ted

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tɛd/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English tedden, probably borrowed from Old Norse teðja (“to spread manure”) (past tense tadda), related to tað (“dung”),^[2][3][4] or from an unrecorded Old English *teddan;^[5] it is related to Old High German zetten (“to spread”) and German verzetteln (“to scatter”).^[2][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To spread out newly mown grass for drying: about 1300 in Etymonline,^[5] the 15th century in the OED and Hoad.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

To scatter or dissipate, figuratively, is from about 1560,^[7] and in dialect to arrange or tidy the hair or a room from 1796.^[7] The AHD notes that an American inventor of the mid-19th century called his haymaking machine a tedder, and that tedder then became a New England verb with the same meaning as ted.^[8] The word was in general dialect use in Scotland, Ireland and England.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – to spread hay.^[5]
• c. 1560 – to scatter.^[7]
• 1796 – to tidy.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To spread out newly cut grass or hay to dry.

Word family

• tedder

Related words

• hay

Usage notes

Ted, with a capital, is also short for Teddy boy (1956), and was a Second World War name for a German soldier.^[7][4]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ 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)