eldertongue

Modern English → Old English

Old English word for alms

3 headwords match “alms”, ranked by the scoring in the data pipeline. The 3 strongest follow; ælmesse ranks first.

  1. 1

    ælmesse

    score 24

    noun, feminine · weak n-stem · 4 inflected forms

    alms — alms

    • opens the headword's definition
    • listed as an English descendant
    • has a full inflection table
    Paradigm summary
    nominative singular ælmesse
    genitive singular ælmessan
    dative singular ælmessan
    accusative singular ælmessan
    nominative plural ælmessan
    genitive plural ælmessena
  2. 2

    andlifen

    score 6

    noun, feminine · strong ō-stem · 4 inflected forms

    alms — living, food, sustenance, nourishment, pottage

    • has a full inflection table
    Paradigm summary
    nominative singular andlifen
    genitive singular andlifne
    dative singular andlifne
    accusative singular andlifne
    nominative plural andlifna, andlifne
    genitive plural andlifna
  3. 3

    bedecian

    score 4

    verb · weak class 2 · 15 inflected forms

    alms — to beg (for alms)

    • appears in the definition
    • has a full inflection table
    • verb: derivation noise is possible
    Paradigm summary
    first-person singular present indicative bedeciġe
    first-person singular past indicative bedecode
    second-person singular present indicative bedecast
    second-person singular past indicative bedecodest
    third-person singular present indicative bedecaþ
    third-person singular past indicative bedecode

How this ranking works

Scores are computed once, when the site is built, from the Wiktionary data. Every headword whose definitions mention “alms” gets the points below; the candidates are then sorted by total. The score is shown on each entry above so the order can be checked rather than trusted.

The English word opens the headword's definition+10
It appears later in the first definition+6
It appears in any definition+3
It is in the headword's links+2
It is listed as an English descendant (etymological evidence)+9
The headword has an inflection table+3
Part of speech is a proper noun−5
Part of speech is a verb (-ian derivations are noisy)−3
The headword is an alternative form−6
The first definition is longer than three words−2

A candidate has to be a real headword with its own entry: inflected forms and grammatical terminology (genitive, nominative, preterite, …) never appear here.

Not one of these?

The match may be a different sense of “alms”, or an inflected form rather than a headword. Look up the form directly — the entry page marks the grammatical case.

Candidates derived from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0). Each entry links to its source page. · CC BY-SA 4.0 and attribution · CC BY-SA 4.0