sceatt

English

Noun

sceatt (plural sceatts)

1. Alternative form of sceat
   • 1872, E. William Robertson, Historical Essays in Connexion with the Land, the Church &c, page 133:

     The penny-gavel in Kent was once exacted in half-sceatts, as has been already pointed out, giving to the acre in Kent a value of five deniers.

   • 1902, Frederic Seebohm, Tribal Custom in Anglo-Saxon Law:

     For if, according to the view of Schmid and others, the sceatt were to be taken as a farthing or quarter of a sceatt, the correspondence of Kentish with Continental wergelds and payments pro fredo would be altogether destroyed.

Old English

Alternative forms

• sċeat, sċætt

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *skatt (“cattle, treasure”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃæ͜ɑtt/, [ʃæ͜ɑt]

Noun

sċeatt m

1. treasure, money, wealth
   • late 10th century, Ælfric, Lives of Saints

     Ne sċeall nān godes þeġn for sċeattum riht dēman, ac healdan þone dōm ġif godes man sȳ...

     Nor shall one of God's servants decide a law for wealth, but maintain the judgement if he is a man of God...

2. a coin or unit of money

   Synonym: mynet

   • Laws of King Æthelberht

     Ġif feaxfang ġeweorþ, L sċeatta tō bōte.

     If hair-seizing should occur, the recompense shall be fifty sceattas.

Inflection

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	sċeatt	sċeattas
accusative	sċeatt	sċeattas
genitive	sċeattes	sċeatta
dative	sċeatte	sċeattum

Derived terms

• ċiriċsċeatt
• sāwolsċeatt

Descendants

• Middle English: schat, sat, schet, scet
  • → Medieval Latin: scata, sceatta
• → English: sceat