offeallan

Old English

Etymology

By surface analysis, of- +‎ feallan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ofˈfæ͜ɑl.lɑn/, [ofˈfæ͜ɑɫ.ɫɑn]

Verb

offeallan

1. to fall upon, kill by falling
   • c. 989–992 CE, Ælfric of Eynsham, edited and translated by Benjamin Thorpe, F.S.A., The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church, volume II, London: Richard and John E. Taylor, published 1846, page 508:

     ...ðā ðā hǣðenan āhēowon þæt trēow mid ormǣtre blisse, þæt hit brastliende sāh tō ðām hālgan were, hetelīċe swīðe. Þā worhte hē onġēan ðām hrēosendum trēowe þǣs Hǣlendes rōde tācn, and hit ðǣrrihte ætstōd, wende ðā onġēan, and hrēas underbæc, and fornēan offēoll ðā ðe hit ǣr forcurfon.

     Then the heathens cut down the tree with great joy, so that, rustling, it fell towards the holy man very violently. Then he made the sign of the Savior's cross to the falling tree, and it immediately stood still, turned around, and fell backwards, and almost fell upon those who had previously cut it.

Conjugation

Conjugation of offeallan (strong, class VII)

infinitive	offeallan	offeallenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	offealle	offēoll
second person singular	offielst	offēolle
third person singular	offielþ	offēoll
plural	offeallaþ	offēollon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	offealle	offēolle
plural	offeallen	offēollen
imperative
singular	offeall
plural	offeallaþ
participle	present	past
	offeallende	offeallen

Further reading

• Joseph Bosworth; T. Northcote Toller (1898), “offeallan”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (in Old English), second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.