hold

hold · verb, noun¹

1. Proto-Germanic*haldaną
2. Proto-West Germanic*haldan
3. Old Englishhealdan
4. Middle Englishholden
5. English todayhold

Derived from Middle English holden, derived from Old English healdan, derived from Proto-West Germanic *haldan, derived from Proto-Germanic *haldaną (“to tend, herd”), maybe derived from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to drive”). Doublet of halt. Cognates *West Frisian hâlde *Low German holden, holen *Dutch houden *German halten *Danish holde *Norwegian Bokmål holde *Norwegian Nynorsk halda. Compare Latin celer (“quick”), Tocharian B käl- (“to goad, drive”), Ancient Greek κέλλω (kéllō, “to drive”), Sanskrit कलयति (kalayati, “to impel”).

hold · noun²

Alteration (due to hold) of hole. Cognate with Dutch hol (“hole, cave, den, cavity, cargo hold”), Dutch holte (“cavity, hollow, den”).

hold · adjective³

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kel-“to tend, incline, bend, tip”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*hulþaz“favourable, gracious, loyal”
3. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*holþ
4. Old English · derived fromhold“gracious, friendly, kind”
5. Middle English · inherited fromhold
6. English todayhold

From Middle English hold, holde, from Old English hold (“gracious, friendly, kind”), from Proto-West Germanic *holþ, from Proto-Germanic *hulþaz (“favourable, gracious, loyal”), from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to tend, incline, bend, tip”). Cognate with German hold (“gracious, friendly, sympathetic, grateful”), Danish and Swedish huld (“fair, kindly, gracious”), Icelandic hollur (“faithful, dedicated, loyal”), German Huld (“grace, favour”).

Words from the same roots