berstan

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *brestan (with e-r metathesis in West Germanic), from Proto-Germanic *brestaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰres- (“to burst, break, crack, split, separate”).

Cognate with Old Frisian bersta (West Frisian boarste), Old Saxon brestan (Low German basten), Dutch bersten, barsten, Old High German brestan German bersten), Old Norse bresta (Danish briste, Norwegian Bokmål briste, Swedish brista).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈber.stɑn/, [ˈberˠ.stɑn]

Verb

berstan

1. to break, shatter, burst
   • late 10th century, Ælfric, Lives of Saints

     Æfter þisum ġebede, bærst ūt of heofonum swȳþe fǣrlīċ fȳr and forbernde þæt templ, and ealle þā godas grundlunga suncon intō þǣre eorþan, and ne ætēowdon siþþan.

     After this prayer, a very sudden fire burst out of the heavens and burned up the temple, and all the gods sunk completely into the earth, and have not appeared since.

Conjugation

Conjugation of berstan (strong class 3)

infinitive	berstan	berstenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	berste	bærst
second person singular	birst	burste
third person singular	birst	bærst
plural	berstaþ	burston
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	berste	burste
plural	bersten	bursten
imperative
singular	berst
plural	berstaþ
participle	present	past
	berstende	borsten

Derived terms

• forberstan
• tōberstan

Descendants

• Middle English: bresten, bersten
  • English: burst, bust
  • Scots: brist, bryst