land English · revision 2538

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /lænd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|lond]], [[inh|ang|land]] (also [[m|ang|lond]]),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) from [[gem-pro|*landą]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Its cognates include [[ofs|land]], [[osx|land]], [[de|Land]] and [[non|land]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) and Gothic has land.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Outside Germanic it is related to Old Irish ''land'', “open space”, [[cy|llan|t=enclosure, church]] and [[br|lann|t=heath]], the source of French [[m|fr|lande|t=moor]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966)^(Cresswell 2021) which Watkins and Klein trace to [[ine-pro|*lendh-|t=land, heath]].^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(AHD 2000) Boutkan, cited by Etymonline, finds no Indo-European etymology and suspects a substrate word.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A part of the earth's surface marked off by natural or political boundaries: Old English ''land'', about 725, in ''Beowulf'';^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) ground or soil from about 825,^(OED 1989) and the solid part of the earth's surface, as opposed to the sea, from about 900.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline concludes from the etymological evidence and Gothic use that the original Germanic sense was “a definite portion of the earth's surface owned by a person or home of a nation”, extended early to the solid surface of the earth, a sense once belonging to ''earth''.^(Etymonline) In Old English it also meant the country as opposed to the town, and a ridge in a ploughed field.^(Hoad 1986) In Scotland, from the 15th century, a ''land'' is a building divided into flats.^(Hoad 1986) Ground held as property is ''land'' in law from the 1620s.^(Etymonline) ''How the land lies'' is a nautical phrase from about 1700.^(OED 1989) The verb meant “to put ashore” about 1300,^(Etymonline) “to come ashore” by the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) and later “to come to a stop” in general.^(Etymonline) “To catch a fish” and “to win, secure” are later senses,^(AHD) and ''land a blow'' is from newspaper accounts of prize fights by 1862.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – a country, territory (''Beowulf'').^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 825 – ground, soil.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 900 – dry land, as opposed to sea.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – verb, to bring ashore.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – verb, to disembark.^(Etymonline)

+ * 15th century – a tenement building (Scotland).^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1620s – land as property in law.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1700 – ''how the land lies''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1862 – ''land a blow''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The solid surface of the earth, as opposed to the sea.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Ground or soil, especially with reference to its use.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A nation or country, or its people.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # Landed property; [[real estate]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # An area or realm: ''the land of the living''.^(AHD)^(Cresswell 2021)

+ # ''(Scotland)'' A building divided into [[tenement|alt=tenements]].^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To bring or come to shore; to disembark.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To set down or come down on the ground or another surface, as an aircraft.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To arrive or bring to a place or condition: ''landed in trouble''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # To catch and pull in a fish.^(AHD)

+ # To win or secure: ''land a job''.^(AHD)

+ # To deliver a blow.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[landless]]

+ * [[landlessness]]

+ * [[landlike]]

+ * [[crash-land]]

+ * [[reland]]

+ * [[soft-land]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[landscape]]

+ * [[island]]

+ * [[lawn]]

+ * [[mainland]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ German ''Land'' (plural ''Länder''), a state of Germany or Austria, is recorded in English from 1920.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}