samnunga

Old English

Alternative forms

• samninga, semninga

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɑm.nun.ɡɑ/, [ˈsɑm.nuŋ.ɡɑ]

Adverb

samnunga

1. all at once, all of a sudden, suddenly, forthwith
   • 10th century, Christ III:

     Ðonne mid fēre foldbūende sē micla dæġ meahtan dryhtnes æt midre niht mæġne bihlæmeð, sċīre ġesċeafte, swā oft sċeaða fǣcne, þēof þrīstlīċe, þe on þȳstre fareð, on sweartre niht, sorglēase hæleð semninga forfēhð slǣpe ġebundne, eorlas unġearwe yfles ġenǣgeð.

     Then the Great day of the mighty Lord clangs earth-dwellers, in bright being, with woe at the middle of the night’s strength, as often a guileful robber would, a thief boldly, who goes into the darkness, on a black night, takes carefree heroes, bound by sleep, forthwith by surprise, attacks unready men with evil.

Further reading

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