æht

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *aihtiz. Cognate with Old High German ēht; related to āgan (“to own”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æːxt/

Noun

ǣht f

1. possession
2. property, livestock
3. power, possession
4. valuation, estimation, reckoning
   • late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History

     Þonne is on ēasteweardre Cent myċel ēaland Tenet, þæt is syx hund hīda miċel æfter Angelcynnes ǣhte. Þæt ēalond tōsċēadeð Wantsumo strēam frām þām tōġeþeoddan lande. Sē is þreora furlunga brād: ⁊ on twām stōwum is oferfernes, ⁊ ǣġhwæþer ende līð on sǣ.

     Now to the east of Cent there is the great island of Thanet, which contains six hundred hides by the English manner of reckoning. The island separates the Wantsum Channel from the adjacent land. It is three furlongs wide; and it can be crossed in two places, and at each end flows into the sea.

Declension

Strong i-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	ǣht	ǣhte, ǣhta
accusative	ǣht, ǣhte	ǣhte, ǣhta
genitive	ǣhte	ǣhta
dative	ǣhte	ǣhtum

Derived terms

• cwicæht (“livestock”)

Descendants

• Middle English: aught, ought
  • English: aught, ought
  • Scots: aucht

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “ǽht”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “ǽht”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[2], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.