Treadeth

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To walk upon a surface with careful attention
2. To move by placing one foot in front of the other on a surface with a deliberate step
3. To advance forward by stepping carefully on the ground or another area

Etymology: "Treadeth" is the archaic third-person singular present form of "tread," the verb meaning to walk or step, and the "-eth" ending is what marks it as old-fashioned. The ending traces back through Old English "-aþ" and Proto-West Germanic "-ōþ" to a Proto-Germanic "-ōþi," the same ending that appeared on other verbs of the period. Middle English later reshaped it into "-eth," which lasted in written English for centuries before "-s" took over in everyday speech. "Tread" itself is an older, shared word in the Germanic family, and its sense of setting one's foot down on the ground has stayed remarkably stable from its earliest recorded forms. The "-eth" form is simply that verb conjugated in the old style, so "treadeth" carries the same meaning as "treads," with the flavour of an earlier English, as in the King James Bible.