down

down¹ toward a lower place

Etymology

The adverb is inherited from Middle English doun,^[2][4] inherited from Old English dūne, a shortened form of adūne, earlier ofdūne (“downwards”),^{[5][6][2][7][8]} originally a phrase meaning "off the hill": of (“from, off”) with the dative of dūn (“hill”),^[5][6][4][8] the word that survives as down² "hill".^[5][1] The first syllable was already reduced in Old English by the first half of the 10th century, and forms without it appear first in prefixed verbs.^[6] The word for a hill is general in Germanic, but this development of sense is peculiar to English.^[5] The OED and Ayto compare Old French aval (“downward”), from a phrase meaning "to the valley", which gave avaler (“to descend, swallow”) and played a part in the history of avalanche.^[6][1] The preposition (before 1382), the adjective, the verb and the noun "descent" are all formed from the adverb.^[4][6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In a descending direction, to a lower place, towards the ground: Old English.^[6][5] Barnhart finds the element -dūne- before 830, in ofdūne and in a phrase meaning "I go down", and dates the Middle English form doun to before 1275.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Already in late Old English the adverb meant "into a fallen or overthrown position".^[6] From before 1200 it was used without any idea of descent, of going to a place regarded as lower, or southward,^[6] and later of passing from a higher to a lower authority (1449) and, chiefly in British use, of leaving a university (1825).^[6] The preposition, "further along the course of", appears before 1382 in the Wycliffite Bible.^[6][4] The adjective is first used of a lowered look (1580),^[6] and Etymonline and Barnhart date it to the 1560s;^[5][4] the sense "low in spirits" follows before 1644,^[6] by about 1600 in Etymonline.^[5] The verb, "to knock down" (before 1586), later "to swallow" (1852) and "to drink quickly" (1869), was formed from the adverb, as with off and up;^[6] Barnhart's earlier date of 1562 rests on a quotation the OED takes as a misprint for another verb.^[4][6] The noun, a descent or a reverse, as in ups and downs, is recorded from 1647,^[6] and in American football a down has been a chance to advance the ball since 1882.^[6][5] Later adjective senses include down payment (1854) and "out of operation" (1940),^[6] which Etymonline records for a crashed computer from 1965.^[5] Phrases include Down East for Maine (1825), Down South (1834) and Down Under for Australia and New Zealand (1886).^[5]

Timeline

• before 830 – Old English ofdūne, downwards.^[4]
• late Old English – into a fallen or overthrown position.^[6]
• before 1200 – to a place regarded as lower; southward.^[6]
• before 1382 – preposition, along or further along, in the Wycliffite Bible.^[6][4]
• 1580 – adjective, of a look, directed downward.^[6] Barnhart dates the adjective to about 1565.^[4]
• before 1586 – verb, to knock down.^[6]
• 1625 – ill, laid low by sickness.^[6]
• before 1644 – adjective, low in spirits.^[6]
• 1647 – noun, a descent, a reverse.^[6]
• 1852 – verb, to eat; 1869, to drink quickly.^[6]
• 1882 – noun, in American football, a chance to advance the ball.^[6][5]
• 1940 – adjective, out of operation.^[6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. From a higher to a lower place or position; towards the ground: The leaves drifted down.^[8][2][6]
2. Into a sitting or lying position: Please sit down.^[8][2]
3. To a lower level, amount or strength: Turn the music down.^[8][9]
4. Towards the south, or away from a centre such as a city: We drove down to the coast.^[8][6]

Preposition

1. From a higher to a lower point of: She ran down the stairs.^[8][9][6]
2. Along the course of: They walked down the lane.^[8][9][6]

Adjective

1. Moving or directed downward.^[8][6]
2. Low in spirits; depressed.^[8][6]
3. Of a machine or computer system, not working.^[8][6]
4. Lower than before; reduced: Sales are down this year.^[8][2]

Verb

1. To knock, bring or throw down: The storm downed several trees.^[8][6]
2. To swallow quickly: He downed his coffee and left.^[8][6]
3. To defeat.^[6][5]

Noun

1. A downward movement or a reverse, especially in ups and downs.^[8][2][6]
2. (American football) One of a series of attempts to advance the ball.^[8][6]

Word family

• downward
• downwards
• downstairs
• downhill
• downfall
• downcast
• downright
• downpour
• downhearted
• downer
• downtime

down² hill, open upland

Etymology

The word for a hill is inherited from Middle English doune,^[8][4] inherited from Old English dūn (“hill, mountain”),^[5][6][7][4] probably borrowed at a very early date from Celtic,^[6][5] from the base of Gaulish dūnon (“fortified enclosure, hill fort”) in place names,^[6] also seen in Old Irish dún (“fortress”) and Welsh din (“fortress, hill fort”).^[6][5][4] The OED notes that it is unclear whether Old English took it over from a continental Germanic borrowing or borrowed it again in Britain.^[6] Orel reconstructs Proto-Germanic *dūnaz for the Germanic word.^[10] In the other Germanic languages its cognates, such as Old Saxon dūna and Dutch duin, mean "dune, sandbank", and the Dutch word is the source of dune;^[4][5][1] the Celtic words mean "hill, citadel", as in the place names London and Verdun.^[5] Ayto and Barnhart connect town with the same Celtic group.^[1][4] Etymonline suggests Proto-Indo-European *dheue- (“to close, finish, come full circle”) as the root,^[5] and Barnhart gives Proto-Indo-European *dhūno-.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A hill or mountain: Old English, in Ælfric's Catholic Homilies; this sense died out by 1450 except as it passed into the sense of open upland.^[6] Barnhart dates dūn to 661, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and the Middle English form to about 1300.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From about 1325 the word meant an elevated stretch of open land with gently rolling hills, chiefly in the plural;^[6] Hoad dates the plural sense to the 13th century.^[7] The Downs, the chalk and limestone uplands of south and southeast England, are named so by the mid-15th century,^[5][1] and the Downs was also the name of a sheltered anchorage off the east coast of Kent from 1452.^[6] From 1523 to 1907 a down could also be a sand dune.^[6] Since 1721 the word has named breeds of sheep first raised on the Downs.^[6][8] The phrase down and dale paired the word with dale from Old English until 1929.^[6]

Timeline

• 661 – Old English dūn, hill, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.^[4]
• Old English – a hill or mountain (obsolete by 1450).^[6]
• c. 1325 – open, rolling upland, chiefly in the plural.^[6]
• 1452 – the Downs, an anchorage off the coast of Kent.^[6]
• 1523 – a sand dune (obsolete after 1907).^[6]
• 1721 – a breed of sheep from the Downs.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Usually in the plural: an area of open, rolling, treeless upland, used for grazing; especially the chalk hills of southern England, the Downs.^[8][2][6]
2. the Downs: a sheltered stretch of sea off the east coast of Kent, used as an anchorage.^[6]
3. Any of several breeds of short-wooled sheep first bred on the Downs.^[8][6]
4. (archaic) A hill; also, a dune.^[2][6]

Word family

• downland
• North Downs
• South Downs

down³ soft feathers

Etymology

The word for soft feathers is inherited from Middle English doun,^[8][2] borrowed from Old Norse dúnn,^{[5][6][4][7][1]} which has cognates in Swedish dun and Danish dun.^[6] Etymonline calls its further origin uncertain;^[5] the OED derives it from the Germanic base also seen in dust,^[6] while Hoad and Barnhart relate it to dýja (“to shake”).^[7][4] Kroonen describes Proto-Germanic *dūnaz as a Nordic word that was borrowed into West Germanic,^[11] where it gave Middle Low German dūne and German Daune.^[6][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fine soft feathers of a bird's inner plumage, used for stuffing beds and pillows: 1345.^[6][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The word was soon applied to the soft hairs on the seeds, leaves and fruit of plants (before 1382),^[6] then to the fine hair on a young man's face (about 1540) and to any fluffy substance (1542).^[6][5] From 1628 it was used figuratively of anything soft to lie on, now chiefly in poetry.^[6]

Timeline

• 1345 – the soft under-feathers of birds.^[6][4]
• before 1382 – soft hairs on plants and seeds.^[6]
• c. 1540 – soft, fine facial hair.^[6]
• 1542 – any downy or fluffy substance.^[6]
• 1628 – figuratively, something as soft as down.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The soft, fluffy feathers of young birds, and the small soft feathers under the outer plumage of adult birds, used to fill pillows and quilts.^[8][2][6]
2. A covering of short, soft hairs, as on some leaves and fruit, or the first growth of a beard.^[8][6]

Word family

• downy
• eiderdown