riddle

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɹɪdəl/; /ˈɹɪɾəl/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

Riddle “puzzle” is inherited from Middle English redels, inherited from Old English rǣdels (“opinion, counsel, riddle”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from rǣdan “to advise, interpret”, the source of read,^[5][6] with the noun suffix -els;^[4][6] the final -s was later taken for a plural ending and dropped.^[4][6] It is related to German Rätsel and Dutch raadsel.^[3][4][6] Riddle “coarse sieve” is inherited from Old English hriddel,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} altered from hridder,^[3][4] from the Proto-Indo-European root *krei- “to sieve”,^[2][4] and related to Latin crībrum (“sieve”).^[4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A question or statement worded in a deliberately puzzling way, to be guessed (c. 1000).^[7][3]

Semantic evolution

The sense of anything that puzzles or perplexes dates from 1377,^[7][4] and an enigmatic person from 1663.^[7] The verb, “to speak in riddles”, is from 1571.^[7][3][5] The sieve word gave the verb riddle “to sift” (before 1225),^[7] and from the many holes of a sieve came “to pierce with many holes”, recorded from 1817, especially in riddled with bullets or holes.^[7][3][4] From this developed the figurative “to spread throughout, permeate”, as in riddled with errors.^[2][5][6]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – a puzzling question.^[7][3]
• before 1100 – a coarse sieve.^[7]
• before 1225 – verb, to sift.^[7]
• 1377 – something that puzzles.^[7]
• 1571 – verb, to speak in riddles.^[7][3][5]
• 1817 – to pierce with holes.^[7][3][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A question or statement that requires thought to answer or understand; a conundrum.
2. Something or someone puzzling; an enigma.
3. A coarse sieve, as for gravel or grain.

Verb

1. To pierce with many holes; to perforate.
2. To spread throughout; to permeate.
3. To pass (gravel or grain) through a coarse sieve.
4. To speak in riddles, or to solve or explain (a riddle).

Word family

• riddler
• unriddle

Related words

• read
• rede
• enigma
• crisis
• sieve

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press