bifian

Old English

Alternative forms

  • biofian, beofian

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *bibjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyh₂-, *bʰoyh₂- (to be frightened).

Germanic cognates: Old Frisian bivia, Old Saxon bivōn, Middle Dutch bēven (Dutch beven), Old High German bibēn (German beben), Old Norse bifa (Swedish bäva)

Indo-European cognates: Slavic *bojati (Russian бояться (bojatʹsja), Polish bać się), Lithuanian baidas.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbifiɑn/, [ˈbiviɑn]

Verb

bifian

  1. to shiver or tremble
    He, bifiende, feoll to Iohannes fotum: he fell, trembling, at John's feet. (Ælfric)

Conjugation

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.