modig

See also: módig

Danish

Etymology

From mod (“courage”) +‎ -ig, from Old Norse móðugr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /moːdi/, [ˈmoːði]

Adjective

modig (neuter modigt, plural and definite singular attributive modige)

1. brave, courageous

Inflection

Inflection of modig

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	modig	modigere	modigst2
indefinite neuter singular	modigt	modigere	modigst2
plural	modige	modigere	modigst2
definite attributive1	modige	modigere	modigste

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

References

• “modig” in Den Danske Ordbog

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse móðigr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /muː.di/, [ˈmuː.dɪ]

Adjective

modig (neuter singular modig, definite singular and plural modige, comparative modigere, indefinite superlative modigst, definite superlative modigste)

1. brave, courageous, bold

References

• “modig” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse móðigr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /muː.di/, [ˈmuː.dɪ]

Adjective

modig (neuter singular modig, definite singular and plural modige, comparative modigare, indefinite superlative modigast, definite superlative modigaste)

1. brave, courageous, bold

References

• “modig” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Alternative forms

• modi

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *mōdagaz (“courageous”), equivalent to mōd +‎ -iġ. Cognate with Middle Dutch moedich (Dutch moedig), Old High German -muoti (in compounds) (German mutig), Old Norse móðugr, Swedish modig, Danish modig, Gothic 𐌼𐍉𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍃 (mōdags).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmoː.dij/

Adjective

mōdiġ (superlative mōdgast)

1. proud
   • Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church

     Moyses, ðurh Godes mihte, āwende eal heora wæter tō rēadum blōde, and hē āfylde eal heora land mid froggon, and siððan mid gnættum, eft mid hundes lūsum, ðā flugon into heora mūðe and heora næsðyrlum; and sē Ælmihtiġa ðone mōdiġan cyning mid þām eaðelicum ġesċeaftum swā gėswencte...

     Moses, through the power of God, turned all their water into red blood, and filled all of their land with frogs, and then with gnats, and afterwards with dogflies, which flew into their mouths and their nostrils; the Almighty punished their proud king in that way with every kind of creature...

2. reckless
3. (poetic) brave, courageous
   • 10th century, The Wanderer:

     mōdġe maguþeġnas. · Swā þēs middanġeard
     ealra dōgra ġehwām · drēoseð ond fealleþ,

     brave warriors. Thus this world
     perishes and falls to each of all days,

Usage notes

• This word and its derivatives were especially favored in Late West Saxon, beginning around 950. For the dialectical distribution of the words for "proud" and "pride," see the usage notes for ofermettu.

Declension

Declension of mōdiġ — Strong

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	mōdiġ	mōdiġu, mōdġu, mōdiġo, mōdġo	mōdiġ
Accusative	mōdiġne	mōdiġe, mōdġe	mōdiġ
Genitive	mōdiġes, mōdġes	mōdiġre	mōdiġes, mōdġes
Dative	mōdiġum, mōdġum	mōdiġre	mōdiġum, mōdġum
Instrumental	mōdiġe, mōdġe	mōdiġre	mōdiġe, mōdġe
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	mōdiġe, mōdġe	mōdiġa, mōdġa, mōdiġe, mōdġe	mōdiġu, mōdġu, mōdiġo, mōdġo
Accusative	mōdiġe, mōdġe	mōdiġa, mōdġa, mōdiġe, mōdġe	mōdiġu, mōdġu, mōdiġo, mōdġo
Genitive	mōdiġra	mōdiġra	mōdiġra
Dative	mōdiġum, mōdġum	mōdiġum, mōdġum	mōdiġum, mōdġum
Instrumental	mōdiġum, mōdġum	mōdiġum, mōdġum	mōdiġum, mōdġum

Declension of mōdiġ — Weak

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	mōdiġa, mōdġa	mōdiġe, mōdġe	mōdiġe, mōdġe
Accusative	mōdiġan, mōdġan	mōdiġan, mōdġan	mōdiġe, mōdġe
Genitive	mōdiġan, mōdġan	mōdiġan, mōdġan	mōdiġan, mōdġan
Dative	mōdiġan, mōdġan	mōdiġan, mōdġan	mōdiġan, mōdġan
Instrumental	mōdiġan, mōdġan	mōdiġan, mōdġan	mōdiġan, mōdġan
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	mōdiġan, mōdġan	mōdiġan, mōdġan	mōdiġan, mōdġan
Accusative	mōdiġan, mōdġan	mōdiġan, mōdġan	mōdiġan, mōdġan
Genitive	mōdiġra, mōdiġena, mōdġena	mōdiġra, mōdiġena, mōdġena	mōdiġra, mōdiġena, mōdġena
Dative	mōdiġum, mōdġum	mōdiġum, mōdġum	mōdiġum, mōdġum
Instrumental	mōdiġum, mōdġum	mōdiġum, mōdġum	mōdiġum, mōdġum

Derived terms

• mōdegian
• mōdiġnes

Descendants

• Middle English: modi, mody
  • English: moody

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish moþogher, equivalent to mod +‎ -ig.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

modig (comparative modigare, superlative modigast)

1. brave, courageous
   • 2000 December 18, “Psaltaren 76:6”, in Bibel 2000‎, © Svenska Bibelsällskapet, accessed at Bible.com, archived from the original on 21 March 2025:

     Modiga män blev plundrade, de hade fallit i sömn, ingen krigare kunde lyfta sin hand.

     Courageous men were plundered, they had fallen asleep, no warrior could lift his hand.

   • 2016 March 7, Jens Möller, “'Afghanistan som ett helvete för kvinnor'”, in Sveriges Radio‎, archived from the original on 16 April 2021:

     Brittiska BBC har kallat Malalai "Afghanistans modigaste kvinna".

     The British BBC has called Malalai "Afghanistan's bravest woman".

Declension

Inflection of modig

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	modig	modigare	modigast
neuter singular	modigt	modigare	modigast
plural	modiga	modigare	modigast
masculine plural2	modige	modigare	modigast
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	modige	modigare	modigaste
all	modiga	modigare	modigaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

References

• modig in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker
• modig in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)