steorfa

Middle English

Noun

steorfa (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of steorve

Old English

An Engraving of Pestilence

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sterbō, from Proto-Germanic *sterbô; compare steorfan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈste͜or.fɑ/, [ˈste͜orˠ.vɑ]

Noun

steorfa m

1. pestilence, mortality
2. dead animals and their flesh
3. dead things and their places of death

Declension

Declension of steorfa (weak)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	steorfa	steorfan
accusative	steorfan	steorfan
genitive	steorfan	steorfena
dative	steorfan	steorfum

Synonyms

• cwealm n (“death”)
• strīċ n (“plague”)

Derived terms

• fǣrsteorfa m (“pestilence”)

Related terms

• cwelan (“to die”)
• cwellan (“to kill”)
• ġecwylman (“to torment”)
• pīnian (“to torture”)
• steorfan (“to die”)
• sūsl f (“torment”)
• tintregian (“to afflict”)
• tūcian (“to harass”)
• wīte n (“punishment”)
• wreccan (“to twist or torment”)

Descendants

• Middle English: steorve, steorfa, storve, sterve (early)

References

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