smith

smith

See also: Smith and smiþ

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /smɪθ/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪθ

Etymology 1

    From Middle English smyth, smith, from Old English smiþ, from Proto-West Germanic *smiþ, from Proto-Germanic *smiþaz, from Proto-Indo-European *smēy-, *smī- (to cut, hew).

    Cognate with Dutch smid, German Schmied, German Low German Smitt, Danish smed, Faroese smiður, Icelandic smiður, Norwegian Bokmål smed, Norwegian Nynorsk smed, Swedish smed, Yiddish שמיד (shmid).

    Noun

    smith (plural smiths)

    1. A craftsperson who works metal into desired forms using a hammer and other tools, sometimes heating the metal to make it more workable, especially a blacksmith.
      • 1945 January and February, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—III”, in Railway Magazine, page 13:
        The smiths themselves were a grand lot of fellows, full of a robust, and sometimes Rabelaisian sense of humour, and between "heats," they could be most entertaining.
    2. (by extension) One who makes anything; wright.
    3. (archaic) An artist.
    Synonyms
    Derived terms
    derived surnames
    Translations

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English smythen (to work metal, forge, beat into, torment, refine (of God - to refine his chosen); to create, work as a blacksmith), from Old English smiþian (to forge, fabricate), from Proto-West Germanic *smiþōn, from Proto-Germanic *smiþōną. Compare Dutch smeden, German schmieden.

    Verb

    smith (third-person singular simple present smiths, present participle smithing, simple past and past participle smithed)

    1. To forge, to form, usually on an anvil; by heating and pounding.
      • 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 258:
        Sigurd took the very best sword
        That the Dwarfs had ever smithed.

    References

    • (2 archaic) William Anderson (1863). The Scottish Nation. A. Fullerton & Co.: Edinburgh. Page 479. Accessed 2008-03-04.

    Middle English

    Noun

    smith

    1. alternative form of smyth

    Old Saxon

    Etymology

    From Proto-West Germanic *smiþ, Proto-Germanic *smiþaz. Cognate with Old Dutch smith, Old Frisian smith, Old English smiþ, Old High German smid, Old Norse smiðr.

    Noun

    smith m

    1. smith

    Descendants

    • Middle Low German: smit, smet, smede