Staff V of the English Wordbook.
Tongueshortenings:
- NE = New English
- ENE = Early New English
- ME = Middle English
- OE = Old English
- SC = Scots
- WF = West Frish
- NF = North Frish
- SF = Saterlandish Frish
- WO = Wangeroogish
- WLG = West Low Thetch
- EFLS = East Frish Low Saxish
- ELG = East Low Thetch
- NL = Netherlandish
- AF = Afrikaans
- NHG = New High Thetch
- IL = Icelandish
- HIL = High Icelandish
- FO = Faroish
- NO = Nornish
- SW = Swedish
- DN = Danish
- MLG = Middle Low Thetch
- MNL = Middle Netherlandish
- MHG = Middle High Thetch
- OF = Old Frish
- OS = Old Saxish
- OHG = Old High Thetch
- ON = Old Norse
- GO = Gottish
- PWG = Or-West-Theedish
- PG = Or-Theedish
Other shortenings:
- [ᛣ] = Loanwend
- [ᚹ] = Widened meaning given to a word for the sake of Anglish
- [ᛏ] = Transitive
- [ᚾ] = Intransitive
- [ᚩ] = Old and dead meaning of a living word
For a full list of etymological and other abbreviations used in these wordlists, see: Offshortenings.
Staffs under English Wordbook/V:
Va Vb Vc Vd
Ve Vf Vg Vh
Vi Vj Vk Vl Vm Vn Vo Vp Vq Vr Vs Vt Vu Vv
Vw Vx Vy Vz
*Note: If you click on one of the links above, and nothing happens, then that means no words have been put forth for that bookstaff as of yet.
Chancery English | Class | Anglish/English | |
Attested | Unattested | ||
vacancy | n | black hole, emptiness, bareness | - |
vacant | adj | bare, fallow, off, deadpan, numb; forgotten, forsaken, empty, toom (now rare; ‹ME tọ̄m) | - |
vacation | n | break, holiday, leave | - |
vaccine | n | - | impshaft ([ᛣ]: WF intstof, NL entstof, NHG Impfstoff), imper (cf. NHG impfen 'inoculate' + -er); impwork, impware, lifedrops (oral); needledrops, one-shot-wonder (slang) |
vaccinate | vb | - | imp ([ᚹ]: see WF intsje), needle-up |
vacuity | n | black hole, emptiness, bareness | - |
vacuum | n | tow | toom (<OE tōm 'empty') |
vacuum cleaner | n | sweeper | dustsucker ([ᛣ]: WF stofsûger), crumbthief |
vaettir | n | wight | - |
vagabond | n | - | waybound |
vagina | n | cûnt (now vulgar), womanhood (slang), pussy (vulgar slang) | sheath ([ᛣ], cf. WF skie, NL schede, NHG Scheide), maytril, birthhole, fith (‹PG *fuþiz > NHG Fut) |
vagrancy | n | - | eardless wandering |
vagrant | n | drifter, floater, wanderer | eardless wanderer |
vague | adj | fuzzy; dim; shadowy; hazy | unsuttle (<ME sutel <OE sweotol "clear") |
vain | adj | 1. cocky, high-and-mighty, snotty; 2. worthless, idle, 3. empty, shallow, worthless, hollow |
- |
vain, in | phr | for nothing, worthlessly, in wanhope | - |
valediction | n | goodbye, farewell, leave-taking | - |
valerian | n | all-heal | - |
valet | n | theen, steward | - |
valiant | adj | bold, doughty, fearless, stalworth | orped (‹ME orped), roof (‹OE rōf), ellenly (‹OE ellenlīc) |
valid | adj | sound, well-grounded | - |
valley | n | dale, hollow
cool, wet: swale |
comb, deneland, earthdene |
valorous | adj | - | ellenful |
valour | n | - | orpedness (‹ME orpidnesse), ellen (‹ME elne) |
valuable | adj | worthy, worthful | dearworthy (<ME dēreworth) |
value | n | worth | merit: meed |
value | vb | - | worthen |
vampire | n | bloodsucker; shark, wolf | bloodfiend |
vanadium | n | - | fryshaft |
Vandal | n | - | Wendle (<OE) |
vanguard | n | - | forefighter (<ME fōrefightere); foreward (<ME fōrewārde) |
Vánir | n(p) | sea gods, storm gods, fishing gods, shipwreckers, freight-gods, lade-ghosts, hoard-ghosts; foe gods, foes; water wights, fiends, mermen | Wones (OED, ‘prosperous ones, bountiful ones: treasure demons of the sea’) |
vanish | vb | wither, melt, sink | swind (<ME swinden; cf. SF swiende, ELG swinnen, NL zwinden, NHG schwinden), fordwine, quink |
vanity | n | pride, idleness | - |
vanquish | vb | quell; beat, win, downtread | besye (calque: NHG besiegen) |
vapour | n | mist, steam, loft | eathom (<ME ēþem), throssom (<OE þrosm), damp (original meaning), breath, watersmoke |
vapourize | vb | - | steamen |
variable | n | - | shiftling, unknown worthing, spotholder (cf. NHG Platzhalter) |
variant | n | offshoot, sundry | sundering |
variation | n | sundriness | offwrixling (cf. WF ôfwikseling) |
variegated | adj | rainbow, dotted, many-hued | sheld (<ME sheld) |
variety | n | kind, many kinds | - |
various | adj | sundry; many, manifold; rainbow | missly (<ME mislīch), manikin (<ME manīkin), manifoldly (<OE manigfealdlīc), forshed (cf. NHG verschieden) |
vas deferens | n | - | seedladder [ᛣ], seedpipe |
vassal | n | thane, feeman, knave, man, churl | neat, maythane |
vast | adj | wide, broad, great, endless | - |
vault | n | strongroom | wholve (<ME whōlve)
safe: lockvat |
vault of heaven | n | - |
rother (<OE rodor), heavenwhalf (<OE heofonhwealf; pl: heavenwhalves), heaven's wholve |
Vé | n(p) | holy, hallowed | Wigh, Way |
veal | n | calf | calfflesh |
vector | n | wayload | - |
veer | vb | swerve, trundle; bend | - |
veil | n | wimple | rift, helster |
vegan | n | - | greentheater, worteater |
vegetable | n | green, greens | foodwort, greenth (cf. NL groente) |
vegetarian | n | - | greens-eater, greenmonger |
vehement | adj | - | oneread (<ME ānrēd <OE ānrǣd), aver (<OE afor) |
vehicle | n | wain, craft | waincraft; farewain, farecraft |
vein | n | - | edder (<ME edre, cf. SF Äddere, NL ader, NHG Ader), leat |
velcro | n | - | graspcloth, fangcloth |
velociraptor | n | - | quickreacker, dashsnatcher, quickfanger |
velvet | n/adj | - | furrel (fur + dim. -el) |
vendor | n | seller, dealer, chapman, pitcher, hawker, huckster, tradesman | - |
venesection | n | blood-letting | - |
venison | n | deer meat | hartflesh, roeflesh (cf. NHG Rehfleisch) |
vengeance | n | reckoning | wrake (<ME wrake) |
venom | n | atter, bane | - |
venomous | adj | attery, baneful | attern (<ME attern), ettery (<OE ǣtrig) |
vent | n | hole, hatch; window | - |
venturesome | adj | daring, bold, free-swinging | thrist (<ME thrīst; rhymes with Christ) |
venue | n | stead, coming | showstow |
Venus (planet) | n(p) | - | Evestar, Frie (<ME Frīe) |
veracious | adj | true, soothful (archaic); truthful, wordfast, soothfast (archaic) | soothsawl (<ME sōthsagel), lutter (<ME lūtter) |
verb | n | doing-word | deedword, workword, tideword |
verbal | adj | wordy; spoken, unwritten, word-of-mouth, mouthy | - |
verbatim | adj | word-for-word, word for word | as was said, wordly (calque: NHG wörtlich) |
verbose | adj | long-winded; speechy, wordy | - |
verbosity | n | wordiness | speechiness |
verdant | n | green, lush | - |
verge | n | brink, edge, rim, threshold | - |
verify | vb | find out, look at/into | asoothe (<ME isōþien), besooth |
verily | adv | truly, soothly, indeed, forsooth, iwis (overly archaic) | - |
verity | n | truth (see Truth and sooth, verity and reality) | - |
vernacular | n | everyday speech, unbookish | mean speech, umbgang speech (calque: NHG Umgangssprache, see umbgang) |
vernal | adj | springly | - |
verse | n | fit | ferse (‹OE fers); leethcraft (‹OE lēoþcræft) |
version | n | brood; reading, betokening
offshoot; eld |
fading (‹OE fadung), leaf, wend, reckoning, aspelling, wharve |
versus | prep | against | ayenst (‹ME ayēnes/ayēnest) |
vertebra | n | backbone | wharvebone (‹OE hweorfbān), whirvel (‹OE hwyrfel, cf. NL wervel, NHG Wirbel) |
vertical | adj | standing, upright, straight up | weft |
vertically | adv | heightwise, upward(s), up and down, staffwise | - |
vertigo | n | - | swindlehood (cf. DN svimmelhed) |
veruca | n | wart | - |
vervain | n | - | ash-throat (<OE æscðrote) |
very | adj/adv |
1. sore, sorely; way, highly; fairly; greatly, mighty, through-, ful-, for-, so; 2. much, mickle, mighty, truly, soothly, forsooth, indeed, rather, rattling, dead, fele, fell; 3. same, selfsame; 4. sheer; utter; 5. true, truly, full; 6. true; 7. rightful, lawful very much: most, well |
swithly (<OE swíðe + ly)
very fair: forfair (<OE forfæger) very good: eregood (<OE ǽrgód), fulgood (<OE fulgód) very guilty: throughshildy (<OE þurhscyldig) very many: great many, feel (<ME fēle), foremany (<OE foremanig), formany (<OE formanig) very much: forswithe (<OE forswíðe), fortharl (<OE forþearle), fulswithe (<OE fulswíðe), stithe (<OE stíðe), tharl (<OE þearle), yarrow (<OE gearwe) very old: orold (‹OE oreald) very wealthy: throughspeedy (<OE þurhspédig), full (<ME ful; meant the same thing as very) |
vesica | n | bladder | - |
vesicle | n | bleb | |
vespertilines | n | bat | reremouse, ryemouse, flittermouse |
vessel | n | vat, ship | - |
vest | n | British: undershirt American: waistcoat |
- |
vestibule | n | - |
cavortown (<OE cafortūn), foreburrow (<OE foreburh), foredure (<OE foreduru), coavertown (<OE cāfortūn), inburrow (<OE inburh), wiketown (<OE wīctūn) entrance to: gate, infarreld (<OE infæreld), ingang (<OE) def. 2: foredyrre (<OE), forthtie (<OE forþtīge) def. 3: foredere (<OE foredere), forestie (<OE forestige) |
vex | vb | nettle | teen (<OE teonian), grill (<OE grillan), tarry, dreve (<OE drefan), grame, dreck (<OE dreccan), abeilan |
vexation | n | feaze |
dreevedness (<OE drefednes), grame (<ME <OE gramian) |
via | conj | by, through, by way of | - |
vibrate | vb | shiver, shudder, quiver, shake, rattle | - |
vicar | n | elder, holy man, leader | speller, spelland (<OE speliend); steadman |
vicarious | adj | instead | wician, wice |
vicepresident | n | - | underforesitter |
viceroy | n | - | underking (<OE undercyning) |
vicinity | n | nearness; neighbourhood | nighth |
vicious | adj | wicked, evil, bad; marred | baderdy (cf. NHG bösartig), nithe |
vicissitude | n | ups and downs, seesaw |
ebbs and flows, ebb and neap, wends and wynds, wax and wanes |
victim | n | - | tiber (<OE tīber), armshed |
victor | n | winner | syer, sye(wo)man |
victorious | adj | winning, on top | syerich (cf. NHG siegreich), syely (<OE siġelīċ) |
victory | n | win, hit, sweep, clean sweep, overthrow |
sye (‹ME siȝe/sy) |
video | n |
film, short film, short, show, showing, broadcast |
ewing (<OE īwung; "showing, revealing"); showstrip, clip |
video game | n | game |
levengame, reckoner game, stream game |
view | n | outlook, eyeshot, sight, insight; set, lay out | outsene |
view | vb | look, behold, watch, see, gaze, gawk | - |
viewer | n | beholder, onlooker, witness, watcher; seer | - |
vigil | n | wakefulness, wake, watch | - |
vigilance | n | heedness, wareness, watchfulness | rathing |
vigilant | adj | eye-bright, all-eyed, wakeful, aware, wary, watchful, wide awake, wakerife, ware, sharp |
wakesome (calque: NHG wachsam) |
vigilante | n |
watchman, warder, ward, keeper, overseer |
folkreve (<OE folcgérefa)
vigilance comittee member: selfbeadle, selfsheriff |
vigour | n | liveliness, drive | - |
vigorous | adj | hearty, rathe, lusty, goey, driving, lively, hale, yauld; strong; alne | rathsome (<OE hræþ) |
vile | adj | evil, wicked, loathsome, foul, filthy, irksome, ill, woeful, baneful, churlish | - |
Vili | n | ghost brother | Will |
village | n | hem, thorpe/thorp/dorp, wick, town, seat | hemling, ham |
villain | n | wretch, ne'er-do-well, cheat, black hat, baddy, evil-doer, wrong-doer, rotter, knave, churl, scumbag | nithing (<OE niðing) |
vindicate | vb | righten, uphold, whitewash, forgive | - |
vine | n | - | droovebeam (cf. WF druvebeam) |
vinegar | n | - | atched (‹OE æced) |
vintage | n | - | barn-find |
vinyl | n/adj | - | slickcloth, waxcloth, sheencloth; sheen, shiny |
viola (botany) | n | - | apple-leaf (<OE æppellēaf) |
viola (music) | n | - | midfiddle |
violate | vb | breach, befoul | overnim, sorthe, forbreak (<OS farbrekan) |
violence | n | foul play, bloodshed, recklessness | threat, hest, hattleness, nid, strack, strength, swithness, unreck,wald or awald (cf. NHG Gewalt), eath (‹OE eafoþ) |
violent | adj | bloody, blood-soaked, stormy, dreadful, mad, reckless, wrathful |
heast (‹OE hǣst), hattle, riff, tharl, grimful (<OE grimful) |
violet | adj | - | tever (<OE teafor), base (<OE basu) |
violin | n | fiddle | - |
violoncello | n | - | knee fiddle |
virgin | n | maiden | unswiven |
virginity | n | maidenhood | unswivenhood, famenhood |
Virtual Reality | n | - | Aped Warehood (literally: simulated reality) |
virtually | adv | almost, nearly, seemingly, all but | - |
virtue | n | worth, uprightness, doughtiness, heart, goodness, thews |
douth (<OE duguþ), worthmark |
virtuous | adj | right-minded | douthsome (cf. NL deugdzaam) |
virus | n | - | smit, smitter (cf. SW smitta), weevil |
visage | n | brow, blee, likeness | neb (<OE nebb); onsene (OED) |
vis-à-vis | prep | in (the) light of | with casting to |
viscosity | n | thick-flowingness, stickiness, clinginess; thickness | - |
viscous | adj | thick-flowing (cf. NHG dickflüssig), sticky, clingy, ropy | - |
viscum | n | mistletoe, balday's bane | - |
visible | adj | showing, seen | seely (<ME sehelīche), eyeseen (<OE), seenly; seesome, sightbere |
vision | n | sight; show; dream, sweven; spae, spaedom | senn (<OE sīen) |
visionary | adj | farsighted, foresighted; spaeman; showman; wit, witter | - |
visit | vb | call upon, drop in, see, come by, sight (informal; example: today I sighted my dad home) | beseek (cf. OE bīsǣce, NHG besuchen), see home (ex. I saw my father home yesterday.) |
visit | n | - | call; fandle, beseeking (cf. OE bīsǣce, cf. NHG Besuch) |
visitor | n | caller, guest; fere, farer | fandler beseeker |
vital | adj |
quick, flush, lusty, red-blooded; mettlesome, springy; needed; fell; key; lively, snell, alne |
- |
vitality | n | liveliness, quickness; beans | dodrive |
vitamin | n | - | fereshaft (cf. IC fjörefni) |
vocabulary | n | word-hoard | wordstock, wordstow |
vocal | adj | loud, outspoken | - |
vociferous | adj | outspoken, loudmouthed | - |
voice | n | steven (OED, <OE stefn; "With dreary heart and sorrowful steven .."; one of the few words to rhyme with 'heaven') steaven (so the way it is written does indeed rhyme with heaven); reird, roust (OED) |
reard (<ME rērd/rearde), leathor (<OE hlēoðor), sweyleether (<OE swēġhlēoðor), swey (<OE swēġ) of water: watersteven (<OE wæterstefn), headwooth (<OE hēafodwōþ) |
voiced | adj | breathy, soft, weak, flat | rearded [ᛣ] |
voiceless | adj | hard, strong, sharp | stevenless [ᛣ] |
void | n/adj |
n: black hole, emptiness adj: bereft |
roum (<OE rūm), toom (<OE tōm) |
voilà | interj | behold, lo | - |
volcano | n | - | firebarrow, firefell |
völkisch | adj | folkish | - |
volleyball | n | - | flightball [ᛣ] |
volume | n | book: wad acoustics: din, loudness |
measure of space: bulk, roommeal (cf. IC rúmmál), inhold (cf. NL inhoud) |
voluntary | adj | willing, freewilling, thank-you working | - |
volunteer | n | - | freewill worker, freewiller, willing hands (attested), thank-you worker (slang) |
volunteering | n | - | thank-you working |
vomer | n | - | ploughshare bone |
vomit | vb |
spew, puke, throw up, hurl, retch, upchuck |
- |
vomit | n | spew, puke, sick, throw-up, hurl | - |
vote | n/vb | poll, show of hands, choosing vb: choose, wale (<ME walen) |
steven |
vow | n/vb | oath, behest, pledge, plight, troth, word | behest, behight |
vowel | n | - | clipple (<OE clipol), clipend |
voyage | n/vb | sail, fare | farfareld |
vulgar | adj | low, filthy, ill-bred, churlish | churly (<OE ceorllīc) |
vulnerable | adj | weak, soft, flawed, helpless, powerless, strengthless, mightless | - |
vulpine | adj | foxlike | - |
vulture | n | - | geir [ᛣ], ulter, tearbird, ettinfowl, deathfowl |
vulva | n | - | maithblade (‹OE mægþblæd), maidleaf [ᛣ] |