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Definition 2024


biðja

biðja

See also: bidja

Faroese

Verb

biðja (third person singular past indicative bað, third person plural past indicative bóðu, supine biðið)

  1. to ask, to request, to beg
  2. to wish (e.g. góðan dag - good day)
  3. to pray to God (Gud)

Conjugation


Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse biðja, from Proto-Germanic *bidjaną. Cognate with German bitten, Faroese biðja, Danish bede, Swedish bedja, English bid.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈpɪðja/
    Rhymes: -ɪðja

Verb

biðja (strong verb, third-person singular past indicative bað, third-person plural past indicative báðu, supine beðið)

  1. (transitive, intransitive, governs the accusative, optionally ditransitive with genitive) to ask, request some action of someone
    Ég bað þig nú bara um greiða.
    I just asked you a favour.
  2. (intransitive) to pray
    Ég bið til Guðs.
    I pray to God.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Synonyms

  • (ask): beiðast

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *bidjaną (to ask for, request). Cognate with Old English biddan, Old Frisian bidda, Old Saxon biddian, Old High German bitten, Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bidjan). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰedʰ- (to request, pray, ask for).

Pronunciation

  • (12th century Icelandic) IPA(key): /ˈbiðjɑ/

Verb

biðja (singular past indicative bað, plural past indicative báðu, past participle beðinn)

  1. to ask, beg, request
    • Vǫluspá, verse 1, lines 1-2, in 1860, T. Möbius, Edda Sæmundar hins fróða: mit einem Anhang zum Theil bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig, page 1:
      Hljóðs bið ek allar / helgar kindir, []
      For silence I ask / all holy kindreds []
  2. to pray
    • Saga Ólafs konúngs Tryggvasonar 279, in 1827, S. Egilsson, Þ. Guðmundsson, Fornmanna sögur, Volume III. Copenhagen, page 48:
      [] hann vakti laungum um nóttum ok báð til guðs góðgjarnliga fur vinum. []
      [] many times he rose in the night and prayed to the merciful God for [his] friends. []

Conjugation

Derived terms

Descendants

References

  • biðja in An Icelandic-English Dictionary, R. Cleasby and G. Vigfússon, Clarendon Press, 1874, at Internet Archive.
  • biðja in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, G. T. Zoëga, Clarendon Press, 1910, at Internet Archive.