tooth

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tuːθ/, /tʊθ/; /tuθ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English toth, inherited from Old English tōþ (“tooth”) (plural tēþ),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *tanþ-,^[2][5] source also of Dutch tand, Old Norse tǫnn, German Zahn and Gothic tunþus,^[2][3] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *dent- (“tooth”),^[2][5] also the root of Latin dens (“tooth”) and Greek odṓn.^[5][4][6] Hoad suggests that it was a participle of *ed-, to eat, meaning the eater or chewer.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

One of the hard structures in the mouth: Old English, before 800;^[3] the plural before 900 in the OED.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The plural teeth shows i-mutation.^[2] The loss of n before the spirant is regular in Old English, as in goose, five and mouth.^[2] An elephant's tusk, as a source of ivory, is from about 1050.^[7] Taste, appetite, liking, as in sweet tooth, is from the late 14th century (about 1386),^[2][7] and hostile or destructive power, the teeth of the wind, from 1546.^[7] Tooth-like parts of saws or combs are from the late 15th century.^[2] Tooth and nail, fiercely, is from the early 14th century,^[2] and Word Origins notes that to set someone's teeth on edge comes from the Bible.^[8] Armed to the teeth is from about 1300, and the tooth fairy is attested from 1964.^[2] The verb, to furnish with teeth, is from the late 15th century.^[2]

Timeline

• before 800 – tōþ.^[3]
• c. 1050 – a tusk, ivory.^[7]
• early 14th century – tooth and nail.^[2]
• c. 1386 – taste, appetite.^[7]
• late 15th century – teeth of a saw.^[2]
• 1964 – tooth fairy.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. One of the hard, bony structures in the jaws used for biting and chewing.
2. Something like a tooth, such as one of the points on a saw, comb or gear.
3. Biting or destructive force.
4. A liking or taste for something: a sweet tooth.

Verb

1. To provide with teeth, or make jagged.
2. Of gears, to interlock.

Word family

• toothlike
• bucktooth
• eyetooth
• dogtooth
• houndstooth
• snaggletooth
• toothwort
• foretooth

Related words

• teeth
• dental
• dentist
• toothache
• toothbrush
• eat

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press