keep

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kiːp/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English kepen,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English cēpan (“to seize, hold; to observe, heed; to seek”),^[2][5][4] from Proto-Germanic *kōpijaną,^[4][2] which is of uncertain origin.^[2][6] It is possibly related to Old English capian (“to look”),^[4][2][5] which is cognate with Old Saxon kapōn (“to look”), Old High German chapfēn (“to look”) and Old Norse kōpa (“to stare, gape”);^[4][5][6] Barnhart traces these to Proto-Indo-European *ĝab- (“to watch, look out for”).^[7] If so, the basic sense would be “to keep an eye on, see to it”, since cēpan was used about 1000 to render Latin observāre (“to watch, take note of”).^[2][7] Hoad and Weekley, however, find no certain cognates,^[8][9] and the Shorter Oxford, the Concise Oxford and the New Oxford call it of unknown origin.^[10][11][12] The noun is from the verb.^[4][2][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

In late Old English, to seize, lay hold of; to seek after; to take note of, observe; to watch for (about 1000).^[13][10][7]

Semantic evolution

The OED's editor James Murray judged that the word probably belonged at first to the vulgar, non-literary language, since it appears suddenly in literary use about 1000 already in many senses;^[7][2] he took the original sense to be “to lay hold”, extended figuratively to “keep an eye on, watch”.^[7] Its development was influenced by its use to render Latin servāre and its compounds (observāre, reservāre).^[8][7] The early senses “seize”, “seek” and “watch for” died out in Middle English,^[10][13] while new ones multiplied: “to guard, defend” (12th century), “to restrain” (early 13th), “to take care of, protect” (mid-13th), “to maintain” a shop (mid-14th), “to keep secret” and “to last without spoiling” (late 14th), and “to continue” doing something (mid-15th).^[2] The intransitive senses come from earlier reflexive uses, as in keep (oneself) silent.^[9] To keep accounts or a diary dates from 1552,^[14] and to keep goods in stock from 1707.^[14] The sense “to dwell, live” is recorded in Middle English and survived in Cambridge University use;^[9][8] Bartlett noted the American shortening of keep shop to keep, as in “Where do you keep now?”^[15] The noun first meant “care, heed” (about 1250), surviving in Spenser's take no keep;^[2][16] “the central tower of a castle” dates from the 1580s, perhaps translating Italian tenazza,^[2][9] though Weekley found it in Leland about 1540 and as a surname in the 13th century.^[9] “Food needed to maintain a person or animal” dates from 1801, and for keeps is American from 1861, probably from keeping one's winnings at marbles.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – Old English cēpan, to seize; to observe.^[13][7]
• 1127 – kepen, to watch for, observe, retain.^[4]
• 12th century – to guard, defend.^[2]
• c. 1250 – noun, care, heed.^[2][13]
• mid-14th century – to maintain a shop.^[2]
• late 14th century – to keep a secret; to last without spoiling.^[2]
• mid-15th century – to continue doing something.^[2]
• 1552 – to keep accounts or records.^[14]
• 1580s – the central tower of a castle.^[2][13]
• 1707 – to have in stock.^[14]
• 1801 – noun, food and maintenance.^[2]
• 1861 – for keeps (US).^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To retain possession of: keep the change.
2. To store in a usual place: where do you keep the saw?
3. To continue, or cause to continue, in a state, place or course: keep quiet, keep left.
4. To continue doing something: kept talking.
5. To detain or delay; to hold back or restrain.
6. To provide for; to support financially: to keep a family.
7. To own and look after (animals); to manage or run (a shop).
8. To make regular entries in: keep a diary.
9. To honour or fulfil (a promise); to observe (a custom or festival).
10. To guard or protect.
11. To keep secret: keep a secret.
12. Of food, to remain fresh.

Noun

1. Food and other necessities of life; maintenance: earn one's keep.
2. The strongest central tower of a castle; a donjon.
3. (archaic) Care, charge, custody.

Word family

• keepable
• keepability
• barkeep

Related words

• keeper
• keepsake
• upkeep
• housekeeper
• kept

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary calls keep the most general of the verbs meaning to have and maintain in one's possession;^[3] retain means to continue to hold despite possible loss, withhold implies reluctance to give, and reserve to hold back for a later use.^[3][17]

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 k l m n o p q r s t Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ a b c d Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
15. ^ Bartlett, John Russell (1848), Dictionary of Americanisms, New York: Bartlett and Welford
16. ^ Skeat, Walter W.; Mayhew, A. L. (1914), A Glossary of Tudor and Stuart Words, Oxford: Clarendon Press
17. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House