English
read
Read comes from Old English rǣdan ‘to counsel, advise; interpret, read’, from Proto-Germanic *rēdaną ‘to advise, counsel’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₁dʰ- ‘to think, arrange’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hreh₁dʰ-‘to think, arrange’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hréh₁dʰetireconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rēdaną‘advise’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rādan‘to advise’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150rǣdan‘to counsel’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reden‘to counsel’
- Englishearliest quotation 1528read
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hreh₁dʰ-‘to think, arrange’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hréh₁dʰetireconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rēdaną‘advise’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rādan‘to advise’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150rǣdan‘to counsel’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reden‘to counsel’
- Englishearliest quotation 1528read
Earliest quotation: 1528, The .IIIJ. Senses of yͤ Scripture: “[T]herfore / I red the [thee] / gete the…”
The story
In West Germanic the verb had a sense “interpret”, which developed further into “interpret letters” in English and “interpret by intuition, guess” on the continent.
Linked words
pairs
- read and riddle both from Proto-West Germanic *rādan ‘to advise’
through Proto-Germanic *rēdaną ‘advise, counsel’
through Proto-West Germanic *rādan ‘to advise, counsel, help’
through Middle English reden ‘to counsel, advise’
Another origin of read
- Old Englishc. 450–1150rǣdan‘to read’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150rǣdde
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500redde
- Englishtodayread
Today it means
verb To look at and interpret letters or other information that is written.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₁dʰ- / read