eldertongue

Old English · verb

smeagan

Normalised smēaġan

Part of speech
verb
Verb class
weak class 2
IPA
/ˈsmæ͜ɑː.jɑn/
Syllables
ˈsmæ͜ɑː · jɑn (2 syllables)
Modern English
considermeditatescrutinizethink

Meaning

  1. consider, think about

    Smēaġað nu hú Drihten mancynne ætbræd wuldor, þæt hé him wuldor forgeafe.

    Consider now how the Lord took glory away from mankind, that he might give them glory.

    c. 992, Ælfric, "The Nativity of St. Andrew the Apostle"

  2. meditate

  3. examine, scrutinize, question

    And þa ferdon ða pharisei ⁊ ongunnon mid him smeagean ⁊ tacen of heofone sohton ⁊ his fandedon;

    And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. (KJV)

    Lindisfarne Gospels, Mark 8:11

Conjugation

Conjugation of smeagan
PresentPast
Indicative
1st singular smēaġesmēadesmēaġde
2nd singular smēastsmēaġestsmēaġstsmēadestsmēaġdest
3rd singular smēaþsmēaġeþsmēaġþsmēadesmēaġde
Plural smēaġaþsmēadonsmēaġdon
Subjunctive
Singular smēaġesmēadesmēaġde
Plural smēaġensmēadensmēaġden
Non-finite forms of smeagan
Form
Infinitive smēaġan
Inflected infinitive smēaġenne
Imperative singular smēasmēaġ
Imperative plural smēaġaþ
Present participle smēaġende
Past participle smēadġesmēad

All forms (24)

Etymology

From pre-Old English *smauhōjan, an extended form of *smauhōn. The verb was contracted after loss of intervocalic -h- (compare twēoġan, sċōġan). Equivalent to smēag (“penetrating, acute, subtle, effective, clever”) + -ian. Ultimately from the root of Proto-Germanic *smeuganą (“to creep, slip through”). Akin to Old English smūgan (“to creep, progress gradually or deliberately”), Old Norse smjúga (“to creep”) (> Danish smyge), Old English smyġel (“a burrow, place to creep into”).

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