gescead

• ġesċād

ge- +‎ sceadan (“to distinguish, separate, decide”)

• IPA^(key): /jeˈʃæ͜ɑːd/, /jeˈʃɑːd/

ġesċēad n

1. reason (a reason or the faculty of reason)
   • late 10th century, Ælfric, "The Octaves and Circumcision of Our Lord"

     Nū onġinþ ūre ġerīm on þissum dæġe (æfter Rōmānisċre ġesetnesse) for nānum godcundlīcum ġesċeāde, ac for þām ealdan ġewunan.

     Our calendar begins on this day (following the Roman system) not for any religious reason, but because of tradition.

   • late 10th century, Ælfric, "The Octaves and Circumcision of Our Lord"

     Ġif ġē willaþ æfter menniscum ġesċeāde libban, þonne sind ġē gāstlīċe ymbsnidene.

     If you choose to live your life based on human reason, you are spiritually circumcised.

   • c. 992, Ælfric, "THE ANNUNCIATION OF ST. MARY."

     Hwí wolde God beon acenned of beweddodan mædene? For micclum ġescēade, and ēac for nēode.

     Why would God be born of a wedded virgin? For a great reason, and also of necessity.

2. distinction

• ġesċēadwisnes
• ġesċēaden
• ġesċēadwīs
• rihtġesċēad
• tungolġesċēad
• unġesċēad

• Middle English: sched, schode, schede (conflated with sċeāda)
  • English: shed (dialectal shode)
  • Scots: shed

ġesċēad

1. reasonable
2. discreet
3. calculated, fixed

• ġesċēadlīċ
• ġesċēadlīċe
• unġesċēad

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