eign

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse eign. Cognate with Faroese ogn, Danish egn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈeikn̥]
• Rhymes: -eikn̥

Noun

eign f (genitive singular eignar, nominative plural eignir)

1. property
2. possession
3. ownership, possession

Declension

Declension of eign (feminine)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	eign	eignin	eignir	eignirnar
accusative	eign	eignina	eignir	eignirnar
dative	eign	eigninni	eignum	eignunum
genitive	eignar	eignarinnar	eigna	eignanna

Derived terms

• eignarfall

Anagrams

• engi

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse eign.

Noun

eign f (definite singular eigna, indefinite plural eigner, definite plural eignene)

1. possession, property
2. estate, fortune

Etymology 2

Uncertain, see more at foreign. Attested by Reidar Svare as egn.

Noun

eign f (definite singular eigna, indefinite plural eigner, definite plural eignene)

1. (Helgeland, folklore) A kind of guardian angel, which is a doppelganger of its owner. It appears before or after its owner was seen by people in some place. A variant of vardøger. Probably a clipping of foreign. If it is a føreign, it appears before the owner and is a good omen. An ettereign appears after its owner, and is a bad omen.

References

• “eign”, in Norsk Ordbok: Ordbok over det Norske Folkemålet og det Nynorske Skriftmålet (in Norwegian Nynorsk), Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget, 1950–2016, →ISBN.

Old Norse

Etymology

Related to eiga and eiginn.

Noun

eign f

1. property
2. possession
3. estate, landed property (especially in the plural)

Declension

Declension of eign (strong i-stem)

feminine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	eign	eignin	eignir	eignirnar
accusative	eign	eignina	eignir	eignirnar
dative	eign	eigninni	eignum	eignunum
genitive	eignar	eignarinnar	eigna	eignanna

Descendants

• Icelandic: eign
• Faroese: ogn
• Norwegian Nynorsk: eign
• Danish: egn c

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), “eign”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive