leoþ

Old English

Alternative forms

• leoð

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *leuþ, from Proto-Germanic *leuþą, from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁w-. Cognate with Old High German liod (German Lied), Old Saxon lioð (Dutch lied), Old Norse ljóð (“verse, song”), Latin laus (“praise”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /le͜oːθ/

Noun

lēoþ n

1. poem
   • late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy

     Iċ onġiete þæt iċ þē hæbbe āþrotenne mid þȳ langan spelle, for þon þē lyst nū lēoða.

     I see I've bored you with that long argument, since you want poems now.

2. song

Declension

Declension of lēoþ (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	lēoþ	lēoþ
accusative	lēoþ	lēoþ
genitive	lēoþes	lēoþa
dative	lēoþe	lēoþum

Derived terms

• lēoþcræft (“poetry”)
• lēoþcwide
• lēoþere (“poet”)
• lēoþġidding
• lēoþlīċ (“poetic”)
• lēoþsang (“poetic song”)
• lēoþword
• lēoþwyrhta (“poet”)
• fūslēoþ (“death-song, dirge”)

Descendants

• Middle English: leoþ, leod, led, lede
  • Scots: leed, lede
  • English: leed (dialectal); lidden (?)

See also

• fitt
• ġiedd
• meterwyrhta
• sċop (“poet”)
• wōþbora