Everyday life

husband

Norse húsbóndi was the 'house-dweller', the master of a household, and the word still means that across Scandinavia; in English it narrowed to a married man, while Scots 'husband' long meant a tenant farmer and 'husbandry' remembers the farming householder.

Weakest linkCertain

The road to English

From Old Norse to Icelandic

From Old Norse to Swedish

From Old Norse to Danish

From Old Norse to Norwegian

From Middle English to Scots

1000Old Norse

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

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