leoþ

Old English

Alternative forms

lēoð

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *leuþ, from Proto-Germanic *leuþą, from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁w-. Cognate with Old High German liod (German Lied), Old Saxon lioð (Dutch lied), Old Norse ljóð (“verse, song”), Latin laus (“praise”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /le͜oːθ/

Noun

lēoþ n

poem
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy
  Iċ onġiete þæt iċ þē hæbbe āþrotenne mid þȳ langan spelle, for þon þē lyst nū lēoða.
  I see I've bored you with that long argument, since you want poems now.
song

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	lēoþ	lēoþ
accusative	lēoþ	lēoþ
genitive	lēoþes	lēoþa
dative	lēoþe	lēoþum

Derived terms

fūslēoþ (“death-song, dirge”)
lēoþcræft (“poetry”)
lēoþcwide
lēoþere (“poet”)
lēoþġidding
lēoþlīċ (“poetic”)
lēoþsang (“poetic song”)
lēoþword
lēoþwyrhta (“poet”)
līclēoþ (“dirge, elegy”)

Descendants

Middle English: leoþ, leod, led, lede
- Scots: leed, lede
- English: leed (dialectal); lidden (?)

See also

fitt
ġiedd
meterwyrhta
sċop (“poet”)
wōþbora