toilen

Middle English

Alternative forms

• toylen, toile, tull, toille, tolyon, tolyn, tolyyn, tulyn

Etymology

Most likely from Anglo-Norman toilier, but possibly from Middle Dutch tuylen. Compare tilyen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtui̯lən/, /ˈtɔi̯lən/

Verb

toilen

2. To fight, war, attack; to participate in a conflict.
3. To enter into a legal case; to debate or promote a view.
4. To toil, exert oneself; to perform agricultural work.
5. To drag, draw; to forcibly move towards oneself.
6. (cooking) To combine the components of a meal.
7. (rare) To promote anguish or distraughtness; to taunt or bully.

Conjugation

Conjugation of toilen (weak in -ed)

infinitive	(to) toilen, toile
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	toile	toiled
2nd-person singular	toilest	toiledest
3rd-person singular	toileth	toiled
subjunctive singular	toile
imperative singular		—
plural1	toilen, toile	toileden, toilede
imperative plural	toileth, toile	—
participles	toilynge, toilende	toiled, ytoiled

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

Related terms

• toyle
• toiling
• toilous

Descendants

• English: toil
• Scots: toil, tulyie, tulȝe

References

• “toilen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-02.