Etymologically
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keep

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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
  • 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