hweorfan

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *hwerban (“turn”). Cognate with Old Frisian hwerva, Old Saxon hwervan, Old High German werban, Old Norse hverfa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxwe͜or.fɑn/, [ˈʍe͜orˠ.vɑn]

Verb

hweorfan

1. to turn, change
   • 10th century, The Wanderer:

     Beorn sċeal ġebīdan, · þonne hē bēot spriceð,
     oþþæt collenferð · cunne ġearwe
     hwider hreþra ġehyġd · hweorfan wille.

     Man must pause when he tells a promise
     until bold spirit would know clearly
     where thought of hearts would turn.

2. to depart, go, proceed
3. to travel, roam, go about, wander, move about
4. to return

Conjugation

Conjugation of hweorfan (strong class 3)

infinitive	hweorfan	hweorfenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	hweorfe	hwearf
second person singular	hweorfest	hwurfe
third person singular	hwierfþ, hweorfeþ	hwearf
plural	hweorfaþ	hwurfon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	hweorfe	hwurfe
plural	hweorfen	hwurfen
imperative
singular	hweorf
plural	hweorfaþ
participle	present	past
	hweorfende	(ġe)hworfen

Derived terms

• æthweorfan
• andhweorfan
• aġēnġehweorfan
• behweorfan
• efthweorfan
• forhweorfan
• fromhweorfan
• mishweorfan
• mishworfen
• nīwhworfen
• onhweorfan
• sinhweorfan
• sinhweorfende
• tōhweorfan
• ymbhweorfan
• āhweorfan
• ġehweorfan
• ġeondhweorfan
• ġēanhweorfan

 

Related terms

• hwearf
• hwyrft
• hwearfian

Descendants

• Middle English: wharven
  • English: wharve

References

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