Etymologically
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ted

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Pronunciation

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
  • 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)