seofian

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *seufōn. Related to Dutch zucht.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈse͜oː.fi.ɑn/, [ˈse͜oː.vi.ɑn]

Verb

sēofian

1. to sigh, lament, complain of, bemoan
   • 10th century, The Seafarer:

     þonne hē be clifum cnossað. · Calde ġeþrungen
     wǣron mīne fēt, · forste ġebunden,
     caldum clommum, · þǣr þā ċeare sēofedun.
     Hāt ymb heortan · hungor innan slāt
     merewērġes mōd. · Þæt sē mon ne wāt

     then it beats near cliffs. My feet were
     squeezed by cold, bound by frost,
     with cold fetters, when there we bemoaned
     sorrows. Hot about heart, hunger within tore
     a sea-weary mind. The man didn't know that,

Conjugation

Conjugation of sēofian (weak, class 2)

infinitive	sēofian	sēofienne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	sēofiġe	sēofode
second person singular	sēofast	sēofodest
third person singular	sēofaþ	sēofode
plural	sēofiaþ	sēofodon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	sēofiġe	sēofode
plural	sēofiġen	sēofoden
imperative
singular	sēofa
plural	sēofiaþ
participle	present	past
	sēofiende	(ġe)sēofod

References

• Joseph Bosworth; T. Northcote Toller (1898), “sēofian”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.