wiernan

Old English

Alternative forms

• weornan, wirnan, wyrnan

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *warnijan, from Proto-Germanic *warnijaną, from *warnō (“obstacle”); related to werian (“to protect”). Cognate with Old Frisian werna, Old Norse verna (Danish værne). Compare wearnian.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwi͜yr.nɑn/, [ˈwi͜yrˠ.nɑn]

Verb

wiernan (West Saxon)

1. to refuse, deny
   • c. 1005, Wulfstan, Laws of Edward and Guthrum‎^[1]:

     Ġif dēaþsċyldiġ man sċriftsprǣċe ġierne, ne him man nǣfre ne wierne.

     If someone condemned to death desires confession, it should never be refused to them.

2. to reject, decline
3. to withhold
4. to forbid, prevent

Conjugation

Conjugation of wiernan (weak class 1)

infinitive	wiernan	wiernenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	wierne	wiernde
second person singular	wiernest, wiernst	wierndest
third person singular	wierneþ, wiernþ	wiernde
plural	wiernaþ	wierndon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	wierne	wiernde
plural	wiernen	wiernden
imperative
singular	wiern
plural	wiernaþ
participle	present	past
	wiernende	(ġe)wierned

Derived terms

• forwiernan

Descendants

• Middle English: wernen, warn, warne, werne, worne, wurne, wærnen, wearne, wearnen, weorne (Early Middle English) (through the Anglian form)

References

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