Bosworth Toller's

Anglo-Saxon

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þ

morþ

  • noun [ neuter ]
Dictionary links
Grammar
morþ, es; n. m.
Wright's OE grammar
§106; §343;
death, destruction, perdition
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  • Hit wæs hæleþa forlor menniscra morþ ðæt hié tó mete dǽdon ofet unfǽle

    it was men's ruin, our race's destruction, that for their food they took that evil fruit,

    • Cd. 33
      • ;
    • Th. 45, 5
      • ;
    • Gen. 722.

  • Mid morþes cwealme

    with death's pang,

    • 35
      • ;
    • Th. 47, 9
      • ;
    • Gen. 758.

  • Ðæt micle morþ (

    death which followed the eating of the forbidden fruit

    ),
    • 30
      • ;
    • Th. 40, 16
      • ;
    • Gen 640.

  • Nýs ús ná tó secgenne ðone sceamlícan morþ ðe ðǽr gedón wæs (

    the mortality, attended with so many horrible circumstances, that happened at the siege of Jerusalem),

    • Ælfc. T. Grn. 21, 15.
that which causes death
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  • Ðú (the evil soul) wǽre ðǽr (in this world) morþ and myrþra, ac ðú ne miht hér

    (in the next world)

    swá beón,

    • Wulfst. 241, 9.

  • Ic bidde ðæt man ðæs morþes

    (deadly sin, marriage by men in orders)

    heononforþ geswíce,

    • L. I. P. 23
      • ;
    • Th. ii. 334, 23.

  • Hé (the devil) hogode on ðæt micle morþ

    (the eating of the forbidden fruit)

    men forweorpan, forlǽran and forlǽdan,

    • Cd. 32
      • ;
    • Th. 43, 15
      • ;
    • Gen. 691.

  • Man téh ðæt morþ (apparently an image of the intended victim whose destruction was being attempted through witchcraft by a widow and her son, v. III and morþ-dǽd) forþ of hire inclifan. Ðá nam man ðæt wíf and ádrencte hí æt Lundenebricge,

    • Chart. Th. 230, 17.
murder;
as a technical term, slaying with an attempt at concealment of the deed.
Cf.
the distinction in Icelandic law between morþ murder and víg manslaughter, 'Þat er morþ ef maðr leynir eða hylr hræ ok gengr eigi í gegn,' but if declaration (lýsing) were made it was víg.
  • v. Gl. & Vig. Dict. and Grmm. R. A. 625. Schmid. A. S. Gesetz. p. 633,
suggests that morþ has particular reference to death caused by witchcraft or by poison, and refers to the connection in which the compounds morþ-dǽd-, weorc, -wyrhta occur: see the passages given under those words. See also the last passage under II.
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  • Gif open morþ weorþe ðæt man sý ámyrdred ágife man mágum ðone banan and gif hit tihtle sý and æt láde mistíde déme se bisceop

    if there be a death and it afterwards appear that the man was murdered, the (supposed) murderer being discovered, let the latter be given up to the kinsmen (of the slain man), and if the accusation be brought, and the attempt of the accused to clear himself fail, let the bishop pass sentence,

    • L. C. S. 57
      • ;
    • Th. i. 406, 25.

  • Ǽbere morþ æfter woruldlage is bótleás

    slaying, which is proved to be murder, according to the secular law, cannot be compounded for,

    • 65
      • ;
    • Th. i. 410, 5.
as a general term, murder, homicide
Show examples

  • Hí swylc geblót and swylc morþ dónde wǽron

    (of Busiris sacrificing strangers to the gods,

    • Ors. 1, 8
      • ;
    • Swt. 40, 26.

  • Ðæs ðe hé blódgyte, wælfyll weres wǽpnum gespédeþ, morþ mid mundum,

    • Cd. 75
      • ;
    • Th. 92, 13
      • ;
    • Gen. 1528.
Etymology
[
Laym. morþ destruction
:
O. Sax. morð
:
O. Frs. morth
:
Icel. morð
:
O. H. Ger. mord
:
Lat. mort-.
]
Similar entries
v. morþor.
Linked entries
v.  morþ-weorc morþ-wyrhta.
Entry information
Citation

Bosworth, Joseph. “morþ.” 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/23161.

Checked: 1
Full form

Word-wheel

  • morþ, n.

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