leornungcniht

Old English

Etymology

leornung +‎ cniht

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈle͜or.nunɡˌknixt/, [ˈle͜orˠ.nuŋɡˌkniçt]

Noun

leornungcniht m

1. a youth engaged in study: student, apprentice, disciple

Usage notes

• Various words for “disciple” were used depending on dialect. King Alfred, writing in late 9th century Early West Saxon, preferred ġingra. The translator of Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, writing around the same time period but in partly West Saxonized Mercian, favored discipul, a borrowing from Latin discipulus. Leornungcniht was the word used by the two most prolific authors of Old English, Ælfric and Wulfstan, who both wrote in Late West Saxon: Ælfric from about 989 to 1010, Wulfstan from about 996 to 1023.

Declension

Declension of leornungcniht (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	leornungcniht	leornungcneohtas
accusative	leornungcniht	leornungcneohtas
genitive	leornungcnihtes	leornungcneohta
dative	leornungcnihte	leornungcneohtum

Synonyms

• leornere

Descendants

• Middle English: lerning-knight
• → English: learning-knight