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Origin and history of covenant

covenant(n.)

c. 1300, covenaunt, "mutual compact to do or not do something, a contract," from Old French covenant, convenant "agreement, pact, promise" (12c.), originally present participle of covenir "agree, meet," from Latin convenire "come together, unite; be suitable, agree," from com- "together" (see com-) + venire "to come" (from a suffixed form of PIE root *gwa- "to go, come").

In law, "a promise made by deed" (late 14c.). Applied in Scripture to God's arrangements with man as a translation of Latin testamentum, Greek diathēkē, both rendering Hebrew berith (though testament also is used for the same word in different places). The meaning "solemn agreement between members of a church" is from 1630s; specifically those of the Scottish Presbyterians in 1638 and 1643 (see covenanter).

also from c. 1300

covenant(v.)

"to enter into a formal agreement or contract," c. 1300, from covenant (n.). Related: Covenanted; covenanting. Also see covenanter.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to covenant

covenanter(n.)

"one who enters into a solemn agreement," 1630s, agent noun from covenant (v.). It was used especially in reference to Scottish Presbyterians who signed the Solemn League and Covenant (1643) for the defense and furtherance of their cause and for uniformity of doctrine, worship and discipline. The word later was applied to those who rejected the settlement of 1688.

com-

word-forming element usually meaning "with, together," from Latin com, archaic form of classical Latin cum "together, together with, in combination," from PIE *kom- "beside, near, by, with" (compare Old English ge-, German ge-). The prefix in Latin sometimes was used as an intensive.

Before vowels and aspirates, it is reduced to co-; before -g-, it is assimilated to cog- or con-; before -l-, assimilated to col-; before -r-, assimilated to cor-; before -c-, -d-, -j-, -n-, -q-, -s-, -t-, and -v-, it is assimilated to con-, which was so frequent that it often was used as the normal form.

*gwa-

*gwā-, also *gwem-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to go, come."

It might form all or part of: acrobat; adiabatic; advent; adventitious; adventure; amphisbaena; anabasis; avenue; base (n.) "bottom of anything;" basis; become; circumvent; come; contravene; convene; convenient; convent; conventicle; convention; coven; covenant; diabetes; ecbatic; event; eventual; hyperbaton; hypnobate; intervene; intervenient; intervention; invent; invention; inventory; juggernaut; katabatic; misadventure; parvenu; prevenient; prevent; provenance; provenience; revenant; revenue; souvenir; subvention; supervene; venire; venue; welcome.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit gamati "he goes," Avestan jamaiti "goes," Tocharian kakmu "come," Lithuanian gemu, gimti "to be born," Greek bainein "to go, walk, step," Latin venire "to come," Old English cuman "come, approach," German kommen, Gothic qiman.