rædan

Old English[edit]

From a merger of two verbs, which came to be pronounced the same in the present tense and the infinitive due to regular sound change:

The past-tense form reordon preserves the zero-grade reduplicated plural stem *re-rd-un.

rǣdan

to read
- c. 992, Ælfric, "Midlent Sunday"
  On ōðre wīsan wē sċēawiaþ mētinge and on ōðre wīsan stafas. Ne gǣþ nā māre tō mētinge būtan þæt þū hit ġesēo and herie. Nis nā ġenōg þæt þū stafas sċēawiġe būtan þū hīe ēac rǣde and þæt andġiet understande.
  We look at pictures in one way and letters in another. You don't do anything with a painting except see it and praise it. Looking at letters is not enough unless you also read them and understand the meaning.
to advise
to guess
to interpret, explain
swefn rǣdan ― to interpret a dream
to decide

Originally class 7 strong. Changed in later Old English to class 1 weak.

Conjugation of rǣdan (strong class 7)