eldertongue

Old English · verb

sellan

Part of speech
verb
Verb class
weak class 1
IPA
/ˈsel.lɑn/
[ˈseɫ.ɫɑn]
Syllables
ˈsel · lɑn (2 syllables)
Modern English
sellgive upgivebetray

Meaning

  1. to give

    Rǣd bið ġif hē nimð mealan mid hire cīþum, sēoþe on wætere, sele drincan.

    It is advisable if he taketh mallow with its sprouts; let him seethe them in water, give this to be drunk

    Leech Book, Leech Book, Volume II, xxxiii.
  2. to give up for money; betray

    Eall swa þa unriht-wisan deman þe heora domas awendað, æfre be þam sceattum na be soðfæstnysse and habbað æfre to cepe heora soðfæstnysse, and swa hi sylfe syllað wið sceattum...

    So likewise those unrighteous judges who pervert their judgments, always for gain, and not for justice, and always offer their justice for sale, and thus sell themselves for the sake of money,...

    late 10th century, Ælfric, "Passion of St.Alban, Martyr"
  3. to sell

Conjugation

Conjugation of sellan
PresentPast
Indicative
1st singular sellesealde
2nd singular selestsealdest
3rd singular seleþsealde
Plural sellaþsealdon
Subjunctive
Singular sellesealde
Plural sellensealden
Non-finite forms of sellan
Form
Infinitive sellan
Inflected infinitive sellenne
Imperative singular sele
Imperative plural sellaþ
Present participle sellende
Past participle sealdġeseald

All forms (15)

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *salljan, from Proto-Germanic *saljaną. Cognate with Old Frisian sella, Old Saxon sellian, Old High German sellen, Old Norse selja, Gothic (saljan).

Descendants

sell

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