eldertongue

Old English · noun

wæterscipe

Normalised wætersċipe

Part of speech
noun, masculine
Declension
strong ja-stem

Meaning

  1. body of water

    On ðām forman dæġe ūre drihten ġesċeōp seofonfealde weorc, ðæt wǣron ealle englas, and ðǣs lēohtes anġin, and ðæt antimber ðe hē of ġesċeōp syððan ġesċeafta, ðā upplīċan heofenan and ðā nyðerlīċan eorðan, ealle wætersċypas, and ðā wīdgillan sǣ, and ðæt uppliċe lyft, eall on anū dæġe.

    On the first day our Lord created seven works, which were: all of the angels; the beginning of light; the substance from which he later made all the creatures; the high heavens; the low earth; all the bodies of water; the wide ocean; and the lofty sky, all in a single day.

    c. 1000, Ælfric of Eynsham, transl., Hexameron of St. Basil:

Declension

Declension of wæterscipe
SingularPlural
Nominative wætersċipewætersċipas
Accusative wætersċipewætersċipas
Genitive wætersċipeswætersċipa
Dative wætersċipewætersċipum

All forms (5)

Etymology

wæter (“water”) + -sċipe (“-ship”). Compare Old Saxon watriscapum (“watercourse, watersource”) and Middle Dutch waterschap (“watercourse, waterway”)

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