sweltan

Middle English

Verb

sweltan

1. (Early Middle English) Alternative form of swelten

Old English

Alternative forms

• swealtan, swiltan

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sweltan, from Proto-Germanic *sweltaną. Cognate with Old Saxon sweltan, Old Dutch *sweltan, Old High German swelzan, Old Norse svelta, Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐌻𐍄𐌰𐌽 (swiltan).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈswel.tɑn/,

Verb

sweltan

1. to die

   Far þū wel! Ealle menn sċulon sweltan.

   Farewell! All men must die.

Usage notes

• Dying "of" something can be expressed with the dative or instrumental case: Mē is lēofre þæt iċ hungre swelte þonne sċame (“I'd rather die of hunger than of shame”). Various prepositions are also commonly used, namely mid, for, and on, the latter especially with diseases: Þū ġefōre on ūtsihte (“You have died of dysentery”).

• The dative/instrumental is also used for "dying death": Sibsume dēaðe hēo swealt (“She died a peaceful death”).

Conjugation

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:sweltan.

Derived terms

• ġesweltan

Descendants

• Middle English: swelten
  • English: swelt
  • Scots: swelt

Descendants

• Middle English: swelten, swelte; squelt, suelt; sweltan
  • English: swelt
  • Scots: swelt, swalt

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sweltan, from Proto-Germanic *sweltaną, whence also Old English sweltan, modern Dutch zwelten.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈswɛltɑn/

Verb

sweltan

1. to die

   gisāhun iro barn qualmu sueltan — they saw their child die (Heliand, verse 750)

Conjugation