Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Open in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels open as verb. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913verb
Open

[AS. openian. See Open,a.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordopen
Part of speechverb
Historical etymology[AS. openian. See Open,a.]
Selected historical definitionTo make or set open; to render free of access; to unclose; to unbar; to unlock; to remove any fastening or covering from; as, to open a door; to open a box; to open a room; to open a letter.
Signed record IDwebster1913-open-verb-4ab4bee758ca
Source locatorCIDE.O, paragraph 2306; Gutenberg eBook 665
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 665Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "open" is labeled verb. Its etymology is recorded as: "[AS. openian. See Open,a.]" The selected historical definition says: "To make or set open; to render free of access; to unclose; to unbar; to unlock; to remove any fastening or covering from; as, to open a door; to open a box; to open a room; to open a letter."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-09-05

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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Webster 1913 exact record

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