smith

Pronunciation

• IPA: /smɪθ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English smith,^[2] inherited from Old English smið (“one who works in metal; a craftsman”),^[2][3] from Proto-Germanic *smithaz (“skilled worker”),^[2][3] from a suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European *smi- (“to cut, work with a sharp instrument”),^[2][4] which is also the source of Greek smílē “chisel, carving knife”.^[2][3][5] It is cognate with Old Frisian and Old Saxon smith, Dutch smid, German Schmied, Old Norse smiðr and Gothic -smiþa, in aizasmiþa “coppersmith”.^[2][3] The verb is Old English smiþian, from the noun.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English, about 725 in Beowulf, of one who makes or shapes things out of metal.^[3] Old English smið meant a blacksmith or armorer, and also jewelers, and more broadly any skilled manual worker, including carpenters.^[2] The original sense was probably “craftsman”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

As a surname, now the most common in English, it is attested by about 975.^[2] A Middle English psalter even called God a smith, when he created light.^[2] The narrower sense, a worker in iron, especially a blacksmith or farrier, became the usual one.^[7][8] From the 16th century it was used in combinations such as smith's coal and smith's work,^[7] and it is now often the second part of compounds naming a maker, as in goldsmith, gunsmith and the playful wordsmith and tunesmith.^[8][9] Smithy, a forge, is from before 1250, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English smið.^[3]
• c. 975 – as a surname.^[2]
• c. 1000 – verb, to forge.^[7]
• before 1250 – smithy.^[3]
• 1578 – smith's coal, smith's work.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A worker in metal, especially one who shapes it when hot; a blacksmith.
2. In compounds, a maker of something: goldsmith, wordsmith.

Verb

1. To make or shape metal by forging.

Word family

• arrowsmith
• blacksmith
• coppersmith
• goldsmith
• gunsmith
• hammersmith
• ironsmith
• locksmith

Related words

• smithery
• smithy
• silversmith
• wordsmith
• Smith

Usage notes

Other surnames meaning “smith” include Italian Ferraro, Arabic Haddad, Hungarian Kovács, Polish Kowalski, Spanish Herrero, Russian Kuznets and Irish MacGowan.^[2]

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster