ready

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈred.i/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English redi (also rædi), inherited from Old English rǣde (“prepared, ready”) (usually gerǣde) extended with the suffix -y,^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *(ga)raitha- (“arranged”),^[3] perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *reidh- (“to ride”).^[3][5] Klein thinks it first meant “prepared for riding”,^[6] and Old English used it of a horse ready to ride.^[3] Its relatives include German bereit and Dutch gereed.^[2][3] It is related to ride, already and array.^[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Prepared, ready: Middle English rædi, probably before 1200, in Layamon;^[2] Old English rǣde is found before 899, in the translation of Bede.^[2]

Semantic evolution

“At hand, available” is from the late 12th century, and of money “immediately available” from about 1300,^[3] hence the slang the ready, “cash”, from the 1680s.^[3][2] Readily meant “willingly” before 1300, “quickly” before 1375 and “easily” about 1380.^[2] Ready-made is probably from before 1425.^[2] A ready wit, quick and fluent, is from 1583.^[7] The verb meant “to direct” before 1225, “to take aim” about 1300, and “to prepare” before 1338;^[2][3] the OED notes it was rare from the 15th to the 19th century,^[3] and it is now chiefly North American.^[4] Ready reckoner is from 1757, and at the ready, of a soldier's gun, from 1837.^[3][2]

Timeline

• before 899 – Old English rǣde.^[2]
• before 1200 – rædi (Layamon).^[2]
• late 12th century – at hand.^[3]
• c. 1300 – of money, available.^[3]
• before 1338 – verb, to prepare.^[2]
• 1583 – quick, fluent.^[7]
• 1680s – the ready, cash.^[3]
• 1837 – at the ready.^[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Prepared for use or action.
2. Willing: ready to help.
3. Likely or about to do something.
4. Quick in understanding or response: a ready wit.
5. Available, at hand: ready cash.

Verb

1. To make ready; to prepare.

Noun

1. (at the ready) In position to be used.
2. (slang, the ready) Cash.

Word family

• readiness
• overready
• rough-and-ready
• combat-ready
• readily
• ready-made
• ready-mix
• ready-to-wear

Related words

• already
• ride
• array

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)