Etymologically
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sand

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sænd/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sond, sand, inherited from Old English sand,[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *sandam,[2][5] the source also of Dutch zand, German Sand and Old Norse sandr.[2][3] It is related to Greek psámmos and ámathos “sand” and Latin sabulum “coarse sand”,[2][3][5] once said to be from a root *bhes- “to rub”, though de Vaan takes the Latin from a substrate word and Beekes suggests a Pre-Greek *sam- for psammos.[2] Gothic used malma for sand instead.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Fine fragments of rock as found on beaches: about 825 in the OED, before 830 in Barnhart.[6][3]

Semantic evolution

Historically, the line between sand and gravel was not distinct.[2] The shore of the sea, in poetry, is from about 1205,[6] and a sandbank from 1495.[6] The verb, to sprinkle with sand, is from the late 14th century,[2][4] to bury or fill in with sand from the 1620s, and to polish with sand or sandpaper from 1858.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 825 – sand.[6]
  • c. 1205 – the shore.[6]
  • late 14th century – verb, to sprinkle with sand.[2]
  • 1495 – a sandbank.[6]
  • 1858 – to polish.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Loose grains of worn rock, found on beaches and in deserts.
  2. (plural) A beach or a desert.
  3. A greyish-yellow colour.

Verb

  1. To smooth a surface with sandpaper or a sander.
  2. To cover with sand.

Word family

  • sandable
  • sandless
  • sandlike
  • sandy

Usage notes

An unrelated Old English sand meant a sending, a message or a messenger, and a dish of food; it is obsolete.[6]

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press