Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
sayen. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
sayen, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
sayen in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
sayen you have here. The definition of the word
sayen will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
sayen, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Middle English seien, equivalent to say + -en.
Verb
sayen
- (obsolete) plural simple present of say
1606, N[athaniel] B[axter], Sir Philip Sydneys Ouránia, That Is, Endimions Song and Tragedie, Containing All Philosophie, London: Ed. Allde, for Edward White, , →OCLC, signature , verso:But diuine Shepheards ſoothly ſayen,
In their high Layes with wordes plaine: […]
1647, Henry More, “[Philosophical Poems.] Antipsychopannychia or The Third Book of the Song of the Soul: Containing a Confutation of the Sleep of the Soul after Death. The Præexistency of the Soul, .”, in Alexander B[alloch] Grosart, editor, The Complete Poems of Dr. Henry More (1614–1687) (Chertsey Worthies’ Library), Edinburgh University Press;
Thomas and Archibald Constable,
] for private circulation, published
1878,
→OCLC, stanza 78,
page 126, column 1:
No more do souls of men. For stories sayen
Well known 'mongst countrey folk, our spirits fly, […]
1747, William Mason, Musaeus: a Monody to the Memory of Mr. Pope:That men sayen I make trewe melody,
Anagrams
Middle Dutch
Etymology
From Old Dutch *sāien, from Proto-West Germanic *sāan.
Verb
sâyen
- to sow
- to spread, to disperse
Inflection
This verb needs an inflection-table template.
Descendants
Further reading
Middle English
Verb
sayen
- Alternative form of assayen