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Origin and history of ask

ask(v.)

Middle English asken, from Old English ascian "ask, call for an answer; make a request," earlier ahsian, from Proto-Germanic *aiskojanan (source also of Old Saxon escon, Old Frisian askia "request, demand, ask," Middle Dutch eiscen, Dutch eisen "to ask, demand," Old High German eiscon "to ask (a question)," German heischen "to ask, demand"), from PIE *ais- "to wish, desire" (source also of Sanskrit icchati "seeks, desires," Armenian aic "investigation," Old Church Slavonic iskati "to seek," Lithuanian ieškau, ieškoti "to seek").

The form in English was influenced by a Scandinavian cognate (such as Danish æske); the Old English would have evolved by normal sound changes into ash, esh, which was a Midlands and southwestern England dialect form. Modern dialectal ax is as old as Old English acsian and was an accepted literary variant until c. 1600. Related: Asked; asking.

Old English also had fregnan/frignan which carried more directly the sense of "question, inquire," and is from PIE root *prek-, the common source of words for "ask" in most Indo-European languages (see pray). If you ask me "in my opinion" is attested from 1910.

Entries linking to ask

asking(adj.)

c. 1200 (replacing Old English ascunge), present-participle adjective from ask (v.). Asking price is attested from 1755. To be asking for it (it = "trouble, injury," etc.) is from 1909.

pray(v.)

early 13c., preien, "ask earnestly, beg (someone)," also (c. 1300) in a religious sense, "pray to a god or saint," from Old French preier "to pray" (c. 900, Modern French prier), from Vulgar Latin *precare (also source of Italian pregare), from Latin precari "ask earnestly, beg, entreat," from *prex (plural preces, genitive precis) "prayer, request, entreaty," from PIE root *prek- "to ask, request, entreat."

From early 14c. as "to invite." The deferential parenthetical expression I pray you, "please, if you will," attested from late 14c. (from c. 1300 as I pray thee), was contracted to pray in 16c. Related: Prayed; praying.

Praying mantis attested from 1809 (praying locust is from 1752; praying insect by 1816; see mantis). The Gardener's Monthly of July 1861 lists other names for it as camel cricket, soothsayer, and rear horse.

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Trends of ask

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

postulate
1530s, "nominate to a church office," from Medieval Latin postulatus, past participle of postulare "to ask, demand; claim; require," probably formed from past participle of Latin poscere "ask urgently, demand," from *posk-to-, Italic inchoative of PIE root *prek- "to ask question
need
Middle English nede, from Old English nied (West Saxon), ned (Mercian) "what is required, wanted, or desired; necessity, compulsion, the constraint of unavoidable circumstances; duty; hardship, emergency, trouble, time of peril or distress; errand, business," originally "violence
require
late 14c., requeren, "to ask (someone) a question, inquire," a sense now obsolete, from Old French requerre, requerir "seek, procure; beg, ask, petition; demand," from Vulgar Latin *requaerere, from Latin requirere "seek to know, ask, ask for (something needed)," from re-, here p
inquire
c. 1300, enqueren, anqueren, "to ask (a question), ask about, ask for (specific information); learn or find out by asking...information or knowledge; to conduct a legal or official investigation (into an alleged offense)," from Old French enquerre "ask...French enquérir) and directly from Medieval Latin inquerere, from in- "into" (from PIE root *en "in") + Latin quaerere "ask...
demand
late 14c., demaunden, "ask questions, make inquiry," from Old French demander (12c.)..."to request; to demand," from Latin demandare "entrust, charge with a commission" (in Medieval Latin, "to ask, request, demand...Meaning "ask for with insistence or urgency" is from early 15c., from Anglo-French legal use ("to ask for as a right")....
prorogue
etc.), a sense now obsolete, from Old French proroger, proroguer (14c.) and directly from Latin prorogare, literally "to ask...publicly," from pro "before" (see pro-) + rogare "to ask, inquire, question; ask a favor," also "to propose (a law, a candidate...Perhaps the original sense in Latin was "to ask for public assent to extending someone's term in office."...
interrogatory
," 1570s, from Late Latin interrogatorius "consisting of questions," from past participle stem of Latin interrogare "to ask..., question, inquire; interrogate judicially, cross-examine," from inter "between" (see inter-) + rogare "to ask, to question...
query
1530s, quaere "a question," from Latin quaere "to ask, inquire," "much used as a marginal note or memorandum to indicate a question or doubt, and hence taken as a noun" [Century Dictionary], second person singular imperative of quaerere "to seek, look for; strive, endeavor, striv
quest
c. 1300, "an inquest, a judicial inquiry;" early 14c., "a search for something, the act of seeking, pursuit" (especially in reference to hounds seeking game in the hunt), from Old French queste "search, quest, chase, hunt, pursuit; inquest, inquiry" (12c., Modern French quête), p
address
early 14c., "to guide, aim, or direct," from Old French adrecier "go straight toward; straighten, set right; point, direct" (13c.), from Vulgar Latin *addirectiare "make straight" (source also of Spanish aderezar, Italian addirizzare), from ad "to" (see ad-) + *directiare "make s

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