afield

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English afelde,^[2][3][4] also o felde and a felde,^[5][6] inherited from Old English on felda (“in the field”),^{[2][5][7][3][8]} formed from on (“on, in”) and felda, the dative of feld (“field”).^[2][4][5] In the forms with a- the first element is reduced, as with the prefix a-.^[9][10] Etymonline describes the word as a contraction of the Middle English phrase in felde.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

On or in a field, out in the fields: Old English, in the translation of the Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium.^[9] The 1989 edition of the OED specified a field of labour or of battle,^[11] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates its first sense, on a battlefield, to before the 12th century.^[2] Etymonline notes that the Old English phrase was used especially of battle.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In late Old English the phrase also meant "to or into a field",^[9] and by about 1230 "to battle".^[11] The sense "away from home, abroad, at a distance" first appears in the translation of Deguileville's Pilgrimage of the Soul, made in 1413 and printed by Caxton in 1483;^[9] Etymonline likewise dates it to the early 15th century.^[8] Far afield is recorded from 1617,^[9] and the figurative sense "away from the subject, astray", often in to lead afield, from 1863.^[9] Etymonline dates the one-word adverb to the 1590s.^[8] Shakespeare wrote "Aeneas is a-field" in Troilus and Cressida,^[10] and Johnson (1755) defined it simply as "to the field", quoting Milton's "We drove afield".^[12] In the 19th century it was still a dialect word for "out in or into the fields" in Scotland, Ireland, Durham, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Berkshire, where people said "Tek the cows afield".^[13]

Timeline

• Old English – on or in a field; out in the fields.^[9]
• late Old English – to or into a field.^[9]
• 1413 – away from home, abroad; at a distance.^[9][11]
• 1617 – far afield.^[9]
• 1863 – away from the subject; astray.^[9]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Away from home or one's usual surroundings, especially in far afield: They went far afield in search of work.^[14][2][15]
2. Away from the subject or the point; astray: The meeting wandered far afield.^[14][2][15]
3. In or into a field, especially out in the fields or the countryside, as for farm work or hunting.^[14][2][9]
4. On or to a battlefield.^[14][2]

Related words

• field
• on

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Onions, C. T., ed. (1966), The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
14. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin