Etymologically
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ice

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Pronunciation

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
  • 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