Old English · verb

berstan

Part of speech: verb
Verb class: strong class III
IPA: /ˈber.stɑn/
[ˈberˠ.stɑn]
Syllables: ˈber · stɑn (2 syllables)
Modern English: burst bust shatter

Meaning

to break, shatter, burst

Æfter þisum ġebede, bærst ūt of heofonum swȳþe fǣrlīċ fȳr and forbernde þæt templ, and ealle þā godas grundlunga suncon intō þǣre eorþan, and ne ætēowdon siþþan.

After this prayer, a very sudden fire burst out of the heavens and burned up the temple, and all the gods sunk completely into the earth, and have not appeared since.
late 10th century, Ælfric, Lives of Saints

Conjugation

Conjugation of berstan
Indicative
	Present	Past
1st singular	berste	bærst
2nd singular	birst	burste
3rd singular	birst	bærst
Plural	berstaþ	burston
Subjunctive
Singular	berste	burste
Plural	bersten	bursten

Non-finite forms of berstan
	Form
Infinitive	berstan
Inflected infinitive	berstenne
Imperative singular	berst
Imperative plural	berstaþ
Present participle	berstende
Past participle	borsten

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *brestan (with e-r metathesis in West Germanic), from Proto-Germanic *brestaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰres- (“to burst, break, crack, split, separate”). Cognate with Old Frisian bersta (West Frisian boarste), Old Saxon brestan (Low German basten), Dutch bersten, barsten, Old High German brestan German bersten), Old Norse bresta (Danish briste, Norwegian Bokmål briste, Swedish brista).

Descendants

burst, bust

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