Etymologically
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among

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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.
  • 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)