word English · revision 2525

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725 (Old English word, Beowulf)|origins=ine-pro *wer-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /wɜːd/, US /wɝːd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|word]], [[inh|ang|word|t=speech, talk, utterance, statement, news]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) from [[gem-pro|*wurdą]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[ine-pro|*werdh-]], an extended form of [[m|ine-pro|*wer-|t=to speak, say]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966)^(AHD 2000) Its Germanic cognates include [[osx|word]], [[nl|woord]], [[de|Wort]] and [[non|orð]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and Gothic has waurd.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Outside Germanic it is related to [[la|verbum|t=word]], Old Prussian wirds and [[lt|vardas|t=name]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966)^(SOED 2002) and through the root to [[grc|εἴρω|tr=eírō|t=I say]] and [[m|grc|ῥήτωρ|tr=rhḗtōr|t=public speaker]].^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) It is related to [[verb]], [[verbal]], [[proverb]], [[irony]] and [[rhetoric]].^(Klein 1966)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Things said, speech, talk: Old English ''word'', before 900;^(OED 1989) Barnhart's first example is from about 725, in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old English the word already meant “a promise”, recorded in 971,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and in theology Holy Scripture or God's message.^(Etymonline) A single utterance or remark is recorded from about 1000,^(OED 1989) and a password or watchword from about 1400.^(OED 1989) ''To take someone at their word'' is from the 1530s.^(Etymonline) In the plural, ''words'' meant an angry exchange (''have words with'') from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline) ''To eat one's words'' first appears in a 1571 translation of Calvin.^(Cresswell 2021) The verb meant “to utter words, speak” probably before 1200, in Layamon,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and “to put into words” from 1613,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) the sense that survives in ''wording''.^(SOED 2002) In computing a ''word'' is a set of bits forming the smallest unit of addressable memory.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ''word'' (''Beowulf'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 971 – a promise.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1000 – a single remark or utterance.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1200 – verb, to speak (Layamon).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1400 – a password.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-15th century – ''words'', an angry exchange.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1530s – ''take at one's word''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1571 – ''eat one's words''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1613 – verb, to put into words.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A sound or group of sounds, or its written form, that carries a meaning and can be used on its own.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Something said; a remark or comment.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(words)'' The text of a song, as distinct from the music; [[lyrics]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # News or information: ''send word''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # An assurance or [[promise]]: ''gave her word''.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ # A command or signal; a [[password]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(words)'' An angry exchange; a [[quarrel]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(Word)'' The [[Scripture|alt=Scriptures]], or the [[gospel]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(computing)'' A set of [[bit|alt=bits]] handled as a unit of memory.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To express in words; to [[phrase]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[misword]]

+ * [[reword]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[verb]]

+ * [[verbal]]

+ * [[verbose]]

+ * [[proverb]]

+ * [[irony]]

+ * [[rhetoric]]

+ * [[wordy]]

+ * [[byword]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}