eat English · revision 3454

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725 (Old English etan)|origins=ine-pro *h₁ed-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /iːt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|eten]], [[inh|ang|etan|t=to consume food; devour]], past tense ǣt,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*etaną]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Its cognates include [[ofs|eta]], [[osx|etan]], [[nl|eten]], [[de|essen]] and [[non|eta]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966) and Gothic has itan.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Watkins traces it to [[ine-pro|*h₁ed-|alt=*ed-|t=to eat]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) the root also of Latin [[m|la|edere|t=to eat]], Greek [[m|grc|ἔδω|tr=édō]] and Sanskrit ádmi “I eat”.^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) Word Origins notes that the same root gives [[edible]] and [[comestible]].^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To consume food: Old English ''etan'', about 725,^(Barnhart 1988) or about 825 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “To submit to, swallow” an insult is from 1382.^(OED 1989) The transferred sense “to corrode, wear away, consume” is from the 1550s.^(Etymonline)^(HTOED) ''Eat one's words'' is from the 1570s and ''eat one's heart out'' from the 1590s.^(Etymonline) “To preoccupy, worry”, as in ''what's eating you?'', is by 1893.^(Etymonline) ''Eat out'', “to dine away from home”, is from 1930, and the ''eat-in'' kitchen from 1955.^(Etymonline) The noun ''eats'', “food”, continues Old English [[m|ang|ǣt|t=food]] and is now colloquial.^(SOED 2002)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 1382 – to swallow an insult.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1550s – to corrode.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1570s – ''eat one's words''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1590s – ''eat one's heart out''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1893 – to worry.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1930 – ''eat out''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To take food into the body by the mouth and swallow it; to have a meal.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To include habitually in one's diet.^(AHD)

+ # To consume or destroy as if by eating; to [[erode]] or [[corrode]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To absorb a cost or loss.^(AHD)

+ # To worry or annoy persistently.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''eats'' ''(informal)'' Food.^(SOED 2002)^(MW Collegiate)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[eater]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fret]]

+ * [[ort]]

+ * [[edible]]

+ * [[comestible]]

+ * [[etch]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary compares ''eat'' with ''consume'', ''devour'' and ''ingest''.^(AHD) The SOED notes the past tense ''ate'' pronounced /et/ as well as /eɪt/,^(SOED 2002) and the CEPD gives /et/ as the main British form.^(Roach et al. 2011)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}