bispell

Old English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From bī- (“by”) +‎ spell (“story, news”). More at bī-, spell. Compare Old Armenian առասպել (aṙaspel).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbiːˌspell/, [ˈbiːˌspeɫ]

Noun

bīspell n

  1. example, pattern; proverb
    • Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church
      Fēower hund and ðūsend cræta hē hæfde, and twelf ðūsend riddena; þrēo ðūsend biġspella hē ġesette, and fīf ðūsend lēoða; and asmēade bē ǣlċum trēowcynne, fram ðām hēagan ċederbēame, oðpæt hē cōm tō ðǣre lȳtlan ysopan. Ēac swylċe bē nȳtenum, and fixum, and fugelum hē smēade, and of eallum lēodum cōmon menn tō ġehȳrenne Salomones wīsdōm.
      He had one thousand, four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; he composed three thousand proverbs, and five thousand songs; and he contemplated on every kind of tree, from the tall cedar, to the little hyssop. Likewise, he contemplated animals, and fish, and birds, and people came from every tribe in order to hear Solomon's wisdom.
  2. parable, story, fable, allegory

Declension

Strong a-stem:

singular plural
nominative bīspell bīspell
accusative bīspell bīspell
genitive bīspelles bīspella
dative bīspelle bīspellum

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Middle English: bispel
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.