Danish

Verb

hæft

1. imperative of hæfte

Old English

Noun

hæft n

1. a handle, the haft of a weapon

   Nim ðæt seax ðe ðæt hæfte sie fealo hryðeres horn: take a knife, the handle of which is yellow ox-horn.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *haftaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂ptós ‎(“grabbed”). Cognate with Middle Low German hacht, Old High German hafta (German Haft), Old Norse hapt, haptr. The Indo-European root is also the source of Latin captus (past participle of capiō), Old Irish cacht (Welsh caeth ‘slave’, Breton keaz ‘poor’), Albanian kap ‘grip’, Slavic *xopītī- (Old Church Slavonic хапѭште, Russian хапать), Baltic *kap- (Lithuanian kàpteleti, Latvian kàmpt ‘bite’).

Noun

hæft m

1. a captive, a prisoner or slave

   We ðe biddaþ ðæt ðu gehyre hæfta stefne: we beseech you to hear the voice of the captives.

2. captivity, bondage, imprisonment

   Is ðes hæft to ðan strang: this imprisonment is so severe.

3. a bond or fetter

Related terms

• hebban
• habban
• hefiġ