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Origin and history of woad

woad(n.)

plant formerly much cultivated for the blue dye extracted from its fermented leaves, also the dye itself; Middle English wode, from Old English wad "woad," also the blue dye made from its leaves, from Proto-Germanic *waidīn, which is perhaps cognate with Latin vitrium "glass" (see vitreous). Boutkan considers it a substratum word. The dye with which the ancient Britons painted themselves blue, it has since been superseded commercially by indigo.

Germanic cognates include Danish vaid, Old Frisian wed, Middle Dutch wede, Dutch wede, Old High German weit, German Waid "woad." Middle English also had the word as waide, via Anglo-French or directly from the Old North French form. French guède, Italian guado are considered Germanic loan-words.

Entries linking to woad

vitreous(adj.)

late 14c., "glass-like, translucent," with substitution of -ous, from Latin vitreus, vitrius "of glass, glassy," from vitrum "glass," which perhaps was so called for its bluish color: Latin vitrium also meant "woad," a plant used in dyeing blue.

De Vaan supports instead the derivation from PIE *ued-ro- "water-like" from PIE *unda-, from *wed- (1), the root for "water; wet." He writes, "The plant and its dye will have been denominated after the colour of glass (in antiquity, a transparent green with a yellowish to blueish paleness).

By 1640s as "of, pertaining to, or obtained from glass; consisting of glass. In figurative use also in reference to heaviness or brittleness but also sometimes to viscosity, as of molten glass. Vitric "of the nature of or pertaining to glass" is by 1915. Vitreous humor for the transparent substance in the eyeball is attested from 1660s.

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    dey
    Old English dæge "female servant, woman who handles food in a household, housekeeper," from Proto-Germanic *daigjon (source also of Old Norse deigja "maid, female servant," Swedish deja "dairymaid"), from PIE root *dheigh- "to form, build." Now obsolete (though OED says, "Still i
    dye
    "coloring matter in solution," Middle English deie, from Old English deah, deag "a color, hue, tinge," from Proto-Germanic *daugo (source also of Old Saxon dogol "secret," Old High German tougal "dark, hidden, secret," Old English deagol "secret, hidden; dark, obscure," dohs, dox
    herb
    c. 1300, erbe "non-woody plant," especially a leafy vegetable used for human food, from Old French erbe "grass, herb, plant fed to animals" (12c., Modern French herbe), from Latin herba "grass, an herb; herbage, turf, weeds" (source also of Spanish yerba, Portuguese herva, Italia
    wad
    early 15c., wadde, "small bunch of fibrous, soft material for padding or stuffing," of uncertain origin, perhaps from Medieval Latin wadda (14c., source also of French ouate, Italian ovate), or Dutch watten (source of German Watte), or Middle English wadmal (c. 1300) "coarse wool
    wed
    Old English weddian "to pledge oneself, covenant to do something, vow; betroth, marry," also "unite (two other people) in a marriage, conduct the marriage ceremony," from Proto-Germanic *wadja (source also of Old Norse veðja, Danish vedde "to bet, wager," Old Frisian weddia "to p
    accord
    early 12c., "come into agreement," also "agree, be in harmony," from Old French acorder "agree, be in harmony" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *accordare "make agree," literally "be of one heart, bring heart to heart," from Latin ad "to" (see ad-) + cor (genitive cordis) "heart" (used
    devotion
    c. 1200, devocioun, "profound religious emotion, awe, reverence," from Old French devocion "devotion, piety" and directly from Latin devotionem (nominative devotio), noun of action from past-participle stem of devovere "dedicate by a vow, sacrifice oneself, promise solemnly," fro
    hierarchy
    late 14c., jerarchie, ierarchie, "rank in the sacred order; one of the three divisions of the nine orders of angels;" loosely, "rule, dominion," from Old French ierarchie (14c., Modern French hiérarchie), from Medieval Latin hierarchia "ranked division of angels" (in the system o
    sin
    Middle English sinne, from Old English synn, syn "violation of divine law, offense against God; moral wrongdoing," also "injury, mischief; enmity, feud; guilt, crime, misdeed," from Proto-Germanic *sundiō "sin" (source also of Old Saxon sundia, Old Frisian sende, Middle Dutch son
    salmon
    early 13c., samoun, the North Atlantic salmon, from Anglo-French samoun, Old French salmun (Modern French saumon), from Latin salmonem (nominative salmo) "a salmon," probably originally "leaper," from salire "to leap" (see salient (adj.)), though some dismiss this as folk etymolo

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