Etymologically
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combine

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈkɒm.baɪn/ (UK)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English combynen, borrowed from Middle French combiner,[2][3][4] from Late Latin combīnāre (“to join two by two, yoke together”),[2][4][5] from com-, together, and bīnī (“two by two”) (see binary),[2][3] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *dwo- (“two”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To unite or join two or more things together: before 1420, in Lydgate's Troy Book;[2] about 1440 in the OED.[6]

Semantic evolution

To join persons in action is from 1503,[6] and to combine efforts or forces from 1529.[6] To unite into one substance, especially chemically, is from 1799,[6] and the intransitive, to come together into one body, from 1712.[4] To unite distinct qualities is from 1827.[6] The noun was used for a conspiracy about 1600, became obsolete,[4][7] and was revived in American English in 1886–87 for a combination of persons, especially for fraudulent purposes.[4][2][3] The harvesting machine is from 1910 in Barnhart and 1900 in Etymonline, short for combine harvester,[2][4] and the verb, to harvest with one, from 1926, stressed on the first syllable.[6][3]

Timeline

  • before 1420 – to unite.[2]
  • c. 1600 – a conspiracy (noun).[4]
  • 1712 – to coalesce.[4]
  • 1799 – to unite chemically.[6]
  • 1887 – an alliance of persons.[2]
  • 1910 – the harvesting machine.[2]
  • 1926 – to harvest.[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To bring or come together into one; to merge.
  2. To join substances to make a single substance, such as a chemical compound.
  3. To have or show together: to combine charm with skill.
  4. To join forces for a common purpose.
  5. To harvest grain with a combine.

Noun

  1. A machine that cuts, threshes and cleans grain; a combine harvester.
  2. An association of people or firms for commercial or political ends.

Word family

  • combiner
  • combinable
  • intercombine
  • precombine
  • noncombining
  • combination
  • combinatory
  • combined
  • binary
  • binocular
  • bin-

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press