hyrst

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xyrst/, [hyrˠst]

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *hursti (“thicket, eyrie, scrub, bush”).

Noun

hyrst f (nominative plural hurste or hursta)

1. hurst, hillock, eminence, height, wood, wooded eminence
   • Wermōd hēr on hyrstum heasewe standeþ.

     Wormwood here in the woods stands dusky.

Declension

Strong i-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	hyrst	hyrste, hyrsta
accusative	hyrst, hyrste	hyrste, hyrsta
genitive	hyrste	hyrsta
dative	hyrste	hyrstum

• Occasionally masculine:

Strong i-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	hyrst	hyrstas
accusative	hyrst	hyrstas
genitive	hyrstes	hyrsta
dative	hyrste	hyrstum

Descendants

• Middle English: hirste, hurst, hurste
  • English: hurst (mostly in placenames; obsolete hirst)
  • Scots: hirst, hist

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *hrusti (“armour, armament”).

Noun

hyrst f

1. (poetic) ornament, decoration, jewel; accoutrements, trappings, armor
   • Bēg and siglu eall swylce hyrsta swylce on horde ǣr men genumen hæfdon.

     Rings and jewels, all such ornaments as before men had taken in the hoard.

     (Beowulf: Th. 6309; B. 3165)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• ġehyrstan (“to adorn, decorate; to fry, roast”)
• ġehyrst (“ornament”)
• heofonhyrst (“ornament of the heavens”)
• hyrstan (“to decorate, adorn, ornament, equip”)
• īsenhyrst (“with iron fittings”)
• trindhyrst (“circular copse”)
• wīġhyrst (“war-gear, accoutrements”)