Beornan

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An Old English verb meaning to be consumed by fire or to give off heat and flame while burning
2. The Old English word for burning, describing something set alight and consumed by fire or intense heat
3. Used in Old English to describe the act of catching fire, blazing, or being destroyed by flame

Etymology: Beornan is an Old English verb meaning "to burn," and it is the ancestor of the modern English "burn." The unusual thing is how it was built: its stem was reshaped over many centuries, and the present-day form took over Old English forms that were once distinct verbs, so the modern "burn" is a blend of earlier words for the same act. Its Germanic relatives follow the same pattern, which is why German "brennen" and Dutch "branden" look so similar. Because Old English "beornan" had a strong (irregular) past tense, its forms varied across dialects, and the earlier forms gradually gave way to the regular "burned" pattern common in modern English. The Old English stem also shows up in "brand," a burning piece of wood, which descends from the same Germanic root.