hysecild

Old English

Etymology

hyse +‎ ċild

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxy.seˌt͡ʃild/, [ˈhy.zeˌt͡ʃiɫd]

Noun

hyseċild n

1. male child
   • c. 992, Ælfric, "The Nativity of the Innocents"

     Sende ða his cwelleras, and ofsloh ealle ða hysecild, þe wǽron on þære byrig Bethleem, and on eallum hyre gemærum, fram twywintrum cilde to anre nihte, be ðære tide þe hé geaxode æt ðam tungel-witegum.

     He then sent his executioners, and slew all the male children that were in the city of Bethlehem, and in all its boundaries, from the child of two years to that of one day, according to the time which he had inquired of the astrologers.

Usage notes

• Though hyse is poetic, hyseċild is a frequent prose word, often occurring alongside mæġdenċild (“female child”). This makes it one of a small class of prose compounds that have a poetic word as a component. Other examples include brȳdguma (“bridegroom”), gūþfana (“war banner”), mǣċefisċ (“mullet”), mæġeþhād (“virginity”), nafugār (“auger”), neorxnawang (“paradise”), randbēag (“boss of a shield”), tōþgār (“toothpick”), and wynsum (“pleasant”). Also the obscured compound ēored (“cavalry”) ← earlier *eohrād. One interpretation of these compounds is that they were already very old, reaching back to a time when both components were commonplace in ordinary speech.

Declension

inherited declension

Strong z-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	hyseċild	hyseċildru
accusative	hyseċild	hyseċildru
genitive	hyseċildes	hyseċildra
dative	hyseċilde	hyseċildrum

a-stem declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	hyseċild	hyseċild
accusative	hyseċild	hyseċild
genitive	hyseċildes	hyseċilda
dative	hyseċilde	hyseċildum

Antonyms

• mæġdenċild