Old-english


noun
1.
Also called Anglo-Saxon. the English language of a.d. c450–c1150.
Abbreviation: OE.
2.
Printing. a style of black letter.
noun
1.
Also called Anglo-Saxon. the English language from the time of the earliest settlements in the fifth century ad to about 1100. The main dialects were West Saxon (the chief literary form), Kentish, and Anglian OE Compare Middle English, Modern English
2.
(printing) a Gothic typeface commonly used in England up until the 18th century

The English language from the fifth century until about 1150. In the fifth century, the Angles and Saxons of Germany settled in Britain and established their language in the southern part of the island — the region that was called “Angle-land,” or “England.” After 1150, the Norman French language introduced after the Norman Conquest influenced Old English, and Middle English developed.

Note: Old English resembles the language spoken in Germany in the same period and is impossible for a present-day user of English to read without training. Beowulf is written in Old English.

Read Also:

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  • Old-english-pattern

    noun 1. a spoon pattern having a stem curving backward at the end.

  • Old-english-sheepdog

    noun 1. one of an English breed of large working dogs having a long, shaggy, gray or blue-merle and white coat that hangs over the eyes, and a bobbed tail, originally developed to drive sheep and cattle. noun 1. a breed of large bobtailed sheepdog with a profuse shaggy coat

  • Older

    [ohl-der] /ˈoʊl dər/ adjective 1. a comparative of . [ohld] /oʊld/ adjective, older, oldest or elder, eldest. 1. far advanced in the years of one’s or its life: an old man; an old horse; an old tree. 2. of or relating to the latter part of the life or term of existence of a person […]

  • Older than god

    adjective phrase Very, very old: Robert Penn Warren is older than God/ Dick James, who remembers the Philadelphia Athletics, older than dirt


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