greina

Faroese

Etymology

Inherited from Old Norse greina.

Verb

greina (third person singular past indicative greindi/greinaði, third person plural past indicative greindu/greinaðu, supine greint/greinað)

1. to distinguish
2. to interpret
3. to branch off, ramify
4. to analyze/analyse

Conjugation

Conjugation of greina (group v-1)

infinitive	greina
supine	greint
	present	past
first singular	greini	greindi
second singular	greinir	greindi
third singular	greinir	greindi
plural	greina	greindu
participle (a7)1	greinandi	greindur
	imperative
singular	grein!
plural	greinið!

¹Only the past participle being declined.

Conjugation of greina (group v-30)

infinitive	greina
supine	greinað
	present	past
first singular	greini	greinaði
second singular	greinar	greinaði
third singular	greinar	greinaði
plural	greina	greinaðu
participle (a6)1	greinandi	greinaður
	imperative
singular	greina!
plural	greinið!

¹Only the past participle being declined.

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkreiːna/
• Rhymes: -eiːna

Etymology 1

From Old Norse greina.

Verb

greina (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative greindi, supine greint)

1. to discern, to distinguish, to separate
   • Genesis 1 (Icelandic translation)

     Guð sagði: „Verði ljós!“ Og það varð ljós. Guð sá, að ljósið var gott, og Guð greindi ljósið frá myrkrinu. Og Guð kallaði ljósið dag, en myrkrið kallaði hann nótt. Það varð kveld og það varð morgunn, hinn fyrsti dagur.

     And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

2. to analyse [with accusative]
3. (of a disease) to diagnose [with accusative]
4. to make something out, to discern [with accusative]
5. (impersonal)

   Okkur greinir á um þetta.

   We disagree about this.

Conjugation

greina – active voice (germynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að greina
supine sagnbót		greint
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		greinandi
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	greini	greindi		greini	greindi
	þú	greinir	greindir		greinir	greindir
	hann, hún, það	greinir	greindi		greini	greindi
plural	við	greinum	greindum		greinum	greindum
	þið	greinið	greinduð		greinið	greinduð
	þeir, þær, þau	greina	greindu		greini	greindu
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	grein (þú), greindu
plural	þið	greinið (þið), greiniði1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

greinast – mediopassive voice (miðmynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að greinast
supine sagnbót		greinst
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		greinandist (rare; see appendix)
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	greinist	greindist		greinist	greindist
	þú	greinist	greindist		greinist	greindist
	hann, hún, það	greinist	greindist		greinist	greindist
plural	við	greinumst	greindumst		greinumst	greindumst
	þið	greinist	greindust		greinist	greindust
	þeir, þær, þau	greinast	greindust		greinist	greindust
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	greinst (þú), greinstu
plural	þið	greinist (þið), greinisti1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

greindur — past participle (lýsingarháttur þátíðar)

strong declension (sterk beyging)	singular (eintala)			plural (fleirtala)
	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)
nominative (nefnifall)	greindur	greind	greint	greindir	greindar	greind
accusative (þolfall)	greindan	greinda	greint	greinda	greindar	greind
dative (þágufall)	greindum	greindri	greindu	greindum	greindum	greindum
genitive (eignarfall)	greinds	greindrar	greinds	greindra	greindra	greindra
weak declension (veik beyging)	singular (eintala)			plural (fleirtala)
	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)
nominative (nefnifall)	greindi	greinda	greinda	greindu	greindu	greindu
accusative (þolfall)	greinda	greindu	greinda	greindu	greindu	greindu
dative (þágufall)	greinda	greindu	greinda	greindu	greindu	greindu
genitive (eignarfall)	greinda	greindu	greinda	greindu	greindu	greindu

Synonyms

• aðgreina
• kryfja

Derived terms

• greina á milli
• greina frá
• greina sundur
• greinast

Etymology 2

Noun

greina

1. indefinite accusative/genitive plural of greinir

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

greina m or f

1. definite feminine singular of grein

Alternative forms

• greinen

Verb

greina

1. inflection of greine:
   1. simple past
   2. past participle

Alternative forms

• greinet
• greinte (simple past)
• greint (past participle)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

greina f

1. definite singular of grein

Old Norse

Etymology 1

According to Ihre, related to Proto-Germanic *grindaną (“to grind”).^[1] However, compare the noun grein (“branch, distinction”), from *granō (“awn, bristles”).

Verb

greina

1. to divide into parts
2. to discern, distinguish
3. to expound, tell, record
4. (reflexive) to branch out, be separated

Conjugation

Conjugation of greina — active (weak class 1)

infinitive	greina
present participle	greinandi
past participle	greindr
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	greini	greinda		greina	greinda
2nd person singular	greinir	greindir		greinir	greindir
3rd person singular	greinir	greindi		greini	greindi
1st person plural	greinum	greindum		greinim	greindim
2nd person plural	greinið	greinduð		greinið	greindið
3rd person plural	greina	greindu		greini	greindi
imperative	present
2nd person singular	grein, greini
1st person plural	greinum
2nd person plural	greinið

Conjugation of greina — mediopassive (weak class 1)

infinitive	greinask
present participle	greinandisk
past participle	greinzk
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	greinumk	greindumk		greinumk	greindumk
2nd person singular	greinisk	greindisk		greinisk	greindisk
3rd person singular	greinisk	greindisk		greinisk	greindisk
1st person plural	greinumsk	greindumsk		greinimsk	greindimsk
2nd person plural	greinizk	greinduzk		greinizk	greindizk
3rd person plural	greinask	greindusk		greinisk	greindisk
imperative	present
2nd person singular	greinsk, greinisk
1st person plural	greinumsk
2nd person plural	greinizk

Descendants

• Faroese: greina
• Icelandic: greina
• Norwegian Nynorsk: greine
• Norwegian Bokmål: grene, greine

Etymology 2

Noun

greina

1. indefinite genitive plural of grein

References

1. ^ Zettersten, A., Mogensen, J. E. (2011). Symposium on Lexicography XI: Proceedings of the Eleventh International Symposium on Lexicography May 2-4, 2002 at the University of Copenhagen. Germany: De Gruyter, p. 353

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), “greina”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive