ceafl

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *kafl (“jaw, cheek”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /t͡ʃæ͜ɑfl/, [t͡ʃæ͜ɑvl]

Noun

ċeafl m

  1. (anatomy) jaw; cheek
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, "The Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost"
      Mīn hēafod hē hæfþ mid his ċeaflum befangen.
      It has seized my head in its jaws.
    • Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church
      Sē wōda ðā āwende āweġ his ċeaflas fram ðǣre hālgan handa, swilċe fram hātum īsene, and sē āwyrġeda gāst ġewāt of ðām men ūt ðurh his ġesċēapu, mid sċēandlīcum flēame.
      The madman then turned his cheeks away from the holy man's hands as if from hot iron, and the accursed spirit departed the man through his genitals with shameful flight.
  2. a bill; beak; snout

Declension

Strong a-stem:

singular plural
nominative ċeafl ċeaflas
accusative ċeafl ċeaflas
genitive ċeafles ċeafla
dative ċeafle ċeaflum

Derived terms

Descendants

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