eldertongue

Modern English → Old English

Old English word for nightshade

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

  1. 1

    nihtscada

    score 22

    noun, masculine · weak · 4 inflected forms

    nightshade — nightshade (plant belonging to the genus Solanum)

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

    ælfþone

    score 13

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

    nightshade — Nightshade (probably the scrambling shrub Solanum dulcamara), as ascribed to (and/or havin

    • opens the headword's definition
    • has a full inflection table
    Paradigm summary
    nominative singular ælfþone
    genitive singular ælfþonan
    dative singular ælfþonan
    accusative singular ælfþonan
    nominative plural ælfþonan
    genitive plural ælfþonena
  3. 3

    nihtsceadu

    score 10

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

    nightshade — Earlier form of nihtsċada

    • listed as an English descendant
    • has a full inflection table
    Paradigm summary
    nominative singular nihtsċeadu
    genitive singular nihtsċeadwe
    dative singular nihtsċeadwe
    accusative singular nihtsċeadwe
    nominative plural nihtsċeadwa, nihtsċeadwe
    genitive plural nihtsċeadwa

How this ranking works

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