anew

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English anewe, a reduced form of the phrase of newe,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English of nīwe (“anew, again”),^[3][5][6][7] a phrase combining of (“of, from”) and nīwe (“new”), the source of new.^[3][5] Hoad and Dictionary.com think the phrase was probably modelled on Old French de neuf,^[4][8] and Hoad also compares Latin dē novō.^[4] The OED notes that the first element was also reinterpreted as a reduced form of the prefixes y- and on-, and compares the Old English adverbs ednīwe and ednīwan, which it replaced.^[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Once more, again, afresh: about 1305, in an English lyric of the 13th century;^[2] Etymonline dates a neue to about 1300.^[7] Merriam-Webster places the first use of the sense before the 12th century,^[3] counting the Old English phrase, which Skeat cites from the Rushworth Gospels (John 3:7).^[6]

Semantic evolution

The phrase was written as one word mainly from about 1400, according to Etymonline,^[7] while Hoad dates the established form anew to the 16th century.^[4] In late Middle English it also meant "recently, of late", as opposed to of old, a sense that died out after 1517.^[2][9] Tyndale used it in 1528 for "in a new or different way", and the Coverdale Bible in 1535 for "as something new, from scratch".^[2] Johnson (1755) gave "over again; another time; repeatedly" as its most common use.^[10] A verb anew, to renew or revive, was used from about 1440 to 1579.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1305 – once more, again, afresh.^[2][7]
• c. 1400 – the one-word form becomes the usual one.^[7]
• before 1425 – recently, of late (obsolete after 1517), in the Romaunt of the Rose.^[2]
• c. 1440 – verb, to renew or revive (obsolete after 1579).^[2]
• 1528 – in a new or different way, in Tyndale.^[2]
• 1535 – as something new, from scratch, in the Coverdale Bible.^[2]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Once more; again or afresh: After the fire they had to build the barn anew.^[5][3][2]
2. In a new or different way or form: She told the old story anew for her grandchildren.^[5][3][2]
3. As something new; from scratch.^[2]
4. (obsolete, 1425–1517) Recently; of late.^[2][9]

Related words

• new
• renew

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.