hwearfian

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *hwarbōn, from Proto-Germanic *hwarbōną (“to wander around”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxwæ͜ɑr.fi.ɑn/, [ˈʍæ͜ɑrˠ.vi.ɑn]

Verb

hwearfian

1. to turn on something (such as fate or a hinge), to revolve, to roll about
   • 1921, Joseph Bosworth & Thomas Northcote Toller, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, German Lexicon Project

     Ǣlc gesceaft hwearfaþ on hire selfre swā swā hwēol and tō ðam hēo swā hwearfaþ ðæt hēo eft cume ðǣr hēo ǣr wæs

     Every creature turns on itself as a wheel, and it so turns to the end that it may come again where it was before:

     (Bt. 25; Fox 88, 32: Bt. Met. Fox 13, 150; Met. 13, 75.)

2. to wander, to move
   • 1921, Joseph Bosworth & Thomas Northcote Toller, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, German Lexicon Project

     Fōran hwearfigende geond ðæt wēsten.

     They went wandering through the desert.

     (Ors. 6, 31; Swt. 286, 19.)

   • 1921, Joseph Bosworth & Thomas Northcote Toller, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, German Lexicon Project

     Hē biþ fremede frēan ælmihtigum englum ungelīc āna hwearfaþ.

     He shall be a stranger to the almighty Lord, unlike angels, alone shall he wander.

     (Salm. Kmbl. 70; Sal. 35.)

3. to change
   • 1921, Joseph Bosworth & Thomas Northcote Toller, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, German Lexicon Project

     Ðū wāst hū ða woruldsǣlþa hwearfiaþ ... hwī ne hwearfost ðū mid him

     Thou knowest how worldly blessings change ... why dost thou not change with them?

     (Bt. 7, 2; Fox 18, 6.)

4. to wave
   • 1921, Joseph Bosworth & Thomas Northcote Toller, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, German Lexicon Project

     Fana hwearfode on sceafte

     The banner waved on its staff,

     (Bt. Met. Fox 1, 20; Met. 1, 10.)

Conjugation

Conjugation of hwearfian (weak class 2)

infinitive	hwearfian	hwearfienne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	hwearfiġe	hwearfode
second person singular	hwearfast	hwearfodest
third person singular	hwearfaþ	hwearfode
plural	hwearfiaþ	hwearfodon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	hwearfiġe	hwearfode
plural	hwearfiġen	hwearfoden
imperative
singular	hwearfa
plural	hwearfiaþ
participle	present	past
	hwearfiende	(ġe)hwearfod

Related terms

• hwearf
• hwearftlian
• hweorfan
• hwierfan

Descendants

• Middle English: wharven
  • English: wharve
  • Scots: wharve

References

• John R. Clark Hall (1916) “hwearfian”, in A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], 2nd edition, New York: Macmillan
• Old English to Modern English Translator