scipgebroc

Old English

Etymology

From sċip (“ship”) +‎ ġebroc (“breaking”). Compare Dutch schipbreuk, German Schiffbruch, and Icelandic skipbrot, which have the same literal meaning but with a different word for "breaking."

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈʃip.jeˌbrok/

Noun

sċipġebroc n

shipwreck

Usage notes

Sċipġebroc was the normal word for "shipwreck" in Early West Saxon, being attested in King Alfred's Pastoral Care and the Old English Orosius. The paucity of surviving Old English writings makes it uncertain exactly how it and related words were used; however, it is possible to make educated guesses:

"To shipwreck" (of a person) was apparently sċipġebroc (ġe)þrōwian, literally "to suffer a shipwreck." This parallels the phrase used in Dutch (schipbreuk leeden), German (Schiffbruch erleiden), and Icelandic (bíða skipbrot), which all have the same literal meaning. It is only attested once, in Werferth's translation of the Dialogues of Gregory the Great: Petrus sē apostol ēode mid drȳġum fōtum ofer þone sǣ, and Paulus ġeþrōwode sċipġebroc ("Peter the Apostle walked across the sea with dry feet, and Paul shipwrecked").
No phrase meaning "to shipwreck" is attested of a boat, so it is uncertain if sċipġebroc (ġe)þrōwian was used of boats as well. Probably boats were said to "break," since this is suggested by the noun, and the same idiom appears early in Middle English with the verbs breken and tobreken (Old English (ġe)brecan and tōbrecan).
Middle English also has the adjective shipbroken, meaning "shipwrecked." Its expected ancestor *sċipbrocen could very well have existed in Old English, but this is again uncertain.
Note that the anonymous translator of the Old English Apollonius of Tyre, whose native dialect must have been late and non-West Saxon, used a completely different set of words for these concepts: forlīþan (“to shipwreck”), forliden (“shipwrecked”), forlidennes (“a shipwreck”).

Declension

Declension of scipgebroc (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	sċipġebroc	sċipġebrocu
accusative	sċipġebroc	sċipġebrocu
genitive	sċipġebroces	sċipġebroca
dative	sċipġebroce	sċipġebrocum