settan

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sattjan.

Cognates

Cognate with Old Saxon settian (Dutch zetten), Old High German sezzen (German setzen), Old Norse setja (Swedish sätta), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (satjan). Compare Old English sittan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈset.tɑn/

Verb

settan

1. to set, establish, place, make
   • Setton sǣmēþe / sīde sċyldas
     rondas reġnhearde / wið þæs reċedes weal.

     Sea-weary they set / their wide shields
     round and very strong / against the hall's wall.

     (Beowulf, line 325-6)

2. to appoint
   • 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 480:

     Sē rixode on ðām cynerīce ðrēo and sixtiġ gēara, and siððan sette his ǣnne sunu tō ealdormen, and ōðerne tō cyninge.

     He ruled the kingdom for sixty-three years, and then appointed his first son prince, and his second king.

Conjugation

Conjugation of settan (weak, class 1)

infinitive	settan	settenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	sette	sette
second person singular	setst	settest
third person singular	sett, set	sette
plural	settaþ	setton
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	sette	sette
plural	setten	setten
imperative
singular	sete
plural	settaþ
participle	present	past
	settende	(ġe)seted, (ġe)sett, (ġe)set

Derived terms

• besettan
• foresettan
• forsettan
• ġesettan
• insettan
• ofersettan
• ofsettan
• tōsettan
• wiþsettan
• ymbsettan

Descendants

• Middle English: setten, cetten, settan, settæn, sætten, seit, sette, sete, zetten, zete (Kent)
  • English: set
  • Scots: sett, set
  • Yola: zet, set

Old Norse

Participle

settan

1. strong masculine accusative singular of settr