“Good morning” is a Middle English greeting first attested in the late 14th century (good morwe, good morn), with the phrase “good morning” emerging c. 1400–1450 and common by c. 1500. It combines good (OE gōd) + morning (OE morgen) and is often analyzed as an ellipsis of “I wish you a good morning”; fixed OE formulas aren’t attested.
Historical forms & timeline
| Period | Form (attested/recorded) | Sense | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle English (late 14th c.) | good morwe; good morn(e) | Greeting | Early greeting formulas with morrow/morn appear by the late 1300s. |
| c. 1400–1450 | good morning (as greeting) | Greeting | Interjectional use begins in this period (OED; Etymonline). |
| c. 1500 | “gode morne” (attested) | Greeting | “Curtasly ‘gode morne’ þou sey.” — The Little Children’s Book (c. 1500). |
| 1802 | to good-morning (verb) | Verbal use | “to greet with ‘good morning’.” (OED) |
| Modern English | good morning | Greeting | Standard polite salutation in English varieties worldwide. |
Attested example
c. 1500: “Curtasly ‘gode morne’ þou sey.” — The Little Children’s Book
Components
- good (adj.) ← Old English gōd “good, fitting; favorable.”
- morning (n.) ← Old English morgen “morning, dawn.”
- Construction: fixed formula; commonly treated as an ellipsis of a fuller wish (“I wish you a good morning”).
Pronunciation (IPA) & Audio
Modern English (UK): /ˌɡʊd ˈmɔːnɪŋ/ Modern English (US): /ˌɡʊd ˈmɔːrnɪŋ/
Note on Old English: a set time-of-day greeting is not attested in Old English; reconstructed forms like gōdne morgen appear in teaching resources, but fixed greeting formulas become common in Middle English.
Audio:
Germanic cognates (compare)
- West Frisian: goeie moarn
- Dutch: goedemorgen
- German: guten Morgen — Duden entry
- Danish: god morgen
- Swedish: god morgon
- Icelandic: góðan morgunn
Usage & notes
- Register: neutral-polite greeting used from early morning through late morning.
- Variant: clipped “Morning!” (informal); historical “Good morrow” (archaic).
- Writing conventions: capitalized in letter/email salutations; lowercase within running text unless sentence-initial.
See also
- Etymology of “good”
- Etymology of “morning”
- Etymology of “good evening”
- Etymology of “good night”
- Etymology of “good morrow”
FAQs
What is the origin of “good morning”?
It develops in Middle English: forms with morwe/morn appear by the late 14th century; the exact phrase “good morning” is evidenced by c. 1400–1450 and common by c. 1500.
Is “good morning” an ellipsis?
Yes—most analyses treat it as an ellipsis of a fuller wish like “I wish you a good morning.”
Are there Old English greetings like this?
No fixed time-of-day greetings are attested in Old English; formulaic usage grows in Middle English.
What are close cognates in other Germanic languages?
Dutch goedemorgen, German guten Morgen, Danish god morgen, Swedish god morgon, Icelandic góðan morgunn.
When did “to good-morning” (verb) appear?
OED records the verbal use from 1802.
Sources
Primary/lexical
- Etymonline: “good morning” (c. 1400; c. 1500 citation)
- OED: “good morning”, interjection & noun (earliest c. 1450)
- OED: “good-morning”, verb (first attested 1802)