orð

Forms

orð n (genitive orðs, plural orð) (strong a-stem)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wurdą (“word”),^[2][1] the Germanic noun also found as Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌳 (waurd), Old English word, Old Frisian word, Old Saxon word and Old High German wort.^[2][3] Its nearest relatives are Latin verbum (“word”) and Lithuanian var̃das (“name”);^[2][4] Wiktionary gives the preform as Proto-Indo-European *wr̥dʰom, the zero grade of Proto-Indo-European *werdʰo- (“word”).^[1] Kroonen notes that if a Hittite verb “to call” belongs here, the root began with a laryngeal.^[2]

De Vries, Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon and Hellquist take the root as an extension of Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to say”), the root of the Greek verb “I say”.^[3][4][5] De Vries reports Trier's view that this root and the one meaning “to enclose” are one, the solemn word being the word spoken in the fenced assembly.^[3]

In compounds such as goðorð and banaorð, ⟨-orð⟩ means “office” or “deed”; de Vries reports that some derive it from the root of gera (“to do”), others take it as this same noun.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is in Menota's oldest dated Norwegian fragment, NRA norr fragm 81 B of 1150–1250, as orðum.^[7] The Icelandic Homily Book, dated 1200 by ONP, uses it of a person's words: Af orþom þínom scalltu retlátr verþa. oc af orþom þínom muɴdu méiddr verþa “By your words you shall be made righteous, and by your words you shall be condemned”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Cleasby and Vigfússon point out that in the oldest usage any sentence, clause or saying is “a word”, and the grammatical sense of a single word is later.^[9] From “what is said” the noun came to mean report and repute, gott orð, illt orð, and a message, senda e-m orð.^[10][11] In the laws it covers a pledged word, a promise and a vote,^[12] and the old laws name three “words” whose utterance brought outlawry.^[9] Proverbs used it too: ferr orð er um munn líðr “a word travels once it passes the mouth”.^[13][14]

The noun gave the verb orða “to put into words”, and continues as Icelandic orð, Faroese orð and Swedish, Danish and Norwegian ord.^[4][15]

Timeline

• 1150–1250 – orðum in NRA norr fragm 81 B.^[7]
• 1200 – orþom in the Icelandic Homily Book, by ONP's dating.^[8]
• 1200–1225 – orð, orði, orðanna in AM 677 4to.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. a word, an utterance or statement; in the plural, speech, talk.^[8][10][17]
2. a saying, a saw (fornkveðit orð).^[10][9]
3. repute, report, rumour.^[10][11]
4. a message (senda e-m orð).^[10][11]
5. (law) a pledged word, promise; a vote.^[12][11]

Word family

• orða
• yrða
• goðorð
• banaorð
• haldorðr

Descendants

• Icelandic orð^[1]
• Faroese orð^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk ord^[1]
• Norwegian Bokmål ord^[1]
• Swedish ord^[1]
• Danish ord^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 600
3. ^ a b c d de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 419
4. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. orð
5. ^ Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. ord
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. orð
7. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. NRA norr fragm 81 B
8. ^ a b c Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. orð
9. ^ a b c Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 466
10. ^ a b c d e Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. orð
11. ^ a b c d Faulkes, Anthony (2011), A New Introduction to Old Norse III: Glossary and Index of Names, 4th ed., London: Viking Society for Northern Research, p. s.v. orð
12. ^ a b A Lexicon of Medieval Nordic Law, Digital Humanities Institute, University of Sheffield, p. s.v. orþ
13. ^ Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. orð
14. ^ Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 438
15. ^ Falk, Hjalmar; Torp, Alf (1910–1911), Norwegisch-dänisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg, p. s.v. ord
16. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to
17. ^ Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 470