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NAKED,
bare, uncovered, exposed. (E.) Always dissyllabic.
M. E. naked, Chaucer, C. T. 2068.—A. S. nacod ( = nac-od
), which is plainly an old pp., with the pp. suffix -od; Grein ii. 272. +
O. Fries. nakad, naken, + Du. naakt. + Icel. naktr, nakinn,
nökviðr. + Dan. nögen. + Swed. naken. +
G. nackt, M. H. G. nacket, O. H. G. nachot, nakot. + Goth. nakwaths (where
-aths is the usual pp.
suffix). β. All these forms point to an old pp. form; the Du.
-t,
Icel. -tr, -ðr, G. -t, Goth. -aths, are all pp. suffixes of a
weak verb, and
lead us back to the orig. Teut. type NAKW-ATHA, from a base NAKW, NAK; Fick,
iii. 157. γ. But it is not a little remarkable that some of the
forms, viz. Icel. nak-inn, Dan. nög-en, Swed. nak-en, O. Fries.
nak-en, present
the pp. suffixes of a strong verb from the base NAK, answering to an Aryan ✔NAG,
to strip, lay bare; whence are obviously also derived Skt. nagna, naked, Russ.
nagoi, naked, Lith. nůgas, naked (Schleicher), Lat. nūdus (=
nugdus, for nogdus, nagdus). Further allied words are the Irish and Gael.
nochd, naked,
bare, exposed, desolate, W. noeth, Bret. nôaz. δ. Lastly, it is
remarkable that English alone has preserved the verb, which appears in M. E. naken. The following are examples. 'He
nakide the hous
of the pore man,' Wyclif, Job, xx. 19, early version; the later version has 'he
made nakid the hows.' 'O nice men, whi nake ye youre bakkes' = O
foolish men, why do ye expose your backs (to the enemy, by turning to flee);
Chaucer, tr. of Boethius, b. iv. met. 7, l. 4288. It is also found
much later. 'Lus. Come, be ready, nake your swords, Think of your
wrongs;' Tourneur, The Revenger's Tragedy, Act v (R.) We even find a
derived verb naknen; 'A! nu nacnes mon mi lef' = Ah! now men strip my beloved;
O. Eng. Homilies, ed. Morris, i. 283, l. 10. ¶ The
sense of the
Aryan ✔NAG
is somewhat doubtful; but the English use fairly assigns to it the sense 'to
strip.' Hence also the secondary Skt. verb naj, to be ashamed, as
the result of stripping. Der. naked-ly, M. E. nakedliche, Ancren
Riwle, p. 316; naked-ness, M. E. nakednesse, Wyclif, Rev. iii. 19.
Also stark-naked, q.v. Doublet, nude. [†]
ADDENDA
The verb nacian or ge-nacian
occurs in the Old Northumbrian gloss of Mark ii. 4, where Lat. nudauerunt
is glossed by ge-nacedon.
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