overflowen

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old English oferflōwan; equivalent to over- +‎ flowen.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɔːvərˈflɔu̯ən/, /ɔvərˈflɔu̯ən/

Verb

overflowen

  1. To overflow; to cause flooding or immerse in water.
  2. (rare) To flow in profuse or excessive quantities.
  3. (rare) To exist in profuse or great quantities.

Usage notes

The simple past of this verb is usually weak, but the past participle shows a tendency to be strong (compare flowen, which is usually weak throughout)

Conjugation

Conjugation of overflowen (weak in -ed or strong class 7)
infinitive (to) overflowen, overflowe
present tense past tense
1st-person singular overflowe overflowed, overflew
2nd-person singular overflowest overflowedest, overflewe, overflew
3rd-person singular overfloweth overflowed, overflew
subjunctive singular overflowe overflowed1, overflewe1
imperative singular —
plural2 overflowen, overflowe overfloweden, overflowede, overflewen, overflewe
imperative plural overfloweth, overflowe —
participles overflowynge, overflowende overflowed, overflowen, overflowe

1 Replaced by the indicative in later Middle English.
2 Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

  • English: overflow

References

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.