onginnan

Finnish

Noun

onginnan

1. genitive singular of onginta

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *andaginnaną, equivalent to on- +‎ *ginnan, found only with prefixes, from Proto-West Germanic simplex verb *ginnan, from Proto-Germanic *ginnaną (“to make an opening, begin”). Cognate with Old Saxon andginnan, Dutch ontginnen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /onˈjin.nɑn/

Verb

onġinnan

1. to begin, start
   • "The Wife's Lament"

     Ongunnon þæt þæs mannes māgas hyċġan þurh dierne ġeþōht þæt hīe tōdǣlden unc.

     The person's relatives began to think of a secret plan to separate us.

   • late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans

     Ne wēne iċ, cwæð Orosius, nū iċ lang spell hæbbe tō seċġenne, þæt iċ hīe on þisse bēċ ġeendian mæġe, ac iċ ōðre onġinnan sċeal.

     I don't think, said Orosius, since I have long stories to tell, I can finish them in this book, so I'll have to start another one.

2. to attempt, try

Conjugation

Conjugation of onġinnan (strong class 3)

infinitive	onġinnan	onġinnenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	onġinne	ongann
second person singular	onġinst	ongunne
third person singular	onġinþ	ongann
plural	onġinnaþ	ongunnon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	onġinne	ongunne
plural	onġinnen	ongunnen
imperative
singular	onġinn
plural	onġinnaþ
participle	present	past
	onġinnende	ongunnen

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “on-ginnan”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.