Old English · verb

drifan

Normalised drīfan

Part of speech: verb
Verb class: strong class I
IPA: /ˈdriː.fɑn/
[ˈdriː.vɑn]
Syllables: ˈdriː · fɑn (2 syllables)
Modern English: drive pursue push

Meaning

to drive; force, pursue; drive (back); push
to drive; rush with violence

Conjugation

Conjugation of drifan
Indicative
	Present	Past
1st singular	drīfe	drāf
2nd singular	drīfst	drife
3rd singular	drīfþ	drāf
Plural	drīfaþ	drifon
Subjunctive
Singular	drīfe	drife
Plural	drīfen	drifen

Non-finite forms of drifan
	Form
Infinitive	drīfan
Inflected infinitive	drīfenne
Imperative singular	drīf
Imperative plural	drīfaþ
Present participle	drīfende
Past participle	drifen ġedrifen

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *drīban, from Proto-Germanic *drībaną, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- (“to drive, push”). Cognate with Old Frisian drīva (West Frisian driuwe), Old Saxon drīvan, drīƀan (Low German drieven), Dutch drijven, Old High German trīban (German treiben), Old Norse drífa (Danish drive, Swedish driva), Gothic (dreiban).

Descendants

drive

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