† hengestn.

Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian hengst , hangst , hinxt , Old Dutch changisto (in Latin context), hengist (in place names) (Middle Dutch hengest , henxt , hinxt (Dutch hengst )), Old Saxon hengist (Middle Low German hingest , hingst , hengest , German regional (Low German) Hingst ), Old High German hengist (Middle High German hengest , German Hengst ), and apparently further with early Scandinavian (runic: Sweden) histR , Old Icelandic hestr , Old Swedish hæster (Swedish häst ), Old Danish hæst (Danish hest ), all denoting a horse, frequently a specific type of horse (see note) < the Germanic base of Early Runic hahai (dative singular), apparently in the sense ‘steed’ + a suffix of uncertain origin (perhaps compare -est suffix), probably further related (with different suffixation) to the Celtic base of Gaulish cassic- (in the place name Cassiciate ), Welsh caseg mare (12th cent.); further etymology uncertain and disputed. Compare henchman n.The word has been suggested to be further cognate with the Indo-European base of Lithuanian šankus quick, nimble, šankinti to make jump. However, this etymology poses several problems. Germanic cognates. The suffix of the Germanic base appears to be formally identical with the superlative suffix, causing i-mutation of the vowel a of the preceding syllable and, in Old English, palatalization and assibilation of the consonant group -ng- in forms without syncopation of the second syllable. However, assumption of an original superlative formation poses some formal and semantic problems. In particular, Old Icelandic hestr and related North Germanic nouns seem to derive from a variant of the Germanic base without the operation of Verner's Law, implying an earlier stress pattern not expected for a superlative formation. Old Swedish hingst (Swedish hingst ) and Old Danish hingst (Danish hingst ) are apparently borrowed < Middle Low German. Early Scandinavian (runic) hagestumR (dative plural), perhaps attested in the Stentoften inscription, may indicate original currency of the West Germanic type of formation in Scandinavia, but the reading has been disputed. Sense development in the Germanic languages. The type of horse denoted by the term in the different West Germanic languages varies and is subject to semantic change, the details of which are difficult to trace. The word is grammatically a strong masculine and frequently denotes a male horse or, more specifically, either a gelding or a stallion. The sense ‘stallion’ predominates in modern use on the continent, but there appear to be no unambiguous early attestations. In some earlier instances reference appears to be to the use of the horse (e.g. in Middle Low German specifically a light unarmoured warhorse) rather than to its sex. Early attested use in Old English and Old High German in the sense ‘gelding’ could result from the fact that geldings are easier to handle and therefore preferable for most uses apart from breeding (compare e.g. quot. OE²). In the North Germanic languages early use shows both the sense ‘stallion’ and also (more generally) ‘saddle horse, draught horse’, although in Swedish and Danish the inherited forms retain the more general sense, while the borrowings from Middle Low German show the specific sense ‘stallion’. Early attestation in names. Attestation in names is significantly early in the Germanic languages, but cannot yield more than speculative evidence about semantic development. In historical sources of the Anglo-Saxon period, Hengest is attested (as early as the 8th cent. in manuscripts of Bede's Eccl. Hist. in the forms Hengist , Haengist ) as the name of the legendary war-leader of the Anglo-Saxon invasion of England in the mid 5th cent. and reputed founder of the Kentish royal dynasty. Apparently early attestation of the word in place names may often alternatively reflect use as a personal name. For an English example likely to reflect lexical use, compare Hengesterich , Somerset (1086; now Henstridge; also as Hengstesrig in a 15th-cent. copy of a 10th-cent. charter), which forms part of a local cluster of names referring to horses. Possible evidence of later currency. Later currency of the word in English may be implied by henchman n. and by 14th-cent. attestations of post-classical Latin hengstus , eyngistus with reference to war horses lost in Edward III's military campaigns. However, these might alternatively reflect currency in a continental language such as Middle Dutch. Similarly, it is uncertain whether the following is to be interpreted as the Middle English word or an otherwise unattested Anglo-Norman equivalent (compare Anglo-Norman henxman henchman n.) and whether there is any continuity with early Middle English use:1337 Accts. Exchequer King's Remembrancer (P.R.O.: E101/35/3) m. 1 Pur mons' Giles de Ballesmer vn chiual apele Hensk pres' xxiiij. li'.