medume

Posted on June 10, 2022 by Hana Videen

medume, adj: middling, moderate, common; occupying the middle or mean position. (MEH-duh-muh / ˈmɛ-dʌ-mə)

bēor

Posted on June 9, 2022 by Hana Videen

bēor, m.n: alcoholic drink brewed from various fruits and honey. (BAY-or / ˈbeːɔr)

Medieval manuscript illustration of a man sitting with legs crossed, pouring the contents of a jug into a drinking horn that he holds in his left hand; he is looking away from what he is doing. — Metrical calendar; SE England, first half of 11th century; British Library, Cotton MS Julius A VI, f. 4v. [bl.uk]

hām-cūþ

Posted on June 8, 2022 by Hana Videen

hām-cūþ, adj: familiar, literally ‘home-known’. (HAHM-KOOTH / ˈhaːm-ˌkuːθ)

This week’s Wordhord Wednesday post is on palaces. Read it on Patreon.

palent

Posted on June 7, 2022 by Hana Videen

palent, m/f.n: a palace. (PA-lent / ˈpa-lɛnt)

Medieval manuscript illustration of three tall, colourful turrets with crenellations and flags; below there is a sailboat on water filled with aquatic life, and also a group of bearded men conversing. — Breviculum of Thomas Le Myésier on Ramon Llull; France (Arras), early 14th century; Karlsruhe, Badische Landesbibliothek, St. Peter perg. 92, f. 9v. [digital.blb-karlsruhe.de]

wīc-sele

Posted on June 6, 2022 by Hana Videen

wīc-sele, m.n: a hall of a settlement. (WEECH-SEH-luh / ˈwiːtʃ-ˌsɛ-lə)

Learn more about this previously unidentified word from Old English Poetry in Facsimile / Digital Mappa. (It’s not every day a ‘new’ old word is added to the dictionary!)

Read the Twitter thread on wīc-sele here.

scūr-boga

Posted on June 5, 2022 by Hana Videen

scūr-boga, m.n: rainbow. (SHOOR-BO-gha / ˈʃuːr-ˌbɔ-xa)

Medieval manuscript illustration in the midst of Old English and Latin writing showing an arc of red, blue, purple and red, below which is a group of people, a man on his knees labelled Noe and a haloed man gesturing with two fingers outstretched. — Old English Hexateuch; England (Canterbury), 11th-12th century; British Library, Cotton MS Claudius B IV, f. 16v. [bl.uk]

hwī

Posted on June 4, 2022 by Hana Videen

hwī, adv/conjunction: why. (HWEE / ˈhwiː)

swyðost

Posted on June 3, 2022 by Hana Videen

swyðost, adj: greatest, strongest. (SWUE-thost / ˈswy-θɔst)

sēremōnaþ

Posted on June 2, 2022 by Hana Videen

sēremōnaþ, m.n: June. (SAY-reh-MO-nath / ˈseː-rɛ-ˌmoː-naθ)

Crop of a medieval manuscript with writing in Latin in black, red and green ink, with decorative initials in gold; in the top right corner are two people standing inside a double ring, representative of Gemini. — Calendar made in southern England in the first half of the 11th century; British Library, Cotton MS Julius A VI, f. 5v. [bl.uk]

midsumer-mōnaþ

Posted on June 1, 2022 by Hana Videen

midsumer-mōnaþ, m.n: June (‘midsummer-month’). (MID-sum-er-MO-nath / ˈmɪd-sʌ-mɛr-ˌmoː-naθ)

This week’s Wordhord Wednesday post is on mind-sorrow. Read it on Patreon.