sceaft
Middle English
Noun
sceaft
- (Early Middle English) Alternative form of schaft (“creation”)
Old English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʃæ͜ɑft/
Etymology 1
From Proto-West Germanic *skaft, from Proto-Germanic *skaftaz, from Proto-Indo-European *skeh₂p- (“rod, shaft, staff, club”), potentially from a root *(s)ke(H)p- (“to strike, beat”). Cognate with Old Norse skapt.
Noun
sċeaft m
- shaft (of an arrow or spear), pole
Declension
Declension of sceaft (strong a-stem)
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | sċeaft | sċeaftas |
| accusative | sċeaft | sċeaftas |
| genitive | sċeaftes | sċeafta |
| dative | sċeafte | sċeaftum |
Derived terms
- wælsċeaft (“weapon-shaft”)
Descendants
- Middle English: schaft, scæft, scaft, shaft, sschaft, scheft, sheft, shafft, schafft, chafte, saft, shaffet, schafte, shafte
- English: shaft
- Scots: schaft, shaft
Etymology 2
From sċieppan; compare ġesċeaft.
Noun
sċeaft f (nominative plural sċeafta)
- creation, origin
- a creation, creature, something created
Declension
Declension of sceaft (strong i-stem)
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | sċeaft | sċeafte, sċeafta |
| accusative | sċeaft, sċeafte | sċeafte, sċeafta |
| genitive | sċeafte | sċeafta |
| dative | sċeafte | sċeaftum |
Descendants
- Middle English: schaft, schafte, shaft, shapte
References
- Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898), “sceaft”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898), “sceaft”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.