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
-
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. -
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" -
to sell
Conjugation
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