English

Verb

kythe ‎(third-person singular simple present kythes, present participle kything, simple past and past participle kythed)

1. To make known in words; to announce, proclaim, declare, tell.
   • 725. Corpus Glossary (1150). Intimandum to cyðenne.
   • 1000. West Saxon Gospels (John, xvii. 26). Ic him cyðde ðinne naman & gyt wylle cyþan.
2. To make known by action, appearance; to manifest, show, prove, demonstrate, indicate.
   • 1175. Lambeth Manuscript (99). Elches monnes weorc cuðað [printed cuðan] hwilc gast hine wissað.
   • 1385. Geoffrey Chaucer, Legend Good Women (Prologue, 492). Sche kytheth what she is.
3. Alternative form of kithe
   • 1380, Chaucer, “II.19”, in The House of Fame:

     To tellen al my drem aryght. Now kythe thyn engyn and myght!

   • 1818, Sir Walter Scott, “XII”, in The Heart of Midlothian:

     ...in a dark night--it kythes bright to the ee, because all is dark around it...

Related terms

• kything