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Origin and history of given

given(adj.)

late 14c., "allotted, predestined," past-participle adjective from give (v.). From 1560s as "admitted, supposed, allowed as a supposition." From late 14c. as "disposed, addicted." Middle English also had a noun give, yeve "that which is given or offered freely." The modern noun sense of "what is given, known facts" is from 1879. Given name (1827) so called because given at baptism.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to given

give(v.)

Old English giefan (West Saxon) "to give, bestow, deliver to another; allot, grant; commit, devote, entrust," class V strong verb (past tense geaf, past participle giefen), from Proto-Germanic *geban (source also of Old Frisian jeva, Middle Dutch gheven, Dutch geven, Old High German geban, German geben, Gothic giban), from PIE root *ghabh- "to give or receive." It became yiven in Middle English, but changed to guttural "g" by influence of Old Norse gefa "to give," Old Danish givæ.

Meaning "to yield to pressure" is from 1570s. Give in "yield" is from 1610s; give out is mid-14c. as "publish, announce;" meaning "run out, break down" is from 1520s. Give up "surrender, resign, quit" is mid-12c. To give (someone) a cold seems to reflect the old belief that one could be cured of disease by deliberately infecting others. What gives? "what is happening?" is attested from 1940. To not give a (some thing regarded as trivial and valueless) is from c. 1300 (early examples were a straw, a grass, a mite).

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    Trends of given

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

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    presumption
    mid-13c., presumpcioun, "seizure and occupation without right," also "taking upon oneself more than good sense and propriety warrant," from Old French presumcion (12c., Modern French présomption) and directly from Late Latin praesumptionem (nominative praesumptio) "confidence, au
    apt
    mid-14c., "inclined, disposed;" late 14c., "suited, fitted, adapted, possessing the necessary qualities for the purpose," from Old French ate "fitting, suitable, appropriate" (13c., Modern French apte), or directly from Latin aptus "fit, suited, proper, appropriate," adjectival u
    date
    "date, day; time," from Medieval Latin data, noun use of fem. singular of Latin datus "given," past participle of dare "to...The sense transfer from "given" to "time" is via the Roman convention of closing every article of correspondence by writing..."given" and the day and month — meaning perhaps "given to messenger" — which led to data becoming a term for "the time (...A Roman letter would include something along the lines of datum Romae pridie Kalendas Maias — "given at Rome on the last...
    data
    1640s, "a fact given or granted," classical plural of datum, from Latin datum "(thing) given," neuter past participle of...In classical use originally "a fact given as the basis for calculation in mathematical problems."...
    parabola
    juxtaposition" (see parable), so called by Apollonius of Perga c. 210 B.C.E. because it is produced by "application" of a given...area to a given straight line....
    antidote
    antidot and directly from Latin antidotum/antidotus "a remedy against poison," from Greek antidoton (pharmakon) "(drug) given...as a remedy," from antidoton literally "given against," verbal adjective of antididonai "give for" (also "give in return...
    muumuu
    "loose-fitting dress, usually of bright colors and patterns," 1923, from Hawaiian mu'u mu'u, literally "cut off," name given...to the local adaptation of the dresses given to island women by the wives of early 19c....
    render
    late 14c., rendren, rendre, "repeat, say again, recite; translate," from Old French rendre "give back, present, yield" (10c.) and Medieval Latin rendere, from Vulgar Latin *rendere, a variant of Latin reddere "give back, return, restore," from red- "back" (see re-) + combining fo
    apply
    late 14c., "join or combine (with); attach (to something), adhere," from Old French aploiier "apply, use, attach" (12c., Modern French appliquer), from Latin applicare "attach to, join, connect;" figuratively, "devote (oneself) to, give attention," from ad "to" (see ad-) + plicar
    change
    c. 1200, "to alter, make different, change" (transitive); early 13c. as "to substitute one for another;" mid-13c. as "to make (something) other than what it was, cause to turn or pass from one state to another;" from late 13c. as "to become different, be altered" (intransitive),

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