onlucan

Old English

Alternative forms

• unlūcan

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *andalūkan. Equivalent to on- +‎ lūcan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /onˈluː.kɑn/

Verb

onlūcan

1. to unlock
   • c. 995, Ælfric, Extracts on Grammar in English

     Stæfcræft is sēo cǣġ þe þāra bōca andġiet onlȳcþ.

     Grammar is the key that unlocks the meaning of books.

   • late 9th century, Old English Martyrology

     Sēo Cristes rōd on þǣre hē wæs āhangen is on þǣre byrġ Cōnstantīnopolī on ċirican on triewenre ċiste belocen, and þonne sēo ċist biþ onlocen, þonne cymþ þǣr upp wundorliċ stenċ, and sē biþ swā wynsum swā þǣr sīen ealle blōstman ġesamnode.

     The cross where Jesus was crucified is locked in a wooden chest in the city of Constantinople, and when the chest is opened, an incredible smell comes out, as if someone brought all the flowers in the world together in one place.

   • late 10th century, Ælfric's Lives of Saints

     Þā cōmon on sumne sǣl unġesǣliġe þēofas eahta on ānre nihte tō þām ārweorðan hālgan, woldon stelan þā māðmas þe menn þæder brōhton, and cunnodon mid cræfte hū hīe inn cuman meahten. Sum slōg mid sleċġe swīðe þā hæpsan, sum heora mid fēole fēolode onbūtan, sum ēac underdealf þā duru mid spade, sum heora mid hlǣdre wolde onlūcan þæt ēagþyrel—ac hīe swuncon on īdel.

     Then one night, eight unlucky thieves came to the saint's house to steal all the gifts that people had brought there, and carefully planned out how to break in. One of them hit the hasp hard with a sledgehammer, one messed around with a file, one dug under the door with a shovel, one climbed a ladder and tried to unlock a window—but they labored in vain.

Conjugation

Conjugation of onlūcan (strong class 2)

infinitive	onlūcan	onlūcenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	onlūce	onlēac
second person singular	onlȳcst	onluce
third person singular	onlȳcþ	onlēac
plural	onlūcaþ	onlucon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	onlūce	onluce
plural	onlūcen	onlucen
imperative
singular	onlūc
plural	onlūcaþ
participle	present	past
	onlūcende	onlocen

Descendants

• Middle English: unloken, unlouken, onlouken
  • English: unlock