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Vocabulary | Glossaries

50+ Old English Words and Their

Modern Meanings
By Jennifer Gunner, M.Ed. Education, Senior Writer

UPDATED JANUARY 4, 2021

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During the Old English period (approximately A.D. 500 to A.D. 1066), Old English
literature introduced many classic words to the English language. These words may
not be in popular use today, but they have strongly influenced the way we speak in the
21st century. Check out dozens of Old English words and their modern definitions that
you can try out in your everyday conversation.

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Words from Old English vocabulary are mainly found in literature and poetry prior to
the Norman invasion of 1066. After this period, Middle English became the main
representation of the English language before transitioning to the modern English we
know today.

Important nouns from Old English literature include:

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 andsaca - enemy

beadurinc - warrior

bearn - child (son)

beorn - man

bill - sword

brim - ocean

casere - emperor

cyning - king

deofol - devil

ealdor - life (elder)

fæder - father

folde - earth, soil

ides - woman

lufu - love

lyft - sky, wind

man - crime

neorxnawang - paradise

preost - priest

sawol - soul

sped - quickness

sweostor - sister

wif - wife

woruld - world

You may notice that many of these words sound similar to their modern meanings,
such as "preost" for "priest" and "woruld" for "world." It goes to show you that even
1000 years later, many elements of a language stay the same!

Old English Adjectives and Adverbs List

How did Old English speakers describe the world around them? These Old English
adjectives and adverbs helped scribes to tell vivid, descriptive tales of dragons and
heroes.

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anfeald - simple (onefold)

arleas - dishonorable
 ariht - right, properly

atelic - horrible, awful

baldlice - bravely, boldly

beorht - bright

bysig - busy

ceald - cold

dyre - dear, lovely

eald - old

fæger - beautiful, fair

neah - near

nu - now

oft - often

rice - powerful

sarig - sad, sorrowful

til - good

wlanc - proud

Notice how words like "right" and "bright," which seem oddly spelled in modern
English, are spelled in Old English: "ariht" and "beorht." The -ht ending that seems so
confusing to us today fit right into the Old English language.

Old English Verbs List

Old English literature is famously dramatic, mainly due to the incredible actions of its
characters. Take a look at these verbs in the infinitive form that depict what
characters (and regular people) did in the Old English period.

acennan - to give birth

acwellan - to kill

amyrran - to harm or injure

 clipian - to call

dreogan - to suffer

forhtian - to fear

gnornian - to grieve or mourn

offrian - to offer

onginnan - to begin

sellan - to sell

swincan - to struggle

willan - to want

witan - to know

writan - to write

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Old English Literature: Beowulf

A literary canon of the Old English period is the epic poem Beowulf, which was written
between 975 and 1025. The poem is nearly incomprehensible by modern English
standards but has been closely translated by Old English scholars.

The first 11 lines of the original Old English version read as follows:

"Hwæt. We Gardena in geardagum,

þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.
 Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum,
monegum mægþum, meodosetla ofteah,
egsode eorlas. Syððan ærest wearð
feasceaft funden, he þæs frofre gebad,
weox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þah,
oðþæt him æghwylc þara ymbsittendra
ofer hronrade hyran scolde,"

Beowulf has been translated over 600 times in the last millennium. It was first
translated into modern English in 1805, eventually becoming a version that reads this
way:

"Listen! We — of the Spear-Danes in the days of yore,

of those clan-kings — heard of their glory,
how those nobles performed courageous deeds,
Often Scyld, Scef's son, from enemy hosts
from many peoples seized mead-benches;
and terrorized the fearsome Heruli after first he was
found helpless and destitute, he then knew recompense for that:
he waxed under the clouds, throve in honours,
until to him each of the bordering tribes
beyond the whale-road had to submit,
and yield tribute: that was a good king!"

It's amazing to think that these two poems are saying the same thing, let alone that
they are versions of the same language. The English language has changed quite a bit
in the past 1000 years, but Beowulf is an example that a great story never gets old.

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Influence of Other Languages on Old English

Examination of Old English and modern English seems to indicate that many of the
words we use today find their roots in the vocabulary of Old English. Some estimates
claim that about half of the words used today have their roots in Old English. This
should not be that surprising since English has its roots in the Germanic languages.

Many of the Old English words also came from the influence of the Romans and
Greeks. These words were borrowed by the Germanic conquerors and incorporated
into Old English. For example, the following words were adapted from the Romans,
Greeks and from Latin:

apostle - came from apostol

chalk - came from cealc

wine - came from win

monk - came from munuc

While the spelling is different, the meanings all follow the original words and
correspond to the modern meanings.

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Making Up New Words

As the need arose for new words for things that the Germanic conquerors were
unfamiliar with, they would make up words rather than take Germanic words as
descriptors.

Two examples of this are the words for astronomy and arithmetic. The invaders made
up the words based on the root word "craeft" which meant an art or science.
 astronomy became star-craft or tungolcraeft

arithmetic became number craft or rimcraeft

Old English in a New World

Now you know some Old English words and their meanings, and have a better
understanding of the sources of our language. Even though these words only look
vaguely familiar, they are an important part of our linguistic history. Take a step
forward in time from Old English with these words from Middle English (A.D. 1100 to
A.D. 1500). Or if you're interested in etymology, take a look at a list of English words of
German origin.

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