AboutTed Nesbitt Expertise I have an interest in the meanings of words and phrases, as well as how and when they became part of the English language. I enjoy
researching idioms, colloquialisms, dialects, and obscurities of
all kinds. I prefer short questions on a particular subject, and
I will not accept lengthy research projects or term papers. NOTE: ALLEXPERTS CLAIMS THAT I TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN AND FROM LATIN TO ENGLISH. I DO NOT. ALLEXPERTS REFUSES TO DELETE THE LATIN-TO-ENGLISH SERVICE -- ONE THAT I DO NOT PROVIDE.
TRUST ME ON THIS: ALLEXPERTS IS WRONG. I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LANGUAGE. LOOK FOR A LANGUAGE EXPERT INSTEAD. ETYMOLOGY AND TRANSLATING SERVICES ARE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. ALLEXPERTS SHOULD KNOW THAT. ALLEXPERTS DOES NOT KNOW THAT. I HAVE TRIED FOR MANY YEARS TO GET THEM TO CHANGE. THEY WILL NOT. SORRY, BUT I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN.
Experience I am the bibliographic instruction and reference librarian at a public
college. My master's thesis concerns William Faulkner's tragic novels. I formerly taught advanced placement English at two schools in the Philadelphia area.
I have been a member of the grammar and writing section of Allexperts
for more than a year.
Education/Credentials Masters degrees in English, philosophy, and library science.
Question Im trying to find the etymology of the word "weaving' Id appreciate any help
LaVerne
Answer Dear LaVerne:
"The Oxford English Dictionary -- the ultimate authority on word origins in the English language -- gives the approximate date of 900 A. D.
The first recorded spelling in English was the Old English
"weofa." Later spellings include "wefen" and "webbe." It was not until the 17th century that the word was written as "weave," with the past tense of "wove."
The word is Teutonic in nature. The Teutons influenced various languages: Old English - wefan; Old French - weva; Old High German - weban; Old Norse - vefa.
All of those words can be traced back to the Greek word meaning "web."
I have pasted in below the two sections from the OED that will give you detailed information. Unfortunately, the Greek words [near the end of the second passage] do not show up, because Greek characters cannot be posted at Allexperts.
Just think of weaving as a kind of "web."
I hope this will give you sufficient information.
Ted Nesbitt
1. trans. To form or fabricate (a stuff or material) by interlacing yarns or other filaments of a particular substance in a continuous web; to manufacture in a loom by crossing the threads or yarns called respectively the warp and the weft. Also with obj. the web itself, a garment made up of such a stuff or material. to weave out: to complete the weaving of.
to weave in a stool: see STOOL n. 3.
c900 Bæda's Hist. IV. xxv. (1890) 354 Hio smælo hræel weofa & wyrca. c1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 504/2 Ordiretur, wefen wæs. c1200 Virtues & Vices 39 Al swa nan webb ne mai bien iweuen wi-uten twa beames. c1290 St. Edmund Conf. 167 in S. Eng. Leg. 436 Heo [a hair shirt] nas i-sponne ne i-weoue, ake i-broide strengus longue. c1300 Assump. Virg. 668 This ilke webbe here self woof. 1390 GOWER Conf. III. 237 Thei tawhten him a Las to breide, And weve a Pours. c1450 Mirk's Festial 246 Scho occupiet hir craft of weuyng cloes and ornamentes to e auter. 1483 Cath. Angl. 412/1 To Wefe, texere. 1513 DOUGLAS Æneis XIII. viii. 86 The precyus wedis, Wrocht craftely, and weif of goldin thredis Quhilum be fair Andromachais hand. 1528 MORE Dyaloge III. x. Ovb/2 Yt were as sone done to weue a new web of clothe as to sowe vppe euery hole in a net. 1530 PALSGR. 779/1 The weyver sayeth he can nat wayve my clothe tyll he have more yarne. 1535 COVERDALE Job vii. 6 My dayes passe ouer more spedely, then a weeuer can weeue out his webbe. 1538 ELYOT Dict., Textrina.., the place where thinges be weaued or wounden. 1539 BIBLE (Great) 2 Kings xxiii. 7 Where the wemen woue hanginges for the groue. a1548 HALL Chron., Hen. VIII, 73b, For all the copes and Vestementes wer but of one pece, so wouen for the purpose. 1584 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 13 For weavinge forescore yerdes and four of canuise, vs. 1632 LITHGOW Trav. VI. 250 He weau'd these Napkins. 1670 SIR S. CROW in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 15 The silke..beeing ill woven will shrink and pucker. 1697 DRYDEN Æneis VII. 340 These Purple Vests were weav'd by Dardan Dames. Ibid. IX. 651 The Mantle..which I wove with Care. 1725 POPE Odyss. xv. 139 Accept, dear youth, this monument of love, Long since, in better days, by Helen wove. 1789-96 MORSE Amer. Geog. I. 541 Woollen stockings..of excellent quality are wove by the Germans, especially in Germantown. 1856 G. ROBERTS Soc. Hist. 376 Our lace was not wove. It had neither warp nor woof. 1872 YEATS Techn. Hist. Comm. 69 The shawls and the textile furniture used in the rites of religion were frequently woven in the temples.
********
[A Common Teut. strong verb (not recorded in Gothic): OE. wefan, pa. tense wæf, pl. w fon, pa. pple. wefen, corresponds to OFris. *weva (NFris. weewen, WFris. weve, weevje), (M)LG., (M)Du. weven, OHG. weban, wepan (MHG., mod.G. weben), ON. vefa (MSw. väva, Sw. väfva, Da. væve): OTeut. *we - (:*wa -: *w -): Indogermanic *webh- (:*w bh- :*ubh-), represented in Skr. r av bhi spider (lit. ‘wool-weaver’), Gr. , , web, to weave. The same root occurs in web (and abb), weft, woof.
