eldertongue

Old English · verb

bitan

Normalised bītan

Part of speech
verb
Verb class
strong class I
IPA
/ˈbiː.tɑn/
Syllables
ˈbiː · tɑn (2 syllables)
Modern English
bite

Meaning

  1. to bite

    …ac mec hnossiað homera lāfa, heardecg heoroscearp, hondweorc smiþa bītað in burgum;

    …but remains of hammers strike me, harsh edge of sharp sword, handiworks of smiths bite in boroughs;

    10th century, Exeter Book Riddle 5:

Conjugation

Conjugation of bitan
PresentPast
Indicative
1st singular bītebāt
2nd singular bītstbite
3rd singular bīttbītbāt
Plural bītaþbiton
Subjunctive
Singular bītebite
Plural bītenbiten
Non-finite forms of bitan
Form
Infinitive bītan
Inflected infinitive bītenne
Imperative singular bīt
Imperative plural bītaþ
Present participle bītende
Past participle bitenġebiten

All forms (14)

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *bītan, from Proto-Germanic *bītaną.

Descendants

bite

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bitan · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution