sincan

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sinkwan, akin to Old Frisian sinka (West Frisian sinke), Old Saxon sinkan, Old High German sinkan (German sinken), Old Norse søkkva (Danish synke, Swedish sjunka, Icelandic sökkva, Faroese søkka), Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌲𐌵𐌰𐌽 (sigqan).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsin.kɑn/, [ˈsiŋ.kɑn]

Verb

sincan

1. to sink
   • late 10th century, Ælfric, Lives of Saints

     Æfter þisum ġebede, bærst ūt of heofonum swȳþe fǣrlīċ fȳr and forbernde þæt templ, and ealle þā godas grundlunga suncon intō þǣre eorþan, and ne ætēowdon siþþan.

     After this prayer, a very sudden fire burst out of the heavens and burned up the temple, and all the gods sunk completely into the earth, and have not appeared since.

Conjugation

Conjugation of sincan (strong, class III)

infinitive	sincan	sincenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	since	sanc
second person singular	sincst	sunce
third person singular	sincþ	sanc
plural	sincaþ	suncon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	since	sunce
plural	sincen	suncen
imperative
singular	sinc
plural	sincaþ
participle	present	past
	sincende	(ġe)suncen

Derived terms

• āsincan
• besincan
• ġesincan

Descendants

• Middle English: synken
  • English: sink
  • Scots: sink
  • Yola: zunk (preterite)