- turf (n.)
- O.E. turf, tyrf "slab of soil and grass," also "surface of grassland," from P.Gmc. *turb- (cf. O.N. torf, Dan. tørv, O.Fris. turf, O.H.G. zurba, Ger. Torf), from PIE base *drbh- (cf. Skt. darbhah "tuft of grass"). Fr. tourbe "turf" is a Gmc. loan-word. The O.E. plural was identical with the singluar, but in M.E. turves sometimes was used. Slang meaning "territory claimed by a gang" is attested from 1953 in Brooklyn, N.Y.; earlier it had a jive talk sense of "the street, the sidewalk" (1930s), which is attested in hobo use from 1899, and before that "the work and venue of a prostitute" (1860). The verb is attested from c.1430, originally "to cover (ground) with turf." Turf war is recorded from 1950s.
- divot
- 1530s, from Scot., lit. "piece of turf or sod" used for roofing material, etc., of unknown origin. The golfing sense is from 1886.
- mote
- "particle of dust," O.E. mot, of unknown origin; perhaps related to Du. mot "dust from turf, sawdust, grit." Many references are to Matt. vii.3.
- sod (1)
- "slice of earth with grass on it," c.1420, apparently from M.Du. sode "turf," M.L.G. sode, or O.Fris. satha "sod," all of uncertain origin. The (old) sod "Ireland" is from 1812.
- peat
- c.1200, in Scottish-L., probably from O.Celt. root *pett- (cf. Cornish peyth, Welsh peth "quantity, part, thing," O.Ir. pet, Breton pez "piece"). The earliest sense is not of the turf but of the cut piece of it.
- lawn (1)
- "turf, stretch of grass," 1548, laune "glade, open space between woods," from M.E. launde, from O.Fr. lande "heath, moor," from Gaul. (cf. Breton lann "heath"), or from its Gmc. cognate, source of Eng. land (q.v.). The -d perhaps mistaken for an affix and dropped. Sense of "mowed grassy ground" first recorded 1733.
- sward
- "grass-covered ground," O.E. sweard "skin, rind" (of bacon, etc.), from P.Gmc. *swarthu- (cf. O.Fris. swarde "skin of the head," M.Du. swarde "rind of bacon," Ger. Schwarte "thick, hard skin, rind," O.N. svörðr "walrus hide"). Meaning "sod, turf" developed c.1300, on notion of the "skin" of the earth (cf. O.N. grassvörðr, Dan. grønsvær "greensward").
- skull
- early 13c., probably from O.N. skalli "bald head, skull," a general Scandinavian word (cf. Swedish skulle, Norw. skult), probably related to O.E. scealu "husk" (see shell). But early prominence in southwestern texts suggests rather origin from a Dutch or Low Ger. cognate (e.g. Du. schol "turf, piece of ice," but the sense of "head bone framework" is wanting). Derivation from O.Fr. escuelle seems unlikely on grounds of sound and sense. O.E. words for skull include heafod-bolla.
- be
- O.E. beon, beom, bion "be, exist, come to be, become," from P.Gmc. *beo-, *beu-. This "b-root" is from PIE base *bheu-, *bhu- "grow, come into being, become," and in addition to the words in English it yielded German present first and second person sing. (bin, bist, from O.H.G. bim "I am," bist "thou art"), L. perf. tenses of esse (fui "I was," etc.), O.C.S. byti "be," Gk. phu- "become," O.Ir. bi'u "I am," Lith. bu'ti "to be," Rus. byt' "to be," etc. It also is behind Skt. bhavah "becoming," bhavati "becomes, happens," bhumih "earth, world."
The modern verb in its entirety represents the merger of two once-distinct verbs, the "b-root" represented by be and the am/was verb, which was itself a conglomerate. Roger Lass ("Old English") describes the verb as "a collection of semantically related paradigm fragments," while Weekley calls it "an accidental conglomeration from the different Old English dial[ect]s." It is the most irregular verb in Mod.E. and the most common. Collective in all Germanic languages, it has eight different forms in Modern English:
BE (infinitive, subjunctive, imperative)
AM (present 1st person singular)
ARE (present 2nd person singular and all plural)
IS (present 3rd person singular)
WAS (past 1st and 3rd persons singular)
WERE (past 2nd person singular, all plural; subjunctive)
BEING (progressive & present participle; gerund)
BEEN (perfect participle).
The paradigm in O.E. was:SING. PL. 1st pres. ic eom
ic beowe sind(on)
we beoð2nd pres. þu eart
þu bistge sind(on)
ge beoð3rd pres. he is
he biðhie sind(on)
hie beoð1st pret. ic wæs we wæron 2nd pret. þu wære ge waeron 3rd pret. heo wæs hie wæron 1st pret. subj. ic wære we wæren 2nd pret. subj. þu wære ge wæren 3rd pret. subj. Egcferð wære hie wæren
The "b-root" had no past tense in O.E., but often served as future tense of am/was. In 13c. it took the place of the infinitive, participle and imperative forms of am/was. Later its plural forms (we beth, ye ben, they be) became standard in M.E. and it made inroads into the singular (I be, thou beest, he beth), but forms of are claimed this turf in the 1500s and replaced be in the plural. For the origin and evolution of the am/was branches of this tangle, see am and was."That but this blow Might be the be all, and the end all." ["Macbeth" I.vii.5]