sandy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsændi/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English sandie, from Old English sandiġ (“of the nature of sand”), from sand and -y.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Consisting of or containing much sand: about 1000 in the OED.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

Of sand used to measure time, as in an hourglass, it is from 1591,^[5] and figuratively, lacking cohesion or stability, from 1590.^[5] Of hair, yellowish-red, is from 1523,^[5] the 1520s in Etymonline.^[2] As the name of a colour it is from 1819.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – consisting of sand.^[5]
• 1523 – of hair, yellowish-red.^[5]
• 1590 – unstable (figurative).^[5]
• 1819 – a colour.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Covered with or consisting of sand.
2. Of hair, light yellowish-red.
3. Of a pale yellowish-brown colour.

Word family

• sandiness
• sandy blight

Related words

• sand
• sandstone

Usage notes

Sandy is also a pet form of Alexander, used in Scotland from 1473 and as a nickname for a Scotsman from 1785, a use that also puns on sandy hair.^[5][2][4]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press