among

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈmʌŋ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English among (also amang), inherited from Old English onmang, contracted from ongemang,^[2][3][4] originally the phrase on gemang (“in a crowd”), from on (“in”) and gemang (“mingling, crowd”),^[3][2][5] which is related to gemengan (“to mingle”).^[3][6] Etymonline traces this to Proto-Germanic *mangjan (“to knead together”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *mag- (“to knead, fashion”).^[2][7] Compare Old Saxon angimang (“among, amid”).^[3][2] It is related to mingle.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the midst of: Old English onmang, ongemang, before 899, in Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The collective prefix ge- was dropped in the 12th century, leaving onmong, amang and among,^[2] and among is recorded before 1121.^[3] With the adverbial -s it became amonges in the 13th century, which gave amongest and amongst in the 16th.^[4][8] Old adverbial senses, “meanwhile” and “together”, lasted until about 1600.^[9]

Timeline

• before 899 – Old English onmang (Alfred).^[3]
• before 1121 – among.^[3]
• 13th century – amonges.^[4]
• 16th century – amongst.^[4]

Modern meaning

Preposition

1. In the midst of; surrounded by.
2. In the group or class of: among the best.
3. In the company of; in association with.
4. By many or all of: popular among students.
5. By the joint action of.
6. With shares to each of: divided among them.
7. Each with the other: quarrelling among themselves.

Related words

• amongst
• mingle
• amid

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)