"na" meaning in Old English

See na in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

IPA: /nɑː/ Forms: nā [canonical], nō [alternative]
Etymology: From Proto-West Germanic *nai (“never”), equivalent to a contraction of ne (“not”) and ā (“ever”). Etymology templates: {{inh|ang|gmw-pro|*nai|t=never}} Proto-West Germanic *nai (“never”) Head templates: {{ang-adv|nā}} nā
  1. not
    Sense id: en-na-ang-adv-JUu5e1fx Categories (other): Old English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of Old English entries with incorrect language header: 37 0 26 37
  2. no
    Sense id: en-na-ang-adv-k5Apjz-w
  3. (poetic) never Tags: poetic
    Sense id: en-na-ang-adv-ZJfks9e- Categories (other): Old English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of Old English entries with incorrect language header: 37 0 26 37

Conjunction

IPA: /nɑː/ Forms: nā [canonical], nō [alternative]
Etymology: From Proto-West Germanic *nai (“never”), equivalent to a contraction of ne (“not”) and ā (“ever”). Etymology templates: {{inh|ang|gmw-pro|*nai|t=never}} Proto-West Germanic *nai (“never”) Head templates: {{head|ang|conjunctions|head=nā}} nā
  1. not Synonyms: næs [conjunction] Derived forms: nā þæt Related terms: nān, nāwiht, ne, nese
    Sense id: en-na-ang-conj-JUu5e1fx Categories (other): Old English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of Old English entries with incorrect language header: 37 0 26 37
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*nai",
        "t": "never"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *nai (“never”)",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Proto-West Germanic *nai (“never”), equivalent to a contraction of ne (“not”) and ā (“ever”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "nā",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "nō",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "nā"
      },
      "expansion": "nā",
      "name": "ang-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Old English",
  "lang_code": "ang",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "37 0 26 37",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Old English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "english": "That's not red, it's green.",
          "text": "Nis þæt nā rēad, ac is grēne.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "english": "Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?",
          "roman": "Is hit ālīefed þæt man Cāsere gafol selle, þe nā?",
          "text": "c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Matthew 22:17",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "english": "The Lord is not comparable to other people.",
          "text": "c. 992, Ælfric, \"The Fifth Sunday in Lent\"\nDryhten nis nā ōðrum mannum tō wiþmetenne.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "english": "Non ego, sed tu: “Not me, you.” Non bos est, sed equus: “It's not an ox, it's a horse.”",
          "text": "c. 995, Ælfric, Extracts on Grammar in English\nNōn egō, sed tū: “Nā iċ, ac þū.” Nōn bōs est, sed equus: “Nis hit nā oxa, ac is hors.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "not"
      ],
      "id": "en-na-ang-adv-JUu5e1fx",
      "links": [
        [
          "not",
          "not"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "english": "I only said that because I didn't know any better (literally \"no better\").",
          "text": "Þæt iċ cwæþ for þon āne þe iċ nā bet nysse.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "english": "Then said the abbot and all the brothers, that no more monks could dwell there...",
          "text": "late 10th century, Ælfric, \"Saint Maur, Abbot\"\nÞā ġecwæð sē abbod and ealle þā ġebrōðra þæt þēr ne mihte nā mā muneca wunian...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "english": "That same summer, no less than twenty ships perished on the south coast.",
          "roman": "Þȳ ilcan sumora forwearþ nā lǣs þonne twēntiġ sċipa be þǣm sūðriman.",
          "text": "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Version B, year 897",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "english": "Then said all the multitude who stood there astonished,that the executioner should vex her no longer,...",
          "text": "late 10th century, Ælfric, \"Ash-Wednesday\"\nÞā cwæð eall sēo meniu þe ðǣr mid stōd ofwundrod þæt sē cwellere ne sceolde swencan hī nā leng...",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "no"
      ],
      "id": "en-na-ang-adv-k5Apjz-w",
      "links": [
        [
          "no",
          "no"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "37 0 26 37",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Old English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "english": "Whither did the horse come? Whither did the man come? Whither did the treasure-giver come?\nWhither did the seats of feasts come? Where are the hall-joys?\nAlack and alas, bright cup! Alack and alas, mailed warrior!\nAlack and alas, the army of the king! How did the time pass,\ngrow dark under the cover of night, as if it never did.",
          "ref": "10th century, The Wanderer:",
          "text": "Hwǣr cōm mearg? Hwǣr cōm mago? · Hwǣr cōm māþþumġyfa?\nHwǣr cōm symbla ġesetu? · Hwǣr sindon seledrēamas?\nĒalā beorht bune! · Ēalā byrnwiga!\nĒalā þēodnes þrym! · Hū sēo þrāg ġewāt,\nġenāp under nihthelm, · swā hēo nō wære.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "never"
      ],
      "id": "en-na-ang-adv-ZJfks9e-",
      "links": [
        [
          "never",
          "never"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(poetic) never"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "poetic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/nɑː/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "na"
}

{
  "descendants": [
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "en",
            "2": "no"
          },
          "expansion": "English: no",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "English: no"
    },
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "en-geo",
            "2": "ne",
            "3": "naw"
          },
          "expansion": "Geordie English: ne, naw",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "Geordie English: ne, naw"
    },
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "sco",
            "2": "nae",
            "3": "naw"
          },
          "expansion": "Scots: nae, naw",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "Scots: nae, naw"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*nai",
        "t": "never"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *nai (“never”)",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Proto-West Germanic *nai (“never”), equivalent to a contraction of ne (“not”) and ā (“ever”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "nā",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "nō",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "conjunctions",
        "head": "nā"
      },
      "expansion": "nā",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Old English",
  "lang_code": "ang",
  "pos": "conj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "37 0 26 37",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Old English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "nā þæt"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "english": "It's more of a miracle that God Almighty feeds the whole world every day than that he fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread—but that amazed people not because it was more miraculous, but because it was unusual.",
          "text": "c. 992, Ælfric, \"Midlent\"\nMāre wundor is þæt God Ælmihtiġ ǣlce dæġe fētt ealne middanġeard þonne þæt wundor wǣre þæt hē þā ġefylde fīf þūsende manna mid fīf hlāfum—ac þæs wundrodon menn nā for þȳ þæt hit māre wundor wǣre, ac for þȳ þæt hit wæs unġewunelīċ.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "not"
      ],
      "id": "en-na-ang-conj-JUu5e1fx",
      "links": [
        [
          "not",
          "not"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "nān"
        },
        {
          "word": "nāwiht"
        },
        {
          "word": "ne"
        },
        {
          "word": "nese"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "conjunction"
          ],
          "word": "næs"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/nɑː/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "na"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "Old English adverbs",
    "Old English conjunctions",
    "Old English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Old English lemmas",
    "Old English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic",
    "Old English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic",
    "Old English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "Pages with 111 entries",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*nai",
        "t": "never"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *nai (“never”)",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Proto-West Germanic *nai (“never”), equivalent to a contraction of ne (“not”) and ā (“ever”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "nā",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "nō",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "nā"
      },
      "expansion": "nā",
      "name": "ang-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Old English",
  "lang_code": "ang",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Old English terms with quotations",
        "Old English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "english": "That's not red, it's green.",
          "text": "Nis þæt nā rēad, ac is grēne.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "english": "Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?",
          "roman": "Is hit ālīefed þæt man Cāsere gafol selle, þe nā?",
          "text": "c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Matthew 22:17",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "english": "The Lord is not comparable to other people.",
          "text": "c. 992, Ælfric, \"The Fifth Sunday in Lent\"\nDryhten nis nā ōðrum mannum tō wiþmetenne.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "english": "Non ego, sed tu: “Not me, you.” Non bos est, sed equus: “It's not an ox, it's a horse.”",
          "text": "c. 995, Ælfric, Extracts on Grammar in English\nNōn egō, sed tū: “Nā iċ, ac þū.” Nōn bōs est, sed equus: “Nis hit nā oxa, ac is hors.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "not"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "not",
          "not"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Old English terms with quotations",
        "Old English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "english": "I only said that because I didn't know any better (literally \"no better\").",
          "text": "Þæt iċ cwæþ for þon āne þe iċ nā bet nysse.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "english": "Then said the abbot and all the brothers, that no more monks could dwell there...",
          "text": "late 10th century, Ælfric, \"Saint Maur, Abbot\"\nÞā ġecwæð sē abbod and ealle þā ġebrōðra þæt þēr ne mihte nā mā muneca wunian...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "english": "That same summer, no less than twenty ships perished on the south coast.",
          "roman": "Þȳ ilcan sumora forwearþ nā lǣs þonne twēntiġ sċipa be þǣm sūðriman.",
          "text": "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Version B, year 897",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "english": "Then said all the multitude who stood there astonished,that the executioner should vex her no longer,...",
          "text": "late 10th century, Ælfric, \"Ash-Wednesday\"\nÞā cwæð eall sēo meniu þe ðǣr mid stōd ofwundrod þæt sē cwellere ne sceolde swencan hī nā leng...",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "no"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "no",
          "no"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Old English poetic terms",
        "Old English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "english": "Whither did the horse come? Whither did the man come? Whither did the treasure-giver come?\nWhither did the seats of feasts come? Where are the hall-joys?\nAlack and alas, bright cup! Alack and alas, mailed warrior!\nAlack and alas, the army of the king! How did the time pass,\ngrow dark under the cover of night, as if it never did.",
          "ref": "10th century, The Wanderer:",
          "text": "Hwǣr cōm mearg? Hwǣr cōm mago? · Hwǣr cōm māþþumġyfa?\nHwǣr cōm symbla ġesetu? · Hwǣr sindon seledrēamas?\nĒalā beorht bune! · Ēalā byrnwiga!\nĒalā þēodnes þrym! · Hū sēo þrāg ġewāt,\nġenāp under nihthelm, · swā hēo nō wære.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "never"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "never",
          "never"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(poetic) never"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "poetic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/nɑː/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "na"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "Old English adverbs",
    "Old English conjunctions",
    "Old English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Old English lemmas",
    "Old English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic",
    "Old English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic",
    "Old English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "Pages with 111 entries",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "nā þæt"
    }
  ],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "en",
            "2": "no"
          },
          "expansion": "English: no",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "English: no"
    },
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "en-geo",
            "2": "ne",
            "3": "naw"
          },
          "expansion": "Geordie English: ne, naw",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "Geordie English: ne, naw"
    },
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "sco",
            "2": "nae",
            "3": "naw"
          },
          "expansion": "Scots: nae, naw",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "Scots: nae, naw"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*nai",
        "t": "never"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *nai (“never”)",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Proto-West Germanic *nai (“never”), equivalent to a contraction of ne (“not”) and ā (“ever”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "nā",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "nō",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "conjunctions",
        "head": "nā"
      },
      "expansion": "nā",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Old English",
  "lang_code": "ang",
  "pos": "conj",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "nān"
    },
    {
      "word": "nāwiht"
    },
    {
      "word": "ne"
    },
    {
      "word": "nese"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Old English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "english": "It's more of a miracle that God Almighty feeds the whole world every day than that he fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread—but that amazed people not because it was more miraculous, but because it was unusual.",
          "text": "c. 992, Ælfric, \"Midlent\"\nMāre wundor is þæt God Ælmihtiġ ǣlce dæġe fētt ealne middanġeard þonne þæt wundor wǣre þæt hē þā ġefylde fīf þūsende manna mid fīf hlāfum—ac þæs wundrodon menn nā for þȳ þæt hit māre wundor wǣre, ac for þȳ þæt hit wæs unġewunelīċ.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "not"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "not",
          "not"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/nɑː/"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "tags": [
        "conjunction"
      ],
      "word": "næs"
    }
  ],
  "word": "na"
}

Download raw JSONL data for na meaning in Old English (6.1kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Old English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-03-21 using wiktextract (fef8596 and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.