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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

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English

field

/ˈfi(ː)ld/
A land area free of woodland, cities, and towns; an area of open country.

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    Origin

    From Middle English feld, feeld (“field”), from Old English feld (“field”), from Proto-West Germanic *felþu (“field”), from Proto-Germanic *felþuz (“field”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“field, plain”) or *pleth₂- (“flat”) (with schwebeablaut).

    Cognates

    Cognate with Scots feld, feild (“field”), North Frisian fial, fälj (“field”), Saterland Frisian Fäild (“field”), West Frisian fjild (“field”), Dutch veld (“field”), German and Luxembourgish Feld (“field”), Vilamovian fald (“field”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk felt (“field”), Swedish fält (“field”), Finnish pelto (“field”), Asturian and Leonese platu (“plate”), Aragonese and Spanish plato (“plate”), Catalan plat (“plate”), French plat (“dish”), Galician, Mirandese, and Portuguese prato (“plate”), Italian piatto (“plate”), Latin *plattus (“flattened”), Greek πλατύς (platýs, “wide, broad”). Doublet of plate. Related also to Middle English flat (“flat”), Old English folde (“earth, land, territory”), Old English folm (“palm of the hand”). More at flat, fold.

    Not related to English felt.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • rootProto-Indo-European*pleth₂- “flat”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishfeld
      • inheritedOld Englishfeld “field”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*felþu “field”
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*felþuz “field”
            • derived (ultimately)Proto-Indo-European*pleh₂- “flat”
              • derivedProto-Indo-European*pel- “skin, animal hide”

    Related: Scots feld, North Frisian fial, Saterland Frisian Fäild, West Frisian fjild, Dutch veld, de,lb Feld, Vilamovian fald, da,nb,nn felt, Swedish fält, Finnish pelto, Leonese platu, Spanish plato, Catalan plat, French plat, Portuguese prato, Italian piatto, Latin *plattus, Greek πλατύς, Middle English flat, Old English folde, Old English folm

    Words built on it: field house

    Meanings

    noun
    1. A land area free of woodland, cities, and towns; an area of open country.
    2. The open country near or belonging to a town or city.
    3. A wide, open space that is used to grow crops or to hold farm animals, usually enclosed by a fence, hedge or other barrier.
    4. When coupled with a number (e.g. two-field) used to define types of crop rotation, denoting the number of different crop types (and possibly fallow) that are used.
    5. A region containing a particular mineral.
    6. An airfield, airport or air base; especially, one with unpaved runways.
    verb
    1. To intercept or catch (a ball) and play it.
    2. To be the team catching and throwing the ball, as opposed to hitting it.
    3. To place (a team, its players, etc.) in a game.
    4. To answer; to address.
    5. To execute research (in the field).
    6. To deploy in the field.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: field