miþan

See also: mithan and miðan

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *mīþan.

Cognate with Old Saxon mīthan (Middle Low German mîden), Dutch mijden, Old High German mīdan (German meiden).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmiː.θɑn/, [ˈmiː.ðɑn]

Verb

mīþan

1. to hide, conceal, dissemble

   Cyriacus hygerune ne mað to Gode cleopode.

   Cyriacus did not hide his mind's secret, but cried out to God.

   • 10th century, Exeter Book Riddle 8‎^[1]:

     Iċ… hlūde ċirme, healde mīne wīsan, hlēoþre ne mīþe,…

     I… loudly cry out, hold my tone, don't hide a sound,…

Conjugation

Conjugation of mīþan (strong class 1)

infinitive	mīþan	mīþenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	mīþe	māþ
second person singular	mīst	miþe
third person singular	mīþþ, mīþ	māþ
plural	mīþaþ	miþon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	mīþe	miþe
plural	mīþen	miþen
imperative
singular	mīþ
plural	mīþaþ
participle	present	past
	mīþende	(ġe)miþen

Derived terms

• bemīþan

Descendants

• Middle English: mithen

References

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