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] |