esne

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old English esne, from Proto-West Germanic *asnī, from Proto-Germanic *asnijaz (“day labourer, hireling”), from Proto-Germanic *asniz, *asunz (“reward”), from Proto-Indo-European *os(e)n-, *es(e)n- (“summer, harvest, harvest-time”). Related to Old English earnian (“to labor for, strive after, deserve as the reward of labor, merit, earn, win”). More at earn.

Noun

esne (plural esnes)

1. (Anglo-Saxon, historical) A hireling of servile status; slave.
   • 1818, Samuel Heywood, A dissertation upon the distinctions in society:

     To an esne, therefore, I refer the entry in Doomsday-book, that at Chester, if a male or female slave shall do any […]

   • 1875, William Stubbs, The constitutional history of England, in its origin and development:

     […] of British extraction captured or purchased, — or of the common German stock descended from the slaves of the first colonists: the esne or slave who works for hire; […]

   • 2011, David Anthony Edgell Pelteret, Slavery in Early Mediaeval England:

     […] insist that in the event of the death of an esne his full value had to be paid.

See also

• theow

Anagrams

• seen, sene, Sene, snee, eens, Nees

Basque

Etymology

From Proto-Basque *ezene.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /es̺ne/, [e̞z̺.ne̞]

Noun

esne inan

1. milk

Declension

Declension of esne (inanimate, ending in vowel)

	indefinite	singular	plural
absolutive	esne	esnea	esneak
ergative	esnek	esneak	esneek
dative	esneri	esneari	esneei
genitive	esneren	esnearen	esneen
comitative	esnerekin	esnearekin	esneekin
causative	esnerengatik	esnearengatik	esneengatik
benefactive	esnerentzat	esnearentzat	esneentzat
instrumental	esnez	esneaz	esneez
inessive	esnetan	esnean	esneetan
locative	esnetako	esneko	esneetako
allative	esnetara	esnera	esneetara
terminative	esnetaraino	esneraino	esneetaraino
directive	esnetarantz	esnerantz	esneetarantz
destinative	esnetarako	esnerako	esneetarako
ablative	esnetatik	esnetik	esneetatik
partitive	esnerik	—	—
prolative	esnetzat	—	—

Further reading

• “esne”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “esne”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Hungarian

Etymology

esik +‎ -ne (personal suffix)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛʃnɛ]
• Hyphenation: es‧ne

Verb

esne

1. third-person singular conditional present indefinite of esik

Latin

Etymology

From es (“are”), 2nd person singular of sum (“to be”) +‎ -ne (“focusing enclitic particle of polar questions”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈes.ne/, [ˈɛs̠nɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈes.ne/, [ˈɛzne]

Verb

esne

1. second-person singular present active indicative of sumne (“are you [or are you not]?”)

Usage notes

Used to ask yes-no, polar questions related to existence or being, e.g. Esne senātor? (Are you a senator?)

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *asnī, from Proto-Germanic *asunz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈes.ne/, [ˈez.ne]

Noun

esne m

1. a man of the servile class; a servant.

Declension

Strong ja-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	esne	esnas
accusative	esne	esnas
genitive	esnes	esna
dative	esne	esnum

Descendants

• Middle English: esne
• → English: esne