mensk
See also: Mensk
Middle English
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Old Norse mennskr (“human”), from Proto-Germanic *manniskaz (“human”). Cognate with Old English mennisc (“human”); more at mennish.
Alternative forms
- menseke, menske
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈmɛnsk(ə)/
Adjective
mensk
- (rare) honorable, praiseworthy; beautiful
- c. 1335-1361, William of Palerne (MS. King's College 13), folio 62, recto, lines 3900-3901; republished as W. W. Skeat, editor, The Romance of William of Palerne, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1867, OCLC 150454844, page 126:
- ⁊ more menſk it is · manliche to deie / þan for to fle couwarli for ouȝt þat mai falle
- And it's more noble to die bravely / than to run like a coward from anything that could happen.
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Descendants
- English: mense (dialectal)
- Scots: mense
References
- “mensk(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Noun
mensk
- Alternative form of menske
Verb
mensk
- Alternative form of mensken
- c. 1385, William Langland, Piers Plowman, III:
- Ȝit I may as I myȝte · menske þe with ȝiftes / And mayntene þi manhode · more þan þow knoweste.
- It sall ger hir be ful fain / To mensk oure goddes with al hir main. — Northern Homily Cycle, 1425
- c. 1385, William Langland, Piers Plowman, III: