cweþan

Old English

Alternative forms

cweðan, cƿeþan

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *kweþaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷet- (compare Proto-Celtic *bet-lo- (“mouth”) in Old Irish bél). Cognate with Old Frisian qwetha, Old Saxon quethan, queþan, Old Dutch quethan (Middle Dutch quedden), Old High German quedan, Old Norse kveða (Icelandic kveða, Danish kvæde, Swedish kväda), Gothic 𐌵𐌹𐌸𐌰𐌽 (qiþan).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈkweθɑn/, [ˈkweðɑn]

Verb

cweþan

to say, tell
Hēo cwæþ þæt hēo wǣre lǣċe.
She said she was a doctor.

Cwæþ se hræfn, "Nǣfre mā."
The raven said, "Never more".

Conjugation

Conjugation of cweþan (strong class 5)

indicative	present	past
infinitive	cweþan	tō cweþenne
1st-person singular	cweþe	cwæþ
2nd-person singular	cweþest, cwiþst, cwist	cwǣde
3rd-person singular	cweþeþ, cwiþ	cwæþ
plural	cweþaþ	cwǣdon
subjunctive	present	past
singular	cweþe	cwǣde
plural	cweþen	cwǣden
imperative
singular	cweþ
plural	cweþaþ
participle	present	past
	cweþende	(ġe)cweden

Derived terms

Descendants

Middle English: quethen, cwethen, cweþen, cweðen, queðen, qwethyn, qweþe, queþen, quethe, queþe, queden, cwæthen
- English: quethe (obsolete outside of quoth, and dated even then)
- Scots: quethe (noun)

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