chesen

Middle English

Alternative forms

• chees, cheese, cheesen, chese, chesyn, cheose, cheys, chiese, chiesen, chyese, chose, chuse
• (early) cesen, cheosen

Etymology

From Old English ċēosan, from Proto-West Germanic *keusan, from Proto-Germanic *keusaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵews-.

The variant with /eː/ shows the regular development of the Old English diphthong. The variant with /oː/ (the source of the modern form) is from an unattested Old English variant in which the stress was shifted to the second element of the diphthong. Compare with a similar development in shoten, which has /eː/ and /oː/ after a palatal consonant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃeːzən/, /ˈt͡ʃoːzən/

Verb

chesen

1. To choose; to select:
   1. To elect; to choose for an office.
   2. To choose to do.
2. To prefer; to desire.
3. To pick up; to acquire:
   1. To adopt (an orphan)
   2. To pick out; to distinguish.
4. To travel; to go.

Usage notes

• Weak forms of this verb are sometimes found in northern Middle English (compare Early Modern choosed).

Conjugation

Conjugation of chesen (strong class 2)

infinitive	(to) chesen, chese
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	chese	chees, chas
2nd-person singular	chesest	chose, chees, chas
3rd-person singular	cheseth	chees, chas
subjunctive singular	chese	chose1
imperative singular		—
plural2	chesen, chese	chosen, chose
imperative plural	cheseth, chese	—
participles	chesynge, chesende	(y)chosen, (y)chose, (y)coren, (y)core, (y)corn

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

Descendants

• English: choose
• Scots: chuise, cheese

References

• “chẹ̄sen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-05.