geares dæg

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *jārasdag, from Proto-West Germanic *jāradag.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjæ͜ɑː.res dæj/

Noun

ġēares dæġ m

1. New Year's Day
   • c. 992, Ælfric, "The Octaves and Circumcision of Our Lord"

     Wē habbaþ oft ġehīered þæt menn hātaþ þisne dæġ ġēares dæġ, swelċe þēs dæġ fyrmest sīe on ġēares ymbryne. Ac wē ne ġemētaþ nāne swutolunge on cristenum bōcum hwȳ þēs dæġ tō ġēares anġinne ġeteald sīe.

     We have often heard that people call this day year's day, as if this is the first day in the course of the year. But we find no explanation in Christian books for why this day is considered the beginning of the year.

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	ġēares dæġ	ġēares dagas
accusative	ġēares dæġ	ġēares dagas
genitive	ġēares dæġes	ġēares daga
dative	ġēares dæġe	ġēares dagum

Descendants

• Middle English: ȝeres-dai, ȝeresday, yeeres dai, Yeeris Day, ȝere's day
  • ⇒ English: New Year's Day