healthy English · revision 2916

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1552|origins=en health}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈhel.θi/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[health]] and the adjective suffix [[-y]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Having good health, and also promoting health: both 1552 in the OED^(OED 1989) and Merriam-Webster,^(MWU 2024) the 1550s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) An earlier word in the same sense was ''healthsome'', from the 1530s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “Showing or typical of health”, literally and figuratively, is from 1597.^(OED 1989) Ironic use, as of a dangerous place, is from 1831.^(OED 1989) Of an appetite, “large, as a sign of good health”, is from 1836,^(OED 1989) and the AHD gives the general sense “sizable, considerable”, as in ''a healthy profit''.^(AHD) Nineteenth-century writers objected to calling foods ''healthy'':^(Etymonline) Eliza Leslie (1839) said that ''wholesome'' was the right word, since a pig may be healthy while alive but not once it is pork.^(Etymonline) The AHD notes that the distinction between ''healthy'', “in good health”, and ''healthful'', “promoting health”, was only drawn in the 1880s.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1530s – ''healthsome''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1552 – in good health; promoting health.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1597 – showing health.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1831 – ironic use.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1836 – of an appetite, large.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # In good [[health]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Good for the health: ''a healthy diet''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Showing sound judgement or a sound state of mind.^(AHD)

+ # Large, considerable: ''a healthy profit''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[healthily]]

+ * [[healthiness]]

+ * [[heart-healthy]]

+ * [[unhealthy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[heal]]

+ * [[healing]]

+ * [[whole]]

+ * [[health]]

+ * [[hale]]

+ * [[healthful]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Usage critics once insisted that ''healthy'' means “in good health” and ''healthful'' “promoting health”, but the AHD notes that ''healthy'' has long been used in both senses, and the distinction dates only from the 1880s.^(AHD) ''Healthy'' stresses the absence of disease, while ''sound'' implies freedom from defect, ''hale'' and ''robust'' vigour, and ''wholesome'' what promotes health.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}