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“thought, mind, mood, desire” + “offering”
Language context for this entry: Old English
[ˈhy.jeˌlɑːk] · Old English
01 / Meaning & origin
Hygelac is a masculine given name documented in Old English. English Wiktionary records the meaning ““thought, mind, mood, desire” + “offering””.
Meaning: “thought, mind, mood, desire” + “offering”
From hyġe (“thought, mind, mood, desire”) + lāc (“offering”).
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04 / Through time
Passages quoted verbatim from public-domain reference works. They reflect the scholarship of their time, not current consensus, and may use obsolete spellings.
HYGELAC— “sport of thought”
Hyge was the Low German form, and Hygelac is the sea-king of the Geats, the friend and lord in the poem of _Beowulf_. The latter syllable _lac_ is the northern _leik_, and Gothic _laiks_, signifying both reward and sport, the same word that in some parts of England has become _lake_, meaning to play or to be idle, and in slang, to _lark_. It is rather a favourite termination, but only a commencement in the Norse feminine Leikny, fresh sport.
Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Part VI, Chapter III (Names From Objects Connected With Mythology), Section XII (Thought) · Public domain (Project Gutenberg)
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06 / Behind the facts
Review status: Source-reported — no editorial review recorded yet. Last data change 2026-10-15.
Wiktionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata: CC0. Commons recordings retain their individual file licences. Complete attribution is available in each group above and alongside each chart.
