greet English · revision 39939

+ English has two verbs ''greet'' with separate sources: ''greet'' "to salute, welcome", from [[m|ang|grētan]], and the Scottish and northern ''greet'' "to weep", from [[m|ang|grǣtan]].^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)^(Weekley 1921)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ɡɹiːt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|to salute}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Old English|origins=gmw-pro *grōtjan}}

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|greten]], [[inh|ang|grētan|t=to approach, touch, attack, salute]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024) [[inh|gmw-pro|*grōtjan]],^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) whose other descendants are [[m|ofs|grēta|t=to accost, greet]], [[m|osx|grōtian|t=to call upon]], [[m|goh|gruozen|t=to address, attack]] and their modern forms [[m|nl|groeten]] and [[m|de|grüßen|t=to greet, salute]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026)^(Klein 1966) Wiktionary writes the Proto-Germanic form [[m|gem-pro|*grōtijaną]].^(Wiktionary) Its origin is uncertain.^(Etymonline) Etymonline, Barnhart and Klein suggest that it first meant "to make resound" or "to cause to speak", a causative of the verb that gave ''greet'' "to weep".^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Old English the verb covered any kind of contact: to approach, to touch or handle (''hearpan grētan'', to play the harp), to attack, and to salute.^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(Weekley 1921) The greeting sense is found in ''Beowulf''.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In English, as in German and Dutch, the friendly sense "to salute" won out over the others.^(Etymonline) The sense "to attack" survived until about 1440, after which it was probably only an ironic use of "to salute".^(OED 2026) Weekley takes the original meaning to have been "to come in contact with", since the word could mean both salute and attack.^(Weekley 1921) Kersey in 1706 called it "an old word".^(Weekley 1921) The sense "to receive with welcome" is recorded from 1608, in ''King Lear'',^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) and of a sight or sound, "to meet the eye or ear", from 1698.^(OED 2026) The use for cries or a reaction that meets a person or event, as in "greeted with silence", dates from 1874.^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023) The noun ''greeting'' goes back to Old English ''grēting''.^(Barnhart 1988)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – to approach; to attack; to salute.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1440 – last use of the sense "to attack".^(OED 2026)

+ * 1608 – to receive with welcome.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1698 – of sights or sounds, to meet the eye or ear.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1874 – to meet a person or event with a reaction.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To meet or address someone with words or gestures of [[welcome]] or [[courtesy]]: ''The host greeted each guest at the door.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # To receive or react to something in a particular way: ''The proposal was greeted with laughter.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # Of a sight, sound or smell: to meet the [[eye]] or [[ear]] of someone arriving.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # To send a friendly message to someone.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[greeter]]

+ * [[greeting]]

+ * [[meet-and-greet]]

+ * [[regreet]]

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+ {{homograph|2|to weep}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Old English|origins=gem-pro *grætanan}}

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|greten]], from two Old English verbs of the same meaning that merged: [[inh|ang|grǣtan|t=to weep, bewail]] (in the Anglian dialect [[m|ang|grētan]]), and [[m|ang|grēotan|t=to lament]].^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986)^(ODE 2010) The first goes back to [[gem-pro|*grætanan]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) with [[m|osx|grātan|t=to weep]], [[m|non|gráta|t=to weep]] and [[m|gmh|grāzen|t=to cry out, rage]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966) Barnhart and Etymonline derive it from [[ine-pro|*gʰer-|alt=*gher-|t=to call out]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and Merriam-Webster compares [[m|la|hirriō|t=to whimper]].^(MWU 2024) The second verb, ''grēotan'', matches [[m|osx|griotan]] and is of uncertain origin.^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) The second part of [[regret]] probably belongs to the same group.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To weep, cry or lament: Old English, in the Corpus Glossary.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old English and Middle English the verb also meant "to weep for, bewail" (until 1340), and "to cry out in entreaty or anger" (about 1325 to 1513).^(OED 2026) By the modern period it survived only in Scots and northern English;^(SOED 2002)^(Weekley 1921)^(MWU 2024) the English Dialect Dictionary recorded it from Shetland to Derbyshire, with past forms such as ''grat'' and ''gret''.^(Wright 1898) A noun ''greet'', "weeping, a cry of sorrow", is recorded from before 1325 and is likewise now Scottish.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – to weep, lament.^(OED 2026)

+ * Old English – to bewail (obsolete by 1340).^(OED 2026)

+ * before 1325 – noun, weeping, lamentation.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1300 – to shed tears.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # (Scotland and northern England) To [[weep]] or [[cry]]; to [[lament]]: ''The bairn grat all night.''^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(Wright 1898)

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+ ===Noun===

+ # (chiefly Scottish) Weeping; a fit of crying.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[regret]]

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}