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    Ye Olde Dictionary of The Old English Language

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    vfran20
    This document contains over 30 Old English words and their definitions to help translate from Old English to modern English. Some of the words included are: bequeath which means to give or leave by will, beseech which means to request or ask, betwixt which means between, and draught which can refer to inhaling or drawing a liquid from a receptacle. The document provides the original Old English words alongside their modern English translations to serve as a guide for understanding language from centuries past.

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    Ye Olde Dictionary of The Old English Language

    Uploaded by

    vfran20
    2K views2 pages
    This document contains over 30 Old English words and their definitions to help translate from Old English to modern English. Some of the words included are: bequeath which means to give or leave by will, beseech which means to request or ask, betwixt which means between, and draught which can refer to inhaling or drawing a liquid from a receptacle. The document provides the original Old English words alongside their modern English translations to serve as a guide for understanding language from centuries past.

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    Ye Olde Dictionary of the Old English Language

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    This document contains over 30 Old English words and their definitions to help translate from Old English to modern English. Some of the words included are: bequeath which means to give or leave by will, beseech which means to request or ask, betwixt which means between, and draught which can refer to inhaling or drawing a liquid from a receptacle. The document provides the original Old English words alongside their modern English translations to serve as a guide for understanding language from centuries past.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    2K views2 pages

    Ye Olde Dictionary of The Old English Language

    Uploaded by

    vfran20
    This document contains over 30 Old English words and their definitions to help translate from Old English to modern English. Some of the words included are: bequeath which means to give or leave by will, beseech which means to request or ask, betwixt which means between, and draught which can refer to inhaling or drawing a liquid from a receptacle. The document provides the original Old English words alongside their modern English translations to serve as a guide for understanding language from centuries past.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    YE OLDE DICTIONARY OF THE OLD ENGLISH LANGUAGE

    (give or take a century)

    art - are

    bequeath (one of my personal favorites) - To give or leave by will; to hand down.

    beseech - request, ask.

    besought – asked, made request. (past tense of beseech)

    betwixt – between.

    canst - can.

    cometh – comes, or coming.


    Submitted by Queen of Terabithia

    dearth - (durth) scarcity or scant supply of anything; want or lack.

    dost - do, does.

    draught or draft – Can mean the act of pulling or drawing loads; a pull or haul; a team of animals for pulling a load; the drawing in of a fish net; the bunch of fish that were drawn in by
    the net; but… your typical Rennie will prefer one of these usages: the act of inhaling; that which is inhaled; or, the number one definition for common folk everywhere: the drawing of a
    liquid from its receptacle, as of ale from a cask!!!!

    durst – Dare; to have the necessary boldness or courage for something.

    fere - friend, companion.

    fullsome - rich, plentiful.

    hath - equivalent of modern has.


    Submitted by M.G. of Oneida, Wisconsin

    henceforth - from now on.


    Submitted by L. Strass

    hither - here.

    huzzah - Huzza or huzzah is first recorded in 1573. According to a number of writers in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was originally a sailor's cheer or salute. (Old French, huzzer, “to shout
    aloud;” German, hussah!) Submitted by John Of www.renaissancefestival.com

    mere - An expanse of water; lake; pool.


    Submitted by The Lady Mellisa of Pt. Charlotte

    midst – Middle, or among. e.g., "in the midst of the storm…

    nary - None; absolutely nothing; not even close to anything.


    Submitted by Jester Bumbledumb of Drunkonia

    The good Jester also included an example of the word's usage:


    "Thou dost hast nary an inkling on coveting thine lady."

    And for the fullness of your understanding, this modern translation of the above phrase:
    "You wouldn't know how to please a babe if you spent 10 years on the set of Oprah!"

    naught – Nothing. (Did you know our modern word “not” is actually an abbreviated form of this Olde-English word, which was itself a shortened form of “no whit” or “not a whit”?)

    onuppan - above.
    Submitted by Callum Ellis Mennie

    overmany - a lot.
    Submitted by Kaylia White

    pece - silverware, fork.


    Submitted by Kylaa

    prithee - contracted form of "I pray thee", i.e., I ask of you, I beseech thee, etc.
    proby - apprentice.
    Submitted by Sire Kyle

    pudh - horrible.

    Rennies - Renaissance fanatics; also people who are addicted to Renaissance Faires, costume, and anything else reminiscent of that era. Alright, this isn’t really an O.E. word at all – it’s a
    catchy name, though!

    shall or shalt - will

    seek - (O.E. secan, to seek) To go in search or quest of; to look or search for.

    syllan - sell.

    tallt - to stand above others in a snobby way.

    tarry - to linger, deliberate, wait, stay, or pause.

    thou - you

    thee - you

    thine - your

    thither - there.

    thy - your

    trow – To think or suppose. e.g., "Wilt thou labor for naught? I trow not!"

    whence - From where, e.g., "Whence, comest thou?" would translate to the modern "Where do you come from?"

    wax - to grow, to become.

    whither - To where, e.g., "Whither thou goest, I shall go." translates in modern English as "Where you go, I will go."

    wilt – This one is tricky. It can mean very simply, will; but then it could also mean what a flower does without water, or what I do when asked to cook - it all depends on the context…

    wist - knew; past tense of wit, e.g. He wist that his love was coming...

    wit – To know, e.g., Canst thou wit what the day shall bring?

    wrought - done, made, created; e.g. "...see what God hath wrought..."
    Submitted by M.G. of Oneida, Wisconsin

    ye - polite form of thou.


    Submitted by Laura

    yore - years ago.

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