scanden

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Late Latin scandō (“to scan verse”), from classical Latin scandō (“to surmount”), from Proto-Indo-European *skend-.

Forms without /d/ are presumably from the reinterpretation of -de as the suffix forming the past tense.

Alternative forms

• scande, scanne

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈskan(d)ən/

Verb

scanden (third-person singular simple present scandeth, present participle scandende, scandynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle scanded)

1. (rare) To scan verse; to mark verse according to its metrical structure.

Conjugation

Conjugation of scanden (weak in -ed/-de)

infinitive	(to) scanden, scande
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	scande	scanded, scande
2nd-person singular	scandest	scandedest, scandest
3rd-person singular	scandeth	scanded, scande
subjunctive singular	scande
imperative singular		—
plural1	scanden, scande	scandeden, scandede, scanden, scande
imperative plural	scandeth, scande	—
participles	scandynge, scandende	scanded, scand, yscanded, yscand

¹ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: scan
• Middle Scots: scand
  • Scots: scan (possibly reborrowed from English)

References

• “scannen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Verb

scanden

1. (Early Middle English) Alternative form of schonden