Semi-Saxonadj.n.
A. adj.
Intermediate between ‘Saxon’ and ‘English’; formerly used by philologists to designate the first period of Middle English, from c1100–50 to c1250.
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the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [adjective] > Indo-European > Germanic > English > Middle English
Middle English1833
Semi-Saxon1847
1847 (title) Layamon's Brut, or Chronicle of Britain; a poetical semi-Saxon paraphrase of the Brut of Wace.
B. n.
The ‘Semi-Saxon’ language; Early Middle English.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Germanic > English > Middle English
Semi-Saxon1735
Middle English1830
ME1874
1735 M. Shelton tr. W. Wotton Short View Hickes's Anc. Northern-lang. 100 The Nicene..Creed, translated into Semi-Saxon.
1813 T. D. Whitaker Langland's Piers Plowman Introd. p. vii From the extinction of the pure Saxon..to the reign of Edward the Third, the language of our country, which, during that period, may be called Semi-Saxon, had scarcely been reduced to any standard.
1853 Morton Ancr. R. Pref. p. x A few passages in the Latin which are not in the semi-Saxon.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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adj.n.1735