þiestru

Old English

Alternative forms

• þēostru, þēostro, þīostro, þȳstro, þȳstru, þīstru, þēostre

Etymology

þīestre +‎ -u

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈθi͜yːs.tru/

Noun

þīestru f

1. darkness

   Hē ātēah eft his sweord, and eft hit līehte on þīestrum þurh hit self.

   He took out his sword again, and again it flashed in the dark by itself.

   • late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy

     Sē heofon bringþ lēohte dagas and eft behileþ þæt lēoht mid þīestrum.

     The sky brings bright days and then hides the light with darkness.

   • late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Genesis 1:2

     Sēo eorðe sōðlīċe wæs īdlu and ǣmtegu, and þīestra wǣron ofer þǣre neowolnesse brādnesse, and Godes gāst wæs ġefērod ofer wætru.

     The Earth was void and empty, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the spirit of God moved over the waters.

2. gloom

Usage notes

• Most often used in the plural, with no change in meaning: Ondrǣtst þū þē þīestra? (“Are you afraid of the dark?”), Wit ġemētaþ on þǣre stōwe þǣr nāna þīestra ne sind ("We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness").

Declension

Declension of þiestru (strong ō-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	þīestru	þīestra, þīestre
accusative	þīestre	þīestra, þīestre
genitive	þīestre	þīestra
dative	þīestre	þīestrum

Antonyms

• lēoht n (“light”)
• beorhtnes f (“brightness”)

References

• John R. Clark Hall (1916) “þiestru”, in A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], 2nd edition, New York: Macmillan
• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “þiestru”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.