ask

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ɑːsk/, US /æsk/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English asken (also axen), inherited from Old English āscian (“to ask, call for an answer; to request”) (earlier āhsian, also ācsian),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *aiskōjanan,^[2][3] which Watkins derives from Proto-Indo-European *ais- (“to wish, desire”).^[2][4] Etymonline thinks the modern form was influenced by a Scandinavian relative such as Danish æske, since Old English āscian would normally have become “ash” or “esh”, forms found in Midland and south-western dialects.^[2] Its relatives include German heischen (“to ask, demand”), Dutch eisen (“to demand”), Lithuanian ieškoti (“to seek”) and Latin aeruscāre (“to beg”).^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English āhsian, before 725, with ācsian before 800 and āscian about 885.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The Old English variant ācsian or āxian, with the consonants swapped, became Middle English axen and later ax, which was an accepted literary form until about 1600 and survives in dialect;^[3][2] Tyndale's New Testament of 1526 has “I also will axe you a question”.^[2] Ask became the usual form in the late 16th century, especially in Shakespeare.^[3] The early sense “to call for, summon” was obsolete by the end of Middle English.^[6] Old English also had frignan for “to question, inquire”.^[2] Variants of the saying ask a silly question and you get a silly answer go back at least to the 13th century, after the Book of Proverbs.^[7] Ask for stating a price is from 1857,^[8] and the Australian a big ask, a difficult demand, from 1975.^[7]

Timeline

• before 725 – Old English āhsian.^[3]
• 13th century – ask a silly question.^[7]
• 1526 – axe in Tyndale.^[2]
• c. 1600 – ax ceases to be literary.^[3][2]
• 1857 – to state a price.^[8]
• 1975 – a big ask.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To put a question to; to seek an answer to.
2. To make a request of or for.
3. To require or call for as a price or condition.
4. To expect or demand: too much to ask.
5. To invite: ask them to dinner.
6. (archaic) To publish banns of marriage.

Word family

• asker

Related words

• question
• inquire
• query

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary calls ask the most neutral of ask, question, inquire, query, interrogate, examine and quiz.^[9] A separate Scottish and northern word ask, “a newt”, comes from Old English āþexe.^[6][10]

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 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 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.