English
soft
Soft comes from Middle English softe, from Old English sōfte, from Proto-West Germanic *samft(ī) ‘level, smooth, gentle’.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*samft(ī)‘level’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sōfte
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500softe‘soft’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1533soft
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*samft(ī)‘level’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sōfte
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500softe‘soft’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1533soft
Earliest quotation: c. 1533, William Tyndale: “The meek or soft shall inherit the earth.”
The story
From Middle English softe, from Old English sōfte, alteration of earlier sēfte (‘soft’), from Proto-West Germanic *samft(ī) (‘level, even, smooth, soft, gentle’) (compare *sōmiz (‘agreeable, fitting’)), from Proto-Indo-European *semptio-, *semtio-, from *sem- (‘one, whole’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sem- ‘one, whole’
same, some, single, similar, seem, simple, simply, sam, simulation, sincerely, singular, resemble, assemble, resemblance, simultaneous, anomaly, simulate, sincerity, semblance, assimilate, anomalous, homeopathic, synapse, homology, insincere, hyphen, simile, simulacrum, sempre, synchronise, homolog, 46 more
Today it means
adj Easily giving way under pressure.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *samft(ī) / soft