dēor
neuter
The English word 'beast' is translated into Old English as dēor.
dēor is used to refer to a non-human animal.
Meaning: non-human animal (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
dēor is a neuter noun.
Did you know?
- The modern English word 'deer' is actually a direct descendant of the Old English dēor, which originally meant any wild animal.
- The word 'dear' in English, meaning beloved, is a false friend to the Old English dēor, as they share a distant phonetic ancestor but moved in entirely different semantic directions.
- Because dēor was a neuter noun, any adjectives describing the beast would have to take a neuter grammatical form, regardless of the animal's actual gender.
Examples in context
- Þæt dēor slǣpþ.The beast is sleeping.
Example conversation
Two people are walking through a forest.
- GodricHlyst! Iċ ġehīere dēor!Listen! I hear a beast!
- ÆthelflædUton hweorfan, Godric.Let us turn back, Godric.
- GodricIs þæt dēor hēah?Is that beast tall?
- ÆthelflædIċ nāt, ac hit is grim.I do not know, but it is fierce.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “beast” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
