nor is Goth

foolish, so Irish, Old Irish báith, baeth; root bai, fear, as in baoghal; Cornish bad, Breton bad, stupidity, are not allied, nor is Goth. bauths, dumb, as some suggest. Hence baothair, fool.

1) and; bæði … ok, both … and (bæði er hann vitr ok framgjarn);

2) in comparison, as, and; sami maðr ok áðr, the same man as before; nú fór Svíum allt á eina leið ok Dönum, it went with the Swedes in the same way as with the Danes; þat er mjök sundrleitt (úlíkt) ok kristnir menn gøra, it differs much from what Christians do;

3) of an adversative character, and yet, but (hann var særðr mörgum sárum ok engum stórum);

4) introducing the apodosis, then = þá; esp. in the old laws; ef sá maðr (etc.) …, ok verðr hann útlagr, then he shall pay;

5) used for the relative particle ‘er’; at höllu hann kom ok átti Íms faðir, which belonged to Im’s father; Geirröðr konungr átti þá son, ok hét Agnarr, who was called A.;

6) also (hann heyrir ok þat, er gras vex á jörðu).

n. yoke; domination.

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copulative conj.; the mod. form is og, which appears in the 15th century MSS., but the word is usually in the MSS. written thus ⁊. The Runic inscriptions mostly have auk, which diphthongal form has in the conj. been changed into ok, but is retained in the adverbial auk = etiam. As neither the stone in Tune nor the Golden horn happens to have the word, we are in the dark as to its earliest Scandinavian form. The particle ok is characteristic of the Scandinavian languages, as distinguished from the Germ. und, Engl. and; although this is more apparent than real, for the identity of ok with the Goth. copulative particle jah and uh. Hel. jac, has been conclusively demonstrated by Grimm, who also makes out an identity between Goth. uh, standing for hu, and Gr. καί, Lat. -que; the metathesis of uh for hu is analogous to Lat. ac = Gr. καί. Grimm farther supports this etymology by comparing the Teutonic compounds ne-hu, Icel. contr. né, with Lat. ne-c = ne-que, which proves the identity of both the suffixed particles, the Lat. c or que and the Teut. uh. The Goth. jah is a compound = jâ-uh = ‘immo-que;’ the Norse ok, too, is prob. a compound particle, the j being dropped, and then jâ-uh contracted into auh = auk; the final guttural h (sounded as χ), instead of being absorbed by the preceding vowel, was hardened into the tenuis k. The negative verbal suffix -a and -að, the nominal suffix -gi, and the copula ok will thus all be derived from one root,—one of the many instances of the Protean transformations of particles, even the negative and positive being interwoven into the same word.

A. And, a copula between two or more nouns; í upphafi skapaði Guð himinn ok jörð, Edda (pref., Gen. i. 1); ríki ok konungdóm, Fms. i. 23; mikill ok sterkr, Nj. 2; væn kona ok kurteis ok vel at sér, 1; dætr þrjár ok sonu þrá, 30. If the nouns are many the usage may vary:—the nouns may be paired off, eldr ok vatn, járn ok málmr, Edda 36; or the copula is only put to the last, eldr, vatn, járn ok málmr; or, if emphatic, it may be reiterated, eldr ok vatn ok járn ok málmr; or ok may be left out altogether, málmr. steinar, jörðin, viðirnir, sóttirnar, dýrin, fuglarnir, eitrormar, Edda l. c.

2. bæði ok, bæði er hann vitr ok framgjarn, Nj. 6.

3. in comparison, as, and, = Lat. ac, atque; með jöfnum skildaga ok Hrólfr Kraki görði, Fb. ii. 137; samr maðr ek áðr, the same man as before, i. 364; hafa með sér sín epli, ok bera saman ok hin, and compare them and the others, Edda 46; hón var þá úlík ok fyrr, Fms. i. 185; þat er mjök sundrleitt ok Kristnir menn göra, it differs much from what Christians do, x. 171; á sömu leið ok fyrr, i. 253; samsumars ok Steingerðr gékk frá Bersa, Korm. 160; jamvandhæfr ok flörbaugsmaðr, Grág. i. 89.

4. of an adversative character, and yet, but; mörgum sárum ok engum stórum, Fms. x. 370; þetta eru áheyrilig boð, ok újafnlig. Nj. 77; úsællig kona ertú, ok ( but yet) ekki svá at eigi megi sæma við slíkt, Fms. vii. 167.

5. the particle ok connects together the parts of the sentence; þá mælti Frigg, ok spurði, then spoke Frigg, and asked, Edda 37; at þú bættir ráð þitt, ok bæðir þér konu, thou shouldst mend thy condition, and take thee a wife, Nj. 2:—it is used to mark the progress of a speech or sentence, féllusk Ásum orðtök ok svá hendr, ok sá hverr til annars, ok vóru allir með einum hug til þess er unnit hafði verkit; Loki tók. Mistiltein, ok sleit upp, ok gékk til þings …; Höðr tók Mistiltein, ok skaut at Baldri; Æsir tóku lík Baldrs, ok fluttu til sjávar, Edda 37; sendu þeir Ívar til hans, ok skyldi hann vita, Fms. x. 27.

II. in the old law (the Grág.) the apodosis or conclusion is headed by ok, then, as in the standing phrase, ok verðr hann útlagr, ok varðar þat … marka útlegð, and he shall pay, i. e. then he shall …; þeir menn er sakir eigu, ok skulu þeir ganga til dóms …, and so in every page of the Grágás.

III. in some ancient epic poems the ok is as an historical particle put at the head of sentences or verses in a manner which closely resembles the use of the Hebrew ו; the old Ýt. is in this respect remarkable,—ok sikling, I; ok salbjartr, 2; ok sá brann, 3; ok Visburs, ok allvald, 4; ok landherr, 5: ok ek þess opt fregit hafðak, 6; ok allvald, 7; ok þat orð, 8; ok hnakkmars, 10; ok varð hinn, 11; ok Hagbarðs, 12; ok þrálífr … ok sveiðuðs. 13; ok lofsæll, 14; ok Austmarr, ok við aur, ok dáðgjarn, 16; ok ljóshömum, 18; ok ofveg, ok sá frömuðr, 19; ok Ingjald, ok sjá urðr, 20; ok Skæreið, 22; ok nú liggr, 23: ok launsigr, ok buðlung, 24; ok um ráð, ok launsigr, 25; ok niðkvisl, 26; - so used about thirty times in this single poem; in other poems less freq., but yet it occurs, e. g. in the fragments of Vellekla, see also the references given s. v. auk (III).

IV. the placing the copula before both the parts to be joined is curious; this only occurs in a few instances in old poetry; ok einnar átta, ‘and’ one eight, i. e. one plus eight = nine, Hd. (composed about 986 A. D.); ok hárar hamljót, ‘and hoary scraggy’ = hoary and scraggy, Haustl.; ok Sörli þeir Hamðir, ‘and Sorli Hamdir’ = S. and H., Bragi; ok átta enni-tungl fjögur höfuð, ‘and eight eyes four heads’ i. e. four heads and eight eyes, id.; ok hörga blóthús, Rekst.; ok svá jarlar Óláfar, = jarlar ok svá Óláfar, Sighvat; ok hringa hlínar óþurft mína, the woe of her and myself, Kormak; ok há grasi viði = há grasi ok viði, Gm. 17; ok Elfar Gandvikr miðli, Edda (Ht.) 1.

V. used as an interjection; þú skalt fara í Kirkjubæ—Ok, hvat skal ek þangat? Nj. 74; ok skaltú enn þora at mæla jöfnum orðum við mik, 656 B. 10: akin to this is the mod. usage in exclamations, wrath, wonder, indignation, og, hvað er nú að tarna! og, hvernig ætli þú látir! og, ekki nema það!

VI. the following are prob. ellipt.; segðú mér þat …, ok ek vilja vita, tell thou me that, and I wish to know = that which I want to know, Skm. 3; ætlar jarl at höggva þessa menn alla, ok þeir hofðu nú höndum á komit, all those, and (whom) they had got hold of, Fms. xi. 14.

B. Adverb; older form auk, q. v., [Germ. auch; Old Engl. eke]:—also; þat er ok, at, Grág. i. 36; hér eru ok tignar-klæði, Nj. 6; hann vaknar ok sem aðrir, Fms. xi. 117; svá mun ok, Hom. 142, and in countless instances old and mod., see auk; eigi ok, neither, Fms. x. 324; það er og, so so!

n. [Goth. juk; A. S. geoc; Engl. yoke; O. H. G. joh; Germ. joch; cp. Lat. jugum, Gr. ζυγόν; in the Northern languages the j is dropped, ok, Dan. aag]:—a yoke, Fb. ii. 72, Rb. 398, Al. 6, 19, Sks. 136 new Ed.: metaph., ok vóru svá Norðmenn undir því oki, Ó.T. 15; ok-björn, ok-hreinn, poët. = a ‘yoke-bear,’ an ox, Ýt., Lex. Poët.

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prep. with dat. and acc.

I. with dat. over, above (hvers manns alvæpni hekk y. rúmi hans); sitja y. borðum, to sit at table; s. yfir málum manna, to sit at, attend to cases, as judge; konungr y. Englandi, king over E.; vaka y. e-m, to wake or watch over;

II. with acc.

1) over, above (Skaði tók eitr-orm, ok festi upp y. hann); hann tók y. sik skikkjuna, he put on the mantle; komast y. e-t, to come by a thing;

2) over, across, through (síðan fóru þeir y. Norðrá);

3) fig. over, beyond; hafa vöxt y. e-n, to have growth over, be taller than; fram y. aðra menn, beyond, above other men;

4) adverbial usages, sá kvittr kom y., passed over; kveld kemr y., evening draws on.

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prep. with dat. and acc., also ellipt. or even as adv.; [in Goth. there are two forms, uf = Lat. sub, and ufar = Lat. super, which, as to the form, answer to Icel. ‘of’ and ‘yfir;’ but in reality ‘of’ is in the old vellums used indiscriminately, sometimes = um (q. v.), sometimes = yfir, see p. 462 and um (umb, of), p. 648 sqq.; ‘of’ as prep. is now obsolete, having been replaced, according to the sense, by um or yfir: Goth. ufar; A. S. ofer; Engl. over; O. H. G. ubar; Hel. ubar; Germ. über; Dan. over; Swed. öfver; Lat. super; Gr. υπέρ]:—over.

A. WITH DAT. over, above; hvers manns alvæpni hékk yfir rúmi hans, Eg. 88; þriðja stendr yfir Niflheimi … brenn eldr yfir Bifröst, Edda 10; yfir lokhvílu sinni, Nj. 183; spretta skörum yfir sér, Fas. ii. 187; tjalda yfir skipi sínu. Eg. 373; jörð gróin yfir viði eðr beinum, Grág. ii. 354; sitja yfir borðum, matborði, dagverði, drykkju …, to sit at table over one’s meat, drink; Nj. 6, 68, Eg. 63, 407, 577, passim; sitja yfir dómum yfir málum manna, to sit at, attend to cases, as judge, Ó. H. 86; Olafr konungr hafði jafnan með sér tólf ena spökustu menn, þeir sátu yfir dómum með honum ok réðu um vandamál, id.; sitja yfir e-m, to sit over one (a sick person), Fms. vii. 166, ix. 250; styrma yfir e-m, Ld. 40.

II. metaph. usages; görask konungr bæði yfir Mörkinni ok Hálogalandi, Eg. 71; konungr yfir Englandi, 263; biskup yfir þeim fjórðungi, Grág. i. 326; hafa vald yfir e-u, Fms. i. 227, x. 48; vera höfðingi ok herra yfir e-u, id.; Þorgils er þá var yfir Skagafirði, 61; dómandi allra mála yfir þeim ríkjum, Fas. i. 513; hann setti bróður sinn yfir Víkinni, Fms. i. 29; sektir yfir e-m, H. E. i. 420; til gæzlu yfir e-m, custody over one, Edda 21; vaka yfir e-m, to wake or watch over, Fms. i. 9, iv. 299; vöku vér hér hverja nótt á Aski yfir fé váru, Eg. 375: þú vart trúr yfir litlu, eg mun setja þig yfir mikið, Matt. xxv. 23; vil ek eigi hafa flimtan hennar né fáryrði yfir mér, Nj. 50; sitja yfir hlut e-s, 89 (see sitja I. 2); ok liggi sú íllska lengr yfir þeim, threatening them, Fms. x. 265; búa yfir brögðum, Fas. i. 290; hefi ek sét marga dýrliga hluti yfir honum, 623. 55; mér sýnisk svá mikit yfir þér, at mér byðr þat eitt í skap at þú verðir meira stýrandi, Bs. i. 468; allir þeir er nokkurr þrifnaðr var yfir, leystu sik á þrem vetrum, Fms. iii. 18; opt hafa orðit þvílíkar jarteinir yfir heiðnum mönnum, vii. 195; láta vel ílla … yfir e-u, Ld. 168, Hkr. i. 213, ii. 32 (see láta B. I. 2); láta hljótt yfir e-n, Nj. 232; þegja yfir e-u, Ld. 36; fögnuðr yfir e-u, joy over a thing, MS. 623. 23; aumhjartaðr yfir úförum hvers manns, Sks. 687; lýsa yfir e-u, to declare, Eb. 20, 250, Nj. 93, Ld. 164, 306, Fs. 13, 24, Eg. 141 new Ed., Gísl. 16, Ó. H. 101, 179, Bs. i. 95, 203, 268, 624, Fms. ii. 25, xi. 6, 25: hlyða e-m yfir, see hlýða.

III. ellipt. or adverb, usages; eldr, ok katlar yfir, Eg. 238; ætlar hann at görask konungr yfir norðr þar, 71; yfir á Espihóli, Sturl. iii. 261.

B. WITH ACC. over, above, denoting motion; limar hans dreifask yfir heim allan, Edda 10; drógu þeir netið yfir hann, … hlaupa yfir netið … hleypr hann yfir þinulinn, 40; þeir bundu yfir sik flaka af viði, Fms. ix. 421; Skaði tók eitr-orm ok festi yfir hann, Edda 40; hann tók yfir sik skikkjuna, ‘took clothes over himself,’ put on the mantle, Nj. 170; binda boð yfir miðjar dyrr, Gþl. 434; leggja e-t yfir altari þín, 655 xxiii; lauf ok limar tóku út yfir skipit, Ó. H. 36; hann felldi hvern yfir annan, Hkr. i. 151; cp. hverr um annan (um C. V); er aldr fór yfir hann, Ó. H. 123; sló miklum ótta yfir hirðmennina, struck great terror into the king’s men, Fas. i. 68; skjóta skjóli yfir e-n, Ld. 40; setja menn yfir ríki sitt, Eg. 7; at konungr mundi annan höfðingja setja yfir Norðymbra-land, Fms. i. 24; lét hann taka Knút til konungs yfir ríki þat allt, 112; komask yfir e-t, to come by a thing, Bárð. 175; láta lítið yfir sik, Fms. vii. 29.

2. over, through, across; austr yfir Foldina, Fms. i. 52; hann gékk yfir mark þat, Eg. 490; fara yfir ás nokkurn, … klif bratt yfir at fara, 576; ríða yfir fljótið, Nj. 82; hverr reiddi yfir Markar-fljót, 142; yfir skóginn, Fms. v. 249; ríðu vestr yfir Lómagnúpssand, Nj. 255; yfir hafit, Fms. vi. 21; er hann kom suðr yfir Fjalir, iii. 36; sigla norðr yfir Foldina, viii. 132; síðan fóru þeir yfir Norðrá, Eg. 134; fara at veizlum yfir ríki sitt, Fms. i. 157; skógr er almannavegr liggr yfir, Fs. 4.

II. metaph. over, beyond; hafa vöxt yfir e-n, to have growth over or above another, be taller, Fas. ii. 234; hafa höfuð ok herðar yfir e-n; fram yfir aðra menn, beyond, above, i. 27; yfir þat fram, beyond that, above that, Vm. 19; fram yfir Páskaviku, Sturl. i. 121; fram yfir Jól, Boll. 344; yfir hálf-þrítugt, Fms. ix. 33.

III. of direction, with another prep.; yfir á Hól, Hrafn. 9; þeir fúru yfir a Katanes, Fms. ix. 424; þeir sigldu yfir undir Kaupmannaeyjar, 421; upp yfir; fram yfir Grjótteigsá, Hrafn. 6.

IV. ellipt. and adverb, usages; sá kvittr kom yfir, passed over, Eg. 164; lesa yfir, to read, Dipl. iii. 10, Fms. x. 1; kveld kemr yfir, draws on, Finnb. 230; skýflóki gengr yfir, Bárð. 169; um nóttina þann tíma er hringdi yfir, Fms. x. 29; at hann myndi fljótara yfir bera ef hann riði, Hrafn. 7; hestrinn bar hann skjótt yfir ok víða, id.; undir at leiða eðr yfir at keyra, Gþl. 412; göra brú yfir, 411.

2. with verbs; bera, gnæfa, taka yfir, to surpass, passim; vofa yfir, to impend; búa yfir e-u, see búa; hylma ylir, to conceal; bætr yfir, to mend; verpa yfir, to calculate; drepa yfir e-t, to hush down; fara yfir, to pass over; líta, sjá yfir, to oversee, superintend; líða yfir, to pass over, also to faint; stíga yfir, to overcome; staupla yfir, sjást yfir, to overlook, neglect, etc., see the verbs.

3. var hann kátr yfir fram, exceedingly, Sturl. iii. 267; bjargit skútti yfir fram, Fms. vii. 81; sjá yfir upp, Edda 30.

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a negative suffix to verbs, not;

era útmakligt, at it is not unmeet that.

* * *

á, prep., often used elliptically, or even adverbially, [Goth. ana; Engl. on; Germ. an. In the Scandinavian idioms the liquid n is absorbed. In English the same has been supposed to happen in adverbial phrases, e. g. ‘along, away, abroad, afoot, again, agate, ahead, aloft, alone, askew, aside, astray, awry,’ etc. It is indeed true that the Ormulum in its northern dialect freq. uses o, even in common phrases, such as ‘o boke, o land, o life, o slæpe, o strande, o write, o naht, o loft,’ etc., v. the glossary; and we may compare on foot and afoot, on sleep (Engl. Vers. of Bible) and asleep; A. S. a-butan and on-butan (about); agen and ongean (again, against); on bæc, aback; on life, alive; on middan, amid. But it is more than likely that in the expressions quoted above, as well as in numberless others, as well in old as in modern English, the English a- as well as the o- of the Ormulum and the modern Scottish and north of England o- are in reality remains of this very á pronounced au or ow, which was brought by the Scandinavian settlers into the north of England. In the struggle for supremacy between the English dialects after the Conquest, the Scandinavian form á or a won the day in many cases to the exclusion of the Anglo-Saxon on. Some of these adverbs have representatives only in the Scandinavian tongues, not in Anglo-Saxon; see below, with dat. B. II, C. VII; with acc. C. I. and VI. The prep. á denotes the surface or outside; í and ór the inside; at, til, and frá, nearness measured to or from an object: á thus answers to the Gr. επί; the Lat. in includes á and i together.]

With dat. and acc.: in the first case with the notion of remaining on a place, answering to Lat. in with abl.; in the last with the notion of motion to the place, = Lat. in with acc.

WITH DAT.

A. Loc.

I. generally on, upon; á gólfi, on the floor, Nj. 2; á hendi, on the hand (of a ring), 48, 225; á palli, 50; á steini, 108; á vegg, 115; á sjá ok á landi, on sea and land. In some instances the distinction between d and i is loose and wavering, but in most cases common sense and usage decide; thus ‘á bók’ merely denotes the letters, the penmanship, ‘í’ the contents of a book; mod. usage, however, prefers ‘í,’ lesa í bók, but stafr á bók. Old writers on the other hand; á bókum Enskum, in English books, Landn. 24, but í Aldafars bók, 23 (in the book De Mensurâ Temporum, by Bede), cp. Grág. i. 76, where á is a false reading instead of at; á bréfi, the contents of a letter: of clothing or arms, mítr á höfði, sverð á hlið, mitre on head, sword on side, Fms. i. 266, viii. 404; hafa lykil á sér, on one’s person, 655 xxvii. 22; möttull á tyglum, a mantle hanging on (i. e. fastened by) laces, Fms. vii. 201: á þingi means to be present at a meeting; í þingi, to abide within a jurisdiction; á himni, á jörðu, on (Engl. in) heaven and earth, e. g. in the Lord’s Prayer, but í helviti, in hell; á Gimli, Edda (of a heavenly abode); á báti, á skipi denote crew and cargo, ‘í’ the timber or materials of which a ship is built, Eg. 385; vera í stafni á skipi, 177: á skógi, to be abroad in a wood (of a hunter, robber, deer); but to be situated (a house), at work (to fell timber), í skógi, 573, Fs. 5, Fms. iii. 122, viii. 31, xi. 1, Glúm. 330, Landn. 173; á mörkinni, Fms. i. 8, but í mörk, of a farm; á firðinum means lying in a firth, of ships or islands (on the surface of the water), þær eyjar liggja á Breiðafirði, Ld. 36; but í firði, living in a district named Firth; á landi, Nj. 98, Fms. xi. 386.

II. á is commonly used in connection with the pr. names or countries terminating in ‘land,’ Engl. in, á Englandi, Írlandi, Skotlandi, Bretlandi, Saxlandi, Vindlandi, Vínlandi, Grænalandi, Íslandi, Hálogalandi, Rogalandi, Jótlandi, Frakklandi, Hjaltlandi, Jamtalandi, Hvítramannalandi, Norðrlöndum, etc., vide Landn. and the index to Fms. xii. In old writers í is here very rare, in modern authors more frequent; taste and the context in many instances decide. An Icelander would now say, speaking of the queen or king, ‘á Englandi,’ ruling over, but to live ‘í Englandi,’ or ‘á Englandi;’ the rule in the last case not being quite fixed.

2. in connection with other names of countries: á Mæri, Vörs, Ögðum, Fjölum, all districts of Norway, v. Landn.; á Mýrum (in Icel.), á Finnmörk, Landn., á Fjóni (a Danish island); but í Danmörk, Svíþjóð (á Svíþjóðu is poët., Gs. 13).

3. before Icel. farms denoting open and elevated slopes and spaces (not too high, because then ‘at’ must be used), such as ‘staðr, völlr, ból, hjalli, bakki, heimr, eyri,’ etc.; á Veggjum, Landn. 69; á Hólmlátri, id.: those ending in ‘-staðr,’ á Geirmundarstöðum, Þórisstöðum, Jarðlangsstöðum…, Landn.: ‘-völlr,’ á Möðruvöllum: á Fitjum (the farm) í Storð (the island), í Fenhring (the island) á Aski (the farm), Landn., Eg.: ‘-nes’ sometimes takes á, sometimes í (in mod. usage always ‘í’), á Nesi, Eb. 14, or í Krossnesi, 30; in the last case the notion of island, νησος, prevails: so also, ‘fjörðr,’ as, þeir börðust á Vigrafirði (of a fight o n the ice), Landn. 101, but orusta í Hafrsfirði, 122: with ‘-bær,’ á is used in the sense of a farm or estate, hón sa á e-m bæ mikit hús ok fagrt, Edda 22; ‘í bæ’ means within doors, of the buildings: with ‘Bær’ as pr. name Landn. uses ‘í,’ 71, 160, 257, 309, 332.

4. denoting on or just above; of the sun, when the time is fixed by regarding the sun in connection with points in the horizon, a standing phrase in Icel.; sól á gjáhamri, when the sun is on the crag of the Rift, Grág. i. 26, cp. Glúm. 387; so, brú á á, a bridge on a river, Fms. viii. 179, Hrafn. 20; taka hús á e-m, to surprise one, to take the house over his head, Fms. i. 11.

III. á is sometimes used in old writers where we should now expect an acc., esp. in the phrase, leggja sverði (or the like) á e-m, or á e-m miðjum, to stab, Eg. 216, Gísl. 106, Band. 14; þá stakk Starkaðr sprotanum á konungi, then Starkad stabbed the king with the wand, Fas. iii. 34; bíta á kampi (vör), to bite the lips, as a token of pain or emotion, Nj. 209, 68; taka á e-u, to touch a thing, lay hold of it, v. taka; fá á e-u, id. (poët.); leggja hendr á (better at) síðum, in wrestling, Fms. x. 331; koma á úvart á e-m, to come on one unawares, ix. 407 (rare).

B. TEMP. of a particular point or period of time, at, on, in:

I. gener. denoting during, in the course of; á nótt, degi, nætrþeli …, Bs. i. 139; or spec. adding a pron. or an adject., á næsta sumri, the next summer; á því ári, þingi, misseri, hausti, vári, sumri …, during, in that year …, Bs. i. 679, etc.; á þrem sumrum, in the course of three summers, Grág. i. 218; á þrem várum, Fms. ii. 114; á hálfs mánaðar fresti, within half a month’s delay, Nj. 99; á tvítugs, sextugs … aldri, á barns, gamals aldri, etc., at the age of …, v. aldr: á dögum e-s, in the days of, in his reign or time, Landn. 24, Hrafn. 3, Fms. ix. 229.

II. used of a fixed recurrent period or season; á várum, sumrum, haustum, vetrum, á kveldum, every spring, summer …, in the evenings, Eg. 711, Fms. i. 23, 25, vi. 394, Landn. 292: with the numeral adverbs, cp. Lat. ter in anno, um sinn á mánuði, ári, once a month, once a year, where the Engl. a is not the article but the preposition, Grág. i. 89.

III. of duration; á degi, during a whole day, Fms. v. 48; á sjau nóttum, Bárð. 166; á því meli, during that time, in the meantime, Grág. i. 259.

IV. connected with the seasons (á vetri, sumri, vári, hausti), ‘á’ denotes the next preceding season, the last winter, summer, autumn, Eb. 40, 238, Ld. 206: in such instances ‘á’ denotes the past, ‘at’ the future, ‘í’ the present; thus í vetri in old writers means this winter; á vetri, last winter; at vetri, next winter, Eb. 68 (in a verse), etc.

C. In various other relations, more or less metaphorically, on, upon, in, to, with, towards, against:

I. denoting object, in respect of, against, almost periphrastically; dvelja á náðum e-s, under one’s protection, Fms. i. 74; hafa metnað á e-u, to be proud of, to take pride in a thing, 127.

2. denoting a personal relation, in; bæta e-t á e-m, to make amends, i. e. to one personally; misgöra e-t á e-m, to inflict wrong on one; hafa elsku (hatr) á e-m, to bear love ( hatred) to one, Fms. ix. 242; hefna sín á e-m, to take revenge on one’s person, on anyone; rjúfa sætt á e-m, to break truce on the person of any one, to offend against his person, Nj. 103; hafa sár á sér, 101; sjá á e-m, to read on or in one’s face; sér hann á hverjum manni hvárt til þín er vel eðr illa, 106; var þat brátt auðséð á hennar högum, at …, it could soon be seen in all her doings, that …, Ld. 22.

3. also generally to shew signs of a thing; sýna fáleika á sér, to shew marks of displeasure, Nj. 14, Fs. 14; taka vel, illa, lítt, á e-u, to take a thing well, ill, or indifferently, id.; finna á sér, to feel in oneself; fann lítt á honum, hvárt …, it could hardly be seen in his face, whether …, Eb. 42; líkindi eru á, it is likely, Ld. 172; göra kost á e-u, to give a choice, chance of it, 178; eiga vald á e-u, to have power over …, Nj. 10.

II. denoting encumbrance, duty, liability; er fimtardómsmál á þeim, to be subject to …, Nj. 231; the phrase, hafa e-t á hendi, or vera á hendi e-m, on one’s hands, of work or duty to be done; eindagi á fé, term, pay day, Grág. i. 140; ómagi (skylda, afvinna) á fé, of a burden or encumbrance, D. I. and Grág. in several passages.

III. with a personal pronoun, sér, mér, honum …, denoting personal appearance, temper, character, look, or the like; vera þungr, léttr … á sér, to be heavy or light, either bodily or mentally; þungr á sér, corpulent, Sturl. i. 112; kátr ok léttr á sér, of a gay and light temper, Fms. x. 152; þat bragð hafði hann á sér, he looked as if, … the expression of his face was as though …, Ld., cp. the mod. phrase, hafa á sér svip, bragð, æði, sið, of one’s manner or personal appearance, to bear oneself as, or the like; skjótr (seinn) á fæti, speedy ( slow) of foot, Nj. 258.

IV. as a periphrasis of the possessive pronoun connected with the limbs or parts of the body. In common Icel. such phrases as my hands, eyes, head … are hardly ever used, but höfuð, eyru, hár, nef, munnr, hendr, fætr … á mér; so ‘í’ is used of the internal parts, e. g. hjarta, bein … í mér; the eyes are regarded as inside the body, augun í honum: also without the possessive pronoun, or as a periphrasis for a genitive, brjóstið á e-m, one’s breast, Nj. 95, Edda 15; súrnar í augum, it smarts in my eyes, my eyes smart, Nj. 202; kviðinn á sér, its belly, 655 xxx. 5, Fms. vi. 350; hendr á henni, her hands, Gísl. (in a verse); í vörunum á honum, on his lips, Band. 14; ristin á honum, his step, Fms. viii. 141; harðr í tungu, sharp of tongue, Hallfred (Fs. 114); kalt (heitt) á fingrum, höndum, fótum …, cold ( warm) in the fingers, hands, feet …, i. e. with cold fingers, etc.; cp. also the phrase, verða vísa (orð) á munni, of extemporising verses or speeches, freq. in the Sagas; fastr á fótum, fast by the leg, of a bondsman, Nj. 27: of the whole body, díla fundu þeir á honum, 209. The pers. pron. is used only in solemn style (poetry, hymns, the Bible), and perhaps only when influenced by foreign languages, e. g. mitt hjarta hví svo hryggist þú, as a translation of ‘warumb betrübst du dich mein Herz?’ the famous hymn by Hans Sachs; instead of the popular hjartað í mér, Sl. 43, 44: hjartað mitt is only used as a term of endearment, as by a husband to his wife, parents to their child, or the like, in a metaphorical sense; the heart proper is ‘í mér,’ not ‘mitt.’

2. of other things, and as a periphrasis of a genitive, of a part belonging to the whole, e. g. dyrr á husi = húsdyrr, at the house-doors; turn á kirkju = kirkju turn; stafn, skutr, segl, árar … á skipi, the stem, stern, sail … of a ship, Fms. ix. 135; blöð á lauk, á tré …, leaves of a leek, of a tree …, Fas. i. 469; egg á sverði = sverðs egg; stafr á bók; kjölr á bók, and in endless other instances.

V. denoting instrumentality, by, on, or a-, by means of; afla fjár á hólmgöngum, to make money a-duelling, by means of duels, Eg. 498; á verkum sínum, to subsist on one’s own work, Njarð. 366: as a law term, sekjast á e-ju, to be convicted upon …, Grág. i. 123; sekst maðr þar á sínu eigini ( a man is guilty in re sua), ef hann tekr af þeim manni er heimild ( possessio) hefir til, ii. 191; falla á verkum sínum, to be killed flagranti delicto, v. above; fella e-n á bragði, by a sleight in wrestling; komast undan á flótta, to escape by flight, Eg. 11; á hlaupi, by one’s feet, by speed, Hkr. ii. 168; lifa á e-u, to feed on; bergja á e-u, to taste of a thing; svala sér á e-u, to quench the thirst on.

VI. with subst. numerals; á þriðja tigi manna, up to thirty, i. e. from about twenty to thirty, Ld. 194; á öðru hundraði skipa, from one to two hundred sail strong, Fms. x. 126; á níunda tigi, between eighty and ninety years of age, Eg. 764, v. above: used as prep., á hendi, on one’s hand, i. e. bound to do it, v. hönd.

VII. in more or less adverbial phrases it may often be translated in Engl. by a participle and a- prefixed; á lopti, aloft; á floti, afloat; á lífi, alive; á verðgangi, a-begging; á brautu, away; á baki, a-back, behind, past; á milli, a-tween; á laun, alone, secretly; á launungu, id.; á móti, against; á enda, at an end, gone; á huldu, hidden; fara á hæli, to go a-heel, i. e. backwards, Fms. vii. 70;—but in many cases these phrases are transl. by the Engl. partic. with a, which is then perh. a mere prefix, not a prep., á flugi, a-flying in the air, Nj. 79; vera á gangi, a-going; á ferli, to be about; á leiki, a-playing, Fms. i. 78; á sundi, a-swimming, ii. 27; á verði, a-watching, x. 201; á hrakningi, a-wandering; á reiki, a-wavering; á skjálfi, a-shivering; á-hleri, a-listening; á tali, a-talking, Ísl. ii. 200; á hlaupi, a-running, Hkr. ii. 268; á verki, a-working; á veiðum, a-hunting; á fiski, a-fishing; á beit, grazing: and as a law term it even means in flagranti, N. G. L. i. 348.

VIII. used absolutely without a case in reference to the air or the weather, where ‘á’ is almost redundant; þoka var á mikil, a thick fog came on, Nj. 267; niðamyrkr var á, pitch darkness came on, Eg. 210; allhvast á norðan, a very strong breeze from the north, Fms. ix. 20; þá var á norðrænt, a north wind came on, 42, Ld. 56; hvaðan sem á er, from whatever point the wind is; var á hríð veðrs, a snow storm came on, Nj. 282; görði á regn, rain came on, Fms. vi. 394, xi. 35, Ld. 156.

WITH ACC.

A. Loc.

I. denoting simple direction towards, esp. connected with verbs of motion, going, or the like; hann gékk á bergsnös, Eg. 389; á hamar, Fas. ii. 517.

2. in phrases denoting direction; liggja á útborða, lying on the outside of the ship, Eg. 354; á annat borð skipinu, Fms. vii. 260; á bæði borð, on both sides of the ship, Nj. 124, Ld. 56; á tvær hliðar, on both sides, Fms. v. 73. Ísl. ii. 159; á hlið, sidewards; út á hlið, Nj. 262, Edda 44; á aðra hönd henni, Nj. 50, Ld. 46; höggva á tvær hendr, to hew or strike right and left, Ísl. ii. 368, Fas. i. 384, Fms. viii. 363, x. 383.

3. upp á, upon; hann tók augu Þjaza ok kastaði upp á himin, Edda 47: with verbs denoting to look, see, horfa, sjá, líta, etc.; hann rak skygnur á land, he cast glances towards the land, Ld. 154.

II. denoting direction with or without the idea of arriving:

1. with verbs denoting to aim at; of a blow or thrust, stefna á fótinn, Nj. 84; spjótið stefnir á hann miðjan, 205: of the wind, gékk veðrit á vestr, the wind veered to west, Fms. ix. 28; sigla á haf, to stand out to sea, Hkr. i. 146, Fms. i. 39: with ‘út’ added, Eg. 390, Fms. x. 349.

2. conveying the notion of arriving, or the intervening space being traversed; spjótið kom á miðjan skjöldinn, Eg. 379, Nj. 96, 97; langt upp á land, far up inland, Hkr. i. 146: to reach, taka ofan á belti, of the long locks of a woman, to reach down to the belt, Nj. 2; ofan á bringu, 48; á þa ofan, 91.

III. without reference to the space traversed, connected with verbs denoting to go, turn, come, ride, sail, throw, or the like, motion of every kind; hann kastar honum á völlinn, he flings him down, Nj. 91; hlaupa á skip sitt, to leap on board his ship, 43; á hest, to mount quickly, Edda 75; á lend hestinum, Nj. 91; hann gengr á sáðland sitt, he walks on to his fields, 82: on, upon, komast á fætr, to get upon one’s legs, 92; ganga á land, to go a-shore, Fms. i. 40; ganga á þing, vii. 242, Grág. (often); á skóg, á merkr ok skóga, into a wood, Fb. i. 134, 257, Fms. xi. 118, Eg. 577, Nj. 130; fara á Finnmörk, to go travelling in Finmark, Fms. i. 8; koma, fara á bæ, to arrive at the farm-house; koma á veginn, Eg. 578; stíga á bát, skip, to go on board, 158; hann gékk upp á borg, he went up to the burg (castle), 717; en er þeir komu á loptriðið, 236; hrinda skipum á vatn, to float the ships down into the water, Fms. i. 58; reka austr á haf, to drift eastwards on the sea, x. 145; ríða ofan á, to ride down or over, Nj. 82.

IV. in some cases the acc. is used where the dat. would be used, esp. with verbs denoting to see or hear, in such phrases as, þeir sá boða mikinn inn á fjörðinn, they saw great breakers away up in the bight of the firth, the acc. being due perhaps to a motion or direction of the eye or ear towards the object, Nj. 124; sá þeir fólkit á land, they saw the people in the direction of land, Fas. ii. 517: in phrases denoting to be placed, to sit, to be seated, the seat or bench is freq. in the acc. where the dat. would now be used; konungr var þar á land upp, the king was then up the country, the spectator or narrator is conceived as looking from the shore or sea-side, Nj. 46; sitja á miðjan bekk, to be seated on the middle bench, 50; skyldi konungs sæti vera á þann bekk … annat öndvegi var á hinn úæðra pall; hann setti konungs hásæti á miðjan þverpall, Fms. vi. 439, 440, cp. Fagrsk. l. c., Sturl. iii. 182; eru víða fjallbygðir upp á mörkina, in the mark or forest, Eg. 58; var þar mörk mikil á land upp, 229; mannsafnaðr er á land upp (viewed from the sea), Ld. 76; stóll var settr á mótið, Fas. i. 58; beiða fars á skip, to beg a passage, Grág. i. 90.

V. denoting parts of the body; bíta e-n á barka, to bite one in the throat, Ísl. ii. 447; skera á háls, to cut the throat of any one, Nj. 156; brjóta e-n á háls, to break any one’s neck; brjóta e-n á bak, to break any one’s back, Fms. vii. 119; kalinn á kné, frozen to the knees with cold, Hm. 3.

VI. denoting round; láta reipi á háls hesti, round his horse’s neck, 623. 33; leggja söðul á hest, Nj. 83; and ellipt., leggja á, to saddle; breiða feld á hofuð sér, to wrap a cloak over his head, 164; reyta á sik mosa, to gather moss to cover oneself with, 267; spenna hring á hönd, á fingr, Eg. 300.

VII. denoting a burden; stela mat á tvá hesta, hey á fimtán hesta, i. e. a two, a fifteen horse load, Nj. 74: metaph., kjósa feigð á menn, to choose death upon them, i. e. doom them to death, Edda 22.

B. TEMP.

I. of a period of time, at, to; á morgun, to-morrow (í morgun now means the past morning, the morning of to-day), Ísl. ii. 333.

II. if connected with the word day, ‘á’ is now used before a fixed or marked day, a day of the week, a feast day, or the like; á Laugardag, á Sunnudag …, on Saturday, Sunday, the Old Engl. a-Sunday, a-Monday, etc.; á Jóladaginn, Páskadaginn, on Yule and Easter-day; but in old writers more often used ellipt. Sunnudaginn, Jóladaginn …, by dropping the prep. ‘á,’ Fms. viii. 397, Grág. i. 18.

III. connected with ‘dagr’ with the definite article suffixed, ‘á’ denotes a fixed, recurring period or season, in; á daginn, during the day-time, every day in turn, Grett. 91 A.

IV. connected with ‘evening, morning, the seasons,’ with the article; á kveldit, every evening, Ld. 14; á sumarit, every summer, Vd. 128, where the new Ed. Fs. 51 reads sumrum; á haust, every autumn, Eg. 741 (perh. a misprint instead of á haustin or á haustum); á vetrinn, in the winter time, 710; á várit, every spring, Gþl. 347; the sing., however, is very rare in such cases, the old as well as mod. usage prefers the plur.; á nætrnar, by night, Nj. 210; á várin, Eg. 710; á sumrin, haustin, á morgnana, in the morning (á morgin, sing., means to-morrow); á kveldin, in the evening, only ‘dagr’ is used in sing., v. above (á daginn, not á dagana); but elliptically and by dropping the article, Icelanders say, kveld og morgna, nótt og dag, vetr sumar vor og haust, in the same sense as those above mentioned.

V. denoting duration, the article is dropped in the negative phrase, aldri á sinn dag, never during one’s life; aldri á mína daga, never in my life, Bjarn. 8, where a possess. pron. is put between noun and prep., but this phrase is very rare. Such phrases as, á þann dag, that day, and á þenna dag, Stj. 12, 655 xxx. 2. 20, are unclassical.

VI. á dag without article can only be used in a distributive sense, e. g. tvisvar á dag, twice a-day; this use is at present freq. in Icel., yet instances from old writers are not on record.

VII. denoting a movement onward in time, such as, liðið á nótt, dag, kveld, morgun, sumar, vetr, vár, haust (or nóttina, daginn …), jól, páska, föstu, or the like, far on in the night, day …, Edda 33; er á leið vetrinn, when the winter was well on, as the winter wore on, Nj. 126; cp. áliðinn: also in the phrase, hniginn á inn efra aldr, well stricken in years, Ld. 68.

C. Metaph. and in various relations:

I. somewhat metaphorically, denoting an act only (not the place); fara á fund, á vit e-s, to call for one, Eg. 140; koma á ræðu við e-n, to come to a parley with, to speak, 173; ganga á tal, Nj. 103; skora á hólm, to challenge to a duel on an island; koma á grið, to enter into a service, to be domiciled, Grág. i. 151; fara á veiðar, to go a-hunting, Fms. i. 8.

β. generally denoting on, upon, in, to; bjóða vöxtu á féit, to offer interest on the money, Grág. i. 198; ganga á berhögg, to come to blows, v. berhögg; fá á e-n, to make an impression upon one, Nj. 79; ganga á vápn e-s, to throw oneself on an enemy’s weapon, meet him face to face, Rd. 310; ganga á lagið, to press on up the spear-shaft after it has passed through one so as to get near one’s foe, i. e. to avail oneself of the last chance; bera fé á e-n, to bribe, Nj. 62; bera öl á e-n, to make drunk, Fas. i. 13; snúinn á e-t, inclined to, Fms. x. 142; sammælast á e-t, to agree upon, Nj. 86; sættast, verða sáttr á e-t, in the same sense, to come to an agreement, settlement, or atonement, 78, Edda 15, Eb. 288, Ld. 50, Fms. i. 279; ganga á mála, to serve for pay as a soldier, Nj. 121; ganga á vald e-s, to put oneself in his power, 267; ganga á sætt, to break an agreement; vega á veittar trygðir, to break truce, Grág. ii. 169.

II. denoting in regard to, in respect to:

1. of colour, complexion, the hue of the hair, or the like; hvítr, jarpr, dökkr … á hár, having white, brown, or dark … hair, Ísl. ii. 190, Nj. 39; svartr á brún ok brá, dark of brow and eyebrow; dökkr á hörund, id., etc.

2. denoting skill, dexterity; hagr á tré, a good carpenter; hagr á járn, málm, smíðar …, an expert worker in iron, metals …, Eg. 4; fimr á boga, good at the bow: also used of mastership in science or arts, meistari á hörpuslátt, a master in striking the harp, Fas. iii. 220; fræðimaðr á kvæði, knowing many poems by heart, Fms. vi. 391; fræðimaðr á landnámssögur ok forna fræði, a learned scholar in histories and antiquities (of Are Frode), Ísl. ii. 189; mikill á íþrótt, skilful in an art, Edda (pref.) 148; but dat. in the phrase, kunna (vel) á skíðum, to be a cunning skater, Fms. i. 9, vii. 120.

3. denoting dimensions; á hæð, lengd, breidd, dýpt …, in the heighth, length, breadth, depth …, Eg. 277; á hvern veg, on each side, Edda 41 (square miles); á annan veg, on the one side, Grág. i. 89.

β. the phrase, á sik, in regard to oneself, vel (illa) á sik kominn, of a fine ( ugly) appearance, Ld. 100, Fas. iii. 74.

III. denoting instrumentality; bjargast á sínar hendr, to live on the work of one’s own hands, (á sínar spýtur is a mod. phrase in the same sense); (vega) á skálir, pundara, to weigh in scales, Grág. ii. 370; at hann hefði tvá pundara, ok hefði á hinn meira keypt en á hinn minna selt, of a man using two scales, a big one for buying and a little one for selling, Sturl. i. 91; á sinn kostnað, at one’s own expense; nefna e-n á nafn, by name, Grág. i. 17, etc. The Icel. also say, spinna á rokk, snældu, to spin on or with a rock or distaff; mala á kvern, to grind in a ‘querne,’ where Edda 73 uses dat.; esp. of musical instruments, syngja, leika á hljóðfæri, hörpu, gígju …; in the old usage, leika hörpu …, Stj. 458.

IV. denoting the manner or way of doing:

1. á þessa lund, in this wise, Grág. ii. 22; á marga vega, á alla, ymsa vega, in many, all, respects, Fms. i. 114; á sitt hóf, in its turn, respectively, Ld. 136, where the context shews that the expression answers to the Lat. mutatis mutandis; á Þýðersku, after German fashion, Sks. 288.

2. esp. of language; mæla, rita á e-a tungu, to speak, write in a tongue; á Írsku, in Irish, Ld. 76; Norrænu, in Norse, Eb. 330, Vm. 35; a Danska tungu, in Danish, i. e. Scandinavian, Norse, or Icelandic, Grág. i. 18; á Vára tungu, i. e. in Icelandic, 181; rita á Norræna tungu, to write in Norse, Hkr. (pref.), Bs. i. 59:—at present, dat. is sometimes used.

3. in some phrases the acc. is used instead of the dat.; hann sýndi á sik mikit gaman, Fms. x. 329; hann lét ekki á sik finna, he shewed no sign of motion, Nj. 111; skaltú önga fáleika á þik gera (Cod. Kalf.), 14.

V. used in a distributive sense; skal mörk kaupa gæzlu á kú, eðr oxa fim vetra gamlan, a mark for every cow, Grág. i. 147; alin á hvert hross, 442; á mann, per man (now freq.): cp. also á dag above, lit. B.

VI. connected with nouns,

1. prepositional; á hendr (with dat.), against; á hæla, at heel, close behind; á bak, at back, i. e. past, after; á vit (with gen.), towards.

2. adverbially; á braut, away, abroad; á víxl, in turns; á mis, amiss; á víð ok dreif, a-wide and a-drift, i. e. dispersedly.

3. used almost redundantly before the following prep.; á eptir, after, behind; á undan, in front of; á meðal, á milli, among; á mót, against; á við, about, alike; á frá (cp. Swed. ifrån), from (rare); á fyrir = fyrir, Haustl. 1; á hjá, beside (rare); á fram, a-head, forwards; á samt, together; ávalt = of allt, always: following a prep., upp á, upon; niðr á, down upon; ofan á, eptir á, post eventum, (temp.) á eptir is loc., id., etc.

VII. connected with many transitive verbs, answering to the Lat. ad- or in-, in composition, in many cases periphrastically for an objective case. The prep. generally follows after the verb, instead of being prefixed to it as in Lat., and answers to the Engl. on, to; heita kalla, hrópa á, to call on; heyra, hlusta, hlyða á, to hearken to, listen to; hyggja, hugsa á, to think on; minna á, to remind; sjá, líta, horfa, stara, mæna, glápa, koma auga … á, to look on; girnast á, to wish for; trúa á, to believe on; skora á, to call on any one to come out, challenge; kæra á, to accuse; heilsa á, to greet; herja, ganga, ríða, hlaupa, ráða … á, to fall on, attack, cp. ágangr, áreið, áhlaup; ljúga á, to tell lies of, to slander; telja á, to carp at; ausa, tala, hella, kasta, verpa … á, to pour, throw on; ríða, bera, dreifa á, to sprinkle on; vanta, skorta á, to fall short of; ala á, to plead, beg; leggja á, to throw a spell on, lay a saddle on; hætta á, to venture on; gizka á, to guess at; kveða á, to fix on, etc.: in a reciprocal sense, haldast á, of mutual strife; sendast á, to exchange presents; skrifast á, to correspond (mod.); kallast á, to shout mutually; standast á, to coincide, so as to be just opposite one another, etc.

f. [Lat. aqua; Goth. ahva; Hel. aha; A. S. eâ; O. H. G. aha, owa; cp. Germ. ach and aue; Fr. eau, eaux; Engl. Ax-, Ex-, etc., in names of places; Swed.-Dan. å; the Scandinavians absorb the hu, so that only a single vowel or diphthong remains of the whole word]:—a river. The old form in nom. dat. acc. sing. is , v. the introduction to A, page 1, Bs. i. 333 sq., where ́n, ́ (acc.), and ́na; so also Greg. 677; the old fragm. of Grág. ii. 222, 223, new Ed. In the Kb. of the Edda the old form occurs twice, viz. page 75, ́na (acc.), (but two lines below, ána), í ́nni (dat.) The old form also repeatedly occurs in the Kb. and Sb. of the Grág., e. g. ii. 266, 267: gen. sing. ár; nom. pl. ár, gen. á contracted, dat. ám, obsolete form ́m; Edda 43, Eg. 80, 99, 133, 185: proverbs, at ósi skal á stemma, answering to the Lat. principiis obsta, Edda 60; hér kemr á til sæfar, here the river runs into the sea, metaph. = this is the very end, seems to have been a favourite ending of old poems; it is recorded in the Húsdrápa and the Norðsetadrápa, v. Edda 96, Skálda 198; cp. the common saying, oil vötn renna til sævar, ‘all waters run into the sea.’ Rivers with glacier water are in Icel. called Hvítá, White river, or Jökulsá: Hitá, Hot river, from a hot spring, opp. to Kaldá, v. Landn.: others take a name from the fish in them, as Laxá, Lax or Salmon river (freq.); Örriða á, etc.: a tributary river is þverá, etc.: ár in the Njála often means the great rivers Ölfusá and Þjórsá in the south of Iceland. Áin helga, a river in Sweden, Hkr. ii: á is also suffixed to the names of foreign rivers, Tempsá = Thames; Dóná, Danube (Germ. Don-au), (mod.), etc. Vide Edda (Gl.) 116, 117, containing the names of over a hundred North-English and Scottish rivers.

COMPDS: áráll, árbakki, árbrot, ardjúp, árfarvegr, árfors, árgljúfr, árhlutr, ármegin, árminni, ármót, áróss, árreki, árstraumr, árströnd, árvað, árvegr, árvöxtr.

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prep. with gen.

1) to (ríða til skips, koma t. Noregs); leiða, stefna t. e-s, to lead, tend towards;

2) of; tala vel, illa t e-s, to speak well, ill of one; vita t. e-s, to know of, be conscious of; spyrja t. e-s, to hear tidings of; segja t. e-s, to tell of; ljúga t. e-s, to tell a falsehood about;

3) on; t. annarrar handar, on the other hand or side; t. vinstri, hœgri handar, on the left, right hand;

4) denoting reason, purpose, respect (svelta sik t. fjár; berjast t. ríkis; blóta t. árs; sverð ørugt t. vápns); liggja t. byrjar, to wait for a favourable wind; hross t. reiðar, a horse for riding;

5) e-m verðr gott, illt t. e-s, one is well or ill off for a thing, has much or little of it; þeim varð gott t. manna, they got together many men; land illt t. hafna, a land ill off for havens; henni féll þungt t. fjár, she was pressed for money;

6) with verbs, gera e-t t. skaps e-m, to do a thing to please one; jafna e-u t. e-s, to compare it with; gera vel, illa t. e-s, to treat one well, badly;

7) of time; t. elli, to old age; t. dauðadags, till one’s death day; liðr á sumarit t. átta vikna, the summer passed till eight weeks were left; t. þess er, þar t. er, until; allt t., all the time till;

8) ellipt. and adverbial usages; vera t., to exist; fala hey ok mat, ef t. væri, if there were any left; hvárttveggja er t., there is a stock of both; eiga t., hafa t., to possess; þat áð, sem helzt var t., ready to hand; vera t. neyddr, to be forced; skilja t., to reserve; verða fyrstr t., to be the first to do a thing;

9) too (t. ungr, t. gamall, eigi t. víðlendr); eigi t. mikit, not too much, not very much; æva t. snotr, not too wise; helzt t. (helzti), mikils t. (mikilsti), by far too much.

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prep. with gen. As to this particle, the two branches of the Teutonic family vary: all the South Teut., including the Goth., present the form without the final l; Goth. du (qs. tu) = πρός, εἰς; A. S., Hel., Old Fris. te, to; North. E. te; Engl. to; Dutch te, toe; O. H. G. zi, za, zuo; Germ. zu; Old Frank. to, te, ti; while the Northerners add the l, as Dan., Swed., North. E. and Scot. til; the Swedes double the l, till. That til is the truer form is seen from rhymes, til vilja, Vígl.: on the other hand, mod. provinc. Norse and Swedish drop the l, thus te, Ivar Aasen, Rietz. The Engl. uses both forms, to, of place, till, of time, of which the latter is no doubt borrowed from the Norse or Danish: til = to is quite common still in Cumberland and other North. E. counties, ‘to gang til Carlisle,’ etc.; a single instance of the form til is said to exist in an old Northumbrian vellum. Both forms, to and til, are, we believe, identical, the latter being a compound particle, ti-l, although the origin of the l has not as vet been made out. The uncompounded particle ti- is not entirely unknown in the Scandinavian, for it has been preserved in the compds mikils-ti, hölz-ti, unz-t, qq. v. ☞ Particles, even brief monosyllabic ones, often turn out to be compds, as e. g. ok(conj.), or the suffixed verbal negative; the prep. ‘til’ therefore is no more akin to the Germ. noun ziel than is ‘ok’ ( and) to ok ( a yoke); the apparent similarity in sense is in both cases merely accidental.

A. To, with gen., also used elliptically or as an adverb; bjóða e-m til sín, Eg. 140; til kirkju, Nj. 209; koma til boðs, 50; ganga til búðar, Grág. i. 31; ríða til skips, Ísl. ii. 192; leiða til skips, Ld. 74; til Íslands, Nj. 10; ríða til Norðrárdals, ok svá til Hrúta-fjarðar ok til Laxárdals, 32; koma til Noregs, 121; hann fór til Ólafs á Dröngum, til Gests í Haga, Landn. 154; sækja giptu til e-s, Fms. v. 154: adding direction, austr, vestr, suðr … út, inn, upp, fram, norðr til Þrandheims, austr til Danmerkr, vestr til England:, suðr til Björgynjar, etc., passim; út til, inn til, Landn. 140; heim til, Fms. xi. 382; upp til borgar; neðan til knjá, Nj. 209.

2. with verbs, to, towards; leiða, stefna … til, to lead, tend towards, Eg. 230, Nj. 4, 102; tala vel, ílla til e-s, to speak well or ill ‘towards,’ i. e. of; vita til e-s, to know of, be conscious of, Fms. i. 142, x. 377; íllorðr til e-s, Nj. 142; minna til e-s, to remember; minnask til e-s, to kiss, 282; drekka til e-s, to ‘drink towards’ (vulg. Engl.), i. e. drink to one, Eg. 552 (also ellipt. drekka e-m til); vísa til e-s (til-vísan), Landn. 192, Nj. 209; taka til e-s, 196, Fms. i. 151: with verbs denoting to look, see, hear, turn, sjá, gæta, hlýða, heyra, hugsa … til e-s, to look, listen, think, speak … to one, Eg. 380, Nj. 2, 10, 87, 91; þeir sá eyjar í haf til útsuðrs, Landn. 35; hann sá opt ljós til leiðis konungsins, Fms. xi. 286; þeir sá eld til Úlfars-fells, Eb. 156; heyra gný ok glam til hersins, Fms. vi. 156, viii. 125; til norðr-ættar, xi. 230; sá menn elda brenna til hafs, x. 157; vissi til lands, Eg. 389; þann veg er veit til Hlaða, Fms. x. 265; horfa aptr til hala; í þeim hlut húss er til vetfangs horfir, Grág. ii. 125; spyrja til e-s, to speer after, hear tidings of one, þetta spyrsk til skipa, Fas. i. 241, Nj. 7; spyrja gott til e-s, Hkr. i. 140: segja til e-s, to tell of(see segja), Nj. 46, Ld. 40, Hrafn. 5; ljúga til e-s, to tell a falsehood of, Finnb. 318.

3. til annarrar handar, on the other hand or side, Nj. 50, 97; til vinstri, hægri handar, til beggja handa, Hkr. i. 158, Eg. 65.

II. denoting business, reason, purpose, capacity, respect; leggjask til svefns, ÓH.; ganga til svefns, Eb. 156; halda barni til skirnar, K. Á. 146; ríða til dagverðar, Nj. 219; fara til vistar, 40; dómar fara út til sóknar, Eg. 725; falda sér til vélar við konu, Grág. i. 338; skipa mönnum til umráða, i. 5; svelta sik til fjár, Nj. 18; drepa e-n til fjár, göra e-t til fjár, Ld. 264; gefin ( married) til fjár, 26, Nj. 257; skora á e-n til landa, Landn. 80; Eg. 498; sækja til trausts, Ld. 26; sækja til landa, Nj. 103; sækja til faðernis, Grág. i. 140; leggja fé til höfuðs e-m, taka fé til höfuðs e-m, Ld. 50, Eg. 375; berjask til ríkis, Fms. vii. 283; blóta til árs, Hkr. i. 13; sverð öruggt til vápns, Ld. 244; hafa eðli til e-s, Skálda 171; selja e-t til silfrs, to convert it into silver, Landn. 293 (Hb.); ætla e-n til dráps, Nj. 163; hlaðinn til hafs, ready for use, Fms. x. 157; liggja til byrjar, i. 135, Eg. 183; taka til konungs, Fms. i. 21; taka til lögsögu-manns, Nj. 164; kjósa til veganda, 100; vinna til e-s (see vinna); gefa til bóta, 101; göra til saka, 80; taka til ráða, 75; hvat er til ráðs, 76; þat er til jartegna, Eg. 768; til merkja (til marks), 766; til gagns, til lítils, Nj. 52; til meins, 106; til sæmdar, 79; til tíðenda, Eg. 201; til næringar, til viðrværis, til fæðu, til matar, Stj. 87, Fms. i. 126, Eg. 221; hross til reiðar, Hrafn. 7; til skjóls, Grett. 169; til sóma, til eptirlætis, Nj. 89; til spotts, Korm. 232; til gamans, til hvárs, for what purpose; as also, til einskis, til góðs, til ílls, til nokkurs.

2. kaupa til tuttugu hundraða, to the amount of, Landn. 145; til fulls eyris, Grág.; fé til tveggja aura gulls, Fms. vii. 218; til fulls, fully; til jafns við, Nj. 46; til hálfs, Eg. 379; til loks, finally, to the end (see lok); vaxa meirr en til dæma, beyond example, unexampled, Stj. 87; draga til dæmis, to produce for the sake of example, Mar.; hence, til dæmis (as adverb), for instance (written abbreviated in mod. books, t.d. = e. g.)

3. e-m verðr gott, íllt til e-s, to be well or ill off for a thing, have little of it; þeim varð gott til manna, Nj. 20; land íllt til hafna, a land ill off for havens, Eg. 332; þar var íllt til vað-mála, short of, Bárð. 5 new Ed.; henni féll þungt til fjár, Nj. 31; góðr til ( open-handed as to) fjár ok metnaðar, Eg. 17; færr til e-s, able to do a thing, Nj. 97, Fms. ix. 530; vænn til framkvæmdar, 480; líkligr til e-s, likely to, Nj. 132; hafa verðleika til e-s, to deserve of, Eg. 226.

4. with verbs; göra e-t til skaps e-m, Nj. 198; göra til skaps vina minna, 80; jafna e-u til e-s, to compare it with, Ld. 60; vera til eptirmáls, Nj. 166; göra vel, ílla til e-s, Eg. 542, Ld. 62; vinna til e-s, 50, Ísl. ii. 253, Nj. 101, Eg. 519; hlutask til e-s, Nj. 101; beina til, búa til, afla til, efna til, fá til, göra til, hjálpa til, inna til, leggja til, reyna til, ráða til, segja til, skipa til, stilla til, stoða til, stofna til, taka til, vinna til, vísa til, vána til, e-s, all verbs of providing, doing, helping, disposing, and the like; as also kalla til.

5. vera til vers, to be fishing, Korm. 142, rare, but cp. the Dan. phrase, til sös = at sea.

III. temp., til miðs aptans, Hrafn. 7; til elli, Ld. 12; til dauða-dags, Nj. 109; allt til dauða-dags, Fms. i. 17, etc.

2. til skamrar stundar, i. e. till within a short time, a short time ago, Hom. 107; líðr á sumarit til átta vikna, the summer passed till eight weeks (were left), Nj. 93; vika til þings, a week to (i. e. before) the season of the þing, Grág.; þrír dagar til sumars, Edda 26; tíu vikur til vetrar, Ld. 106; stund til hádegis, stund til miðs morguns, dagmála, in measuring time, used in Icel. exactly as in Engl., ten minutes to eight, a quarter to eleven, (but mod. Dan. follows the Germ. mode of reckoning, for there ‘ti minutter til tolv’, ten minutes towards twelve, is = Engl. ‘ten minutes past eleven’); til þess, until, Nj. 153; allt til, all the time till, 272, Hrafn. 7; þar til er, until, Nj. 4.

IV. ellipt. and adverbial usages; vera til, to be ‘toward’ to exist; eiga til, hafa til, to possess; fala hey ok mat ef til væri … hvárt-tveggja er til, Nj. 73; ef þú kemr eigi til, if thou comest not to hand, 4; ef nökkut var til, Eg. 267; þat ráð sem helzt var til, ready on hand, 42; munu eigi tveir til, Nj. 261; kómu þeir þangat til, 80; ætla svá til, 86; vera til neyddr, to be forced, 98; þat er þú þarft til at taka, 105; gefa fé til, 75; væri mikit gefanda til, at, 98; telr hann þat til, at …, Fms. xi. 137; skilja til, to reserve, Nj. 54; spara til, 3, Hkr. i. 196; mæla til, 99; tala til, 216; eiga ætt til, Edda 7; hafa aldr til, Eg. 190; skorta til, Nj. 73; íllt þótti mér til móti at mæla, Fms. xi. 242; verða fyrstr til, to be the first to do a thing, v. 103; sem lög stóðu til, Ld. 32; hljótask af mér til, Nj. 113; sækja mál til laga, 86.

2. of direction; sunnan til, Sks. 216; norðan til, e. g. sunnan til við ána, on the south side of the river, Sks. 216.

B. Too, Lat. nimis; eigi til víðlendr, Fms. vi. 94; eigi til görla, 205; til ungr, til gamall, Grág. i. 192; verða til seinn, Bær. 15; honum þótti sinn hluti til lágr, Lv. 97; engi hefir til djarfligar risit, Mar.; helz til, mikils til, by far too much, as in mod. usage; but the ancients said hölzti (helzti) and mikilsti, thus mikilsti ( too much), Hm. 66, Bs. i. 775; hölzti, Nj. 191, Ld. 188, 216, Al. 37, 41, Fms. viii. 91, 133, Hkr. iii. 376; helzti, Eb. 154, etc., see heldr, B. III; unzt, see that word.

a negative particle (poet.) with a verb,

1) not;

út þú ne kemr, thou comest not out;

sól þat ne vissi, hvar hún sali átti, the sun knew not, etc.;

2) ne einn, not one;

lifa þeir ne einir þriggja tega manna, not one of those thirty men is left;

ne einu sinni, not once;

preceded by a negation, any = neinn (vórum vér ekki mjök við búnir ne einum úfriði).

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or né, a negative conjunction. The Goth. makes a distinction between ni = A. S. ne, O. H. G. ni; and the compound particle nih, from ni + the suffix uh, O. H. G. noh, Germ. noch, Lat. nec, of which Icel. né is a contr. form; etymologically, therefore, the single particle ought to be written ne and the compound né; but this distinction is not made. The particle ne is not found out of composition except in ancient poetry; it is found as a prefix in the compounds neinn, nekkverr, nema (q. v.), qs. ne-einn, ne-hverr, ne-ifa.

A. The single particle, not:

1. with a verb, sól þat né vissi, máni þat né vissi, stjörnur þat né vissu, Vsp. 5; óð þau né höfðu, 18; löst né vissi, Skv. 3. 5; né fá, Hm. 92; finna né máttu, 46; ek né kunna, 11; né þat máttu, Hým. 4; né sváfu, Þd. 6:—with subj., út þú né komir, Vþm. 7:—ef né, if not, unless, were it not that …; ef þú geldr né værir, Hkv. Hjörv. 20; ef þú sverðs né nytir, Fm. 29:—with a double negation, svá at mér mann-gi mat né bauð, Gm. 2; aptr né komið, 20; ef föður né áttað, Fm. 3; hví né lezkaðu, Ls. 47; né máttuð, Kormak; né hlöðut, Vellekla; þar er hrafn né svalt-a, Ó. H. (in a verse); sofa þeir né máttuð, Gkv. 2. 3:—the negation is understood, niðjar hvöttu Gunnar né náungr annarr, rýnendr né ráðendr, né ( nor) þeir er ríkir vóru, Akv. 9,

2. used to begin a verse or sentence in a running narrative, answering to ok (which see A. III); né hamfagrt höldum þótti skáldfé mitt, Ad. 7; né þat máttu, Hým. 2; né hann konu kyssa görði né ( nor) …, Skv. 3. 4; né ek þat vilda at mik ver ætti, 35; né djúpakorn drápu, Þd. 10.

II. with an adverb or noun; né sjaldan, not seldom, Fms. xi. 198 (in a verse); né allvel, not over-well, Skv. 1. 49; gumnum hollr né gulli, fond of men not of gold, Hkr. i. (in a verse).

2. but esp. in né einn, not one, none (cp. Early Lat. noenus = ne unus), also not any; lifa þeir né einir, Gkv. 3. 5; né einu sinni, not once, Fms. xi. 13; kvaðsk eigi muna at hann hefði heit strengt né eins, 112; hann lét þá af at eggja konung á né eina herferð, vii. 28; vórum vér ekki mjök við búnir við né einum lífriði, iv. 73; né eina sekð, Grág. i. 136; né eitt úhreint, Stj. 409; allir duldu at né eitt vissi til Hrapps, Nj. 133; eigi finnsk sá né einn, Fas. i. 243; eigi né eins staðar, not anywhere, Stj. 618; eigi vill hann at né einn tortryggi, Hom. (St.); eigi … at ek hafa né eina manns konu tekit, Þorst. Síðu H. 5; hann fyrir-bauð né einum leikmönnum, at …, Bs. i. 702.

3. in composition in ne-kkverr and n-ema, q. v.

B. The compound particle né preceded by a negation, neither … nor, not … nor, as a disjunctive copula between two nouns or sentences; at þú gáir eigi þings né þjóðans mála, Hm. 115; skósmiðr þú verit né skeptismiðr, 127; óð þau né ( not) áttu, lá né ( neither) læti né ( nor) litu góða, Vsp. 18; svefn þú né ( not) sefr né ( nor) um sakar dæmir, Skv. I. 29; varat harm yðr um likr, né …, 36; vilkat ek mann trauðan né torbænan, 49.

2. in prose; þú skalt þá eigi með örum raufa né sverði slá, Stj. 620; höggormr hefir þar eigi vist né froskr, né ekki ( nor any) eitr-kykvendi, 655 xii. 2; má af öngum fremjask né fullkomask, nema biskupi, K. Á. 22; eigi meira né skemra, Fms. xi. 304:—irregular usage, því at eins ( only in that case) ferjanda né ( nor) festum helganda, nema (if, unless), i. e. neither … nor … unless, Nj. 240.

3. the negation may also be indirect or understood; né sé þess örvænt at hér verði grátr né stynr, Niðrst. 7; fen né forað (= fen eðr forað), Gþl. 382 A; linar lítið dag né nótt, Bs. ii. 49; fár treystisk eld at ríða né yfir stíga, Fas. i. (in a verse); síð muntú hringum ráða né Röðuls-völlum, Hkv. Hjörv. 6, where the negation lies in örvænt, lítið, fár, síð: as also in ironical questions, hvat megi fótr fæti veita, né holdgróin hönd annarri, i. e. what? to which a negative answer is expected.

II. in hvárgi … né, neither … nor; hvárrgi þeirra, Erlingr né féhirðinn, neither of them, E. nor the shepherd, Fr.; hvárngan ykkarn, Hákon né þik, Fb. i. 182:—hvárki … né, neither … nor, hvárki fyrir forboðan né taksetningar, H. E. i. 419; hvárki af dæmum né ástar hirtingum, 677. 6; hvárki gull né jarðir, Skv. 3. 37; hvárki styn né hósta, Nj.; hvárki gott né íllt, and so in countless instances.

III. if the sentence has three or more limbs; hvárki … né … né, neither … nor … nor; or also hvárki … né … eðr, neither … nor … or; thus, lá né læti, né litu góða, Vsp.; fals né flærð eða rangindi, Fms. ix. 330; the former is more emphatic, see hvárrgi B. III.

I) prep.

A. with dative.

I. Of motion;

1) towards, against;

Otkell laut at Skamkatli, bowed down to S.;

hann sneri egginni at Ásgrími, turned the edge against A.;

2) close atup to;

Brynjólfr gengr alit at honum, quite up to him;

þeir kómust aldri at honum, they could never get near him, to close quarters with him;

3) to, at;

koma at landi, to come to land;

ganga at dómi, to go into court;

4) along (= eptir);

ganga at stræti, to walk along the street;

dreki er niðr fór at ánni (went down the river) fyrir strauminum;

refr dró hörpu at ísi, on the ice;

5) denoting hostility;

renna (sœkja) at e-m, to rush at, assault;

gerði þá at þeim þoku mikla, they were overtaken by a thick fog;

6) around;

vefja motri at höfði sér, to wrap a veil round one’s head;

bera grjót at e-m, to heap stones upon the body;

7) denoting business, engagement;

ríða at hrossum, at sauðum, to go looking after horses, watching sheep;

fara at landskuldum, to go collecting rents.

II. Of position, &c.;

1) denoting presence at, near, by, upon;

at kirkju, at church;

at dómi, in court;

at lögbergi, at the hill of laws;

2) denoting participation in;

vera at veizlu, brullaupi, to be at a banquet, wedding;

vera at vígi, to be an accessory in man-slaying;

3) ellipt., vera at, to be about, to be busy at;

kvalararnir, er at vóru at pína hann, who were tormenting him;

var þar at kona nökkur at binda (was there busy dressing) sár manna;

4) with proper names of places (farms);

konungr at Danmörku ok Noregi, king of;

biskup at Hólum, bishop of Holar;

at Helgafelli, at Bergþórshváli;

5) used ellipt. with a genitive, at (a person’s) house;

at hans (at his house) gisti fjölmenni mikit;

at Marðar, at Mara’s home;

at hins beilaga Ólafs konungs, at St. Olave’s church;

at Ránar, at Ran’s (abode).

III. Of time;

1) at, in;

at upphafi, at first, in the beginning;

at skilnaði, at parting, when they parted;

at páskum, at Easter;

at kveldi, at eventide;

at þinglausnum, at the close of the Assembly;

at fjöru, at the ebb;

at flœðum, at the floodtide;

2) adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr’;

at ári komanda, next year;

at vári, er kemr, next spring;

generally with ‘komanda’ understood;

at sumri, hausti, vetri, vári, next summer, &c.;

3) used with an absolute dative and present or past part.;

at sér lifanda, duing his lifetime;

at öllum ásjándum, in the sight of all;

at áheyranda höfðingjanum, in the hearing of the chief;

at upprennandi sólu, at sunrise;

at liðnum sex vikum, after six weeks are past;

at honum önduðum, after his death;

4) denoting uninterrupted succession, after;

hverr at öðrum, annarr at öðrum, one after another;

skildu menn at þessu, thereupon, after this;

at því (thereafter) kómu aðrar meyjar.

IV. fig. and in various uses;

1) to, into, with the notion of destruction or change;

brenna (borgina) at ösku, to burn to ashes;

verða at ormi, to become a snake;

2) for, as;

gefa e-t at gjöf, as a present;

eiga e-n at vin, to have one as friend;

3) by;

taka sverð at hjöltum, by the hilt;

draga út björninn at hlustunum, by the ears;

kjósa at afli, álitum, by strength, appearrance;

4) as regards as to;

auðigr at fé, wealthy in goods;

vænn (fagr) at áliti, fair of face;

5) as a law term, on the grounds of, by reason of;

ryðja ( to challenge) dóm at mægðum, kvið at frændsemi;

6) as a paraphrase of a genitive;

faðir, móðir at barni (= barns, of a child);

aðili at sök = aðili sakar;

7) with adjectives denoting colour, size, age, of;

hvítr, svartr, rauðr at lit, while, black, red of colour;

mikill, lítill at stœrð, vexti, tall, small of stature;

tvítugr at aldri, twenty years of age;

kýr at fyrsta, öðrum kálfi, a cow that has calved once, twice;

8) determining the source from which anything comes, of, from;

Ari nam ok marga frœði at Þuríði (from her);

þiggja, kaupa, geta, leigja e-t at e-m, to receive, buy, obtain, borrow a thing from one;

hafa veg (virðing) styrk at e-m, to derive honour, power, from one;

9) according, to, after (heygðr at fornum sið);

at ráði allra vitrustu manna, by the advice of;

at landslögum, by the law of the land;

at vánum, as was to be expected;

at leyfi e-s, by one’s leave;

10) in adverbial phrases;

gróa (vera grœddr) at heilu, to be quite healed;

bíta af allt gras at snøggu, quite bare;

at fullu, fully;

at vísu, surely;

at frjálsu, freely;

at eilífu, for ever and ever;

at röngu, at réttu, wrongly, rightly;

at líku, at sömu, equally, all the same;

at mun, at ráði, at marki, to a great extent.

B. with acc., after, upon (= eptir);

sonr á at taka arf at föður sinn, to take the inheritance after his father;

eiga féránsdóm at e-n, to hold a court of execution upon a person;

at þat (= eptir þat), after that, thereafter;

connected with a past part. or a., at Gamla fallinn, after the fall of Gamli;

at Hrungni dauðan, upon the death of Hrungnir.

1) as the simple mark of the infinitive, to;

at ganga, at ríða, at hlaupa, to walk, to ride, to run;

2) in an objective sense;

hann bauð þeim at fara, sitja, he bade (ordered) them to go, sit;

gefa e-m at eta, at drekka, to give one to eat, to drink;

3) denoting design or purpose, in order to (hann gekk í borg at kaupa silfr).

1) demonstrative particle before a comparative, the, all the, so much the;

hón grét at meir, she wept the more;

þykkir oss at líkara, all the more likely;

þú ert maðr at verri (so much the worse), er þú hefir þetta mælt;

2) rel. pron., who, which, that (= er);

þeir allir, at þau tíðindi heyrðu, all those who heard;

sem þeim er títt, at ( as is the custom of those who) kaupferðir reka.

conj., that;

1) introducing a subjective or objective clause;

þat var einhverju sinni, at Höskuldr hafði vinaboð, it happened once that H.;

vilda ek, at þú réðist austr í fjörðu, I should like you to go;

2) relative to svá, denoting proportion, degree;

svá mikill lagamaðr, at, so great a lawyer, that;

3) with subj., denoting end or purpose, in order that (skáru þeir fyrir þá (viz. hestana) melinn, at þeir dœi eigi af sulti);

4) since, because, as (= því at);

5) connected with þó, því, svá;

þó at (with subj.), though, although;

því at, because, for;

svá at, so that;

6) temp., þá at (= þá er), when;

þegar at (= þegar er), as soon as;

þar til at (= þar til er), until, till;

áðr at (= á. en), before;

7) used superfluously after an int. pron. or adv.;

Ólafr spurði, hvern styrk at hann mundi fá honum, what help he was likely to give him;

in a relative sense; með fullkomnum ávexti, hverr at (which) þekkr ok þægiligr mun verða.

negative verbal suffix, = ata; var-at, was not.

n. an incited conflict or fight ( see etja);

odda at, Yggs at, battle.

* * *

and að, prep., often used ellipt. dropping the case and even merely as an adverb, [Lat. ad; Ulf. at = πρός and παρά, A. S. ät; Engl. at; Hel. ad = apud; O. H. G. az; lost in mod. Germ., and rare in Swed. and Dan.; in more freq. use in Engl. than any other kindred language, Icel. only excepted]:—the mod. pronunciation and spelling is að (aþ); this form is very old, and is found in Icel. vellum MSS. of the 12th century, e. g. aþ, 623. 60; yet in earlier times it was sounded with a tenuis, as we may infer from rhymes, e. g. jöfurr hyggi at | hve ek yrkja fat, Egill: Sighvat also makes it rhyme with a t. The verse by Thorodd—þar vastu at er fjáðr klæðið þvat (Skálda 162)—is hardly intelligible unless we accept the spelling with an aspirate (að), and say that þvað is = þvá = þváði, lavabat; it may be that by the time of Thorodd and Ari the pure old pronunciation was lost, or is ‘þvat’ simply the A. S. þvât, secuit? The Icelanders still, however, keep the tenuis in compounds before a vowel, or before h, v, or the liquids l, r, thus—atyrða, atorka, athöfn, athugi, athvarf, athlægi; atvinna, atvik; atlaga, atlíðanði ( slope), atriði, atreið, atróðr: but aðdjúpr, aðfinsla (critic), aðferð, aðkoma, aðsókn, aðsúgr (crowding), aðgæzla. In some words the pronunciation is irregular, e. g. atkvæði not aðkv-; atburðr, but aðbúnaðr; aðhjúkran not athjúkran; atgörvi not aðgörfi. At, to, towards; into; against; along, by; in regard to; after.

Mostly with dat.; rarely with acc.; and sometimes ellipt.—by dropping the words ‘home,’ ‘house,’ or the like—with gen.

WITH DAT.

A. LOC.

I. WITH MOTION; gener. the motion to the borders, limits of an object, and thus opp. to frá:

1. towards, against, with or without the notion of arrival, esp. connected with verbs denoting motion (verba movendi et eundi), e. g. fara, ganga, koma, lúta, snúa, rétta at…; Otkell laut at Skamkatli, O. louted (i. e. bowed down) towards S., Nj. 77, Fms. xi. 102; sendimaðrinn sneri ( turned) hjöltum sverðsins at konungi, towards the king, i. 15; hann sneri egginni at Ásgrími, turned the edge towards A., Nj. 220; rétta e-t at e-m, to reach, hand over, Ld. 132; ganga at, to step towards, Ísl. ii. 259.

2. denoting proximity, close up to, up to; Brynjólfr gengr … allt at honum, B. goes quite up to him, Nj. 58; Gunnarr kom þangat at þeim örunum, G. reached them even there with his arrows, 115; þeir kómust aldri at honum, they could never get near him, to close quarters, id.; reið maðr at þeim (up to them), 274; þeir höfðu rakit sporin allt at ( right up to) gammanum, Fms. i. 9; komu þeir at sjó fram, came down to the sea, Bárð. 180.

3. without reference to the space traversed, to or at; koma at landi, to land, Ld. 38, Fms. viii. 358; ríða at dyrum, Boll. 344; hlaupa at e-m, to run up to, run at, Fms. vii. 218, viii. 358; af sjáfarganginum er hann gekk at landinu, of the surf dashing against the shore, xi. 6; vísa ólmum hundi at manni, to set a fierce hound at a man, Grág. ii. 118; leggja e-n at velli, to lay low, Eg. 426, Nj. 117; hníga at jörðu, at grasi, at moldu, to bite the dust, to die, Njarð. 378; ganga at dómi, a law term, to go into court, of a plaintiff, defendant, or bystander, Nj. 87 (freq.)

4. denoting a motion along, into, upon; ganga at stræti, to walk along the street, Korm. 228, Fms. vii. 39; at ísi, on the ice, Skálda 198, Fms. vii. 19, 246, viii. 168, Eb. 112 new Ed. (á is perh. wrong); máttu menn ganga bar yfir at skipum einum, of ships alone used as a bridge, Fas. i. 378; at höfðum, at nám, to trample on the slain on the battle-field, Lex. Poët.; at ám, along the rivers; at merkiósum, at the river’s mouth, Grág. ii. 355; at endilöngu baki, all along its back, Sks. 100.

5. denoting hostility, to rush at, assault; renna at, hlaupa at, ganga, fara, ríða, sækja, at e-m, (v. those words), whence the nouns atrenna, athlaup, atgangr, atför, atreið, atsókn, etc.

β. metaph., kom at þeim svefnhöfgi, deep sleep fell on them, Nj. 104. Esp. of weather, in the impers. phrase, hríð, veðr, vind, storm görir at e-m, to be overtaken by a snow storm, gale, or the like; görði þá at þeim þoku mikla, they were overtaken by a thick fog, Bárð. 171.

6. denoting around, of clothing or the like; bregða skikkju at höfði sér, to wrap his cloak over his head, Ld. 62; vefja motri at höfði sér, to wrap a snood round her head, 188; sauma at, to stick, cling close, as though sewn on; sauma at höndum sér, of tight gloves, Bs. i. 453; kyrtill svá þröngr sem saumaðr væri at honum, as though it were stitched to him, Nj. 214; vafit at vándum dreglum, tight laced with sorry tags, id.; hosa strengd fast at beini, of tight hose, Eg. 602; hann sveipar at sér iðrunum ok skyrtunni, he gathers up the entrails close to him and the skirt too, Gísl. 71; laz at síðu, a lace on the side, to keep the clothes tight, Eg. 602.

β. of burying; bera grjót at einum, to heap stones upon the body, Eg. 719; var gör at þeim dys or grjóti, Ld. 152; gora kistu at líki, to make a coffin for a body, Eb. 264, Landn. 56, Ld. 142.

γ. of summoning troops or followers; stefna at sér mönnum, to summon men to him, Nj. 104; stefna at sér liði, Eg. 270; kippa mönnum at sér, to gather men in haste, Ld. 64.

7. denoting a business, engagement; ríða at hrossum, at sauðum, to go looking after after horses, watching sheep, Glúm. 362, Nj. 75; fara at fé, to go to seek for sheep, Ld. 240; fara at heyi, to go a-haymaking, Dropl. 10; at veiðum, a-hunting; at fuglum, a-fowling; at dýrum, a-sbooting; at fiski, a-fishing; at veiðiskap, Landn. 154, Orkn. 416 (in a verse), Nj. 25; fara at landskuldum, to go a-collecling rents, Eg. 516; at Finnkaupum, a-marketing with Finns, 41; at féföngum, a-plundering, Fms. vii. 78; ganga at beina, to wait on guests, Nj. 50; starfa at matseld, to serve at table, Eb. 266; hitta e-n at nauðsynjum, on matters of business; at máli, to speak with one, etc., Fms. xi. 101; rekast at e-m, to pursue one, ix. 404; ganga at liði sér, to go suing for help, Grág. ii. 384.

β. of festivals; snúa, fá at blóti, veizlu, brullaupi, to prepare for a sacrificial banquet, wedding, or the like, hence at-fangadagr, Eb. 6, Ld. 70; koma at hendi, to happen, befall; ganga at sínu, to come by one’s own, to take it, Ld. 208; Egill drakk hvert full er at honum kom, drained every horn that came to him, Eg. 210; komast at keyptu, to purchase dearly, Húv. 46.

8. denoting imaginary motion, esp. of places, cp. Lat. spectare, vergere ad…, to look or lie towards; horfði botninn at höfðanum, the bight of the bay looked toward the headland, Fms. i. 340, Landn. 35; also, skeiðgata liggr at læknum, leads to the brook, Ísl. ii. 339; á þann arminn er vissi at sjánum, on that wing which looked toward the sea, Fms. viii. 115; sár þau er horft höfðu at Knúti konungi, xi. 309.

β. even connected with verbs denoting motion; Gilsáreyrr gengr austan at Fljótinu, G. extends, projects to F. from the east, Hrafh. 25; hjá sundi því, er at gengr þingstöðinni, Fms. xi. 85.

II. WITHOUT MOTION; denoting presence at, near, by, at the side of, in, upon; connected with verbs like sitja, standa, vera…; at kirkju, at church, Fms. vii. 251, K. f). K. 16, Ld. 328, Ísl. ii. 270, Sks. 36; vera at skála, at húsi, to be in, at home, Landn. 154; at landi, Fms. i. 82; at skipi, on shipboard, Grág. i. 209, 215; at oldri, at a banquet, inter pocula; at áti, at dinner, at a feast, inter edendum, ii. 169, 170; at samförum ok samvistum, at public meetings, id.; at dómi, in a court; standa (to take one’s stand) norðan, sunnan, austan, vestan at dómi, freq. in the proceedings at trials in lawsuits, Nj.; at þingi, present at the parliament, Grág. i. 142; at lögbergi, o n the hill of laws, 17, Nj.; at baki e-m, at the back of.

2. denoting presence, partaking in; sitja at mat, to sit at meat, Fms. i. 241; vera at veizlu, brullaupi, to be at a banquet, nuptials, Nj. 51, Ld. 70: a law term, vera at vígi, to be an accessory in manslaying, Nj. 89, 100; vera at e-u simply means to be about, be busy in, Fms. iv. 237; standa at máli, to stand by one in a case, Grág. ii. 165, Nj. 214; vera at fóstri, to be fostered, Fms. i. 2; sitja at hégóma, to listen to nonsense, Ld. 322; vera at smíð, to be at one’s work, Þórð. 62: now absol., vera at, to go on with, be busy at.

3. the law term vinna eið at e-u has a double meaning:

α. vinna eið at bók, at baugi, to make an oath upon the book by laying the band upon it, Landn. 258, Grág., Nj.; cp. Vkv. 31, Gkv. 3. 3, Hkv. 2. 29, etc.: ‘við’ is now used in this sense.

β. to confirm a fact (or the like) by an oath, to swear to, Grág. i. 9, 327.

γ. the law phrase, nefna vátta at e-u, of summoning witnesses to a deed, fact, or the like; nefna vátta at benjum, to produce evidence, witnesses as to the wounds, Nj., Grág.; at görð, Eg. 738; at svörum, Grág. i. 19: this summoning of witnesses served in old lawsuits the same purpose as modern pleadings and depositions; every step in a suit to be lawful must be followed by such a summoning or declaration.

4. used ellipt., vera at, to be about, to be busy at; kvalararnir er at vóru at pína hann, who were tormenting him; þar varstu at, you were there present, Skálda 162; at várum þar, Gísl. (in a verse): as a law term ‘vera at’ means to be guilty, Glúm. 388; vartattu at þar, Eg. (in a verse); hence the ambiguity of Glum’s oath, vask at þar, I was there present: var þar at kona nokkur ( was there busy) at binda sár manna, Fms. v. 91; hann var at ok smíðaði skot, Rd. 313; voru Varbelgir at ( about) at taka af, þau lög …, Fms. ix. 512; ek var at ok vafk, I was about weaving, xi. 49; þeir höfðu verit at þrjú sumur, they had been busy at it for three summers, x. 186 (now very freq.); koma at, come in, to arrive unexpectedly; Gunnarr kom at í því, G. came in at that moment; hvaðan komtú nú at, whence did you come? Nj. 68, Fms. iii. 200.

5. denoting the kingdom or residence of a king or princely person; konungr at Danmörk ok Noregi, king of…, Fms. i. 119, xi. 281; konungr, jarl, at öllum Noregi, king, earl, over all N., íb. 3, 13, Landn. 25; konungr at Dyflinni, king of Dublin, 25; but í or yfir England!, Eg. 263: cp. the phrase, sitja at landi, to reside, of a king when at home, Hkr. i. 34; at Joini, Fms. xi. 74: used of a bishop; biskup at Hólum, bishop of Hólar, Íb. 18, 19; but biskup í Skálaholti, 19: at Rómi, at Rome, Fbr. 198.

6. in denoting a man’s abode (vide p. 5, col. 1, l. 27), the prep. ‘at’ is used where the local name implies the notion of by the side of, and is therefore esp. applied to words denoting a river, brook, rock, mountain, grove, or the like, and in some other instances, by, at, e. g. at Hofi (a temple), Landn. 198; at Borg ( a castle), 57; at Helgafelli (a mountain), Eb. constantly so; at Mosfelli, Landn. 190; at Hálsi (a hill), Fms. xi. 22; at Bjargi, Grett. 90; Hálsum, Landn. 143; at Á ( river), 296, 268; at Bægisá, 212; Giljá, 332; Myrká, 211; Vatnsá, id.; þverá, Glúm. 323; at Fossi (a ‘force’ or waterfall), Landn. 73; at Lækjamoti (waters-meeting), 332; at Hlíðarenda ( end of the lithe or hill), at Bergþórshváli, Nj.; at Lundi (a grove), at Melum (sandhill), Landn. 70: the prep. ‘á’ is now used in most of these cases, e. g. á Á, á Hofi, Helgafelli, Felli, Hálsi, etc.

β. particularly, and without any regard to etymology, used of the abode of kings or princes, to reside at; at Uppsölum, at Haugi, Alreksstöðum, at Hlöðum, Landn., Fms.

γ. konungr lét kalla at stofudyrum, the king made a call at the hall door, Eg. 88; þeir kölluðu at herberginu, they called at the inn, Fms. ix. 475.

7. used ellipt. with a gen., esp. if connected with such words as gista, to be a guest, lodge, dine, sup (of festivals or the like) at one’s home; at Marðar, Nj. 4; at hans, 74; þingfesti at þess bóanda, Grág. i. 152; at sín, at one’s own home, Eg. 371, K. Þ. K. 62; hafa náttstað at Freyju, at the abode of goddess Freyja, Eg. 603; at Ránar, at Ran’s, i. e. at Ran’s house, of drowned men who belong to the queen of the sea, Ran, Eb. 274; at hins heilaga Ólafs konungs, at St. Olave’s church, Fms. vi. 63: cp. ad Veneris, εις Κίμωνος.

B. TEMP.

I. at, denoting a point or period of time; at upphafi, at first, in the beginning, Ld. 104; at lyktum, at síðustu, at lokum, at last; at lesti, at last, Lex. Poët., more freq. á lesti; at skilnaði, at parting, at last, Band. 3; at fornu, in times of yore, formerly, Eg. 267, D. I. i. 635; at sinni, as yet, at present; at nýju, anew, of present time; at eilífu, for ever and ever; at skömmu, soon, shortly, Ísl. ii. 272, v. l.

II. of the very moment when anything happens, the beginning of a term; denoting the seasons of the year, months, weeks, the hours of the day; at Jólum, at Yule, Nj. 46; at Pálmadegi, on Palm Sunday, 273; at Páskum, at Easter; at Ólafsvöku, on St. Olave’s eve, 29th of July, Fms.; at vetri, at the beginning of the winter, on the day when winter sets in, Grág. 1. 151; at sumarmálum, at vetrnáttum; at Tvímánaði, when the Double month (August) begins, Ld. 256, Grág. i. 152; at kveldi, at eventide, Eg. 3; at því meli, at that time; at eindaga, at the term, 395; at eykð, at 4 o’clock p. m., 198; at öndverðri æfi Abra hams, Ver. II; at sinni, now at once, Fms. vi. 71; at öðruhverju, every now and then.

β. where the point of time is marked by some event; at þingi, at the meeting of parliament (18th to the 24th of June), Ld. 182; at féránsdómi, at the court of execution, Grág. i. 132, 133; at þinglausnum, at the close of the parliament (beginning of July), 140; at festarmálum, eðr at eiginorði, at betrothal or nuptials, 174; at skilnaði, when they parted, Nj. 106 (above); at öllum minnum, at the general drinking of the toasts, Eg. 253; at fjöru, at the ebb; at flæðum, at flood tide, Fms. viii. 306, Orkn. 428; at hrörum, at an inquest, Grág. i. 50 (cp. ii. 141, 389); at sökum, at prosecutions, 30; at sinni, now, as yet, v. that word.

III. ellipt., or adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr,’ of the future time:

1. ellipt., komanda or the like being understood, with reference to the seasons of the year; at sumri, at vetri, at hausti, at vári, next summer, winter…, Ísl. ii. 242; at miðju sumri, at ári, at Midsummer, next year, Fas. i. 516; at miðjum vetri, Fms. iv. 237,

2. adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr;’ at ári komanda, Bárð. 177; at vári er kemr, Dipl. iii. 6.

IV. used with an absolute dat. and with a pres. part.:

1. with pres. part.; at morni komanda, on the coming morrow, Fms. i. 263; at sér lifanda, in vivo, in his life time, Grág. ii. 202; at þeim sofundum, illis dormientibus, Hkr. i. 234; at öllum ásjándum, in the sight of all, Fms. x. 329; at úvitanda konungi, illo nesciente, without his knowledge, 227; at áheyranda höfðingjanum, in the chief’s bearing, 235.

2. of past time with a past part. (Lat. abl. absol.); at hræjum fundnum, on the bodies being found, Grág. ii. 87; at háðum dómum ok föstu þingi, during the session, the courts being set, i. 484; at liðnum sex vikum, after six weeks past, Band. 13; at svá búnu, so goru, svá komnu, svá mæltu (Lat. quibus rebus gestis, dictis, quo facto, dicto, etc.), v. those words; at úreyndu, without trial, without put ting one to the test, Ld. 76; at honum önduðum, illo mortuo.

3. ellipt. without ‘at;’ en þessum hlutum fram komnum, when all this has been done, Eb. 132.

V. in some phrases with a slight temp, notion; at görðum gildum, the fences being strong, Gþl. 387; at vörmu spori, at once, whilst the trail is warm; at úvörum, unawares, suddenly, Nj. 95, Ld. 132; at þessu, at this cost, on that condition, Eb. 38, Nj. 55; at illum leiki, to have a narrow escape, now við illan leik, Fms. ix. 473; at því, that granted, Grág. ii. 33: at því, at pessu, thereafter, thereupon, Nj. 76.

2. denoting succession, without interruption, one after another; hverr at öðrum, annarr maðr at öðrum, aðrir at öðrum; eina konu at annarri, Eg. 91, Fms. ii. 236, vi. 25, Bs. i. 22, 625. 80, H. E. i. 522.

C. METAPH. and in various cases:

I. denoting a transformation or change into, to, with the notion of destruction; brenna at ösku, at köldum kolum, to burn to ashes, to be quite destroyed, Fms. i. 105, Edda 3, Sturl. ii. 51: with the notion of transformation or transfiguration, in such phrases as, verða at e-u, göra e-t at e-u, to turn it into:

α. by a spell; verða at ormi, to become a snake, Fms. xi. 158; at flugdrekum, Gullþ. 7; urðu þau bönd at járni, Edda 40.

β. by a natural process it can often be translated by an acc. or by as; göra e-n at urðarmanni, to make him an outlaw, Eg. 728; græða e-n at orkumlamanni, to heal him so as to maim him for life, of bad treatment by a leech, Eb. 244: in the law terms, sár görist at ben, a wound turning into a ben, proving to be mortal, Grág., Nj.; verða at ljúgvætti, to prove to be a false evidence, Grág. i. 44; verða at sætt, to turn into reconciliation, Fms. i. 13; göra e-t at reiði málum, to take offence at, Fs. 20; at nýjum tíðindum, to tell as news, Nj. 14; verða fátt at orðum, to be sparing of words, 18; kveðr (svá) at orði, to speak, utter, 10; verða at þrifnaði, to geton well, Fms. vii. 196: at liði, at skaða, to be a help or hurt to one; at bana, to cause one’s death, Nj. 223, Eg. 21, Grág. ii. 29: at undrum, at hlátri, to become a wonder, a laughing-stock, 623. 35, Eg. 553.

II. denoting capacity, where it may be translated merely by as or for; gefa at Jólagjöf, to give for a Christmas-box, Eg. 516; at gjöf, for a present; at erfð, at láni, launum, as an inheritance, a loan; at kaupum ok sökum, for buying and selling, Ísl. ii. 223, Grág. i. 423; at solum, ii. 204; at herfangi, as spoil or plunder; at sakbótum, at niðgjöldum, as a compensation, weregeld, i. 339, ii. 171, Hkr. ii. 168; taka at gíslingu, to take as an hostage, Edda 15; eiga e-n at vin, at óvin, to have one as friend or foe, illt er at eiga þræl at eingavin, ‘tis ill to have a thrall for one’s bosom friend (a proverb), Nj. 77; fæða, eiga, at sonum (syni), to beget a son, Edda 8, Bs. i. 60 (but eiga at dóttur cannot be said); hafa möttul at yfirhöfn, Fms. vii. 201; verða nökkut at manni (mönnum), to turn out to be a worthy man; verða ekki at manni, to turn out a worthless person, xi. 79, 268.

2. in such phrases as, verða at orðum, to come towards, Nj. 26; var þat at erindum, Eg. 148; hafa at veizlum, to draw veizlur ( dues) from, Fms. iv. 275, Eg. 647; gora e-t at álitum, to take it into consideration, Nj. 3.

III. denoting belonging to, fitting, of parts of the whole or the like; vóru at honum (viz. the sword) hjölt gullbúin, the sword was ornamented with a hilt of gold, Ld. 330; umgörð at ( belonging to) sverði, Fs. 97 (Hs.) in a verse; en ef mór er eigi at landinu, if there be no turf moor belonging to the land, Grág. ii. 338; svá at eigi brotnaði nokkuð at Orminum, so that no harm happened to the ship Worm, Fms. x. 356; hvatki er meiðir at skipinu eðr at reiðinu eðr at viðum, damage done t o …, Grág. ii. 403; lesta ( to injure) hús at lásum, við eðr torfi, 110; ef land hefir batnað at húsum, if the land has been bettered as to its buildings, 210; cp. the phrase, göra at e-u, to repair: hamlaðr at höndum eðr fótum, maimed as to hands or feet, Eg. 14; heill at höndum en hrumr at fótum, sound in band, palsied in foot, Fms. vii. 12; lykill at skrá, a key belonging, fitting, to the latch; hurð at húsi; a key ‘gengr at’ ( fits) skrá; and many other phrases. 2. denoting the part by which a thing is held or to which it belongs, by; fá, taka at…, to grasp by …; þú tókt við sverði hans at hjöltunum, you took it by the bill, Fms. i. 15; draga út björninn at hlustum, to pull out the bear by the ears, Fas. ii. 237; at fótum, by the feet, Fms. viii. 363; mæla ( to measure) at hrygg ok at jaðri, by the edge or middle of the stuff, Grág. i. 498; kasta e-m at höfði, head foremost, Nj. 84; kjósa e-n at fótum, by the feet alone, Edda 46; hefja frændsemi at bræðrum, eða at systkynum, to reckon kinship by the brother’s or the sister’s side, Grág. i. 28; kjósa at afli, at álitum, by strength, sight, Gs. 8, belongs rather to the following.

IV. in respect of, as regards, in regard to, as to; auðigr at fé, wealthy of goods, Nj. 16, 30, 51; beztir hestar at reið, the best racehorses, 186; spekingr at viti, a man of great intellect, Ld. 124; vænn (fagr) at áliti, fair of face, Nj. 30, Bs. i. 61; kvenna vænst at ásjónu ok vits munum, of surpassing beauty and intellect, Ld. 122; fullkominn at hyggju, 18; um fram aðra menn at vinsældum ok harðfengi, of surpassing popularity and hardihood, Eb. 30.

2. a law term, of challenging jurors, judges, or the like, on account of, by reason of; ryðja ( to challenge) at mægðum, guðsifjum, frændsemi, hrörum …; at leiðarlengd, on account of distance, Grág. i. 30, 50, Nj. (freq.)

3. in arithm. denoting proportion; at helmingi, þriðjungi, fjórðungi, tíunda hluta, cp. Lat. ex asse, quadrante, for the half, third… part; máttr skal at magni (a proverb), might and main go together, Hkr. ii. 236; þú munt vera at því mikill fræðimaðr á kvæði, in the same proportion, as great, Fms. vi. 391, iii. 41; at e-s hluta, at… leiti, for one’s part, in turn, as far as one is con cerned, Grág. i. 322, Eg. 309, Fms. iii. 26 (freq.): at öðrum kosti, in the other case, otherwise (freq.) More gener., at öllu, öngu, in all (no) respects; at sumu, einhverju, nokkru, partly; at flestu, mestu, chiefly.

4. as a paraphrase of a genitive; faðir, móðir at barni (= barns); aðili at sök (= sakar a.); morðingi at barni (= barns), faðerni at barni (barns); illvirki at fé manna (cp. Lat. felo de se), niðrfall at sökum (saka), land gangr at fiskum (fiska), Fms. iv. 274, Grág. i. 277, 416, N. G. L. i. 340, K. Þ. K. 112, Nj. 21.

5. the phrase ‘at sér,’ of himself or in himself, either ellipt. or by adding the participle görr, and with the adverbs vel, ilia, or the like; denoting breeding, bearing, endowments, character …; væn kona, kurteis ok vel at sér, an accomplished, well-bred, gifted lady, Nj. I; vitr maðr ok vel at sér, a wise man and thoroughly good in feeling and bearing, 5; þú ert maðr vaskr ok vel at þér, 49; gerr at sér, accomplished, 51; bezt at sér görr, the finest, best bred man, 39, Ld. 124; en þó er hann svá vel at sér, so generous, Nj. 77; þeir höfðingjar er svá vóru vel at sér, so noble-minded, 198, Fms. i. 160: the phrase ‘at sér’ is now only used of knowledge, thus maðr vel að sér means clever, a man of great knowledge; illa að sér, a blockhead.

6. denoting relations to colour, size, value, age, and the like; hvitr, svartr, grár, rauðr … at lit, white, swarthy, gray, red … of colour, Bjarn. 55, 28, Ísl. ii. 213, etc.; mikill, lítill, at stærð, vexti, tall, small of size, etc.; ungr, gamall, barn, at aldri, young, old, a child of age; tvítugr, þrítugr … at aldri, twenty, thirty … years of age (freq.): of animals; kyr at fyrsta, öðrum … kálfi, a cow having calved once, twice…, Jb. 346: value, amount, currency of money, kaupa e-t at mörk, at a mark, N. G. L. 1. 352; ok er eyririnn at mörk, amounts to a mark, of the value of money, Grág. i. 392; verðr þá at hálfri murk vaðmála eyrir, amounts to a half a mark, 500.

β. metaph. of value, connected with verbs denoting to esteem, hold; meta, hafa, halda at miklu, litlu, vettugi, engu, or the like, to hold in high or low esteem, to care or not to care for (freq.): geta e-s at góðu, illu, öngu, to mention one favourably, unfavourably, indifferently … (freq.), prop. in connection with. In many cases it may be translated by in; ekki er mark at draumum, there is no meaning in dreams, no heed is to be paid to dreams, Sturl. ii. 217; bragð er at þá barnið finnr, it goes too far, when even a child takes offence (a proverb): hvat er at því, what does it mean? Nj. 11; hvert þat skip er vöxtr er at, any ship of mark, i. e. however small, Fms. xi. 20.

V. denoting the source of a thing:

1. source of infor mation, to learn, perceive, get information from; Ari nam ok marga fræði at Þuríði, learnt as her pupil, at her hands, as St. Paul at the feet of Gamaliel, (just as the Scotch say to speer or ask at a person); Ari nam at Þorgeiri afraðskoll, Hkr. (pref.); nema kunnáttu at e-m, used of a pupil, Fms. i. 8; nema fræði at e-m, xi. 396.

2. of receiving, acquiring, buying, from; þiggja e-t at e-m, to receive a thing at his hands, Nj. 51; líf, to be pardoned, Fms. x. 173; kaupa land at e-m, to buy it from, Landn. 72, Íb. II, (now af is more freq. in this sense); geta e-t at e-m, to obtain, procure at one’s hands, impetrare; þeirra manna er þeir megu þat geta at, who are willing to do that, Grág. i. I; heimta e-t at e-m (now af), to call in, demand (a debt, money), 279; fala e-t at e-m (now af), to chaffer for or cheapen anything, Nj. 73; sækja e-t at e-m, to ask, seek for; sækja heilræði ok traust at e-m, 98; leiga e-t at e-m (now af), to borrow, Grág. ii. 334; eiga e-t (fé, skuld) at e-m, to be owed money by any one, i. 399: metaph. to deserve of one, Nj. 113; eiga mikit at e-m, to have much to do with, 138; hafa veg, virðing, styrk, at, to derive honour, power from, Fms. vi. 71, Eg. 44, Bárð. 174; gagn, to be of use, Ld. 216; mein, tálma, mischief, disadvantage, 158, 216, cp. Eg. 546; ótta, awe, Nj. 68.

VI. denoting conformity, according to, Lat. secundum, ex, after; at fornum sið, Fms. i. 112; at sögn Ara prests, as Ari relates, on his authority, 55; at ráði allra vitrustu manna, at the advice of, Ísl. ii. 259, Ld. 62; at lögum, at landslögum, by the law of the land, Grág., Nj.; at líkindum, in all likelihood, Ld. 272; at sköpum, in due course (poet.); at hinum sama hætti, in the very same manner, Grág. i. 90; at vánum, as was to be expected, Nj. 255; at leyfi e-s, by one’s leave, Eg. 35; úlofi, Grág. ii. 215; at ósk, vilja e-s, as one likes…; at mun, id. (poet.); at sólu, happily (following the course of the sun), Bs. i. 70, 137; at því sem …, as to infer from …, Nj. 124: ‘fara, láta, ganga at’ denotes to yield, agree to, to comply with, give in, Ld. 168, Eg. 18, Fms. x. 368.

VII. in phrases nearly or quite adverbial; gróa, vera græddr, at heilu, to be quite healed, Bárð. 167, Eb. 148; bíta at snöggu, to bite it bare, Fms. xi. 6; at þurru, till it becomes dry, Eb. 276; at endilöngu, all along, Fas. ii; vinnast at litlu, to avail little, 655 x. 14; at fullu, fully, Nj. 257, Hkr. i. 171; at vísu, of a surety, surely, Ld. 40; at frjálsu, freely, 308; at líku, at sömu, equally, all the same, Hom. 80, Nj. 267; at röngu, wrongly, 686 B. 2; at hófi, temperately, Lex. Poët.; at mun, at ráði, at marki, to a great extent; at hringum, utterly, all round, (rare), Fms. x. 389; at einu, yet, Orkn. 358; svá at einu, því at einu, allt at einu, yet, however, nevertheless.

VIII. connected with comparatives of adverbs and adjectives, and strengthening the sense, as in Engl. ‘the,’ so much the more, all the more; ‘at’ heldr tveimr, at ek munda gjarna veita yðr öllum, where it may be translated by so much the more to two, as I would willingly grant it to all of you; hon grét at meir, she grat (wept) the more, Eg. 483; þykir oss at líkara, all the more likely, Fms. viii. 6; þess at harðari, all the harder, Sturl. iii. 202 C; svá at hinn sé bana at nær, Grág. ii. 117; at auðnara, at hólpnara, the more happy, Al. 19, Grett. 116 B; þess at meiri, Fms. v. 64; auvirðismaðr at meiri, Sturl. ii. 139; maðr at vaskari, id.; at feigri, any the more fey, Km. 22; maðr at verri, all the worse, Nj. 168; ok er ‘at’ firr…, at ek vil miklu heldr, cp. Lat. tantum abest… ut, Eg. 60.

β. following after a negation; eigi at síðr, no less, Nj. 160, Ld. 146; eigi… at meiri maðr, any better, Eg. 425, 489; erat héra at borgnara, any the better off for that, Fms. vii. 116; eigi at minni, no less for that, Edda (pref.) 146; eigi at minna, Ld. 216, Fms. ix. 50; ekki at verri drengr, not a bit worse for that, Ld. 42; er mér ekki son minn at bættari, þótt…, 216; at eigi vissi at nær, any more, Fas. iii. 74.

IX. following many words:

1. verbs, esp. those denoting, a. to ask, enquire, attend, seek, e. g. spyrja at, to speer (ask) for; leita at, to seek for; gæta, geyma at, to pay attention to; huga, hyggja at; hence atspurn, to enquire, aðgæzla, athugi, attention, etc.

β. verbs denoting laughter, play, joy, game, cp. the Engl. to play at …, to laugh at …; hlæja, brosa at e-u, to laugh, smile at it; leika (sér) at e-u, to play at; þykja gaman at, to enjoy; hæða, göra gys at …, to make sport at …

γ. verbs denoting assistance, help; standa, veita, vinna, hjálpa at; hence atstoð, atvinna, atverk:—mode, proceeding; fara at, to proceed, hence atför and atferli:—compliance; láta, fara at e-u, v. above:— fault; e-t er at e-u, there is some fault in it, Fms. x. 418; skorta at e-u, to fall short of, xi. 98:—care, attendance; hjúkra at, hlýja at, v. these words:—gathering, collecting; draga, reiða, flytja, fá at, congerere:—engagement, arrival, etc.; sækja at, to attack; ganga at, vera at, to be about; koma at, ellipt. to arrive: göra at, to repair: lesta at, to impair (v. above); finna at, to criticise (mod.); telja at, id.: bera at, to happen; kveða at e-m, to address one, 625. 15, (kveða at (ellipt.) now means to pronounce, and of a child to utter (read) whole syllables); falla at, of the flood-tide (ellipt.): metaph. of pains or straits surrounding one; þreyngja, herða at, to press hard: of frost and cold, with regard to the seasons; frjósa at, kólna at, to get really cold (SI. 44), as it were from the cold stiffening all things: also of the seasons themselves; hausta, vetra að, when the season really sets in; esp. the cold seasons, ‘sumra at’ cannot be used, yet we may say ‘vára að’ when the spring sets in, and the air gets mild.

δ. in numberless other cases which may partly be seen below.

2. connected ellipt. with adverbs denoting motion from a place; norðan, austan, sunnan, vestan at, those from the north, east…; utan at, innan at, from the outside or inside.

3. with adjectives (but rarely), e. g. kærr, elskr, virkr (affectionate), vandr (zealous), at e-m; v. these words.

WITH ACC.

TEMP.: Lat. post, after, upon, esp. freq. in poetry, but rare in prose writers, who use eptir; nema reisi niðr at nið (= maðr eptir mann), in succession, of erecting a monument, Hm. 71; in prose, at þat. posthac, deinde, Fms. x. 323, cp. Rm., where it occurs several times, 2, 6, 9, 14, 18, 24, 28, 30, 35; sonr á at taka arf at föður sinn, has to take the inheritance after his father, Grág. i. 170 new Ed.; eiga féránsdóm at e-n, Grág. i. 89; at Gamla fallinn, after the death of G., Fms. x. 382; in Edda (Gl.) 113 ought to be restored, grét ok at Oð, gulli Freyja, she grat (wept) tears of gold for her lost husband Od. It is doubtful if it is ever used in a purely loc. sense; at land, Grág. (Sb.)ii. 211, is probably corrupt; at hönd = á hönd, Grág. (Sb.) i. 135; at mót = at móti, v. this word.

☞ In compounds (v. below) at- or að- answers in turn to Lat. ad- or in- or con-; atdráttr e. g. denotes collecting; atkoma is adventus: it may also answer to Lat. ob-, in atburðr = accidence, but might also be compared with Lat. occurrere.

and að, the mark of the infinitive [cp. Goth. du; A. S. and Engl. to; Germ. zu]. Except in the case of a few verbs ‘at’ is always placed immediately before the infinitive, so as to be almost an inseparable part of the verb.

I. it is used either,

1. as, a simple mark of the infinitive, only denoting an action and independent of the subject, e. g. at ganga, at hlaupa, at vita, to go, to run, to know; or,

2. in an objective sense when following such verbs as bjóða segja…, to invite, command …; hann bauð þeim at ganga, at sitja, be bade, ordered them to go, sit, or the like; or as gefa and fá; gefa e-m at drekka, at eta, to give one to drink or to eat, etc. etc.

β. with the additional notion of intention, esp. when following verba cogitandi; hann ætlaði, hafði í hyggju at fara, he had it in his mind to go (where ‘to go’ is the real object to ætlaði and hafði í hyggju).

3. answering to the Gr. ινα, denoting intention, design, in order to; hann gékk í borg at kaupa silfr, in order to buy, Nj. 280; hann sendi riddara sína með þeim at varðveita þær, 623. 45: in order to make the phrase more plain, ‘svá’ and ‘til’ are frequently added, esp. in mod. writers, ‘svá at’ and contr. ‘svát’ (the last however is rare), ‘til at’ and ‘til þess at,’ etc.

II. in the earlier times the infin., as in Greek and Lat., had no such mark; and some verbs remain that cannot be followed by ‘at;’ these verbs are almost the same in Icel. as in Engl.:

α. the auxiliary verbs vil, mun ( μέλλω), skal; as in Engl. to is never used after the auxiliaries shall, will, must; ek vil ganga, I will go; ek mun fara, (as in North. E.) I mun go; ek skal göra þat, I shall do that, etc.

β. the verbs kunna, mega, as in Engl. I can or may do, I dare say; svá hygginn at hann kunni fyrir sökum ráða, Grág. ii. 75; í öllu er prýða má góðan höfðingja, Nj. 90; vera má, it may be; vera kann þat, id.: kunnu, however, takes ‘at’ whenever it means to know, and esp. in common language in phrases such as, það kann að vera, but vera kann þat, v. above.

γ. lata, biðja, as in Engl. to let, to bid; hann lét (bað) þá fara, he let (bade) them go.

δ. þykkja, þykjast, to seem; hann þykir vera, he is thought to be: reflex., hann þykist vera, sibi videtur: impers., mér þykir vera, mibi videtur, in all cases without ‘at.’ So also freq. the verbs hugsa, hyggja, ætla, halda, to think, when denoting merely the act of thinking; but if there be any notion of intention or purpose, they assume the ‘at;’ thus hann ætlaði, hugði, þá vera góða menn, he thought them to be, acc. c. inf.; but ætlaði at fara, meant to go, etc.

ε. the verbs denoting to see, bear; sjá, líta, horfa á … ( videre); heyra, audire, as in Engl. I saw them come, I heard him tell, ek sá þá koma, ek heyrði hann tala.

ζ. sometimes after the verbs eiga and ganga; hann gékk steikja, be went to roast, Vkv. 9; eiga, esp. when a mere periphrasis instead of skal, móður sína á maðr fyrst fram færa (better at færa), Grág. i. 232; á þann kvið einskis meta, 59; but at meta, id. l. 24; ráða, nema, göra …, freq. in poetry, when they are used as simple auxiliary verbs, e. g. nam hann sér Högna hvetja at rúnum, Skv. 3. 43.

η. hljóta and verða, when used in the sense of must (as in Engl. he must go), and when placed after the infin.of another verb; hér muntu vera hljóta, Nj. 129; but hljóta at vera: fara hlýtr þú, Fms. 1. 159; but þú hlýtr at fara: verða vita, ii. 146; but verða at vita: hann man verða sækja, þó verðr (= skal) maðr eptir mann lifa, Fms. viii. 19, Fas. ii. 552, are exceptional cases.

θ. in poetry, verbs with the verbal neg. suffix ‘-at,’ freq. for the case of euphony, take no mark of the infinitive, where it would be indispensable with the simple verb, vide Lex. Poët. Exceptional cases; hvárt sem hann vill ‘at’ verja þá sök, eða, whatever he chooses, either, Grág. i. 64; fyrr viljum vér enga kórónu at bera, en nokkut ófrelsi á oss at taka, we would rather bear no crown than …, Fms. x. 12; the context is peculiar, and the ‘at’ purposely added. It may be left out ellipt.; e. g. þá er guð gefr oss finnast (= at finnast), Dipl. ii. 14; gef honum drekka (= at drekka), Pr. 470; but mostly in unclassical writers, in deeds, or the like, written nastily and in an abrupt style.

and að, conj. [Goth. þatei = οτι; A. S. þät; Engl. that; Germ, dass; the Ormul. and Scot. at, see the quotations sub voce in Jamieson; in all South-Teutonic idioms with an initial dental: the Scandinavian idioms form an exception, having all dropped this consonant; Swed. åt, Dan. at]. In Icel. the Bible translation (of the 16th century) was chiefly based upon that of Luther; the hymns and the great bulk of theol. translations of that time were also derived from Germany; therefore the germanised form það frequently appears in the Bible, and was often employed by theol. authors in sermons since the time of the Reformation. Jón Vidalin, the greatest modern Icel. preacher, who died in 1720, in spite of his thoroughly classical style, abounds in the use of this form; but it never took root in the language, and has never passed into the spoken dialect. After a relative or demonstr. pronoun, it freq. in mod. writers assumes the form eð, hver eð, hverir eð, hvað eð, þar eð. Before the prep. þú (tu), þ changes into t, and is spelt in a single word attú, which is freq. in some MS.;—now, however, pronounced aððú, aððeir, aððið …, = að þú…, with the soft Engl. th sound. It gener. answers to Lat. ut, or to the relat. pron. qui.

I. that, relative to svá, to denote proportion, degree, so…, that, Lat. tam, tantus, tot…, ut; svá mikill lagamaðr, at…, so great a lawyer, that…, Nj. 1; hárið svá mikit, at þat…, 2; svá kom um síðir því máli, at Sigvaldi, it came so far, that…, Fms. xi. 95, Edda 33. Rarely and unclass., ellipt. without svá; Bæringr var til seinn eptir honum, at hann … (= svá at), Bær. 15; hlífði honum, at hann sakaði ekki, Fas. iii. 441.

II. it is used,

1. with indic, in a narrative sense, answering partly to Gr. οτι, Lat. quod, ut, in such phrases as, it came to pass, happened that …; þat var einhverju sinni, at Höskuldr hafði vinaboð, Nj. 2; þat var á palmdrottinsdag, at Ólafr konungr gékk út um stræti, Fms. ii. 244.

2. with subj. answering to Lat. acc. with infin., to mark the relation of an object to the chief verb, e. g. vilda ek at þú réðist, I wished that you would, Nj. 57.

β. or in an oblique sentence, answering to ita ut…; ef svá kann verða at þeir láti…, if it may be so that they might…, Fms. xi. 94.

γ. with a subj. denoting design, answering to ϊνα or Lat. ut with subj., in order that; at öll veraldar bygðin viti, ut sciat totus orbis, Stj.; þeir skáru fyrir þá melinn, at þeir dæi eigi af sulti, ut ne fame perirent, Nj. 265; fyrsti hlutr bókarinnar er Kristindómsbálkr, at menn skili, in order that men may understand, Gþl. p. viii.

III. used in connection with conjunctions,

1. esp. þó, því, svá; þó at freq. contr. þótt; svát is rare and obsolete.

α. þóat, þótt (North. E. ‘thof’), followed by a subjunctive, though, although, Lat. etsi, quamquam (very freq.); þóat nokkurum mönnum sýnist þetta með freku sett… þá viljum vér, Fms. vi. 21: phrases as, gef þú mér þó at úverðugri, etsi indignae (dat.), Stj. MS. col. 315, are unclass., and influenced by the Latin: sometimes ellipt. without ‘þó,’ eigi mundi hón þá meir hvata göngu sinni, at (= þóat) hon hraeddist bana sinn, Edda 7, Nj. 64: ‘þó’ and ‘at’ separated, svarar hann þó rétt, at hann svari svá, Grág. i. 23; þó er rétt at nýta, at hann sé fyrr skorinn, answering to Engl. yet—though, Lat. attamen —etsi, K. Þ. K.

β. því at, because, Lat. nam, quia, with indic.; því at allir vóru gerfiligir synir hans, Ld. 68; því at af íþróttum verðr maðr fróðr, Sks. 16: separated, því þegi ek, at ek undrumst, Fms. iii. 201; því er þessa getið, at þat þótti, it i s mentioned because …, Ld. 68.

γ. svá at, so that, Lat. ut, ita ut; grátrinn kom upp, svá at eingi mátti öðrum segja, Edda 37: separated, so … that, svá úsvúst at …, so bad weather, that, Bs. i. 339, etc.

2. it is freq. used superfluously, esp. after relatives; hver at = hverr, quis; því at = því, igitur; hverr at þekkr ok þægiligr mun verða, Fms. v. 159; hvern stvrk at hann mundi fá, 44; ek undrumst hvé mikil ógnarraust at liggr í þér, iii. 201; því at ek mátti eigi þar vera elligar, því at þar var kristni vel haldin, Fas. i. 340.

IV. as a relat. conj.:

1. temp, when, Lat. quum; jafnan er ( est) mér þá verra er ( quum) ek fer á braut þaðan, en þá at ( quum) ek kem, Grett. 150 A; þar til at vér vitum, till we know, Fms. v. 52; þá at ek lýsta (= þá er), when, Nj. 233.

2. since, because; ek færi yðr (hann), at þér eruð í einum hrepp allir, because of your being all of the same Rape, Grág. i. 260; eigi er kynlegt at ( though) Skarphéðinn sé hraustr, at þat er mælt at…, because (since) it is a saying that…, Nj. 64.

V. in mod. writers it is also freq. superfluously joined to the conjunctions, ef að = ef, si, (Lv. 45 is from a paper MS.), meðan að = meðan, dum; nema að, nisi; fyrst að = fyrst, quoniam; eptir að, síðan að, postquam; hvárt að = hvárt, Lat. an. In the law we find passages such as, þá er um er dæmt eina sök, at þá eigu þeir aptr at ganga í dóminn, Grág. i. 79; ef þing ber á hina helgu viku, at þat á eigi fyrir þeim málum at standa, 106; þat er ok, at þeir skulu reifa mál manna, 64; at þeir skulu með váttorð þá sök sækja, 65: in all these cases ‘at’ is either superfluous or, which is more likely, of an ellipt. nature, ‘the law decrees’ or ‘it is decreed’ being understood. The passages Sks. 551, 552, 568, 718 B, at lokit (= at ek hefi lokit), at hugleitt (= at ek hefi h.), at sent (= at ek hefi sent) are quite exceptional.

and að, an indecl. relat. pronoun [Ulf. þatei = ος, ος αν, οστις, οσπερ, οιος, etc.; Engl. that, Ormul. at], with the initial letter dropped, as in the conj. at, (cp. also the Old Engl. at, which is both a conj. and a pronoun, e. g. Barbour vi. 24 in Jamieson: ‘I drede that his gret wassalage, | And his travail may bring till end, | That at men quhilc full litil wend.’ | ‘His mestyr speryt quhat tithings a t he saw.’—Wyntoun v. 3. 89.) In Icel. ‘er’ (the relat. pronoun) and ‘at’ are used indifferently, so that where one MS. reads ‘er,’ another reads ‘at,’ and vice versâ; this may easily be seen by looking at the MSS.; yet as a rule ‘er’ is much more freq. used. In mod. writers ‘at’ is freq. turned into ‘eð,’ esp. as a superfluous particle after the relative pron. hverr (hver eð, hvað eð, hverir eð, etc.), or the demonstr. sá (sá eð, þeir eð, hinir eð, etc.):—who, which, that, enn bezta grip at ( which) hafði til Íslands komið, Ld. 202; en engi mun sá at ( cui) minnisamara mun vera, 242; sem blótnaut at ( quae) stærst verða, Fms. iii. 214; þau tiðendi, at mér þætti verri, Nj. 64, etc. etc.

n. collision (poët.); odda at, crossing of spears, crash of spears, Höfuðl. 8.

β. a fight or bait of wild animals, esp. of horses, v. hesta-at and etja.

the negative verbal suffix, v. -a.

(-ar, -ir), m.

1) lot;

bera (leggja) hluti í skaut, to throw the lots into a cloth (lap of a garment);

skera (marka) hluti, to mark the lots;

2) amukt, talisman (hlutr er horfinn or pússi þínum);

3) share, allotment, portion (hann fœrði Ølvi skip sin ok kallar þat vera hans hlut);

4) part (of a whole);

höggva í tvá hluti, to cut in two parts;

mestr hlutr liðs, the most part of the company;

meiri hlutr dómanda, the majority of the judges;

tveim hlutum dýrra, twice as dear;

5) participation;

eiga hlut í e-u or at e-u, to have part in, be concerned in (mér uggir, at hér muni eigi gæfumenn hlut í eiga);

þar er þú ættir hlut at, wherein thou wast concerned;

6) condition, position, lot;

eiga hlut e-s, to be in one’s place (position);

ef þú ættir minn hlut, if thou wert in my place;

láta hlut sinn, to be worsted;

sitja yfir hlut e-s, to oppress, weigh a person down;

leggja hlut sinn við e-t, to cast in one’s lot with, to espouse a cause;

hafa (fá) hærra, meira (lægra) hlut, to get the best (worst) of it;

7) thing;

allir hlutir, all things;

kynligr hlutr, a strange thing;

um alla hluti, in all things, in all respects.

* * *

m., the original form was diphthongal, hlautr, like the Gothic, as is borne out by the kindred and derivative words hlaut, hleyti, q. v.; the acc. was weakened into o, hlotr, Fms. xi. 128; and lastly into u, hlutr; old nom. pl. hlotar, Jómsv. S. l. c., but commonly hlutir; gen. sing. hlutar: [Goth. hlauts = κληρος, Mark xv. 24, Col. i. 12, Ephes. i. 11, Luke i. 9; A. S. and Hel. hlot; Engl. lot; Germ. loos; Dan. lod; Swed. lott; the Goth., Germ., and earliest Scandin. have a long vowel, and prob. also A. S. and O. H. G. (hlôt, not hlot); the Ormul. spells lott with a short vowel, as is the case also in Icel., Dan., Swed., and Engl.]

A. A lot; the ceremony of drawing lots was like that described in Homer; each party marked his lot (skera or marka hluti), which was then thrown into a sheet (lap of a garment, bera or leggja hluti í skaut), and a third person came and drew a lot out; (it was not thrown out by shaking.) This drawing of lots was originally a sacred ceremony; it was used in sacrifices (by way of augury, see below), in sharing booty or an inheritance; in law the order in which suits came on was decided by lot, in banquets the seats of honour were so assigned (e. g. who was to sit next to the daughter of the house), etc. Many words in the language refer to this old rite, and the ceremony is thus described: en hluti skyldi skera ok í skaut bera, Fms. vii. 140; kom þat ásamt með þeim at hluti skyldi bera í skaut, … skyldi því hvárir-tveggju una sem hlutr segði, vóru þá hlutir markaðir; þá mælti Norðbrikt til Gyrgis: ‘lát mik sjá hversu þú markar þinn hlut at vit markim eigi báðir einn veg;’ hann gerði svá; síðan markaði Norðbrikt sinn hlut, ok kastaði í skaut ok svá báðir þeir; síðan gékk sá maðr at er til (upp, v. l.) skyldi taka, ok tók upp annan hlutinn milli fingra sér …; síðan var at hugat þeim hlutinum ok kenndu þar allir mark Gyrgis, vi. 136, 137: hverr maðr er sök hefir með at fara í dóm, þá skal hlut bera í skaut, einn, þótt hann hafi fleiri sakar í dóm þann, hverr maðr skal merkja hlut sinn ok bera alla saman í skaut, ok skal maðr taka fjóra hluti senn upp, Grág. i. 37; bjóða til hlutfalla ok bera þar hluti í skaut, 74; menn báru þá hluti sína í skaut ok tók jarlinn upp; … svá sagði hlutr til, at Egill skyldi sitja hjá jarls-dóttur um kveldit, Eg. 247; en þá er tólfmenningr var skipaðr til at sitja ok settir hlutir til hverr næst skyldi sitja Ástríði, dóttur Vigfúss hersis, ok hlaut Eyjólfr ávalt at sitja hjá henni, Glúm. 331: nú ræða þeir um goðorðit ok verða eigi ásáttir, vildi hverr sinn hlut ( case) fram draga; þá leggja þeir hluti í skaut, ok kom jafnan upp hlutr Silfra, Fs. 68; þeir lögðu hluti á, ok hlaut Þrándr, Fær.

2. of sacrifice; vóru þá görvir hlutir af vísinda-mönnum ( soothsayers), ok feldr blótspánn til, en svá gékk fréttin, at …, Fas. i. 452; cp. hristu teina ok á hlaut sá, Hym. 1; and, þá kná Hænir hlautvið kjósa (= taka upp hluti), Vsp. l. c.; see also hlaut, hlauttein, p. 270.

II. the hlutir were talismans or little images, which people used to wear on their persons; síðan tekr jarl skálar ( scales) góðar … ok fylgðu tvau met ( weights), annat af gulli en annat af silfri; þar var á líkneskja manns, ok hétu þat hlutar (hlotar sem fornmönnum var títt at hafa, add. in v. l.), ok fylgði sú náttúra, at þá er jarl lagði þá í skálarnar, ok kvað á hvat hvárr skyldi merkja, ok ef sá kom upp ( turned up) er hann vildi, þá breylti sá í skálinni svá at varð glamm af. Jarl gaf Einari skálarnar ok varð hann glaðr við ok síðan kallaðr Einarr Skálarglam, Jómsv. S. (1824) 37, 38; hlutr er horfinn ór pússi þínum sá er Haraldr konungr gaf þér í Hafrsfirði, ok er hann nú kominn í holt þat er þú munt byggja, ok er á hlutnum markaðr Freyr af silfri, Fs. 19; ok vili Freyr þar láta sinn hlut niðr koma er hann vill sitt sæmdar-sæti setja, 22; cp. Landn., hann sendi Finna tvá í hamförum til Íslands eptir hlut sínum, 174; hann hefir líkneski Þórs í pungi sínum af tönn gört …; nú fannsk engi sá ‘hlutr’ í hans valdi, Fs. 97: the ‘gumna heillir’ or talismans, mentioned in Sdm., were prob. hlutir.

B. Metaph., without the actual drawing of lots:

I. a share, allotment, portion; skal þat þeirra er biskup lofar skilnað, hafa slíkan hlut fjár ( portion) við annat, Grág. i. 329: of booty, hann færði Ölvi skip sín ok kallar þat vera hlut hans, Nj. 46: of a finder’s share, heimtir hlut af sauðunum, Háv. 40; halda til hlutar, id.

β. esp. of a fisherman’s share of the catch, Band. 4, cp. Höfuðl. 1; a fishing boat has one or two hundred … í hlut, each of the crew (hásetar) taking his ‘hlutr,’ and besides this there was a færis-hlutr ( line share) or netja-hlutr ( net share), skips-hlutr (ship’s share), and lastly for-manns-hlutr (foreman’s share, he getting double); see the remarks on aflausn.

γ. a share, lot, portion, of inheritance, often in early Dan. law, where the daughter received a half, the brother a whole portion, sun til ful lot, oc dotær til half lot, Wald. Sjæll. Lov., p. 1;—whence in Dan. broder-lod, söster-lod, = a brother’s, sister’s portion; en komi jafnmikit fé á hlut hvers þeirra, Grág. (Kb.) i. 220: of duty, kom þat á hlut Andreas postula, 625. 64.

2. metaph. phrases; láta hlut sinn, to let go one’s share, be worsted, Fms. i. 74, Fb. ii. 62; þeirra h. brann við, got singed, Hkr. ii. 178; þinn hlutr má ekki verða betri en góðr, thy case cannot be better than good, is as good as it can be, Nj. 256; ella muntú finna á þínum hlut, thou shalt find it to thy cost, Ld. 98; þeirra h. varð æ minni ok minni, their lot grew ever worse and worse, Fms. x. 250; eigi skyldi hennar h. batna við þat, her case should not mend with that, Nj. 52; sitja yfir hlut e-s, to oppress, weigh a person down, Eg. 512, Nj. 89, Fb. iii. 450; mínka sinn hlut, to yield one’s lot ( right), 451; láta sinn (hlut) undir liggja, to let one’s lot be the nethermost, Bárð.; leggja hlut sinn við e-t, to throw in one’s lot with a thing, to espouse a cause, run a risk, Lv. 45 (twice), Fb. iii. 166, Sturl. i. 162 C; eigi mundi svá Sverrir gera, ef hann ætti várn hlut, S. would not do so if he had our lot, our cards in his hand, Fms. viii. 392; eigi mundir þú svá renna frá þínum manni, ef þú ættir minn hlut, xi. 72; hafa (fá) hærra (meira, lægra) hlut, to get the better ( less) share, to get the best ( worst) of it, to win or lose, Eb. 194, Fs. 32, 113, Nj. 90, 224, Fas. i. 252, Fms. vi. 412, viii. 284, Hkv. 2. 19; hafa allan hlut mála, Bs. i. 82; eiga hlut at e-u, to own a share in, take part ( interest) in, interfere ( meddle) in a thing, be concerned about, Eb. 124, Nj. 27, 101, 119, Fms. xi. 83; þar er þú ættir hlut at, wherein thou wast concerned, Nj. 54; nú mun eigi mega sitjanda hlut í eiga, to take a sitter’s part in it, i. e. not stir in the matter, 110; hér munu eigi gæfu-menn í hlut eiga, 179; hafa inn vesta hlut af, to behave meanly, Eg. 271.

II. a part, Lat. pars; enn efra hlut Hrunamanna-hrepps, Landn. 312: mestr h. liðs, the most part of the body, Eg. 275; meiri hlutr, búa, dómanda …, the majority of the neighbours, judges …, Nj. 237, Grág. i. 79; tíundi h. eyrir, a tenth part of an ounce, 357: byggja jörð til hlutar, to lease an estate in shares, N. G. L. i. 137: sjau hlutum ljósari, seven times brighter, Eluc. 44; tveim hlutum dýrra, twice as dear, Landn. 243; eins hlutar ( on the one hand) … annars hlutar ( on the other hand), 625. 172.

III. a case, thing, Lat. res; hvern hlut, everything, Nj. 53; á engum hlut, in nothing, Fms. ii. 27; í öllum hlutum, in everything, passim; allir hlutir, all things, Edda 147 (pref.); aðra hluti, other things, Fms. i. 213; alla hluti þá er …, all things whatsoever, Ld. 18; allir þeirra hlutir, all their things, Fms. x. 250; fjórir eru þeir hlutir ( cases) er menn ber í átt, Grág. i. 361; hverngi hlut ( reason) er maðr vill til þess færa, 179; fyrir tengda sakir ok annarra stórra hluta er hér hvarfla í milli, Nj. 147; undarlegr, kynlegr h., a strange thing, Ld. 200, Fms. x. 169; iðna slíka hluti, Grág. i. 149; eru þér stórir hlutir á höndum, Fms. vii. 30: a deed, fact, orðinn h., a bygone thing, Fr. fait accompli, Nj. 20; einn lítill h., a little thing, small matter, Fms. ix. 448.

β. with neg. adv. = Engl. naught; görðit hlut þiggja, Am. 94; ekki lyt (lyf MS.), Skv. 1. 9; engi hluta(r), noways, 656 C. 25.

ὁ, [full] ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

A demonstr. Pronoun.

B in [dialect] Att., definite or prepositive Article.

C in [dialect] Ep., the so-called postpositive Article, = relative Pronoun, ὅς, ἥ, ὅ.—The nom. masc. and fem. sg. and pl., ὁ, ἡ, οἱ, αἱ, have no accent in codd. and most printed books, exc. when used as the relative ; but ὁ, ἡ, οἱ, αἱ differ only in writing from ὃ, ἣ, οἳ, αἳ ; the nom. forms of the article are said by Hdn.Gr.1.474 to be oxytone, and by A.D.Pron.8.7 not to be enclitic. The forms τῶν, τοῖς, ταῖς were barytone (i. e. τὼν, τοὶς, ταὶς ) in [dialect] Aeol. acc. to Aristarch. ap. A.D.Synt.51.26. For οἱ, αἱ some dialects (not Cypr., cf. Inscr.Cypr.135.30H., nor Cret., cf.Leg.Gort. 5.28, nor Lesbian, cf. Alc.81, Sapph.Supp.5.1 ) and Hom. have τοί, ταί (though οἱ, αἱ are also found in Hom.): other Homeric forms are gen. sg. τοῖο, gen. and dat. dual

τοῖιν Od.18.34

, al.: gen. pl. fem. τάων [pron. full] [ᾱ], dat. τοῖσι, τῇς and τῇσι, never ταῖσι or ταῖς in Hom.— In [dialect] Dor. and all other dialects exc. [dialect] Att. and [dialect] Ion. the fem. forms preserve the old [pron. full] ᾱ instead of changing it to η, hence [dialect] Dor. etc. ἁ, τάν, τᾶς ; the gen. pl. τάων contracts in many dialects to τᾶν ; the gen. sg. is in many places τῶ, acc. pl. τώς, but Cret., etc., τόνς (Leg.Gort.7.7, al.) or τός (ib.3.50, al.) ; in Lesbian [dialect] Aeol. the acc. pl. forms are τοὶς, ταὶς, IG12(2).645 A13, B62 ; dat. pl. τοῖς, ταῖς (or τοὶς, ταὶς, v. supr.), ib.645 A8, ib.1.6 ; ταῖσι as demonstr., Sapph. 16. The [dialect] Att. Poets also used the [dialect] Ion. and [dialect] Ep. forms τοῖσι, ταῖσι ; and in Trag. we find τοὶ μέν.., τοὶ δέ.., for οἱ μέν.., οἱ δέ.., not only in lyr., as A.Pers. 584, Th. 295, 298 ;

οἱ μέν.. τοὶ δ' S.Aj. 1404

(anap.) ; but even in a trimeter, A.Pers. 424. In [dialect] Att. the dual has usu. only one gender, τὼ θεώ (for τὰ θεά) And.1.113 sq. ; τὼ πόλεε Foed. ap. Th.5.23 ;

τὼ ἡμέρα X.Cyr.1.2.11

;

τὼ χεῖρε Id.Mem.2.3.18

;

τοῖν χεροῖν Pl.Tht. 155e

;

τοῖν γενεσέοιν Id.Phd. 71e

;

τοῖν πολέοιν Isoc.4.75

(τά S.Ant. 769, Ar.Eq. 424, 484,

ταῖν Lys.19.17

, Is.5.16, etc. have been corrected) ; in Arc. the form τοῖς functions as gen. dual fem.,

μεσακόθεν τοῖς κράναιυν Schwyzer664.8

(Orchom., iv B.C.):—in Elean and [dialect] Boeot. ὁ, ἡ (ἁ), τό, with the addition of -ί, = ὅδε, ἥδε, τόδε, nom.pl. masc. τυΐ the following men, Schwyzer485.14 (Thespiae, iii B.C.), al., cf. infr. VIII. 5. (With ὁ, ἁ, cf. Skt. demonstr. pron. sa, sā, Goth. sa, sō, ONorse sá, sú, Old Lat. acc. sum, sam (Enn.): —with τό [from Τόδ] cf. Skt. tat (tad), Lat. is-tud, Goth. pata: —with τοί cf. Skt. te, Lith. tĩe, OE. pá, etc.:—with τάων cf. Skt. tāsām, Lat. is-tarum:— the origin of the relative ὅς, ἥ, ὅ (q. v.) is different.)

A ὁ, ἡ, τό, DEMONSTR. PRONOUN, that, the oldest and in Hom. the commonest sense: freq. also in Hdt. (1.86,5.35,al.), and sts. in Trag. (mostly in lyr., A.Supp. 1047, etc.; in trimeters, Id.Th. 197, Ag.7, Eu. 174 ; τῶν γάρ.., τῆς γάρ.., Id.Supp. 358, S.OT 1082 ; seldom in [dialect] Att. Prose, exc. in special phrases, v. infr. VI, VII):

I joined with a Subst., to call attention to it, ὁ Τυδεΐδης he—Tydeus' famous son, Il. 11.660; τὸν Χρύσην that venerable man Chryses, I.II: and so with Appellat., Νέστωρ ὁ γέρων N.— thataged man, 7.324 ; αἰετοῦ.. τοῦ θηρητῆρος the eagle, that which is called hunter, 21.252, al. ; also to define and give emphasis, τιμῆς τῆς Πριάμου for honour, namely that of Priam, 20.181 ; οἴχετ' ἀνὴρ ὤριστος a man is gone, and he the best, 11.288, cf. 13.433, al.: sts. with words between the Pron. and Noun,

αὐτὰρ ὁ αὖτε Πέλοψ 2.105

;

τὸν Ἕκτορι μῦθον ἐνίσπες 11.186

, cf. 703, al.:—different from this are cases like Il.1.409 αἴ κέν πως ἐθέλῃσιν ἐπὶ Τρώεσσιν ἀρῆξαι, τοὺς δὲ κατὰ πρύμνας τε καὶ ἀμφ' ἅλα ἔλσαι Ἀχαιούς if he would help the Trojans, but drive those back to the ships— I mean the Achaeans, where Ἀχ. is only added to explain τούς, cf. 1.472, 4.20, 329, al.

II freq. without a Subst., he, she, it,

ὁ γὰρ ἦλθε Il.1.12

, al.

III placed after its Noun, before the Relat. Prons., ἐφάμην σὲ περὶ φρένας ἔμμεναι ἄλλων, τῶν ὅσσοι Λυκίην ναιετάουσι far above the rest, above those to wit who, etc., Il.17.172 ; οἷ' οὔ πώ τιν' ἀκούομεν οὐδὲ παλαιῶν, τάων αἳ πάρος ἦσαν.. Ἀχαιαί such as we have not heard tell of yet even among the women of old, those women to wit who.., Od.2.119, cf. Il.5.332 ;

θάλαμον τὸν ἀφίκετο, τόν ποτε τέκτων ξέσσεν Od.21.43

, cf. 1.116, 10.74 :—for the [dialect] Att. usage v. infr.

IV before a Possessive Pron. its demonstr. force is sts. very manifest, φθίσει σε τὸ σὸν μένος that spirit of thine, Il.6.407, cf. 11.608 ; but in 15.58, 16.40, and elsewh. it is merely the Art.

V for cases in which the Homeric usage approaches most nearly to the Attic, v. infr. B. init.

VI ὁ μέν.., ὁ δέ.. without a Subst., in all cases, genders, and numbers, Hom., etc.: sts. in Opposition, where ὁ μέν prop. refers to the former, ὁ δέ to the latter ; more rarely ὁ μέν the latter,

ὁ δέ

the former,

Pl.Prt. 359e

, Isoc.2.32,34: sts. in Partition, the one.., the other.., etc.—The Noun with it is regularly in gen. pl., being divided by the ὁ μέν.., ὁ δέ.., into parts,

ἠΐθεοι καὶ παρθένοι.., τῶν δ' αἱ μὲν λεπτὰς ὀθόνας ἔχον, οἱ δὲ χιτῶνας εἵατο Il.18.595

;

τῶν πόλεων αἱ μὲν τυραννοῦνται, αἱ δὲ δημοκρατοῦνται, αἱ δὲ ἀριστοκρατοῦνται Pl.R. 338d

, etc.: but freq. the Noun is in the same case, by a kind of apposition,

ἴδον υἷε Δάρητος, τὸν μὲν ἀλευάμενον τὸν δὲ κτάμενον Il.5.28

, cf. Od.12.73, etc.: so in Trag. and [dialect] Att., S.Ant. 22, etc. ;

πηγὴ ἡ μὲν εἰς αὐτὸν ἔδυ, ἡ δὲ ἔξω ἀπορρεῖ Pl.Phdr. 255c

; if the Noun be collective, it is in the gen. sg.,

ὁ μὲν πεπραμένος ἦν τοῦ σίτου, ὁ δὲ ἔνδον ἀποκείμενος D.42.6

: sts. a Noun is added in apposition with ὁ μέν or

ὁ δέ, ὁ μὲν οὔτασ' Ἀτύμνιον ὀξέϊ δουρὶ Ἀντίλοχος.., Μάρις δὲ.. Il.16.317

-19, cf. 116 ;

τοὺς μὲν τὰ δίκαια ποιεῖν ἠνάγκασα, τοὺς πλουσίους, τοὺς δὲ πένητας κτλ. D.18.102

, cf. Pl.Grg. 501a, etc.

2 when a neg. accompanies ὁ δέ, it follows δέ, e.g.

τὰς γοῦν Ἀθήνας οἶδα τὸν δὲ χῶρον οὔ S.OC24

;

τὸν φιλόσοφον σοφίας ἐπιθυμητὴν εἶναι, οὐ τῆς μὲν τῆς δ' οὔ, ἀλλὰ πάσης Pl.R. 475b

;

οὐ πάσας χρὴ τὰς δόξας τιμᾶν, ἀλλὰ τὰς μὲν τὰς δ' οὔ· οὐδὲ πάντων, ἀλλὰ τῶν μὲν τῶν δ' οὔ Id.Cri. 47a

, etc.

3 ὁ μέν τις.., ὁ δέ τις.. is used in Prose, when the Noun to which ὁ refers is left indefinite,

ἔλεγον ὁ μέν τις τὴν σοφίαν, ὁ δὲ τὴν καρτερίαν.., ὁ δέ τις καὶ τὸ κάλλος X.Cyr.3.1.41

;

νόμους.. τοὺς μὲν ὀρθῶς τιθέασιν τοὺς δέ τινας οὐκ ὀρθῶς Pl.R. 339c

, cf. Phlb. 13c.

4 on τὸ μέν.., τὸ δέ.., or τὰ μέν.., τὰ δέ.., v. infr. VIII.4.

5 ὁ μέν is freq. used without a corresponding

ὁ δέ, οἱ μὲν ἄρ' ἐσκίδναντο.., Μυρμιδόνας δ' οὐκ εἴα ἀποσκίδνασθαι Il.23.3

, cf. 24.722, Th.8.12, etc.: also folld. by

ἀλλά, ἡ μὲν γάρ μ' ἐκέλευε.., ἀλλ' ἐγὼ οὐκ ἔθελον Od.7.304

; by ἄλλος δέ, Il.6.147, etc. ;

τὸν μὲν.., ἕτερον δέ Ar.Av. 843

, etc. ;

ὁ μέν.., ὃς δέ.. Thgn.205

(v.l. οὐδέ): less freq. ὁ δέ in the latter clause without ὁ μέν preceding, τῇ ῥα παραδραμέτην φεύγων, ὁ δ' ὄπισθε διώκων (for ὁ μὲν φεύγων) Il.22.157 ;

σφραγῖδε.. χρυσοῦν ἔχουσα τὸν δακτύλιον, ἡ δ' ἑτέρα ἀργυροῦν IG22.1388.45

, cf.

μέν D.

III ;

γεωργὸς μὲν εἷς, ὁ δὲ οἰκοδόμος, ἄλλος δέ τις ὑφαντής Pl.R. 369d

, cf. Tht. 181d.

6 ὁ δέ following μέν sts. refers to the subject of the preceding clause,

τοῦ μὲν ἅμαρθ', ὁ δὲ Λεῦκον.. βεβλήκει Il. 4.491

;

τὴν μὲν γενομένην αὐτοῖσι αἰτίην οὐ μάλα ἐξέφαινε, ὁ δὲ ἔλεγέ σφι Hdt.6.3

, cf. 1.66,6.9, 133,7.6 : rare in [dialect] Att. Prose,

ἐπεψήφιζεν αὐτὸς ἔφορος ὤν· ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἔφη διαγιγνώσκειν τὴν βοήν Th.1.87

;

ἔμενον ὡς κατέχοντες τὸ ἄκρον· οἱ δ' οὐ κατεῖχον X.An.4.2.6

: this is different from ὁ δέ in apodosi, v. infr. 7 ; also from passages in which both clauses have a common verb, v. ὅ γε 11.

7 ὁ δέ is freq. used simply in continuing a narrative, Il.1.43, etc.; also used by Hom. in apodosi after a relat., v. ὅδε 111.3.

8 the opposition may be expressed otherwise than by μέν and

δέ, οὔθ' ὁ.. οὔθ' ὁ Il.15.417

;

ἢ τοῖσιν ἢ τοῖς A.Supp. 439

;

οὔτε τοῖς οὔτε τοῖς Pl.Lg. 701e

.

VII the following usages prevailed in [dialect] Att. Prose,

1 in dialogue, after καί, it was usual to say in nom. sg. masc. καὶ ὅς ; in the other cases the usual forms of the Art. were used (v.

ὅς A.

II.I and cf. Skt. sas, alternat. form of sa) ; so, in acc.,

καὶ τὸν εἰπεῖν Pl.Smp. 174a

, cf. X.Cyr.1.3.9, etc.; also in Hdt.,

καὶ τὴν φράσαι 6.61

, al.

2 ὁ καὶ ὁ such and such,

τῇ καὶ τῇ ἀτιμίᾳ Pl.Lg. 721b

: but mostly in acc.,

καί μοι κάλει τὸν καὶ τόν Lys.1.23

, cf. Pl.Lg. 784d ;

τὰ καὶ τὰ πεπονθώς D.21.141

, cf. 9.68 ;

τὸ καὶ τό Id.18.243

; ἀνάγκη ἄρα τὸ καὶ τό it must then be so and so, Arist.Rh. 1401a4, cf. 1413a22 ; but τὰ καὶ τά now one thing, now another, of good and bad,

τὸν δ' ἀγαθὸν τολμᾶν χρὴ τά τε καὶ τὰ φέρειν Thgn.398

, cf. Pi.P.5.55,7.20, al.;

τῶν τε καὶ τῶν καιρόν Id.O. 2.53

; so πάντα τοῦ μετρίου μεταβαλλόμενα ἐπὶ τὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τά, of excess and defect, Hp.Acut.46 ; cf. A. VI.8.

VIII abs. usages of single cases,

1 fem. dat. τῇ, of Place, there, on that spot, here, this way, that way, Il.5.752, 858, al.: folld. by ᾗ, 13.52, etc.: also in Prose,

τὸ μὲν τῇ, τὸ δὲ τῇ X.Ath.2.12

.

b with a notion of motion towards, that way, in that direction, Il.10.531,11.149, 12.124 ;

τῇ ἴμεν ᾗ.. 15.46

;

δελφῖνες τῇ καὶ τῇ ἐθύνεον ἰχθυάοντες Hes.Sc. 210

:—only poet.

c of Manner,

τῇ περ τελευτήσεσθαι ἔμελλεν

in this way, thus,

Od.8.510

.

d repeated, τῇ μέν.., τῇ δέ.., in one way.., in another.., or partly.., partly.., E.Or. 356, Pl.Smp. 211a, etc.: without

μέν, τῇ μᾶλλον, τῇ δ' ἧσσον Parm.8.48

.

e relat., where, by which way, only [dialect] Ep., as Il.12.118, Od.4.229.

2 neut. dat. τῷ, therefore, on this account, freq. in Hom., Il.1.418, 2.254, al. (v. infr.): also in Trag., A.Pr. 239, S.OT 510 (lyr.) ; in Prose,

τῷ τοι.. Pl.Tht. 179d

, Sph. 230b.

b thus, so, Il.2.373, 13.57, etc.: it may also, esp. when εἰ precedes, be translated, then, if this be so, on this condition, Od.1.239,3.224, 258,al., Theoc.29.11.—In Hom. the true form is prob. τῶ, as in cod. A, or τώ, cf. A.D.Adv.199.2.

3 neut. acc. τό, wherefore, Il.3.176, Od.8.332, al., S.Ph. 142(lyr.) ; also τὸ δέ abs., but the fact is.., Pl.Ap. 23a, Men. 97c, Phd. 109d, Tht. 157b, R. 340d, Lg. 967a ; even when the τό refers to what precedes, the contrast may lie not in the thing referred to, but in another part of the sentence (cf. supr. VI. 6),

τὸ δ' ἐπὶ κακουργίᾳ.. ἐπετήδευσαν Th.1.37

;

τὸ δὲ.. ἡμῖν μᾶλλον περιέσται Id.2.89

; φασὶ δέ τινες αὐτὸν καὶ τῶν ἑπτὰ σοφῶν γεγονέναι· τὸ δὲ οὐκ ἦν but he was not, Nic.Dam.58J.

4 τὸ μέν.., τὸ δέ.., partly.., partly.., or on the one hand.., on the other.., Th.7.36, etc., cf.Od.2.46 ; more freq. τὰ μέν.., τὰ δέ.., Hdt.1.173, S.Tr. 534, etc.; also

τὰ μέν τι.., τὰ δέ τι.. X.An.4.1.14

;

τὸ μέν τι.., τὸ δέ τι.. Luc.Macr.14

;

τὰ μέν.., τὸ δὲ πλέον.. Th.1.90

: sts. without τὸ μέν.. in the first clause,

τὸ δέ τι Id.1.107

,7.48 : rarely of Time, τὰ μὲν πολλὰ.., τέλος δέ several times.. and finally, Hdt.3.85.

5 of Time, sts. that time, sts. this (present) time, συνμαχία κ' ἔα ἑκατὸν ϝέτεα, ἄρχοι δέ κα τοΐ (where it is possible, but not necessary, to supply ϝέτος) SIG9.3 (Olympia, vi B.C.): so with Preps., ἐκ τοῦ, [dialect] Ep. τοῖο, from that time, Il.1.493,15.601.

b πρὸ τοῦ, sts. written προτοῦ, before this, aforetime, Hdt.1.103, 122,5.55, A.Ag. 1204, Ar.Nu.5, etc.;

ἐν τῷ πρὸ τοῦ χρόνῳ Th.1.32

, cf. A.Eu. 462 ;

τὸ πρὸ τοῦ D.S.20.59

.

c in Thess. Prose, ὑππρὸ τᾶς yesterday, τὰ ψαφίσματα τό τε ὑππρὸ τᾶς γενόμενον καὶ τὸ τᾶμον the decree which was passed yesterday (lit. before this [day]), and to-day's, IG9(2).517.43 (Larissa, iii B.C.).

6 ἐν τοῖς is freq. used in Prose with Superlatives, ἐν τοῖσι θειότατον a most marvellous thing, Hdt.7.137 ; ἐν τοῖς πρῶτοι the very first, Th.1.6, etc.; ἐν τοῖσι πρῶτος ( πρώτοις codd.) Pherecr.145.4 ; [Ζεὺς] Ἔρωτά τε καὶ Ἀνάγκην ἐν τοῖς πρῶτα ἐγέννησεν first of all, Aristid. Or.43(1).16, cf. 37(2).2: when used with fem. Nouns, ἐν τοῖς remained without change of gender, ἐν τοῖς πλεῖσται δὴ νῆες the greatest number of ships, Th.3.17; ἐν τοῖς πρώτη ἐγένετο (sc. ἡ στάσις) ib.82 : also with Advbs.,

ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα Id.8.90

, Pl.Cri. 52a, Plu.2.74e, 421d, 723e, Brut.6, 11,al., Paus.1.16.3, etc.;

ἐν τοῖς χαλεπώτατα Th.7.71

;

τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα μελάγγειον οὖσαν Plu.2.364c

: in late Prose, also with Positives,

ἐν τοῖς παράδοξον Aristid.Or.48(24).47

codd.; with

πάνυ, ἐν τοῖς πάνυ D.H.1.19

, cf. 66 ( ἐν ταῖς πάνυ f.l. 4.14,15).

B ὁ, ἡ, τό, THE DEFINITE ARTICLE, the, to specify individuals: rare in this signf. in the earliest Gr., becoming commoner later. In Hom. the demonstr. force can generally be traced, v. supr. A. I, but the definite Art. must be recognized in places like Il.1.167,7.412, 9.309, 12.289, Od.19.372 : also when joined to an Adj. to make it a Subst.,

αἰὲν ἀποκτείνων τὸν ὀπίστατον

the hindmost man,

Il.11.178

;

τὸν ἄριστον 17.80

;

τὸν δύστηνον 22.59

;

τὸν προὔχοντα 23.325

; τῷ πρώτῳ.., τῷ δευτέρῳ.., etc., ib. 265sq. ; also in

τῶν ἄλλων 2.674

, al.: with Advs.,

τὸ πρίν 24.543

, al.;

τὸ πάρος περ 17.720

;

τὸ πρόσθεν 23.583

; also τὸ τρίτον ib. 733 ;

τὰ πρῶτα 1.6

,al.; τὸ μὲν ἄλλο for the rest, 23.454 ;

ἀνδρῶν τῶν τότε 9.559

.—The true Art., however, is first fully established in fifth-cent. [dialect] Att., whilst the demonstr. usage disappears, exc. in a few cases, V. A. VI-VIII.—Chief usages, esp. in [dialect] Att.

I not only with common Appellats., Adjs., and Parts., to specify them as present to sense or mind, but also freq. where we use the Possessive Pron.,

τὸ κέαρ ηὐφράνθην Ar.Ach.5

; τὴν κεφαλὴν κατεάγην my head was broken, And.1.61, etc. ; τοὺς φίλους ποιούμεθα we make our friends, S.Ant. 190 ; τὰς πόλεις ἔκτιζον they began founding their cities, Th.1.12;

οὐχ ὑπὲρ τὴν οὐσίαν ποιούμενοι τοὺς παῖδας Pl.R. 372b

.

b omitted with pr.nn.and freq. with Appellats. which require no specification, as θεός, βασιλεύς, v. θεός 1.1, βασιλεύς III ; ἐμ πόλει in the Acropolis, IG12.4.1, al.: but added to pr. nn., when attention is to be called to the previous mention of the person, as Th. (3.70 ) speaks first of Πειθίας and then refers to him repeatedly as ὁ Π.; cf. Θράσυλος in Id.8.104, with ὁ Θ. ib. 105 ; or when the person spoken of is to be specially distinguished, Ζεύς, ὅστις ὁ Ζεύς whoever this Zeus is, E.Fr. 480 ; and therefore properly omitted when a special designation follows, as Σωκράτης ὁ φιλόσοφος: seldom in Trag. with pr. nn., save to give pecul. emphasis, like Lat. ille, ὁ Λάϊος, ὁ Φοῖβος, S.OT 729, El.35, etc.: later, however, the usage became very common (the Homeric usage of ὁ with a pr. n. is different, v. A.I).

c Aristotle says Σωκράτης meaning the historical Socrates, as in SE183b7, PA642a28, al., but ὁ Σωκράτης when he means the Platonic Socrates, as Pol.1261a6, al.: so with other pr.nn., EN1145a21, 1146a21, al.

d for Σαῦλος ὁ καὶ Παῦλος, etc., v. καί B.2.

2 in a generic sense, where the individual is treated as a type,

οἷς ὁ γέρων μετέῃσιν.. λεύσσει Il.3.109

;

πονηρὸν ὁ συκοφάντης D.18.242

, etc.

b freq. with abstract Nouns,

ἥ τε ἐλπὶς καὶ ὁ ἔρως Th.3.45

, etc.

3 of outstanding members of a class, ὁ γεωγράφος, ὁ κωμικός, ὁ ποιητής, ὁ τεχνικός, v. γεωγράφος, κωμικός, ποιητής, τεχνικός.

4 with infs., which thereby become Substs., τὸ εἴργειν prevention, Pl.Grg. 505b ; τὸ φρονεῖν good sense, S.Ant. 1348(anap.), etc.: when the subject is expressed it is put between the Art.and the inf., τὸ θεοὺς εἶναι the existence of gods, Pl.Phd. 62b ; τὸ μηδένα εἶναι ὄλβιον the fact or statement that no one is happy, Hdt.1.86.

5 in neut. before any word or expression which itself is made the object of thought, τὸ ἄνθρωπος the word or notion man ; τὸ λέγω the word λέγω ; τὸ μηδὲν ἄγαν the sentiment 'ne quid nimis', E.Hipp. 265(lyr.); τὸ τῇ αὐτῇ the phrase τῇ αὐτῇ, Pl.Men. 72e : and so before whole clauses, ἡ δόξα.. περὶ τοῦ οὕστινας δεῖ ἄρχειν the opinion about the question 'who ought to rule', Id.R. 431e ; τὸ ἐὰν μένητε παρ' ἐμοί, ἀποδώσω the phrase 'I will give back, if.. ', X.Cyr. 5.1.21, cf. Pl.R. 327c, etc.;

τοὺς τοῦ τί πρακτέον λογισμούς D.23.148

; τὸ ὀλίγοι the term few, Arist.Pol. 1283b11.

6 before relat. clauses, when the Art. serves to combine the whole relat. clause into one notion, τῇ ᾗ φὴς σὺ σκληρότητι the harshness you speak of, Pl.Cra. 435a ; τὸν ἥμερον καρπόν.., καὶ τὸν ὅσος ξύλινος (i.e. καὶ τὸν καρπὸν ὅσος ἂν ᾖ ξύλινος) Id.Criti. 115b ;

τῶν ὅσοι ἂν.. ἀγαθοὶ κριθῶσιν Id.R. 469b

;

ἐκ γῆς καὶ πυρὸς μείξαντες καὶ τῶν ὅσα πυρὶ καὶ γῇ κεράννυται Id.Prt. 320d

, cf. Hyp.Lyc.2 ;

ταύτην τε τὴν αἰτίαν καὶ τὴν ὅθεν ἡ κίνησις Arist.Metaph. 987a8

;

τὸν ὃς ἔφη Lys.23.8

: hence the relat., by attraction, freq. follows the case of the Art., τοῖς οἵοις ἡμῖν τε καὶ ὑμῖν, i.e. τοῖς οὖσιν οἷοι ἡμεῖς καὶ ὑμεῖς, X.HG2.3.25, etc.

7 before Prons.,

a before the pers. Prons., giving them greater emphasis, but only in acc.,

τὸν ἐμέ Pl.Tht. 166a

,Phlb. 20b ; τὸν.. σὲ καὶ ἐμέ ib. 59b ;

τὸν αὑτόν Id.Phdr. 258a

; on ὁ αὐτός, v. αὐτός 111.

b before the interrog. Pron. (both τίς and ποῖος), referring to something before, which needs to be more distinctly specified, A.Pr. 251, Ar. Pax 696 ; also τὰ τί; because οἷα went before, ib. 693. Of τίς only the neut. is thus used (v.supr.): ποῖος is thus used not only in neut. pl., τὰ ποῖα; E.Ph. 707 ; but also in the other genders, ὁ ποῖος; ib. 1704 ; τῆς ποίας μερίδος; D.18.64 ; τοῖς ποίοις.. ; Arist.Ph. 227b1.

c with τοιοῦτος, τοιόσδε, τηλικοῦτος, etc., the Art. either makes the Pron. into a Subst.,

ὁ τοιοῦτος

that sort of person,

X.Mem.4.2.21

, etc.; or subjoins it to a Subst. which already has an Art.,

τὴν ἀπολογίαν τὴν τοιαύτην D.41.13

.

8 before ἅπας, Pi.N.1.69, Hdt.3.64, 7.153 (s.v.l.), S.OC 1224 (lyr.), D.18.231, etc.; also τὸν ἕνα, τὸν ἕνα τοῦτον, Arist.Pol. 1287b8, 1288a19 : on its usage with ἕκαστος, v. sub voc.; and on οἱ ἄλλοι, οἱ πολλοί, etc., v. ἄλλος 11.6,

πολύς 11.3

, etc.

9 the Art. with the [comp] Comp. is rare, if ἤ follows, S.Ant. 313, OC 796.

II elliptic expressions:

1 before the gen. of a pr.<*>., to express descent, son or daughter, Θουκυδίδης ὁ Ὀλόρου (sc. υἱός) Th.4.104 ; Ἑλένη ἡ τοῦ Διός (sc. θυγάτηρ) E.Hel. 470 : also to denote other relationships, e.g. brother, Lys.32.24, Alciphr.2.2.10 ; ἡ Σμικυθίωνος Μελιστίχη M. the wife of S., Ar.Ec.46 ; Κλέαρχος καὶ οἱ ἐκείνου Cl. and his men, X.An.1.2.15 ; ὁ τοῦ Ἀντιγένεος the slave of A., Hp.Hum.20.

2 generally, before a gen. it indicates a wider relation, as τὸ τῶν νεῶν, τὸ τῶν Ἑρμῶν, the matter of the ships, the affair of the Hermae, Th.4.23,6.60 ; τὰ τοῦ Ἀρριβαίου πράσσειν to promote the interests of Arrhibaeus, Id.4.83, cf. 6.89, etc.; τὸ τῆς τύχης,=ἡ τύχη, Id.4.18 ; τὰ τῆς τύχης accidents, chance events, ib.55 ; τὰ γὰρ φθιτῶν τοῖς ὁρῶσι κόσμος performance of the rites due to the dead befits the living, E.Supp.78(lyr.); τὰ τῶν θεῶν that which is destined by the gods, S.Tr. 498(lyr.): hence with neut. of Possessive Pron., τὸ ἐμόν, τὸ σόν, what regards me or thee, my or thy business or interests, S.Aj. 124, El. 251, etc.: and with gen. of 3 pers.,

τὸ τῆσδε E.Hipp.48

. But τό τινος is freq. also, a man's word or saying, as

τὸ τοῦ Σόλωνος Hdt.1.86

; τὸ τοῦ Ὁμήρου as Homer says, Pl.Tht. 183e ; also τά τινος so-and-so's house, Ar.V. 1432, D.54.7, Theoc.2.76, Herod.5.52, Ev.Luc.2.49.

3 very freq. with cases governed by Preps.. αἱ ἐκ τῆς Ζακύνθου νῆες the ships from Zacynthus, Th.4.13 ; οἱ ἀμφί τινα, οἱ περί τινα, such an one and his followers, v. ἀμφί c.1.3, περί c.1.2 ; also τὰ ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης the Thrace-ward district, Th.1.59, al.; τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ καταστρώματος matters on deck, Id.7.70 ; τὰ ἀπ' Ἀλκιβιάδου the proposals of Alcibiades, Id.8.48 ; τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς τύχης the incidents of fortune, Id.2.87, etc.

4 on μὰ τόν, μὰ τήν, etc., v. μά IV.

5 in elliptical phrases, ἐπορευόμην τὴν ἔξω τείχους (sc. ὁδόν) Pl.Ly. 203a ; ἡ ἐπὶ θανάτῳ (sc. στολή, δέσις), v. θάνατος; κατὰ τὴν ἐμήν (sc. γνώμην), v. ἐμός 11.4 ; ἡ αὔριον (sc. ἡμέρα), v. αὔριον; ἡ Λυδιστί (sc. ἁρμονία) Arist.Pol. 1342b32, etc.: freq. with Advs., which thus take an adj. sense, as ὁ, ἡ, τὸ νῦν;

ὁ οἴκαδε πλοῦς Th.1.52

; οἱ τότε, οἱ ἔπειτα (sc. ἄνθρωποι), ib.9,10, etc. ; but τό stands abs. with Advs. of time and place, when one cannot (as in the preceding instances) supply a Subst., as

κἀκεῖσε καὶ τὸ δεῦρο E.Ph. 266

, cf.[315] (lyr.);

ὁ μὲν τὸ κεῖθεν, ὁ δὲ τὸ κεῖθεν Id.Or. 1412

(lyr.): rarely abs. in gen., ἰέναι τοῦ πρόσω to go forward, X.An.1.3.1 ;

τοῦ προσωτάτω δραμεῖν S.Aj. 731

.