angle

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈæŋ.ɡəl/^[1]

angle¹ corner

Etymology

The corner is inherited from Middle English angle, borrowed from Old French angle (“angle, corner”) and directly from Latin angulus (“corner, angle”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *ank- (“to bend”),^[2][3] also the source of Greek ankýlos “bent, crooked”, Sanskrit áṅgam “limb” and Old English ancleo “ankle”.^[2][3] It is related to the fishing word below and to ankle.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A corner: about 1380, in Chaucer's House of Fame, according to Barnhart.^[3] The space between two meeting lines is from about 1386 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

In astrology each of the four cardinal houses was an angle.^[6] Measurement by angles is used in physics and mechanics from the early 17th century.^[5] The point of view from which one approaches something is from 1872.^[2][5] The angle bracket is from 1781 in carpentry.^[2] The verb, to place or direct at an angle, is from late Middle English;^[6] to present a report from a particular point of view is a later sense.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – a corner.^[3]
• c. 1386 – the space between two lines.^[5]
• 1781 – the angle bracket.^[2]
• 1872 – a point of view.^[2][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The space between two lines or surfaces that meet, measured in degrees.
2. A corner.
3. A position from which something is looked at, or a way of thinking about it.

Verb

1. To move or place something so that it is not straight.
2. To present information from a particular point of view.

angle² fish

Etymology

To fish is Middle English angelen, from the noun angel “fishhook”,^[8][3][2] which is inherited from Old English angel (“fishhook”) (related to anga “hook”),^[2][3][8] inherited from Proto-Germanic *angul-,^[2] from Proto-Indo-European *ank- (“to bend”), the same root as the corner word.^[2][3] Old High German angul and Old Norse ǫngull “fishhook” are related.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To fish with a hook and line: about 1450 in Barnhart, the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^[3][2] The noun “fishhook” is from about 880, in Alfred's Boethius.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense, to try to get something by artful means, as in angling for a compliment, is from the 1580s.^[2][6] Angler is from the 14th century,^[4] and Izaak Walton's Compleat Angler made the word famous.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 880 – the noun, a fishhook.^[5]
• c. 1450 – to fish.^[3]
• 1580s – to try to get by tricks.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To fish with a hook and line.
2. To try to get something by hints or tricks: angling for an invitation.

Related words

• angular
• angulate
• angulation
• pentangle
• quadrangle
• rectangle
• triangle
• ankle
• angler
• Angle
• English

Usage notes

The Angles, the Germanic people who settled in Britain in the 5th century and gave their name to England, are named after Angul in Schleswig, perhaps for its hook-like shape.^[2][9][6]

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 f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press