answer

The word 'answer' is one of the oldest in the English language, and its etymology reveals a world in which words carried the weight of oaths.‌​‌​‌​‍​‌​‌​‍​‌​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‌​‌​‌​‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‌​‍​‌​‌​‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‌ It descends from Old English 'andswaru,' a compound of 'and-' (against, in return, opposite) and '-swaru' (a swearing, from 'swerian,' to swear). An answer, in its original sense, was not a casual reply but a formal counter-statement made on oath — a sworn response to a charge or accusation.

This etymology makes sense only against the background of early Germanic legal practice, in which disputes were resolved through a ritualized exchange of oaths. When one party made an accusation, formally swearing to its truth, the other party was required to respond with a counter-oath — an 'andswaru' — likewise sworn before witnesses. The outcome might depend on the number and quality of oath-helpers each side could produce. In this context, an 'answer' was a gravely consequential speech act: not 'Yes, I'll have the fish' but 'I swear before God and these witnesses that the accusation is false.'

The Proto-Germanic ancestor *andaswarō is reflected across the family. German 'Antwort' (answer) preserves the 'ant-' prefix (the same as 'and-' in Old English, meaning 'against'). Dutch 'antwoord' is the same formation. The Scandinavian languages simplified the word: Old Norse 'andsvar' lost its prefix in the modern languages, leaving Swedish and Danish 'svar' and Norwegian 'svar,' all meaning 'answer.' The shortening makes etymological sense — the second element (*swarō, related to swearing) carried the core meaning, and the prefix became redundant as the word generalized beyond its legal origins.

The verb 'to answer' in Old English was 'andswarian,' and it originally governed a dative object (one answered to a charge) rather than a direct accusative. The legal coloring persisted in English law for centuries: in court, a defendant 'answers' the charges, and the legal 'answer' is a formal responsive pleading. The word 'answerable' — meaning 'accountable, responsible' — preserves this forensic sense: to be answerable is to be obligated to give a sworn account of oneself.

The 'and-' prefix (against, opposite) appears in a few other English survivals, though most have become opaque. 'Along' may contain it (from 'and-lang,' extending opposite to, i.e., the full length of). The prefix is more visible in German: 'Anteil' (share, literally 'opposite-part'), 'Antlitz' (face, literally 'opposite-look').

The '-swear' element connects 'answer' to a rich Germanic word family. 'Swear' itself comes from Old English 'swerian,' from Proto-Germanic *swarjaną, and originally meant to make a solemn declaration or oath. 'Sworn' (as in 'sworn enemy' or 'sworn testimony') preserves the full seriousness. The modern casual use of 'swear' to mean 'to use profanity' is a late development — the original act of swearing was sacred and binding, invoking divine witness.

The semantic broadening from 'counter-oath' to 'any reply to any question' happened gradually through the Old English and Middle English periods. By the time of Chaucer, 'answer' could mean any sort of response, though the formal and legal usage persisted alongside. Today, the word ranges from the utterly trivial ('What's the answer to 6 times 7?') to the profoundly consequential ('The defendant has not yet answered the charges'), and in every case the ghost of the old Germanic oath-ritual lingers beneath the surface.