Bosworth Toller's

Anglo-Saxon

Dictionary online

æ
þ

eall-lencten

(n.)
Grammar
eall-lencten, es; m.
Entry preview:

The season of Lent Fram idus Septembris oð lenctenes anginne hý on án mǽl tó nónes gereorden; ofer ealllencten (eal-, v. l.) oþ Eástran hý oð ǽfen fæsten ab idibus Septembris usque ad capud quadragesime ad nonam semper reficiant; in quadragesima usque

Linked entry: eallencten

twi-hynde

(adj.)
Grammar
twi-hynde, adj. As applied to a person, of a rank for which the wergild was two hundred shillings; applied to the wergild, that must be paid for a person of such rank. As will be seen from the passages given below, the twihynde man was a
Entry preview:

Ath. v. 8, 2; Th. i. 236, 11. Be twyhyndum were. Æt twyhyndum were mon sceal sellan tó monbóte .xxx. sciłł., L. In. 70; Th. i. 146, 12. Be twyhyndum men . . . Gif mon twyhyndne mon . . . ofsleá, L. Alf. pol. 29; Th. i. 80, 5-7.

nefne

(prep.; con.)
Grammar
nefne, nemne.

Unless ⬩ except ⬩ Except

Entry preview:

Ðæt unc ne gedǽlde nemne deáþ ána ówiht elles, Exon. Th. 442, 34; Kl. 23 : Andr. Kmbl. 1327; An. 664. Grammar nefne, prep. Except Nemne feáum ánum, Beo. Th. 2167; B. 1081

Linked entries: nemne nymne

heáfod-segn

(n.)
Grammar
heáfod-segn, es; m.
Entry preview:

An ensign having a head (not a flag ?) Hét þá in beran eafor heáfodsegn, . . . helm, herebyrnan, gúðsweord, B. 2152-4.

sunu

(n.)
Grammar
sunu, gen. a, u; dat. a, u; n. pl. a, u, o: there are also weak forms sing. suna; n. pl. sunan; gen. sunena; m.
Entry preview:

A., Lind.: sunena, Rush.) módor mater filiorum Zebedaei, Mt. Kmbl. 27, 56. Sunana, p. 18, 14. Beód Aarone and his sunum, Lev. 6, 20. Mid sunum ðínum, Cd. Th. 78, 28; Gen. 1300. Heora bearn blótan feóndum, sceuccum onsæcgean suna and dohter, Ps.

Linked entry: suna

mál

(n.)
Grammar
mál, es; n.

an action ⬩ suit ⬩ cause

Entry preview:

an action, suit, cause Mál clasma (cf. clasma clam oððe wed oððe wæra. 'This barbarous word meant in medieval Latin, an action at law, for a bond or other obligation,' 21, 2), Wrt. Voc. ii. 83, 42 : Hpt. Gl. 496, 4. [Icel. mál an action : O. H.

helle-

(prefix)
Entry preview:

In the case of at least some of the following words which are given as compounds, they might be taken as independent words, the first of which is the genitive of hel. For the meaning of such combinations the second word may be referred to

Linked entries: loc hele- -rúne

nimþe

(con.)
Grammar
nimþe, nemþe, nymþe; conj.

Unless ⬩ except

Entry preview:

Nabbaþ wé tó hyhte nymþe cyle and fýr, Cd. Th. 285, 10; Sat. 335. Eaforan syndon deáde nymþe feá áne, 128, 30; Gen. 2134. Similar entries Cf. nefne

Linked entry: nemþe

untíd-fyll

(n.)
Grammar
untíd-fyll, untíd-fyllu; f.

Unseasonable repletion ⬩ excessive drinking at improper times

Entry preview:

Unseasonable repletion, excessive drinking at improper times Be oferfylle. Ve, qui consurgitis mane ad bibendum, etc. Wá eów, hé cwæð, ðe lufiaþ untídfylla and ǽr on morgen oferdrenc dreógaþ, Wulfst. 46, 14

fóre-weard

(n.)
Grammar
fóre-weard, -ward, fór-word, -werd, e; f; fóre-warde, an; f. A

FOREWARD ⬩ precaution ⬩ contract ⬩ agreement ⬩ compact ⬩ treaty ⬩ provision ⬩ præcautio ⬩ pactum ⬩ fœdus

Entry preview:

Dipl. 731; A.D. 1013-1020; Kmbl. iv. 10, 6. Fóreweard exordium, Rtl. 69, 17

Linked entries: fóre-ward fóre-ward fóre-warde fóre-werd fór-ward fór-werd

þeód-

(prefix)
Grammar
þeód-, As the first part of several compounds (see below) þeód has the force of general, great; a similar use is found in
Entry preview:

Sax. and Icel. The form is also found in proper names, e.g. Ðeód-bald, Bd. 1, 34; S. 499, 33. Ðeód-ríc, Bt. 1; Fox 2, 5. Þeód-Scyldingas, Beo. Th. 2042; B. 1019. Cf. regn-

seár

(adj.)
Grammar
seár, The MS. reading at Lch. i. 384, 14 may be retained. v. Siever's Grammar, § 35, Anm, 2.

This might be a link to, a part of or a variant of another entry.

þrinna

(num.; adj.)
Grammar
þrinna, This seems a Scandinavian form
[cf.
Icel. þrennar tylftir three twelves; e.g. þrennar tylftir eigu at dæma málit, Njála c. 144
]
Entry preview:

Ládige hé hine mid þrinna .xii., L. Eth. iii. 13; Th. i. 296, 29

FÆDER

(n.)
Grammar
FÆDER, feder; indecl. in sing. but gen. fæderes and dat. fædere are sometimes found; pl. nom. acc. fæderas; gen. a; dat. um; m.

FATHER ⬩ păter

Entry preview:

A FATHER; păter Fæder and módor a father and mother; hic et hæc parens, Ælfc. Gr. 9, 38; Som. 12, 48. On Fæder geardas in the dwellings of the Father, Salm.

Linked entries: eald-fæder fædyr feder fieder fæder-lic

leóht

(adj.)
Grammar
leóht, léht, líht [from comparison with other dialects the proper spelling would seem to be líht, but leóht (or leoht?), in West-Saxon at least, is the regular form]; adj.

Light ⬩ inconsiderable ⬩ quick ⬩ ready ⬩ nimble ⬩ fickle ⬩ easy

Entry preview:

Leóht and leoþuwác nimble and supple, Exon. 79 b; Th. 298, 12; Crä. 84. Hé is snel and swift and leóht levis et velox est, 60 b; Th. 220, 9; Ph. 317: 52 a; Th. 182, 6;Gú. 1306.

on-gang

Entry preview:

Add: worship Æðelbryln and his ðeóde fram deófolgylda ongonge (begange, v. l.) hé tó Crístes geleáfan gelǽdde Aedilberctum ac gentem illius ab idolorum cultu ad Christi fidem perduxít, Bd. 2, 3; Sch. 125, 20

wirsa

(adj.)
Grammar
wirsa, (wirra occurs once in the Chronicle); cpve.; wirrest, wirst; spve. adj.

Worse ⬩ worst

Entry preview:

Grammar wirsa, of an unfitting condition of things And ðæt git wyrse is, ðæt wé witon manige foremǽre weras forþgewitene ðe swiþe feáwa manna á ongit Bt. 19; Fox 70, 11; Met. 10, 57.

Linked entries: wyrrest yfel weorr wersa wurst

sulung

(n.)
Grammar
sulung, e; f. A Kentish word for a certain quantity of land, derived, like carrucata, from a name of the plough; from its origin it might mean, so much land as could be cultivated by one plough. From the first two passages given below it would seem that the sulung was equivalent to two hides (manentes), and later a solanda, which is probably the same word, is said 'per se habere duas hidas.' v. Seebohm, Vill. Comm., p. 54. But perhaps it may be inferred that both hide and sulung were considered as on the same footing as regards the plough. Thus to the gebúr with his gyrd landes, i. e. one quarter of a hide, are to be given two oxen, L. R. S. 4; Th. i. 434, 23, while a gift of half a sulung is accompanied by the further gift of four oxen, Chart. Th. 470, 9-14. v. Seebohm, pp. 138-9, and generally. In the Domesday Survey of Kent the assessment was given by solins, and the word remained in use. v. Pegge's Kenticisms, s.v.
Entry preview:

Him man sælle án half swulung ... and mon selle him tó ðem londe .iiii. oxan, and .ii. cý, and l. scǽpa, 470, 8-14. Ðisses londes aran thrié sulong æt hægethe thorne, Cod. Dip. Kmbl. i. 235, 7.

Linked entry: swulung

þætte

(con.)
Grammar
þætte, ( = þæt þe; cf. eác wæs ðæt ðe beforan ðæm temple stód ceác, Past. 16; Swt. 105, 1, and : Ðá wæs ꝥte scyttelas wurdan tóbrocene, Blickl. Homl. 87, 5. Þætte is used in the same way as þæt, q. v.); conj.
Entry preview:

Nǽnig manna is þætte áreccan mæg, Andr. Kmbl. 1091; An. 546 : Cd.

C

Grammar
C, In Gothic and Icelandic C is entirely wanting, being always represented by k. It is remarkable that the Anglo-Saxons have seldom made use of k; but, following the Latin, have preferred the use of c.
Entry preview:

As a medial and final letter c corresponds to the Gothic and Icelandic k, — thus A. Sax. æcer a field, Goth. akrs, Icel. akr; A.

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.