eldertongue

Modern English → Old English

Old English word for fortress

6 headwords match “fortress”, ranked by the scoring in the data pipeline. The 6 strongest follow; ceaster ranks first.

  1. 1

    ceaster

    score 15

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

    fortress — fortress, fort

    • opens the headword's definition
    • has a full inflection table
    Paradigm summary
    nominative singular ċeaster
    genitive singular ċeastre
    dative singular ċeastre
    accusative singular ċeastre
    nominative plural ċeastra, ċeastre
    genitive plural ċeastra
  2. 2

    fæsten

    score 9

    noun, neuter · strong a-stem · 6 inflected forms

    fortress — fortified place: stronghold, fortress, castle; a place of strength; wall, bulwark

    • appears in the definition
    • has a full inflection table
    Paradigm summary
    nominative singular fæsten
    genitive singular fæstenes
    dative singular fæstene
    accusative singular fæsten
    nominative plural fæstenu
    genitive plural fæstena
  3. 3

    eþelfæsten

    score 9

    noun, neuter · strong a-stem · 6 inflected forms

    fortress — a country's fastness or fortress

    • appears in the definition
    • has a full inflection table
    Paradigm summary
    nominative singular ēþelfæsten
    genitive singular ēþelfæstennes
    dative singular ēþelfæstenne
    accusative singular ēþelfæsten
    nominative plural ēþelfæstennu
    genitive plural ēþelfæstenna
  4. 4

    burg

    score 8

    noun, feminine · strong consonant stem · 4 inflected forms

    fortress — city or town

    • has a full inflection table
    Paradigm summary
    nominative singular burg
    genitive singular byrġ
    dative singular byrġ
    accusative singular burg
    nominative plural byrġ
    genitive plural burga
  5. 5

    heafodburg

    score 8

    noun, feminine · strong consonant stem · 4 inflected forms

    fortress — capital city

    • has a full inflection table
    Paradigm summary
    nominative singular hēafodburg
    genitive singular hēafodbyrġ
    dative singular hēafodbyrġ
    accusative singular hēafodburg
    nominative plural hēafodbyrġ
    genitive plural hēafodburga
  6. 6

    geweorc

    score 6

    noun, neuter · strong a-stem · 5 inflected forms

    fortress — work (something done or made)

    • has a full inflection table
    Paradigm summary
    nominative singular ġeweorc
    genitive singular ġeweorces
    dative singular ġeweorce
    accusative singular ġeweorc
    nominative plural ġeweorc
    genitive plural ġeweorca

How this ranking works

Scores are computed once, when the site is built, from the Wiktionary data. Every headword whose definitions mention “fortress” 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 “fortress”, 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