† seleradj.

Etymology: < the same Germanic base as Old English sēl (adverb) better ( < an ablaut variant (lengthened o -grade) of the Germanic base of sele n.) + the Germanic base of -er suffix³. Compare selest adj. Functioning as a (suppletive) comparative form of good adj. (see discussion at that entry). Compare also the inferred positive form sele adj., which developed in early Middle English.In early Old English, the stem vowel would have been long ōē (the i-mutation of ō ; compare forms of selest adj.), which is regularly unrounded to ē in West Saxon. However, it appears that both in late West Saxon and in late Northumbrian the stem vowel was shortened (and, in the case of Northumbrian, unrounded) to e in forms that show the following consonant group ll or llr , as late West Saxon sylla presupposes earlier sella (with short ĕ ); compare forms of sell v. The geminate ll in sella, sylla arises by assimilation of r of the comparative suffix to the final l of the stem; the group llr in sellra perhaps arises by gemination before r (compare R. M. Hogg Gram. Old Eng. (1992) I. §7.79 note 5) or may simply represent a hybrid form. Compare Old English (West Saxon) sēl , Anglian and early Kentish sōēl (adverb) better (in various senses):eOE (Kentish) Will of Abba (Sawyer 1482) in F. E. Harmer Sel. Eng. Hist. Docs. 9th & 10th Cent. (1914) 5 Hio forgifeð fiftene pund for ðy ðe mon ðas feorme ðy soel gelæste.eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xiv. 81 Sua micle he mæg ieð his hieremenn geteon to beteran, & he bið sua micle sel gehiered sua he ufor gestent on his lifes geearnungum.OE Beowulf (2008) 1012 Ne gefrægen ic þa mægþe maran weorode ymb hyra sincgyfan sel gebæran.OE Will of King Ælfred (Sawyer 1507) in F. E. Harmer Sel. Eng. Hist. Docs. 9th & 10th Cent. (1914) 16 He cwæð þæs þe he on uncrum gemanan gebruce & gestrynde æfter his dæge he nanum menn sel ne uðe þonne me.Compare also Old English (rare) sēlor (adverb), representing a new analogical formation < sēl + -er suffix³:OE Old Eng. Martyrol. (Julius) (2013) 8 Oct. 196 Ond se æcer þa syððan gegreow C siða selor [OE Corpus Cambr. 196 sel] þonne he ær dyde.