English
Old Testament
Old Testament comes from Middle English Olde Testament.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Olde Testament
- Englishearliest quotation 2007Old Testament
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Olde Testament
- Englishearliest quotation 2007Old Testament
Earliest quotation: 2007, Gail Caldwell, A Strong West Wind: A Memoir: “Given the Old Testament weather that defines the country,…”
Made of the words Old + Testament
Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-
…
Proto-Germanic *aldaz ‘grown-up’
Proto-West Germanic *ald
Old English ald ‘old’
Middle English old ‘elderly’
English Old
Proto-Indo-European *tristh₂s
…
Latin testor ‘to be a witness, testify, attest, make a will’
Latin testāmentum ‘the publication of a will, a will, testament’
Old French testament ‘testimony’
Middle English testament
English Testament
The story
Old refers to ancientness, not to obsolescence.
Every English word from Middle English Olde Testament
Today it means
name The first major part of the Christian Bible, covering events before the coming of Christ, corresponding roughly to the Jewish Tanakh. Usually subdivided into the categories of law, history, poetry (or wisdom books), and prophecy.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English Olde Testament / Old Testament