intransitive "hail as" = 'be; count as'

[Peter A. McGraw]

--On Tuesday, April 20, 2004 7:46 AM -0400 David Bowie <db.list at PMPKN.NET>
wrote:

> : This use of "hail" was new to me. I took it as an extension, possibly
> : erroneous, of "hail from" 'be from [a place]'.
>
> <cue complete and utter speculation> If it goes back very far in time,
> might it be related to the Modern German verb /heissen/ 'to be known
> as/named', but just have floated along below the radar until now?

The meaning of this new "hail" seems to be similar to that of "heissen" in
some contexts, but the two are not cognates, if that's what you mean.
There is a remnant of an English cognate of "heissen" in the archaic "to be
hight," meaning 'to be named'.

Peter Mc.

*****************************************************************
Peter A. McGraw       Linfield College        McMinnville, Oregon
******************* pmcgraw at linfield.edu ************************