ice

Pronunciation

• IPA: /aɪs/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English is,^[2][3] inherited from Old English īs (“ice, piece of ice”),^[4][5] also the name of the rune for i,^[4] from Proto-Germanic *īsa-,^[5][6] the source also of Old Norse íss, Dutch ijs and German Eis,^[4][6] a word of uncertain origin.^[4] Its possible relatives include Avestan isu- “icy” and aēxa- “frost”,^[4][3] and Barnhart traces it to Proto-Indo-European *eis-.^[5] The modern spelling, which makes the word look French, began to appear in the 15th century.^[4] The verb is from the noun.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English īs is found about 725, in Beowulf;^[5] a piece or mass of ice and the ice on a river or lake are from about 900.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The verb, “to cover with ice”, is from about 1400.^[4][5] Ice-cold is already Old English.^[5] To cover cakes with sugar, to ice them, is from 1602,^[7] and people iced food before 1600, though the noun icing is recorded only from the late 17th century.^[8] Iced cream is from 1688 and ice cream from 1744,^[5] shortened to ice by the mid-18th century.^[8] To break the ice first meant making a passage for boats through a frozen river, 1579–80,^[7] and by the mid-16th century “to begin an undertaking, broach a subject”;^[8] in modern use it implies overcoming cold reserve.^[4] Ice has stood for a cold, unfriendly manner since at least Shakespeare's time.^[8] On ice, “kept until wanted”, is from 1890,^[4] and thin ice in the figurative sense from 1884.^[4] In slang, ice has meant diamonds since 1906^[4] and crystal methamphetamine since the late 20th century.^[8] Ice skates are from 1662, in Pepys' diary.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English īs.^[5]
• c. 1400 – verb, to cover with ice.^[4]
• 1579–80 – to break the ice.^[7]
• 1602 – verb, to cover a cake with sugar.^[7]
• 1662 – ice skates.^[5]
• 1744 – ice cream.^[5]
• 1884 – thin ice.^[4]
• 1890 – on ice.^[4]
• 1906 – diamonds (slang).^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Water frozen solid.
2. A layer or sheet of frozen water, as on a lake or a rink.
3. A frozen dessert of flavoured crushed ice; an ice cream.
4. Coldness of manner; unfriendliness.
5. (slang) Diamonds.
6. (slang) Crystal methamphetamine.

Verb

1. To cover with ice; to freeze.
2. To cool with ice.
3. To cover a cake with icing.
4. (informal) To make a win certain; to clinch.

Word family

• iceless
• icelike

Related words

• icy
• icing
• iceberg
• icicle
• ice cream
• ice age

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press