Ready
Middle English: from Old English rǣde (from a Germanic base meaning ‘arrange, prepare’; related to Dutch gereed ) + -y1.
wiktionary
From Middle English redy, redi, rædiȝ, iredi, ȝerǣdi, alteration ( + -y) of earlier irēd, irede, ȝerād(“ready, prepared”), from Old English rǣde, ġerǣde (also ġerȳde) ("prepared, prompt, ready, ready for riding (horse), mounted (on a horse), skilled, simple, easy"), from Proto-Germanic *garaidijaz, *raidijaz, from base *raidaz(“ready”), from Proto-Indo-European *rēydʰ-, *rēy-(“to count, put in order, arrange, make comfortable”) and also probably conflated with Proto-Indo-European *reydʰ-(“to ride”) in the sense of "set to ride, able or fit to go, ready". Cognate with Scots readie, reddy(“ready, prepared”), West Frisian ree(“ready”), Dutch gereed(“ready”), German bereit(“ready”), Danish rede(“ready”), Swedish redo(“ready, fit, prepared”), Norwegian reiug(“ready, prepared”), Icelandic greiður(“easy, light”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌸𐍃( garaiþs, “arranged, ordered”).
etymonline
ready (adj.)
Middle English redi, with adjectival suffix -i (as in busy, crafty, hungry, etc.) + Old English ræde, geræde "prepared, ready, suitably equipped;" of a horse, "ready for riding."
This is reconstructed to be from Proto-Germanic *(ga)raitha- "arranged" (source also of Old Frisian rede "ready," Middle Dutch gereit, Old High German reiti, Middle High German bereite, German bereit, Old Norse greiðr "ready, plain," Gothic garaiþs "ordered, arranged"), which is perhaps from PIE root *reidh- "to ride" (see ride (v.)).
Lengthened in Middle English by change of ending. Sense of "at hand, present, available" is late 12c. Of money, "immediately available," c. 1300, hence slang noun the ready "cash" (1680s). Phrase at the ready "in the position of a soldier's firearm after the command '(make) ready!'" is attested from 1837. As an adverb, c. 1300, "at hand." A ready-reckoner (1757) was a book of tabulated calculations of the sort used in ordinary business and housekeeping.
ready (v.)
early 13c., redien, "to administer" (a sense now obsolete); c. 1300, "to take aim;" mid-14c., "to make (something) ready, prepare, put into proper condition or order," from ready (adj.). "Somewhat rare between the 15th and 19th c." [OED]. Related: Readied; readying. Compare Dutch reeden "prepare, dress; German bereiten, Danish berede "prepare, get ready;" also compare redd (v.).
