guþfana
, guþ + fana.
Searchable Lemmata: guþfana (OE).
Alternate Forms: guðfana, guþfanan, guðfanan, guðfonan, guðfanena, guðfonena, guðfanum.
Definitions and Defining Citations:
1(n.)
Textile;
in general a military standard or banner, but it was used specifically for the Roman banner upon which Constantine added the crown, the cross and the initial letters of Christ's name, and made the imperial standard.(ante 900 - ante 1100)
1. ac þa hie gesomnod wæron, & hiene to cyninge don woldon, þa ne mehton hie þa guðfonan upahebban, swa hiora þeaw wæs, þonne hie onwaldas setton
Historic.
[DOE Or 6 (4.136.24) 890/899]
2. Þæt we beran guðfanan rode togeanes ælcere æswicunge fylgiende þe on eallum þingum on forðstapa þeawa weorulde : Quo feramus labarum crucis adversus omne scandalum, sequentes te in omnibus processu morum sculi .
[DOE HyGl 3 (Gneuss) (0336 (68.5))]
Sex: Male Ceremonial: No
Body Parts:
Etymological Evidence:
Definite, native Old English word, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gunþjâ-fano 'war-banner'; cf. Old Norse gunnfane. Middle English gonfanon (q.v.) is a borrowing of a French derivative of the same Germanic word, via Frankish.
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Etym Cog:
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