Bosworth Toller's

Anglo-Saxon

Dictionary online

be-fóran

(prep.)
Grammar
be-fóran, bi-fóran; prep. I. dat. II. acc. [be by, proximity, fóran fore, as æt fóran]

BEFOREantecorampræBEFORE

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Grammar be-fóran, DAT. BEFORE; ante, coram, præ He swíðe oft befóran fremede folces rǽswum wundor æfter wundre he very often performed before the princes of the people miracle after miracle, Andr. Kmbl. 1237; An. 619. Ealdormen héredon híg befóran him

Linked entries: bi-fóran bi-fóran

B

Grammar
B, THE sound of b is produced by the lips; hence it is called a labial consonant, and has the same sound in Anglo-Saxon as in English. In all languages, and especially in the dialects of cognate languages, the letters employing the same organs of utterance are continually interchanged. In Anglo-Saxon, therefore, we find that b interchanges with the other labials, f and
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p Ic hæbbe I have, he hæfþ he hath. When words are transferred into modern English, b is sometimes represented by f or v :-- Beber or befor a beaver; Ober, ofer, over. In comparing the Anglo-Saxon aspirated labial f with the corresponding letter in Old

be-lisnian

(v.)

To evirateemasculatecastratecastrarebelisnodbelistnodemasculatedA eunuch

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Grammar be-lisnian, -listnian; p. ode; pp. od; v. trans. [be from, lystan to desire] To evirate, emasculate, castrate; castrare. Part. p. belisnod, belistnod emasculated Belisnod spadatus, eunuchizatus Ælfc. Gl. 2; Som. 55, 53; Wrt. Voc. 16, 26. Grammar

Linked entries: lisnian be-lisnod

cwom

(v.; part.)
Grammar
cwom, pl. cwómon came; venit, venerunt; have the same meanings as the contracted forms com, pl. cómon, p. of cuman , q. v. The p. indic., pl. cwómon,-an, -un; p. subj.
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Ðá hleóðor cwom when the sound came, Cd. 181; Th. 226, 29; Dan. 178. Ðá ðú ǽrest cwóme when thou first camest, Exon. 39a; Th. 129, 25; Gú. 426. Hwonne bearn Godes cwóme when the child of God should have come, 10a; Th. 10, 6; Cri. 148. To Hierasalem cwómon

cwyld-seten

(n.; v.; part.)
Grammar
cwyld-seten, cwyl-seten,e; f. [cwyld, cwyl = cweald, pp. of cwellan to kill: Icel. kweld, n. evening: as if the night quelled or killed daylight]

A setting in of the evening, the first part of the night conticinium

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A setting in of the evening, the first part of the night ; conticinium Cwylseten conticinium, Mone B. 3747. Cwylsetene conticinio, 3748. Cwyldsetene galli cantu, 4677

Linked entry: cwyld

dulmúnus

(n.)
Grammar
dulmúnus, gen. pl. dulmúna; m. The war-ship of the Greeks, which king Alfred assures us would hold a thousand men; longa nāvis. These ships were the μακρὰ πλοῖα or νῆες μακραί, generally called in Greek ὁ δρόμων, ωνος, m. the light war-vessel of the Greeks. They were the longæ nāves the long war-ships of the Romans, which had often more than fifty rowers. The Romans called their vessel drŏmo, ōnis, defining it as a fast rowing vessel, evidently deriving their word from the Greek δρόμων, Cod. Just. 1, 27, 1, § 8; Cassiod. Var. 5, 17, init. where it is described as 'trĭrēme vehĭcŭlum rēmōrum tantum nŭmĕrum prōdens, sed hŏmĭnum făcies dīlĭgenter abscondens.' Some suppose that Alfred derived his word dulmúnus from the Icel. drómundr, m. which Egilsson, in his Lexĭcon Poëtĭcum, Hafniæ, 8vo. 1860, explains 'nāves grandior, cūjus gĕnĕris tantum extra regiōnes septemtrionāles, ut in mări mediterrāneo, mentio fit,' S.E. i. 582, 3, Orkn. 82, 1, 3. Vigfusson, in his Icelandic-English Dictionary, 4to. Oxford, 1869-1874, in drómundr gives only the Latin and Greek, and O. H. Ger. drahemond as cognates. What Orosius, calls longas nāves, Alfred translates dulmúnus in Anglo-Saxon. As we read in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of A.D. 897; Th. i. 174, 4, Hét Ælfréd cyng timþrian lang-scipu ongén ða æscas king Alfred commanded to build long-ships against-, those ships, v. ÆSC IV.-Alfred, in his translation of Orosius, says
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Ǽr he [Ercol] ongan mid Creáca scypum, ðe mon dulmúnus hǽt, ðe man segþ ðæt in scip mǽge in þúsend manna before he [Hercules] began with Grecian ships, which are called dulmunus, of which it is said that one ship can hold a thousand men, Ors. 1, 10; Bos

Decem-ber

(n.)
Grammar
Decem-ber, gen. -bris; m. [dĕcem ten: Sansk. vāra: Pers. bār time, space: the tenth month of the Romans, beginning with March, and as we begin with January, it is our twelfth month]

The month of DecemberDĕcember, bris

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The month of December; Dĕcember, bris, m Mónaþ Decembris, ǽrra iúla [geóla] the month of December, the former yule, Menol. Fox 437; Men. 220; January being after yule or Christmas is called Se æftera geóla; the after yule, Cott. Tibĕrius; B. i; Hick.

-e

(suffix)
Grammar
-e, is the termination of derivative adjectives; as, Wyrðe worthy, from wyrþ worth: forþgenge

forthcoming, increasing

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forthcoming, increasing

-e

(suffix)
Grammar
-e, is also the usual letter by which adverbs are formed from adjectives ending in a consonant; as, Rihte rightly, sóþlíce truly, yfele badly.

ed-

(prefix)
Grammar
ed-, prefixed to words, denotes anew, again, as the Latin re- meaning rursus, dēnuo, itĕrum. Edniwian

to renew, to make new againrenŏvāre

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to renew, to make new again; renŏvāre

-ed

(suffix)
Grammar
-ed, used as a termination
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of pp. v. D 4, 5

-en

(suffix)
Grammar
-en, <b>. I.</b> m. forms only a few masculine terminations of nouns; as, Þeóden; gen. þeódnes; m. a king, from þeód people: dryhten; gen. dryhtnes; m. a lord, from dryht

people, subjects

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people, subjects. f. -en forms many feminine nouns = the Ger. -in, Dan. -inde; as, Þínen, e; f. a maid-servant [Ger. dienerin], from þén [Ger. diener]; þeówen, e; f. a female slave, from þeów: wylen; gen. wylne; f. the same, from weal a slave: mennen,

Linked entry: -ælfen

-enne

(suffix)
Grammar
-enne, the termination of the declinable infinitive in the dat. governed by to, as, — To farenne

to go

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to go, Mt. Bos. 8, 21

eo

(n.)
Grammar
eo, I. unaccented, generally stands before two consonants lc, ld, lf, rc, rd, rf, rg, rh, rl, rm, rn, rp, rr, rt, rþ, x; as, Geolca a yolk, sceolde should, seolfor silver, deorc dark, sweord a sword, ceorfan to carve, beorgan to protect, beorht bright, eorl earl, beorma barm, eornost earnest, weorpan to throw, steorra a star, heorte the heart, eorþe the earth, meox dung. II. eó accented, the diphthong, generally stands before the consonants c, d, f, g, h, l, m, n, p, r, s, st, t, w; as, Seóc sick, beódan to bid, þeóf a thief, fleógan to fly, hreóh rough, hweól a wheel, leóma a ray of light, beón to be, deóp deep, beór beer, ceosan to choose, breóst the breast, fleótan to float, leóþ a song, ceówan to chew. 2. eó is also the termination of many words, and then the ó in eó is always accented; as, Beó a bee; ic beó

I shall be

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I shall be; freó free; gleó glee; seó the; seó sim, sis, sit; treó a tree; breó three, etc

-ere

(suffix)
Grammar
-ere, -er, es; m. as the termination of many nouns, signifies a person or agent, v. fulwer and fullere a fuller, bleacher, Mk. Bos. 9, 3: from wer a man; plegere a player; sǽdere a sower; wrítere a writer.

-ern

(suffix)
Grammar
-ern, def. m.-erna ; f. n. -erne ; an adjective termination from ærn, ern a place, denoting, as -ern in English,

Towards a place

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Towards a place Godrum se Norþerna cyning forþférde Godrum, the Northern king, died. Chr. 890; Th. 160, 1. He forþbrohte Súþerne wynd transtŭlit austrum, Ps. Spl. 77, 30. Fram deófle Súþernum a dæmŏnio mĕrīdiāno, Ps. Spl. 90, 6. Betwux eallum Eásternum

-es

(suffix)
Grammar
-es, is the termination of adverbs in many cases where the noun is not so formed; as nihtes by night, nightly; nédes

of necessity, necessarily

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of necessity, necessarily

-estre

(suffix)
Grammar
-estre, -istre, -ystre, an; f. are the feminine terminations of nouns of action, same as the Latin -ix and English -ess; as Fiðelestre a female fiddler. Wrt. Voc. 73, 62: hleápestre a female dancer, 73, 71: lǽrestre an instructress: myltestre meretrix vel scortum, Wrt. Voc. 86, 72: rǽdistre a female reader, Wrt. Voc. 72, 7: sangestre [MS. sangystre] a songstress, Wrt. Voc. 72, 5: seámestre

a seamstress

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a seamstress, 74, 13

Linked entries: -istre berþ-estre

-fæst

(suffix)
Grammar
-fæst, as a termination, denotes fast, very, perfectly, effectually, as the English fast asleep, perfectly asleep; Ǽ-fæst fast in the law, firm, religious; Sóþ-fæst fast in truth, true, just; Staðol-fæst steadfast, steady; Unstaðol-fæst

unsteady, unsteadfast

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unsteady, unsteadfast

Faul

Grammar
Faul, a word used as a charm against the bite of an adder
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Sume án word wið nædran bíte lǽraþ to cweðenne, ðæt is, Faul some teach us against bite of adder to speak one word, that is, Faul, L. M. 1, 45; Lchdm. ii. 114, 2