Old English · verb
abidan
Normalised ābīdan
- Part of speech
- verb
- Verb class
- strong class I
- IPA
- /ɑːˈbiː.dɑn/
- Syllables
- ɑː · ˈbiː · dɑn (3 syllables)
- Modern English
- abidewait
Meaning
-
to wait (+genitive for something)
Hwæs ābītst þū?
What are you waiting for?
late 10th century, Ælfric, Lives of Saints -
to remain
Æfter ðisum ġebede, hē ābād on ðām leġere āne fēawa dagas, mid fefore ġewǣht, þurh wacolon ġebedum, on flōre liċġende, bestrēowod mid axum, on stīðre hǣran, upāhafenum ēagum and handum tō heofenum, and ne ġeswāc his ġebeda ōðþæt hē sāwlode.
After this prayer, he remained in sickness for a few days, weakened by fever, in watchful prayer, lying on the floor, bestrewn with ashes, on stiff sackcloth, with eyes and hands turned up toward heaven, and he did not stop his prayers until he passed away.
Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church
Conjugation
All forms (14)
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *uʀbīdan (“to await, expect, tolerate”), equivalent to ā- + bīdan.
Descendants
abide
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abidan · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution