For those who are interested, what follows is an outline of the
pre-modern history of terms in English related to breastfeeding.  It's
not meant to be definitive (I've stuck to my own area of expertise,
Germanic philology), or to be suggestive of a "correct"
terminology; rather, a little food for thought...

The earliest recorded language in England is called Old English.  It is a
Germanic language brought to England by the Anglo-Saxons who invaded and
colonized in the middle of the first millenium C.E.  The following terms
are Old English, with spelling slightly modernized so the computer can
handle it:

BREOST: breast, chest (of women or men)

TIT(T): nipple, teat (of women, or more rarely any female animal)

Both "breast" and "teat" are wide-spread in the Germanic family of
languages, but without cognate in other Indo-European languages.  The
noun "breast-milk" appeared in English in 1650; "breastfeed" (however
spelled) is a thoroughly modern construction.  Perhaps in the middle ages
the term was somewhat redundant--how else would one feed an infant?

SUCAN: to suck; refers to the child's action

This is a verb form used thoughout the entire Indo-European language
family.  In English, later derivative formations include the noun "suck"
(referring to the milk itself), the verb "to suckle" (referring to the
mother's action), and the noun "suckling" (the nursing child).  These
forms date from the 15th century.

"Feed" is a Germanic word.  The following Old Norse (the language of
medieval Scandinavia and Iceland) expressions provide some interesting
connotations:

FOETHA: noun, food; verb, to feed

FOETHA UPP: to rear, to bring up, to give birth to

FOETHING: birth, delivery

FOETHA BARN A BRJOSTI: to feed a child at the breast (Note: I don't know
the context of this quote.  "Barn" [Engl. "bairn"] can refer to an infant
or child.)

The dual meaning of "feed" as "to nourish" and "to nurture" was apparent
even in the earliest recorded Germanic tongue, Gothic (FODJAN).  However,
as far as I know, Old Norse is the only language to add the association
of birth and delivery.

Latin NUTRIO means both "to suckle" and "to bring up [children]."  The
noun NUTRIX could mean nurse, foster mother, or the breast itself.

After the Norman Conquest of 1066, French (a Latin tongue) entered
England as the language of state; vocabulary gradually trickled down to
general use.  Chaucer in the late 14th century uses the words NORICE,
NORYS, and NORYSSHE (nurse/nourish; all derived ulimately from the Latin
terms above) as nouns or verbs.  In the 16th century the terms
begin to be used more specifically to refer to nurture.
A "nursing-father" was a foster father; the "nursling" a foster child.
In 1590 the term "sick-nurse" begins to be recorded.  It's interesting to
note that North America was beginning to be colonized around 1600
and many linguists have speculated that differences in the American and
British forms of English are based on the fact that in America we use
essentially "older" forms, fixed at the time of immigration, while the
British connotations developed on their own paths.  Perhaps this is the
case with the connotations of "nurse."


Commentary: As lactation advocates, it behooves us to consider carefully
the terminology we use.  For example, we all recognize how damaging
certain pronouncements of the medical establish and the media can be:
breastfed babies are "thinner than normal," breastmilk is "low in
calories," nursing toddlers are "too dependent on mother."  Here the use
of language demonstrates that we are measuring breastfeeding against
some other norm.  But if instead formula fed babies are "fatter than
normal," formula has "too many calories," and bottle fed toddlers are
"detached from mother," we reflect a new norm--breastfeeding.  If by
speaking of "breastfeeding" (however spelled), we imply through our
choice of vocabulary the parity of bottle/formula feeding, perhaps we
need to reconsider the vocabulary.  We don't need to be bound by history,
etymology, or convention in this choice, although it can help inform us.
Perhaps the attitudes and expectations conveyed by our own children's
nursing vocabulary can give us another place to look--although I don't
expect my little boy's "nummie-side" is likely to be adopted by the
scientific community any time soon <grin>.

OK, you can wake up now!

Penny Piercy, LLLL, MOM (Patrick 2 1/2)

"Of thaera cild muthe, tha meolc sucath, thu byst hered."
(From the mouth of the child who sucks [your] milk, you will be praised.)