hraþe

Old English

Alternative forms

• hraðe, hræþe, hræðe, hreðe, raðe, raþe, ræðe, ræþe

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *hraþē or *hraþō ~ *hradō (“quickly”), equivalent to hræd +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxrɑ.θe/, [ˈr̥ɑ.ðe]

Adverb

hraþe (comparative hraþor, superlative hraþost)

1. fast, quickly
2. soon
3. early
   • c. 900, Werferth, translation of the Dialogues of Gregory

     Sume nihte, þā þā hē wel ǣr ārās tō bētenne þā lēoht þe wǣron nēah þǣre dura, and þā stōd hē on triewenre hlǣdre under þām lēohtfæte and ontende and ġebētte þæt lēoht, þā stōd þǣr ofdūne on þǣre flōre sanctus Petrus sē ēadega apostol on hwītum hræġlum, and þus cwæþ tō him, "Þū ġefēra, for hwon ārise þū swā hraðe?"

     One night, when he had gotten up very early to kindle the lights near the door, and he was standing on a wooden ladder under the lamp to light the fire, down on the floor stood Saint Peter the apostle dressed in white, and he said to him, "Comrade, why did you get up so early?"

Descendants

• Middle English: rathe, rade, rath, raþ, raþe, rauth; hraþe, hraþa, raðæ, raðe, ræðe, ræðen, reaðe, reðe
  • English: rathe, rath (obsolete)
  • Middle Scots: rathe, rath