tear

tear¹ drop from the eye

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /tɪə/, US /tɪr/^[1]

Etymology

The drop is inherited from Middle English tere, inherited from Old English tēar, earlier tēahor, tæhher,^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *tahr-,^[2][3] which also gave Old Norse tár, German Zähre and Gothic tagr,^[2][3][4] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *dakru- (“tear”),^[2][4] which also gave Greek dákry, Old Latin dacruma, Latin lacrima, Welsh deigr and Irish dér.^[3][2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A drop from the eye: about 725 in Beowulf in Barnhart, 971 in the OED.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

A drop of any liquid, such as resin, is from before 900.^[5] Tears as the sign of grief is from before 1340,^[5] in tears from the 1550s, and tears of blood by about 1300.^[2] The verb, to shed tears, was in late Old English and again before 1425,^[2][3] and of the eyes, to fill with tears, from the 1650s, mainly American.^[2] Teardrop is from 1799 and tear gas from 1917.^[3][2] Without tears, without difficulty, comes from the title of a children's reading book of 1857, Reading without Tears.^[6][5]

Timeline

• c. 725 – a teardrop.^[3]
• a900 – a drop of any liquid.^[5]
• a1340 – tears as grief.^[5]
• 1799 – teardrop.^[3]
• 1857 – without tears.^[5]
• 1917 – tear gas.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A drop of clear salty liquid from the eye, especially when crying.
2. (tears) Weeping.
3. Something shaped like a hanging drop.

Verb

1. Of the eyes, to fill with tears.

tear² rip

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /teə/, US /ter/^[1]

Etymology

To rip is inherited from Middle English teren, inherited from Old English teran (“to pull apart by force”), earlier teoran,^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *teraną,^[2] which also gave Dutch teren “to consume”, German zehren and Gothic distairan “to destroy”,^[3][4][2] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to split, flay”),^[2][3][4] which also gave Greek dérein “to flay” and Sanskrit dṛṇā́ti “he tears”.^[3][4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To pull apart by force, to lacerate: before 850 in Barnhart, about 1000 as teran.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The past tense tare, still in Bible translations, gave way in the 17th century to tore, from the old participle toren.^[2][3] Pulling away by force is from the early 14th century, and to be torn between two choices by 1871.^[2] To move with violent haste is from the 1590s, and to tear a cat, to rant, is in Shakespeare.^[2] The noun, a torn place, is from 1611, in Cotgrave's dictionary,^[3][5] and the act of tearing from the 1660s.^[2][5] To tear someone off a strip was RAF slang of the 1940s.^[6]

Timeline

• before 850 – to pull apart.^[3]
• early 14th century – to pull away by force.^[2]
• 1590s – to rush.^[2]
• 1611 – a rent, a torn place.^[3]
• 1871 – torn between.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To pull apart or into pieces by force; to rip.
2. To make a hole or split in something.
3. To pull away by force.
4. (informal) To move very fast.

Noun

1. A hole or split made by tearing.

Related words

• tearful
• teardrop
• lachrymose
• tore
• torn

Usage notes

A rare old tear, something of the finest quality, came from Dutch or Low German teer “fine, delicate”.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b 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 r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press