Bosworth Toller's

Anglo-Saxon

Dictionary online

æ
þ

spówan

  • verb [ strong ]
Dictionary links
Grammar
spówan, speów
Wright's OE grammar
§519;
To succeed.
used personally with instrumental of that in which the person succeeds,
to be successful
Show examples

  • Hú mæg hé ǽnige gewinne wið mé spówan

    how can he succeed in any struggle with me?

    • Nar. 16, 20.

  • Ne mót ic ǽnige rihte spówan,

    • Elen. Kmbl. 1830;
    • El. 917: Andr. Kmbl. 3087;
    • An. 1546: Cd. Th. 127, 23;
    • Gen. 2115: Exon. 35, 27;
    • Cri. 564.

  • Spówende spéd,

    • 117, 16;
    • Gú. 225: 139, 14:
    • Gú. 593:
    • Cd. Th. 246, 14;
    • Dan. 479.
used impersonally,
it succeeds with a person (dat.)
absolute
Show examples

  • Him spéwþ ðe bet,

    • Btwk. 222, 9.

  • Ðá hié ongeáton, ðæt him ne speów,

    • L. Alf. 49;
    • Th. i. 56, 8.

  • Him wiht ne speów,

    • Judth. Thw. 25, 23;
    • Jud. 274: Beo. Th. 5701;
    • B. 2854.

  • Gesæh Pilatus ðæt him náuwiht speóu (spéua, Lind.)

    videns Pilatus quia nihil proficeret

    ,
    • Mt. Kmbl. Rush. 27, 24.

  • Him speówhwónlíce.

    • Homl. Skt. i. 7, 94.

  • Hú swýþe him speówe

    quantum profecerit

    ,
    • Bd. 2, 4;
    • S. 505, 27.
with gen. of that in which a person succeeds
Show examples

  • Ðá ðá him ðæs ( the attempt to raise the dead ) ne speów

    ,
    • Homl. Th. ii. 474, 11.

  • Ðé speów ðæs ðú wið freónd oððe feónd fremman ongunne,

    • Cd. Th. 170, 9;
    • Gen. 2810.
the object of success governed by a preposition
Show examples

  • Ða ðe on eorðlícum weorcum hwónlíce speówþ,

    • Homl. Th. i. 526, 16.

  • Hú him speów ǽgðer ge mid wíge ge mid wísdóme,

    • Past. pref.;
    • Swt. 3, 8.

  • Hú him æt ǽte speów,

    • Beo. Th. 6045;
    • B. 3026.
Etymology
[
O. H. Ger. spuon, spuoan (wk.)
.]
Similar entries
v. ge-, mis-spówan.
Entry information
Citation

Bosworth, Joseph. “spówan.” 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/28542.

Checked: 2
Full form

Word-wheel

  • spówan, v.

Copyright

All the data provided here are free for any purpose. If you use the data for academic purposes, we ask that you kindly cite us as your source. In case you need a large portion of the dictionary data or you need it in a specific format, let us know through the contact form, we are happy to do custom database dumps for researchers.

How to cite

You can cite the entries of the online version of the dictionary, or you can cite the scanned pages of the original paper editions.

  • To cite the online version of the dictionary, click the icon right under the entry.
  • To cite the scanned paper version of the dictionary, click the "show/hide this scanned page" link under the entry, check the scan and use the citation information right above it.