Old English · noun
aglæca
Normalised āglǣċa
- Part of speech
- noun, masculine
- Declension
- weak
- IPA
- /ˈɑːˌɡlæː.t͡ʃɑ/
- Syllables
- ˈɑː · ˌɡlæː · t͡ʃɑ (3 syllables)
- Modern English
- ferociousawesomeformidablewretchfighteropponent
Meaning
-
an awesome or formidable opponent, ferocious fighter
-
a miserable being, wretch, monster
Declension
All forms (4)
Etymology
From āglāc (“distress, torment, misery”). A difficult and much-debated word. Possibly in origin a compound from the root of ece (“ache, pain”) + lāc (“ritual, performance, demonstration”) (Bosworth 1882), but this is disputed. Found mostly in poetry, and there mostly of monsters and devils, but once of Beowulf and once of Sigemund. The sole attestation in prose is also a unique relational adjectival use, in Byrhtferth's Enchiridion, where it refers to the scholar Bede as se æglæca lareow, making clear that the word is not inherently pejorative but carries a meaning of "awe-inspiring, formidabl…
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aglæca · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution