sceaft

Middle English

Noun

sceaft

1. (Early Middle English) Alternative form of schaft (“creation”)

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃæ͜ɑft/

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *skaft, from Proto-Germanic *skaftaz, from Proto-Indo-European *skeh₂p- (“rod, shaft, staff, club”), potentially from a root *(s)ke(H)p- (“to strike, beat”). Cognate with Old Norse skapt.

Noun

sċeaft m

1. shaft (of an arrow or spear), pole

Declension

Declension of sceaft (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	sċeaft	sċeaftas
accusative	sċeaft	sċeaftas
genitive	sċeaftes	sċeafta
dative	sċeafte	sċeaftum

Derived terms

• wælsċeaft (“weapon-shaft”)

Descendants

• Middle English: schaft, scæft, scaft, shaft, sschaft, scheft, sheft, shafft, schafft, chafte, saft, shaffet, schafte, shafte
  • English: shaft
  • Scots: schaft, shaft

Etymology 2

From sċieppan; compare ġesċeaft.

Noun

sċeaft f (nominative plural sċeafta)

1. creation, origin
2. a creation, creature, something created

Declension

Declension of sceaft (strong i-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	sċeaft	sċeafte, sċeafta
accusative	sċeaft, sċeafte	sċeafte, sċeafta
genitive	sċeafte	sċeafta
dative	sċeafte	sċeaftum

Descendants

• Middle English: schaft, schafte, shaft, shapte

References

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