mistilteinn

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse mistilteinn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɪstɪlˌtʰeitn/

  Rhymes: -eitn

Noun

mistilteinn m (genitive singular mistilteins, nominative plural mistilteinar)

1. (usually collective, sometimes countable) mistletoe

Declension

Declension of mistilteinn (masculine)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	mistilteinn	mistilteinninn	mistilteinar	mistilteinarnir
accusative	mistiltein	mistilteininn	mistilteina	mistilteinana
dative	mistilteini	mistilteininum	mistilteinum	mistilteinunum
genitive	mistilteins	mistilteinsins	mistilteina	mistilteinanna

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *mistilaz having this meaning and teinn (“twig”).

Noun

mistilteinn m

1. mistletoe

Declension

Declension of mistilteinn (strong a-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	mistilteinn	mistilteinninn	mistilteinar	mistilteinarnir
accusative	mistiltein	mistilteininn	mistilteina	mistilteinana
dative	mistilteini	mistilteininum	mistilteinum	mistilteinunum
genitive	mistilteins	mistilteinsins	mistilteina	mistilteinanna

Descendants

• Danish: mistelten
• Icelandic: mistilteinn
• Faroese: mistilteinur
• Norwegian Bokmål: misteltein
• Norwegian Nynorsk: misteltein
• Swedish: mistel
• →? Old English: misteltān (calque)
  • Middle English: mistelto, mistilte, mistilto, mysleto, mystyldene
    • English: mistletoe

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “mistilteinn”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive