Etymologically
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1000s

Old Norse words first recorded in the 11th century

3 Old Norse words whose earliest known written record dates from the 11th century, earliest first. Words dated only to part of the century follow the ones with a year.

  1. sveinn

    1050–1100

    It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *swainaz (“relative, young man, servant”). The West Germanic cognates mostly mean a herdsman: Old English swān (“herdsman, swineherd, (poetic) man, warrior”), Old…

  2. vindauga

    1050–1100

    It is a compound from Old Norse vindr (“wind”) + auga (“eye”), literally “wind's eye”. The first part continues Proto-Germanic *windaz (“wind”), the second Proto-Germanic *augô (“eye”). The Gersum…

  3. hǫggva

    1100–1150

    It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hawwaną (“to hew, strike”), cognate with Old English hēawan (“to hew”), Old Frisian hāwa, Old Saxon hauwan and Old High German houwan; no Gothic form is…

All Old Norse words by century →