Old English · noun
beorn
- Part of speech
- noun, masculine
- Declension
- strong a-stem
- IPA
- /be͜orn/[be͜orˠn]
- Syllables
- be͜orn (1 syllable)
- Modern English
- baron
Meaning
-
man, warrior
beorn of his brēostum ācȳþan, · nemþe hē ǣr þā bōte cunne, eorl mid elne ġefremman. · Wel bið þām þe him āre sēċeð, frōfre tō fæder on heofonum, · þǣr ūs eal sēo fæstnung stondeð.
Good is that keeps his belief, should not ever unfold his wrath, fighter of his breasts, too quickly, unless before this help he would know how to help out a man with strength. It's good for him who seeks help from the Father in heavens, where this whole fastening stands for us.
Til biþ sē þe his trēowe ġehealdeþ, · ne sċeal nǣfre his torn tō ryċene
Declension
All forms (6)
Etymology
The origin is disputed. A phonetically exact correspondence exists in Old Norse bjǫrn (“bear”), from Proto-Germanic *bernuz (more at *berô), generally accepted as cognate with the form in proper names, but the English word is never used for "bear", and the Old Norse word is never used for "warrior". While it is not implausible that the term for a wild animal could become a poetic term for a warrior, Germanic scholars have been reluctant to accept any relationship between the two. Some consider it to be a variant of Old English bearn (“child, offspring, son", hence "boy, servant”), while others…
Descendants
baron
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beorn · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution