fist English · revision 15248

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 900|origins=gmw-pro *fūsti}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fɪst/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|fust]], [[inh|ang|fȳst|t=fist, clenched hand]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[gmw-pro|*fūsti]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*funhstiz]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) cognate with [[ofs|fest]], [[goh|fūst]] (modern [[m|de|Faust]]) and [[nl|vuist]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) Outside Germanic it matches [[cu|пѧсть|tr=pęstĭ|t=fist]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) and it is probably from a PIE word for the hand related to [[ine-pro|*pénkʷe|t=five]], from the five fingers (compare [[finger]]).^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The hand tightly closed, especially for striking: before 900 in the OED and Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) The Middle English form fust appears probably about 1200, in the ''Ancrene Riwle'', and fist probably before 1300.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The fist as a grasp or clutch, holding something, is from 1297,^(OED 1989) and the hand in general (now jocular) from before 1300.^(OED 1989) A blow with the fist is from 1767,^(Etymonline) and fist-fight from about 1600.^(Etymonline) In printers' slang the index mark ☞ was called a fist from 1888.^(OED 1989) Old English had a verb [[m|ang|fȳstlian|t=to strike with the fist]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 900 – the clenched hand.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1297 – a grip.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1600 – fist-fight.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1767 – a blow with the fist.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1888 – the index mark.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The hand closed tightly with the fingers bent into the [[palm]], as for hitting.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A grasp or [[grip]]; the hand.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(printing)'' An [[index]] mark in the shape of a pointing hand.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To hit with the fist, or to clench into a fist.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[backfist]]

+ * [[fistfight]]

+ * [[fistful]]

+ * [[fistiana]]

+ * [[fistic]]

+ * [[fisticuff]]

+ * [[fistnote]]

+ * [[tight-fisted]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[five]]

+ * [[finger]]

+ * [[fisticuffs]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}