geweald

Old English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *gawald; equivalent to ġe- +‎ weald, derived from wealdan (“to control”). Cognate with Old High German giwalt (whence modern German Gewalt).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /jeˈwæ͜ɑld/, [jeˈwæ͜ɑɫd]

Noun

ġeweald n

  1. control
    • The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
      An. DCCCXXXIII Hēr ġefeaht Eċġbriht cing wið XXXV sċiphlæsta æt Carrum ⁊ þǣr wearð myċel wæl ġesleġen, ⁊ þā Denisċan ahton wælstōwe ġeweald. ⁊ Hereferð ⁊ Wiġþeġn, tweġen bisċeopas, forðferdan, ⁊ Duda ⁊ Ōsmōd, tweġen ealdormenn, forðferdon.
      Year 833 In this year King Edgebright fought against thirty-five shiploads of men at Charmouth, and many were slain, and the Danes took control of the battlefield. And two bishops, Herefrith and Wigthegn, and two aldermen, Duda and Osmod, died.
  2. power
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, "Memory of the Saints"
      Se feorða leahtor is ira þæt is on englisc weamodnyss. Seo deð þæt se man nah his modes ġeweald and macað manslihtas and mycele yfelu.
      The fourth sin is Ira, that is in English, Anger; it causeth that a man have no power over his mind, and bringeth about manslaughters and many evils.

Declension

Strong a-stem:

singular plural
nominative ġeweald ġeweald
accusative ġeweald ġeweald
genitive ġewealdes ġewealda
dative ġewealde ġewealdum

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Middle English: geweald, ȝeweald, iwald, iweld
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