gecweþan

Old English[edit]

Equivalent to ġe- +‎ cweþan.

ġecweþan

to speak
(transitive or intransitive or with clause) to say
- late 10th century, Ælfric, "Saint Maur, Abbot"
  Þā ġecwæð sē abbod and ealle þā ġebrōðra þæt þēr ne mihte nā mā muneca wunian...
  Then said the abbot and all the brothers, that no more monks could dwell there...
to tell
to declare, announce
to settle
(a) to agree upon or arrange a time or course of action
- 10-11th c., Beowulf, lines 1074-1081
  Wit þæt ġecwǣdon, cniht wesende, and ġebēotedon, wǣron beġen þā ġit on ġeogoðfeore, þæt wit on gārsecg ūt aldrum nēðdon, and þæt ġeæfndon swā.
  We agreed, being striplings, and promised, (we were both yet in youthful life,) that we on the ocean out our lives would venture, and that we thus accomplish'd.
(b) to settle a regulation, law, or ordinance
to offer, propose
to order; to give orders for
to call, name
(a) to call a person or place

(b) to call a name

(c) to call an object by some identity

(d) to name, mention, or speak of

(e) to describe an object

Conjugation of ġecweþan (strong class 5)

Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “ĠECWEÐAN”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “ĠECWEÞAN supplemental input”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[2], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.