smith词源

英文词源

smith

smith: [OE] Smith is a general Germanic word, with relatives in German schmied, Dutch smid, and Swedish and Danish smed. These point back to a prehistoric Germanic ancestor *smithaz. This appears to have meant simply ‘worker, craftsman’, a sense which survived into Old Norse smithr. The specialization to ‘metalworker’ is a secondary development.

smith (n.)

Old English smið "blacksmith, armorer, one who works in metal" (jewelers as well as blacksmiths), more broadly, "handicraftsman, practitioner of skilled manual arts" (also including carpenters), from Proto-Germanic *smithaz "skilled worker" (cognates: Old Saxon smith, Old Norse smiðr, Danish smed, Old Frisian smith, Old High German smid, German Schmied, Gothic -smiþa, in aiza-smiþa "coppersmith"), from PIE root *smi- "to cut, work with a sharp instrument" (cognates: Greek smile "knife, chisel"). Attested as a surname since at least c.975.

smith (v.)

Old English smiðian "to forge, fabricate, design," from the source of smith (n.). Related: Smithed; smithing.