for an

Old English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adverb

for ān

  1. only
    • 10th c. Anglo-Saxon Gospels, Translation, Gospel of Saint Mattthew, chapter 9, verse 21.
      Hēo cwæþ sōþlīce on hyre mōde, for ān ic bēo hāl, ġyf ic hys rēafes æthrīne.
      She said verily in her mind, only I will be whole if I touch his garment.
    • 995. Anglo-Saxon Gospels, Translation, Gospel of Saint Mark, chapter 5, verse 36.
      Ðā hē ġehȳrde þæt word, ðā cwæþ sē Hǣlend, Ne ondrǣd ðū ðē, ġelȳf for ān
      When he heard the word, then said the Healer [Jesus Christ], "Don't fear, believe only."
    • 995. Anglo-Saxon Old Testament, Translation, Book of Exodus, chapter 10, verse 24.
      Ðā clypode Pharao Moyses and Aaron, and cwæþ tō him: Gāð and offriað ēowrum Gode: forān ēoƿre yrfe sceal bēon hēr.
      Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said to them: "Go and offer to your God: only your cattle shall be here."
  2. specially
    • c. 992, Ælfric, "The Seven Sleepers"
      ...and heom for ān þā wīte ġemynte wǣron būton hī ðǣr-rihte urnon and ðām dēofol-ġylde ġeoffrodon and drihtne wiðsōcon...
      ...and the tortures were specially intended for themselves, unless they straightway ran and sacrificed to the idol and denied the Lord.

See also

References

Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “fór án”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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