cold English · revision 3300

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725|origins=ine-pro *gel-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|cold]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) [[inh|ang|cald]] (Anglian), ceald (West Saxon),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*kaldaz]],^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) the source also of Old Frisian and Old Saxon kald, German kalt, Old Norse kaldr and Gothic kalds.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It was probably first a past-participle formation, “chilled, frozen”, hence its final -d.^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) It goes back to [[ine-pro|*gel-|t=cold; to freeze]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) the source also of Latin gelū “frost”, gelāre “to freeze” and glaciēs “ice”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and of the English [[cool]], [[chill]], [[congeal]] and [[jelly]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) The noun is Old English cald, from the adjective.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English cald is recorded probably about 725;^(Barnhart 1988) the OED's first quotation, of the weather, is from about 950.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “Unmoved by strong feeling” is already late Old English.^(Etymonline) “Not heated, of low temperature” is from the mid-13th century, and “dead” from the mid-14th.^(Etymonline) In hunting a scent or trail was cold when faint, from the 1590s, hence “far from the thing sought” in guessing games, from 1864.^(Etymonline) The noun meant coldness from before 1300,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and an illness caused by exposure to cold from before 1338;^(Barnhart 1988) the common cold, an infection of the nose and throat named because its symptoms resemble those of a chill, is from 1537.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) ''Cold comfort'' is by the 1650s, ''cold cream'' by 1709 and ''to throw cold water on'' from 1808.^(Etymonline) ''Left out in the cold'' is from 1861.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''The cold shoulder'', from the early 19th century, is probably from a dismissive gesture rather than a cold shoulder of mutton served to an unwelcome guest, as is often claimed.^(Cresswell 2021) A cold front is from 1921, and a cold call by 1953.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English cald.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late Old English – unmoved by feeling.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1300 – noun, coldness.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-14th century – dead.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1537 – the common cold.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1590s – of a scent, faint.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1709 – ''cold cream''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1808 – ''throw cold water on''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1861 – ''left out in the cold''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1921 – ''cold front''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Having a low [[temperature]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Feeling no warmth; [[chill|alt=chilled]].^(AHD)

+ # Lacking warmth of feeling; [[unfriendly]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Dead.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Of a scent or trail, faint; of a guess, far from the answer.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A low temperature; cold weather.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A [[virus|alt=viral]] [[infection]] of the nose and throat; the [[common cold]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Totally, completely: ''stopped cold''.^(AHD)

+ # Without preparation: ''went in cold''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[coldly]]

+ * [[coldness]]

+ * [[coldish]]

+ * [[cold sore]]

+ * [[common cold]]

+ * [[head cold]]

+ * [[rose cold]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chill]]

+ * [[cool]]

+ * [[congeal]]

+ * [[jelly]]

+ * [[gelid]]

+ * [[glacier]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Cold'' is the general word for a low temperature,^(AHD) while ''chilly'' and ''cool'' suggest something milder, and ''frigid'', ''icy'' and ''glacial'' something more extreme.^(AHD) In Scots and northern English the word is ''cauld''.^(SOED 2002)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}