eldertongue

Old English · verb

etan

Part of speech
verb
Verb class
strong class V
IPA
/ˈe.tɑn/
Syllables
ˈe · tɑn (2 syllables)
Modern English
eat

Meaning

  1. to eat

    Ne lyst mē nāwiht ðāra metta þe ic forhātan habbe, ac mē lyst ðāra þe ic getiohhod habbe tō ætanne, ðonne ic hī gesēo.

    I desire none of those meats which I have renounced; I desire those which I have thought right to eat, when I see them.

    late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Saint Augustine's Soliloquies

Conjugation

Conjugation of etan
PresentPast
Indicative
1st singular eteǣt
2nd singular itstǣte
3rd singular ittitǣt
Plural etaþǣton
Subjunctive
Singular eteǣte
Plural etenǣten
Non-finite forms of etan
Form
Infinitive etan
Inflected infinitive etenne
Imperative singular et
Imperative plural etaþ
Present participle etende
Past participle etenġeeten

All forms (15)

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *etan, from Proto-Germanic *etaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed-.

Descendants

eat

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