Etymologically
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smile

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /smaɪl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English smilen,[2][3] of uncertain origin:[4] perhaps from Middle Low German *smilen[2][4] or from a Scandinavian source, compare Swedish smila “to smile, smirk” and Danish smile.[2][4][5][6] It is reconstructed as Proto-Germanic *smil-, an extended form of Proto-Indo-European *smei- (“to laugh, smile”),[2][4][3] the source also of Sanskrit smáyate “he smiles”, Greek meidiân “to smile”, Latin mīrus “wonderful” and mīrārī “to wonder”, Old Church Slavonic smijati sę “to laugh” and Old English smerian “to laugh at, scorn”.[2][4][7] It is related to smirk, marvel and miracle.[5][8][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To give the face a look of pleasure or amusement: before 1300 in the OED,[9] about 1300 in Etymonline,[2] and about 1303 in Barnhart, implied in smylyng “pleasant”, with the surname Smyles from 1301.[4]

Semantic evolution

It gradually pushed the usual Old English word, smearcian, modern smirk, into a specific unpleasant sense.[2][8] In Middle English to smile still (about 1400) was to smile to oneself.[2] Figuratively, of Fortune and the like, “to look on with favour”, it is from about 1400,[2][9] and of the eyes from 1759.[2][9] The noun is from the mid-15th century in Etymonline,[2] 1562 in John Heywood's Epigrams and Proverbs according to Barnhart and the OED.[4][9] As colloquial American slang a smile was a drink, especially of whisky, from 1839.[9] The saying smile and the world smiles with you is by 1884, in newspaper poetry.[2] In northern dialect, to smile was to mantle or froth, of beer, and a smile was the head on beer.[10]

Timeline

  • a. 1300 – verb, to smile.[9]
  • c. 1400 – to look on with favour.[2][9]
  • mid-15th century – noun.[2]
  • 1759 – of the eyes.[2][9]
  • 1839 – a drink of whisky.[9]
  • 1884 – smile and the world smiles with you.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A facial expression in which the corners of the mouth curve upward, showing pleasure, amusement or scorn.
  2. A pleasant or favourable disposition or aspect.

Verb

  1. To have or form a smile.
  2. To look with favour or approval: fortune smiled on us.
  3. To express with a smile: smiled her thanks.

Word family

  • smiler
  • smilingly
  • smilingness
  • smileless
  • smilelessly
  • smilelessness
  • smiley
  • subsmile
  • smirk
  • marvel
  • miracle
  • mirror
  • admire

Usage notes

The American Heritage calls smile the most general of the words for such expressions, covering feelings from affection to malice, against grin, simper and smirk.[11]

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin