green English · revision 2571

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 700|origins=ine-pro *gʰreh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡriːn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|grene]], [[inh|ang|grēne]], Northumbrian groene,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*grōnijaz]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) an -n- formation from the base of [[grow]] and [[grass]].^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966)^(COED 2004) Its cognates include [[ofs|grēne]], [[osx|grōni]], [[nl|groen]], [[de|grün]] and [[non|grœnn]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966) Watkins traces it to [[ine-pro|*gʰreh₁-|alt=*ghrē-|t=to grow]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) through the sense “colour of growing plants”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of the colour of living plants: Old English ''grēni'', about 700,^(Barnhart 1988) or before 700 in the OED.^(OED 1989) Of plants it also meant “growing, vigorous” and of wood “unseasoned”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “Covered with grass or foliage” is from about 1200.^(Etymonline) Of the complexion of a sick person it is from the mid-13th century,^(Etymonline) and Word Origins notes the old phrases ''green and wan'' and ''green and pale''.^(Cresswell 2021) Of fruit, “unripe”, and of persons, “youthful, inexperienced”, it is from the early 14th century, hence “gullible” from about 1600.^(Etymonline) Green has symbolized inconstancy since the late 14th century and envy since Middle English, as in Shakespeare's “green-eyed monster”.^(Etymonline) A village green is by the late 15th century, and the golf green by 1849.^(Etymonline) The ''green room'' for actors is from the 1690s.^(Etymonline) ''Green light'' as “permission” is from 1937, and ''green thumb'' by 1938.^(Etymonline) Green as the colour of environmentalism is from 1971,^(Etymonline) and ''the Greens'' translates German ''die Grünen''.^(AHD 2000)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 700 – Old English ''grēni''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1200 – covered with foliage.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-13th century – sickly.^(Etymonline)

+ * early 14th century – unripe; inexperienced.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 15th century – a village green.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1690s – ''green room''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1849 – a golf green.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1937 – ''green light''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1971 – environmentalist.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of the colour of growing grass and leaves, between yellow and blue in the spectrum.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Covered with growing plants; [[verdant]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Not ripe; young; inexperienced or [[naive]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Pale and sickly; [[jealous]] or envious: ''green with envy''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Concerned with protecting the [[environment]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The colour green.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A grassy area, especially common land in a village.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The area of short grass around a hole in golf.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''greens'': green leafy vegetables.^(AHD)

+ # ''(often Green)'' A member of an environmentalist party.^(AHD 2000)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or become green.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[greenly]]

+ * [[greenness]]

+ * [[greenish]]

+ * [[greenishness]]

+ * [[greeny]]

+ * [[greenage]]

+ * [[greening]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[wintergreen]]

+ * [[grow]]

+ * [[grass]]

+ * [[greenery]]

+ * [[greenhorn]]

+ * [[greenhouse]]

+ * [[verdant]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A Scots and northern verb ''green'', “to long for”, is probably a separate word, from Old Norse ''girna'' “to desire”, related to [[yearn]].^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}