Bosworth Toller's

Anglo-Saxon

Dictionary online

æ
þ

melda

  • noun [ masculine ]
Dictionary links
Grammar
melda, an; m.
a narrator, an informer, announcer
Show examples

  • Ðæs ðe ic ǽfre on ealdre ǽngum ne wolde monna ofer moldan melda weorþan

    what I would never relate to any man upon earth,

    • Exon. 50 b
      • ;
    • Th. 176, 3
      • ;
    • Gú. 1203: 73 b
      • ;
    • Th. 275, 28
      • ;
    • Jul. 557.

  • Sió æsc biþ melda, nalles þeóf

    the axe is an informer, not a thief

    (i. e. the noise made by hewing with an axe would attract the attention, which a thief would certainly shun, v.
    • Grmm. R. A. 47
      • ),
    • L. In. 43
      • ;
    • Th. i. 128, 23: L. Edg. H. 8
      • ;
    • Th. i. 260, 17.

  • Þurh ðæs meldan hond; se sceolde wong wísian,

    • Beo. Th. 4802
      • ;
    • B. 2405.

  • Ic tó meldan wearþ

    I turned informer

    (cf.
    • Th. 259, 28 sqq., 270, 10
    for the narrative forced from the devil by Juliana: cf. also
    • Jul. pp. 39 sqq.
      • ),
    • Exon. 74 b
      • ;
    • Th. 279, 30
      • ;
    • Jul. 621.

  • Ðæt wé ðæs morþres meldan ne weorþen

    that we be not informers of the crime,

    • Elen. Kmbl. 856
      • ;
    • El. 428.
a betrayer
Show examples

  • Gé sind meldan and manslagan (

    betrayers and murderers,

    • Acts vii. 52
      • ),
    • Homl. Th. i. 46, 24.
Etymology
[Cf.
O. L. Ger. meldari sponsor
:
O. H. Ger. meldari delator, proditor.
]
Entry information
Citation

Bosworth, Joseph. “melda.” In An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online, edited by Thomas Northcote Toller, Christ Sean, and Ondřej Tichy. Prague: Faculty of Arts, Charles University, 2014. https://bosworthtoller.com/22593.

Checked: 1
Full form

Word-wheel

  • melda, n.

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