eldertongue

Old English · verb

efnetan

Part of speech
verb
Verb class
strong class V
IPA
/ˌefnˈe.tɑn/
[ˌevnˈe.tɑn]
Syllables
ˌefn · ˈe · tɑn (3 syllables)
Modern English
matcheat

Meaning

  1. to eat with

  2. to eat as much as; match or equal in eating

    Iċ mēsan mæġ meahtelīcor

    I can feed more mightily and eat as much as an old giant

    Exeter Book, riddle 40

Conjugation

Conjugation of efnetan
PresentPast
Indicative
1st singular efneteefnǣt
2nd singular efnitstefnǣte
3rd singular efnittefnitefnǣt
Plural efnetaþefnǣton
Subjunctive
Singular efneteefnǣte
Plural efnetenefnǣten
Non-finite forms of efnetan
Form
Infinitive efnetan
Inflected infinitive efnetenne
Imperative singular efnet
Imperative plural efnetaþ
Present participle efnetende
Past participle efnetenġeefneten

All forms (15)

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *ebanetan, equivalent to efn- + etan. Cognate with Old High German ebanezzan (“to eat together”).

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