low English · revision 3608

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+

+ {{homograph|1|not high}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1175|origins=ine-pro *legh-}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The adjective is [[inh|enm|lah]] (later [[m|enm|low]]), [[bor|non|lágr|t=low, short; humble]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) which Etymonline takes as the source because the word is not found in Old English.^(Etymonline) It goes back to [[gem-pro|*lega-|t=lying flat, low]],^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*legh-|t=to lie down, lay]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) and is related to [[lie]], “to recline”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(COED 2004)^(Klein 1966) Its relatives include [[nl|laag]] and [[sv|låg]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Not rising much, near the ground: ''lah'', about 1175.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The form ''low'' is found about 1280.^(Barnhart 1988) The sense “humble in rank” is from about 1200, and of sounds, “not loud, deep”, from about 1300.^(Etymonline) In geography it referred from about 1300 to the land near the sea, as in the ''Low Countries'' (1540s) and ''Low German'' (1845).^(Etymonline) Of prices it is from about 1400, “undignified” from the 1550s, “dejected” from 1737 and “vulgar” from 1759.^(Etymonline) The adverb is from about 1200^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and the noun from about 1300;^(Barnhart 1988) a ''low'', the lowest point, began in card games in 1818 and was used generally by 1911.^(Etymonline) ''Lowly'' is from the 14th century and ''lowland'' from the 16th.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1175 – ''lah'', not high.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – humble; adverb.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1300 – of sounds; noun.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1400 – of prices.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1540s – ''Low Countries''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1737 – dejected.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1759 – vulgar.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1818 – a lowest point.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Having little height; not high or tall.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Near the ground or below the usual level.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Below the average in amount, value or degree: ''low prices''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Deep in pitch; not loud.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Humble in rank or status.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Coarse, [[vulgar]] or [[dishonourable]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Depressed; in poor spirits.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # In or to a low position, level or degree.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Softly, or in a deep voice.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A low level, point or degree.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(meteorology)'' An area of low [[atmospheric pressure]].^(AHD)

+ # The lowest [[gear]] of a vehicle.^(AHD)

+

+ {{homograph|2|to moo}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1000 (Old English hlōwan)|origins=gem-pro *hlō-}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is [[inh|enm|lowen]], [[inh|ang|hlōwan|t=to moo]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from [[gem-pro|*hlō-]], an imitative form,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) perhaps the same as [[ine-pro|*kelə-|t=to shout]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) the root also of [[la|clāmāre|t=to cry out]] and [[m|la|calāre|t=to call]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966) Its relatives include [[nl|loeien]] and [[goh|hluoen]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[claim]].^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To moo: Old English ''hlōwan'', before 1000.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Middle English form ''lowen'' is found before 1300.^(Barnhart 1988) The noun, the sound cattle make, is from 1549.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1000 – Old English ''hlōwan''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1300 – Middle English ''lowen''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1549 – noun.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # Of cattle, to [[moo]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The deep sound made by cattle; a moo.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[below]]

+ * [[lie]]

+ * [[lowly]]

+ * [[lowland]]

+ * [[claim]]

+ * [[clamour]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two other words have the same spelling: ''low'', “a hill, a mound”, from Old English ''hlāw'', now found mostly in place names,^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) and a Scottish and northern ''low'', “a flame”, from Old Norse ''logi''.^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}