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Glite Dictionary
wouldest

wouldest

1 9.9
To show a wish or something that might happen with thou in old English
  • auxiliary
  • Archaic
: quisieras
  • Why wouldest thou leave?

Examples

  • If thou wouldest heed my words, trouble could be avoided.

  • Tell me, why wouldest thou leave so soon after arriving?

  • Never wouldest thou betray a friend, for honor binds thee.

  • Thou wouldest go to the market.

  • If thou wouldest heed my words, trouble could be avoided.

  • Tell me, why wouldest thou leave so soon after arriving?

  • Never wouldest thou betray a friend, for honor binds thee.

Synonyms

wouldst
vswouldest
  • Archaic
10 9.9

To express 'would' when speaking to one person with 'thou' in old English

is the archaic second person singular form found in historical texts

Surface Forms

wouldest infinitive

Morphology

wouldest = would (transparent) = would + est

A straightforward archaic 2nd-person singular inflection added to the modal 'would'; meaning is directly predictable from the base verb.

Etymology

Wouldest is an old form of would used with thou, the old word for 'you', and the ending -est shows it is about 'you'. So wouldest simply means 'you would' in older English.