eldertongue

Old English · verb

geswerian

Normalised ġeswerian

Part of speech
verb
Verb class
strong class VI
IPA
/jeˈswer.jɑn/
[jeˈswerˠ.jɑn]
Syllables
je · ˈswer · jɑn (3 syllables)
Modern English
swear

Meaning

  1. to swear an oath, promise

    On þām ġewinne, ⁊ on moneġum oþrum æfter þǣm, Hannibal ġecȳþde þone nīþ ⁊ þone hete þe hē beforan his fæder ġeswōr, þā hē nigonwintre cniht wæs, þæt hē næfre ne wurde Rōmana frēond.

    In that battle, and in many others after that, Hannibal proved the hatred and hostility that he swore before his father when he was a nine-year-old boy, that he would never become a friend of the Romans.

    late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans
  2. to confirm by oath

Conjugation

Conjugation of geswerian
PresentPast
Indicative
1st singular ġeswerieġeswōr
2nd singular ġeswerestġeswōre
3rd singular ġeswereþġeswōr
Plural ġesweriaþġeswōron
Subjunctive
Singular ġeswerieġeswōre
Plural ġeswerienġeswōren
Non-finite forms of geswerian
Form
Infinitive ġeswerian
Inflected infinitive ġeswerienne
Imperative singular ġeswere
Imperative plural ġesweriaþ
Present participle ġesweriende
Past participle ġesworen

All forms (14)

Etymology

From ġe- + swerian. Cognate with Old Saxon giswerian, Old High German giswerian.

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