edge English · revision 3696

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /edʒ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|egge]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|ecg|t=corner, edge, point; sword]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*agjō]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) which is also the source of Old Frisian egg “edge”, Old Saxon eggia “point, edge”, Dutch eg, Old High German ecka (German Ecke “corner”) and Old Norse egg,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*ak-|t=to be sharp, rise to a point, pierce]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Its relatives outside Germanic include Latin acus “needle” and aciēs “sharp edge”, and Greek akḗ “point”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The change of spelling from Old English -cg through Middle English -gg to modern -dge reflects a widespread shift in pronunciation.^(Etymonline) It is related to [[acid]] and to the verb [[egg]] “to urge on”.^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The cutting side of a blade: about 725 in ''Beowulf'',^(Barnhart 1988) and in the OED from about 1000.^(OED 1989) In Old English poetry it also meant a sword, as in ecgplega “edge play” for battle.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The boundary of a surface is from the 14th century,^(Hoad 1986) after the sharp side of a blade.^(Hoad 1986) Power to cut or wound, figuratively keen effectiveness, is from before 1593,^(OED 1989) and of persons, ardour or keenness, from 1581.^(OED 1989) ''Teeth on edge'' is from the late 14th century, ''on edge'' “excited or irritable” from 1872,^(Etymonline) and ''to get the edge on'' someone, an advantage, is American colloquial from 1911.^(Etymonline) The verb, to give an edge to, is from the late 13th century;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) to move edgeways or advance slowly is from the 1620s, originally nautical,^(Etymonline) first recorded by Barnhart in Captain John Smith's ''Generall Historie of Virginia'' (1624).^(Barnhart 1988) To defeat by a narrow margin is from 1953.^(Etymonline) The 16th-century sense “to urge on, incite” is often a mistake for [[egg]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – cutting edge, in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1297 – verb, to sharpen.^(OED 1989)

+ * 14th century – boundary of a surface.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * late 14th century – ''teeth on edge''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1581 – keenness.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1620s – to advance slowly.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1872 – ''on edge''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1911 – an advantage.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1953 – to defeat narrowly.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The thin sharpened side of a [[blade]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Sharpness; a penetrating or [[incisive]] quality.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The line where a surface ends; a [[border]] or [[margin]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The point just before something begins: ''on the edge of disaster''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An [[advantage]]: ''a competitive edge''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[sharpen]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To give a border to.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To move or push slowly and gradually.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To defeat by a small margin.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[edgeless]]

+ * [[edger]]

+ * [[edgeways]]

+ * [[edgewise]]

+ * [[edging]]

+ * [[edgy]]

+ * [[hard-edge]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[egg]]

+ * [[acid]]

+ * [[acute]]

+ * [[acme]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Sussex dialect the word also had the form etch,^(Wright 1898) and in the north of England, Lincolnshire and Dorset another verb ''edge'' meant “to harrow”.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}