bædling

Old English

Etymology

Of unclear origin. Perhaps related to bedd (“bed”), suggesting "a delicate fellow, tenderling, one who lies much in bed",[1] or perhaps to bæddel.[2]

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈbæd.linɡ/, [ˈbæd.liŋɡ]

Noun

bædling m

  1. a word of uncertain precise meaning, variously interpreted as delicate man, effeminate man, or hermaphrodite

References
  1. Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “bædling”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  2. David Clark, Between Medieval Men (2009), especially pages 62-65
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