Etymologically
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tear

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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.

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