kid English · revision 3229

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200, Ormulum|origins=gem-pro *kidją}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɪd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|kide]],^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|non|kið|t=young goat]] or a similar Scandinavian word,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from [[gem-pro|*kidją|alt=*kidjom]],^(Etymonline) the source also of Old High German kizzi and German Kitze,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a word of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The forms may imitate the cry of young goats and sheep,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) or a call to them.^(MWU 2024) The Old English word for a young goat was ticcen.^(Etymonline) The verb “to tease” is probably from the noun, in the sense “to make a child or goat of”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(COED 2004)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A young goat: about 1200,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) probably before 1200 in the ''Ormulum''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The flesh of a young goat is from about 1430,^(OED 1989) and the leather made from its skin from 1677,^(OED 1989) hence ''kid gloves'' and, in the 19th century, ''to handle with kid gloves'', “to treat tactfully”.^(Cresswell 2021) The meaning “child” is perhaps from the 1590s, in the play ''The Old Law'',^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and certainly by the 1680s, as in [[kidnap]];^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) it was slang, but established in informal use by about 1841.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) A young pugilist or expert young thief was a kid from 1812,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) as in Billy the Kid.^(Etymonline) ''Kid brother'' is by 1890,^(Etymonline) and ''kid stuff'', “something easy”, from 1913.^(Etymonline) The verb meant “to coax, hoax” in thieves' cant from 1811, and “to tease playfully” from 1839.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) ''No kidding!'' is from 1914.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – a young goat.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1430 – kid meat.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1599 – a child (slang).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1677 – kid leather.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1811 – verb, to hoax (thieves' cant).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1839 – verb, to tease.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1841 – a child (informal).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1890 – ''kid brother''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1914 – ''no kidding!''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(informal)'' A child or young person.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A young [[goat]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Soft leather made from the skin of a young goat; [[kidskin]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(informal)'' To tease or joke with someone; to deceive in fun.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Of a goat, to give birth.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(informal)'' Younger: ''my kid sister''.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[kidder]]

+ * [[kiddingly]]

+ * [[kiddish]]

+ * [[kiddishness]]

+ * [[kidlike]]

+ * [[kiddo]]

+ * [[kiddy]]

+ * [[kidskin]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[kidnap]]

+ * [[kiddie]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Several unrelated words are spelled ''kid'': a bundle of brushwood or gorse for burning, from before 1350, now dialect,^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) and a small wooden tub, especially a sailor's mess tub, from 1769, perhaps a variant of [[kit]].^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}