read English · revision 1821

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 899 (King Alfred)|origins=gem-pro *rǣðan}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /riːd/ ''(present)''; /rɛd/ ''(past)''^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|reden|t=to counsel; to read]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) [[inh|ang|rǣdan|t=to advise, counsel; to explain; to read]] (Anglian [[m|ang|rēdan]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*rǣðan]].^(Hoad 1986) Its cognates mostly keep the sense “to advise, guess, interpret”: [[ofs|rēda|t=to advise]], [[osx|rādan]], [[nl|raden|t=to advise, guess]], [[goh|rātan]] (modern [[de|raten|t=to advise, guess]]), [[non|ráða|t=to advise, plan, explain, read]] and [[got|𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌳𐌰𐌽|tr=garēdan|t=to provide for, consider]].^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) Hoad and Merriam-Webster compare [[sa|राध्नोति|tr=rādhnoti|t=he achieves, prepares]],^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) and Etymonline gives a root [[ine-pro|*re-|t=to reason, count]].^(Etymonline) It is related to Old English [[m|ang|rǣd|t=advice]] ([[rede]]) and to [[riddle]].^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To advise, explain, interpret, and to read writing (before 899, in the writings of King Alfred).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The original Germanic senses were giving and taking advice and managing affairs;^(Hoad 1986) several languages also used the verb for interpreting something obscure, such as a dream or riddle, but only Old English, and Old Norse perhaps under its influence, used it for interpreting written signs.^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) Most other languages built their word for “read” on the idea of gathering, as French ''lire'' from Latin ''legere''.^(Etymonline)^(Abracadabra 2004) The old sense survives in ''read a riddle'' and ''read someone a lesson'',^(Weekley 1921) and in the name of Æthelred the Unready, whose epithet meant “ill-advised”, from [[rede]].^(Abracadabra 2004) Old senses such as “to suppose” and “to guess” were obsolete by the 18th century.^(SOED 2002) ''Read one's fortune'' dates from 1591,^(OED 1989) reading a person's character from the 1610s and reading music at sight from 1792.^(Etymonline) The adjective ''read'' “learned”, now usually ''well-read'', is from 1574 according to Merriam-Webster or 1586 according to the OED.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 1989) The noun, “an act of reading”, is colloquial from 1825, and ''a good read'' is recorded by 1870.^(Etymonline) Etymonline cites the Century Dictionary's view that the past tense should be spelled ''red'', as it once was.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 899 – Old English ''rǣdan'' (King Alfred).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 900 – to think, suppose (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1000 – to interpret a dream or riddle.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1175 – Middle English ''reden''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1574 – adjective, learned through reading.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1591 – ''read one's fortune''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1610s – to read a person's character.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1792 – to play music at sight.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1825 – noun, an act of reading.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1870 – ''a good read''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To look at and understand written or printed words.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To say aloud something written: ''read to the children''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To be able to understand a language or notation: ''reads music''.^(AHD)

+ # To interpret signs or signals: ''read a map'', ''read lips''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of a text, to have a particular wording: ''the sign reads “Keep out”''.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # Of an instrument, to show a measurement.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # To [[study]] a subject.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(informal)'' An act of reading, or something to read: ''a good read''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Informed by reading: ''well read''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lipread]]

+ * [[proofread]]

+ * [[readability]]

+ * [[reread]]

+ * [[misread]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[rede]]

+ * [[riddle]]

+ * [[reader]]

+ * [[reading]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}