wæter

From Proto-West Germanic *watar, from Proto-Germanic *watōr, from Proto-Indo-European *wédōr, collective of *wódr̥.

• IPA^(key): /ˈwæ.ter/

wæter n

1. water
   • c. 994, Ælfric, On the Year

     Ǣlċe mōnað hēo yrnð under ān þǣra tacna. Ān þǣra tacna ys ġehāten aries, þæt is ramm; oðer taurus, þæt is fearr; ðridda gemini, þæt synd ġetwisan; fēorða cancer, þæt is crabba; fīfta leo; syxta virgo, þæt is mǣden; seofoða libra, þæt is pund orde wǣġe; eahtoðe scorpius, þæt is þrōwend; nigoða is sagittarius, þæt is sċytta; teoða ys capricornus, þæt is buccan horn, oððe bucca; endlyfta is aquarius, þæt is wæter-ġyte, oððe þe þe wæter ġyt; twelfte is pisces, þæt synd fixas.

     Each month runs under one of the signs [of the Zodiac]. The first of the signs is called aries, that is "ram"; the second is taurus, that is "bull"; the third is gemini, that is "twins"; the fourth is cancer, that is "crab"; the fifth is lion; the sixth is virgo, that is "virgin"; the seventh is libra, that is "pound" or "scales”; eighth is scorpious, that is "scorpion"; ninth is sagittarius, that is "shooter"; tenth is capricornus, that is "he-goat's horn" or "he-goat"; eleventh is aquarius, that is "pouring water" or "one that pours water"; twelfth is pisces, that is "fishes."

The declension of this noun was subject to a couple of minor variations:

• The inflected forms often featured an epenthetic /e/ before the /r/, especially in late Old English. For example, wæteres (gen. sg.) and wætere (dat. sg.) might appear in place of expected wætres and wætre. This reverses an earlier sound change from prehistoric Old English, where short /æ/ and /e/ were regularly lost in word-internal open syllables when the preceding syllable was stressed. There is also a singly-attested weak genitive plural wæterena.

• Similarly, the nominative/accusative plural varied between the expected form *wæter and *wæt(e)ru. The form with -u reverses another prehistoric sound change, where word-final /i/ and /u/ were lost following a heavy syllable or two light syllables. This makes wæter part of a small class of neuter nouns which vary between the (expected) unchanged plural and an innovative plural ending in -u. Other examples are wǣpn ~ wǣpnu (“weapons”), tācn ~ tācnu (“signs”), bēacn ~ bēacnu (“signals”), setl ~ setlu (“seats”), leġer ~ leġru (“couches”), wāgrift ~ wāgriftu (“curtains”), seġl ~ seġlu (“sails”), botl ~ botlu (“dwellings”), wolcn ~ wolcnu (“clouds”), weder ~ wedru (“storms”), bræġn ~ bræġnu (“brains”), wundor ~ wundru (“miracles”), tungol ~ tunglu (“stars”), þȳrel ~ þȳrlu (”holes”), and swefn ~ swefnu (“dreams”).

Strong a-stem:

• Middle English: water, watere, watir, waterre
  • English: water (see there for further descendants)
  • Geordie English: watter, wetter
  • Scots: watter
  • Yola: waudher, wadher