gniden

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old English gnīdan (to rub, grind together, crumble), from Proto-West Germanic *gnīdan, from Proto-Germanic *gnīdaną (to rub, crush), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰneydʰ-, *gʰneyd- (to gnaw, chew, scratch, rub); compare gnodden.

Cognate with Danish gnide (to rub), Swedish gnida (to rub, scrape), Icelandic gníða (to rub).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɡniːdən/

Verb

gniden (third-person singular simple present gnideth, present participle gnidynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative *gnod, past participle gniden) (rare)

  1. To grind by rubbing together.
  2. To rub; to smear.
  3. To crush; to crumble.

Conjugation

Conjugation of gniden (strong class 1)
infinitive (to) gniden, gnide
present tense past tense
1st-person singular gnide *gnod
2nd-person singular gnidest *gnode, gnide, *gnod
3rd-person singular gnideth *gnod
subjunctive singular gnide *gnode1, gnide1
imperative singular
plural2 gniden, gnide *gnoden, *gnode, gniden, gnide
imperative plural gnideth, gnide
participles gnidynge, gnidende gniden, gnide, ygniden, ygnide

1 Replaced by the indicative in later Middle English.
2 Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Synonyms

References

Swedish

Adjective

gniden (comparative mer gniden, superlative mest gniden)

  1. stingy, cheap
    Synonyms: gnidig, snål

Declension

Inflection of gniden
Indefinite positive comparative superlative1
common singular gniden gnidnare gnidnast
neuter singular gnidet gnidnare gnidnast
plural gnidna gnidnare gnidnast
masculine plural2 gnidne gnidnare gnidnast
Definite positive comparative superlative
masculine singular3 gnidne gnidnare gnidnaste
all gnidna gnidnare gnidnaste

1 The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
2 Dated or archaic.
3 Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

References