geswican

From ġe- +‎ swīcan.

• IPA^(key): /jeˈswiː.kɑn/

ġeswīcan

1. to stop, quit
   • c. 900, the Old English Orosius

     Þā hīe lange fuhton, þā cleopode Lacedaemōnia ealdormann tō Arcadium and bǣdon þæt hīe þæs ġefeohtes ġeswiċen þæt hīe mōsten þā dēadan bebyrġan þe heora folces ofslagene wǣron.

     When they had been fighting for a long time, the leader of the Laconians called out to the Arcadians and asked them to stop the fighting so they could bury the dead of their nation who had been killed.

   • c. 992, Ælfric, "Preface"

     Eft cwæð se Ælmihtiga to þam witegan Isaiam, "Clypa and ne geswīc ðu, ahefe þine stemne swā swā byme, and cyð minum folce heora leahtras, and Iacobes hirede heora synna."

     Again the Almighty spake to the prophet Isaiah, "Cry and cease thou not, raise thy voice as a trumpet, and declare to my people their crimes, and to the family of Jacob their sins."

   ġeswīcan tō bēonne

   to cease to exist

   Iċ ġeswāc tō drincenne.

   I stopped drinking.

   Þā sē reġn ġeswāc, þā ēodon þā ċildru ūt.

   When the rain stopped, the children went outside.

2. to fail