meinful
Middle English
FWOTD – 13 November 2019
Alternative forms
- maynful, mainful, manfull, meinfule
Etymology
From mayn + -ful.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈmɛi̯nful/
Adjective
meinful
- Potent, effective, tough; having much power.
- c. 1200, Þe Liflade ant te Passiun of Seinte Margarete:
- Ah leve ȝe, Ich reade oƿ, o þe liviende Godd, mihti ant meinful ant euch godes ful, þe hereð þeo þe Him cleopieð to, ant heovene-ȝetes openeð!
- But believe, you, I advise you, in the living God, mighty and powerful and full of all good, who hears all who call to him, and the gates of heaven will open!
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- (rare) Shining, light; having much brightness.
- c. 1375, the "Pearl Poet", Perle, lines 1093-1094:
- Ryȝt as þe maynful mone con rys / Er þenne þe day-glem dryue al doun
- Right as the shining moon is rising / Just as the day's gleam drives all down
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Descendants
- English: mainful
References
- “mainful, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-08-11.