Bosworth Toller's

Anglo-Saxon

Dictionary online

æ
þ

þencan

  • verb [ weak ]
Dictionary links
Grammar
þencan, p. þóhte (þohte?)
Wright's OE grammar
§5; §7; §40; §60; §117; §165; §231; §245; §289; §301; §309; §311; §326; §534; §539;
To think.
absolute,
to meditate, cogitate, consider
Show examples
where the thought is the object of the verb,
to think, have in the mind
Show examples
to think, suppose, hold as an opinion or
belief
Show examples
to think of, consider, employ the mind on a subject,
where the subject of thought is in the accusative
Show examples
where the subject of thought is in genitive
Show examples
where the subject of thought is governed by a preposition,
to think about, of, on a subject
Show examples
where the subject of thought is given in a clause introduced by an indirect interrogative
Show examples
where the construction is uncertain
Show examples
to look to with attention, turn the thoughts to
Þenc nú swíðe geornlíce tó ðam ðe ic ǽr sáde turn your thoughts very carefully to what I said before, Shrn. 177, 35. Ðǽm welwillendum is tó secganne, ðonne hié gesióð hiera geférena gód weorc, ðæt hié eác ðencen tó hint selfum dicendum est benevolis, ut, cum proximorum facta conspiciunt, ad suum cor redeant, Past. 34; Swt. 231, 11. Riht is ðæt munecas dæges and nihtes inweardre heortan á tó Gode þencan and geornlíce clypian it is right that monks day and night ever earnestly direct their thoughts to God and diligently cry to him,
    L. I. P. 14; Th. ii. 322, 3.
to look to with trust, expectation, expect of. Cf.
Ger. zu-denken
Show examples
where purpose or intention is implied, to turn the thoughts to action, to be bent upon something,
have an intention to do something
Show examples
to think of something, where it is implied that effect will be given to the thought,
to determine, devise, mean, purpose, intend,
with gen.
Show examples
followed by an infin., to think of doing something,
intend to do
Show examples
followed by a clause
Show examples
with an accus. to which a clause stands in apposition
Show examples
to think of doing something with hope or expectation,
to desire, seek
Show examples
to think, call to mind, originate in the mind
Show examples
Etymology
[Goth. þag(g)kjan; p. þáhta to think, consider, consult, debate: O. Sax. thenkian; p. þáhta: O. L. Ger. thenkan; tháhta: O. Frs. thanka, thenkia; p. thógte: O. H. Ger. denchen; p. dáhta: Icel. þekkja; p. þátti to perceive, know.]
Similar entries
v. á-, be-, bi-, for-, fore-, ge-, geond-, of-, under-, ymbe-þencan.
Entry information
Citation

Bosworth, Joseph. “þencan.” 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/31654.

Checked: 0
Full form

Word-wheel

  • þencan, 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.