dead English · revision 3523

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725 (Old English dēad, Beowulf)|origins=gem-pro *daudaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|ded]], [[inh|ang|dēad|t=having ceased to live; torpid, dull]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) from [[gem-pro|*daudaz]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) originally a past participle formed on the base of the verb that gave [[die]].^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986) Its cognates include [[ofs|dād]], [[osx|dōd]], [[nl|dood]], [[de|tot]] and [[non|dauðr]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) and Gothic has dauþs.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline traces the base to [[ine-pro|*dheu-|t=to die]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) It is related to [[death]].^(Cresswell 2021)^(COED 2004)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of people and animals, having ceased to live: Old English ''dēad'', about 725 in ''Beowulf'',^(Barnhart 1988) or about 1000.^(OED 1989) Old English also used it of still, standing water.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “Insensible, void of perception” is from the early 13th century.^(Etymonline) Of plants it is from 1382.^(OED 1989) Of sound, “muffled”, it is from the 1520s, and of places, “inactive, dull”, from the 1580s.^(Etymonline) From the 16th century it was used to mean “utter, absolute”, as in ''dead drunk'' (1590s), and also “quite certain, unerring”.^(Etymonline) The adverb, “entirely”, is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) and “directly, exactly” by 1800.^(Etymonline) The noun, a dead person or the dead collectively, is Old English;^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) “the most intense point”, as in ''the dead of night'', is from the 1540s.^(Etymonline) ''Dead letter'' is from 1703, ''dead heat'' from 1796 and ''dead on'' from 1889, from marksmanship.^(Etymonline) ''As dead as a doornail'' is from late Middle English.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * early 13th century – insensible.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – adverb, entirely.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1520s – of sound, muffled.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1540s – ''the dead of night''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1590s – ''dead drunk''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1703 – ''dead letter''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1796 – ''dead heat''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1889 – ''dead on''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # No longer alive.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Looking as if dead; numb or unresponsive; exhausted.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Inanimate; not able to support life.^(AHD)

+ # No longer in use or in force: ''a dead language''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Without activity; dull: ''a dead town''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Not working: ''a dead battery''.^(AHD)

+ # Complete, absolute: ''a dead stop''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Exact, unerring: ''dead centre''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(the dead)'' Those who have died.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The time of greatest intensity: ''the dead of winter''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Absolutely, altogether: ''dead tired''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Directly, exactly: ''dead ahead''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Suddenly: ''stopped dead''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[deadness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[deaden]]

+ * [[deadly]]

+ * [[death]]

+ * [[undead]]

+ * [[die]]

+ * [[deadline]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary compares ''dead'', the most widely used, with ''deceased'', ''departed'', ''extinct'', ''lifeless'' and ''inanimate''.^(AHD) In northern dialect ''dead'' also meant “death”.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}