyrgan, wyrgde, wyrgeþ also belong to wierġan “to curse”: the wyrgde of the Old English Bede and the wyrge of the prose Genesis (“that he may curse me, not bless me”) are that verb.^[9][8][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wyrgan
3. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 411
4. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. wergia
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wurgen
6. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 456
7. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 394
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wiergan
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. 1288
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. 76
11. ^ a b c Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
12. ^ a b Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 427
13. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com