Oferfyllan

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An Old English verb meaning to fill something beyond its capacity ; to make a person drunk or intoxicated
2. A historical Old English word for overfilling a vessel or container ; a term for rendering someone drunk or stupefied with drink
3. Archaic Old English verb describing the act of filling excessively to the brim ; also used to mean inebriating or making someone drunk

Etymology: Old English "oferfyllan" combines "ofer", meaning "over" or "beyond", with "fyllan", "to fill", which itself comes from the adjective "full". The verb meant to fill something past its proper limit, or to satisfy someone until they could take no more. Since excessive drinking was the most familiar way to exceed one's limit, it could also mean to make someone drunk. The prefix "ofer" is cognate with the "over" of modern English, and it shares ancestry with Latin "super" and Greek "hyper". The verb did not survive into modern English. Today's "overfill" is a separate, later formation built from the same parts rather than a direct descendant.