macian

Middle English

Verb

macian

  1. (Early Middle English) alternative form of maken

Old English

Etymology

Usually held to be inherited from Proto-West Germanic *makōn,[1] although borrowing from Old Saxon makōn has been suggested.[2] Compare also Old Dutch macon, Old Frisian makia, and Old High German mahhōn.[3]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmɑ.ki.ɑn/

Verb

macian (uncommon before Late Old English)

  1. to make or create:
    1. to perform or carry out (a miracle)
    2. (grammar) to form (a word by inflection)
    3. (rare) to prepare (especially food or a feast)
  2. to cause or bring about
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, "Memory of the Saints"
      Heo macað reaflac and unrihte domas stala and leasunga and forsworennyssa. Heo is helle ġelic forðan þe hi habbað butu unafylledlice grædignysse þæt hi fulle ne beoð næfre.
      ...it causeth rapine, and unrighteous judgements, thefts, and leasings, and perjuries. It is like unto hell, because they both have insatiable greediness, so that they can never be full.
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, "Memory of the Saints"
      Se feorða leahtor is ira þæt is on englisc weamodnyss. Seo deð þæt se man nah his modes ġeweald and macað manslihtas and mycele yfelu.
      The fourth sin is Ira, that is in English, Anger; it causeth that a man have no power over his mind, and bringeth about manslaughters and many evils.
  3. to act or behave
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, "The Seven Sleepers"
      ...and þam bisceope marine and þām yldestan mannum be endebyrdnysse rehton hu hi hit macedon on decius caseres tīman...
      ..and related in order to the bishop Marinus and to the chiefest men how they had acted in the time of Decius the emperor...'
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, "The Seven Sleepers"
      ...ac ic þurh nan þincg ongytan ne mæg hu me sy þus gelumpen þæt ic hit þus macige.
      ...but I cannot at all understand how it has thus happened to me that I act thus.'
  4. (rare) to confer or grant
  5. (rare) to treat; to behave towards
  6. (rare) to fare or perform

Usage notes

Conjugation

Conjugation of macian (weak, class 2)
infinitive macian macienne
indicative mood present tense past tense
first person singular maciġe macode
second person singular macast macodest
third person singular macaþ macode
plural maciaþ macodon
subjunctive present tense past tense
singular maciġe macode
plural maciġen macoden
imperative
singular maca
plural maciaþ
participle present past
maciende (ġe)macod

Derived terms

Descendants

References

  1. ^ Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 127: “*makōn ‘to make’ > OE macian, OF makia, OS makon, OHG mahhōn”
  2. ^ Kuhn, Sherman M. (April 1986), “Old English macian, Its Origin and Dissemination”, in Journal of English Linguistics, volume 19, number 1, SAGE Publications, →DOI, pages 49-93.
  3. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1963) [1934], “macian”, in Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Old English Etymological Dictionary] (in German), 2nd edition, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, →OCLC, page 209.
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