hyrst

Old English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /xyrst/, [hyrˠst]

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *hursti (“thicket, eyrie, scrub, bush”).

Noun

hyrst f or m (nominative plural hyrste or hyrsta or hyrstas)

hurst, hillock, eminence, height, wood, wooded eminence
- Exeter Book, riddle 40
  swylċe iċ eom wrāþre þonne wermōd sȳ,
  þe hēr on hyrstum heasewe stondeþ.
  likewise I am harsher than the wormwood
  that stands dusky here in the hurst

Declension

Strong i-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	hyrst	hyrste, hyrsta
accusative	hyrst, hyrste	hyrste, hyrsta
genitive	hyrste	hyrsta
dative	hyrste	hyrstum

Occasionally masculine:

Strong i-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	hyrst	hyrstas
accusative	hyrst	hyrstas
genitive	hyrstes	hyrsta
dative	hyrste	hyrstum

Descendants

Middle English: hirste, hurst, hurste
- English: hurst (mostly in placenames; obsolete hirst)
- Scots: hirst, hist

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *hrusti (“armour, armament”).

Noun

hyrst f

(poetic) ornament, decoration, jewel; accoutrements, trappings, armor
- Bēg and siglu eall swylce hyrsta swylce on horde ǣr men genumen hæfdon.
  Rings and jewels, all such ornaments as before men had taken in the hoard.
  (Beowulf: Th. 6309; B. 3165)

Derived terms

ġehyrst (“ornament”)
ġehyrstan (“to adorn, decorate; to fry, roast”)
heofonhyrst (“ornament of the heavens”)
hyrstan (“to decorate, adorn, ornament, equip”)
īsenhyrst (“with iron fittings”)
trindhyrst (“circular copse”)
wīġhyrst (“war-gear, accoutrements”)