sagn

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse sǫgn, from Proto-Germanic *sagnō, cognate with Swedish sägen, Old English sæġen (“saying, statement”). Derived from *sagjaną (“to say”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /savˀn/, [ˈsɑwˀn]
• Homophone: savn

Noun

sagn n (singular definite sagnet, plural indefinite sagn)

1. legend, myth
2. (archaic) uttering, saying (outside of compounds only in the expression få syn for sagn "see for oneself")
   • 1988, Christian Braad Thomsen, Den fortabte søns hjemkomst:

     Troede de ikke på hende, så skulle de minsandten få syn for sagn.

     If they didn't believe her, they were going to see for themselves.

   • 1849, Carsten Hauch, Saga om Thorvald Vidførle, volume 1, page 71:

     Og var det et almindeligt Sagn, at der aldrig fandtes nogen i den Æt, der brød et givet Løfte

     It was a common saying that nobody in that family has ever broken a promise.

Declension

Declension of sagn

neuter gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	sagn	sagnet	sagn	sagnene
genitive	sagns	sagnets	sagns	sagnenes

Derived terms

• folkesagn
• frasagn
• gudesagn
• heltesagn
• sagnagtig
• sagnfigur
• sagnfortælling
• sagnhelt
• sagnkonge
• sagnkreds
• sagnomspunden
• sagnomspundet
• sagnverden
• tilsagn
• udsagn

 

References

• “sagn” in Den Danske Ordbog

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• segn f (also Nynorsk)

Etymology

From Old Norse sǫgn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saŋn/

Noun

sagn n (definite singular sagnet, indefinite plural sagn, definite plural sagna or sagnene)

1. tale, fairytale

Romansch

Alternative forms

• sain (Rumantsch Grischun)
• sein (Sursilvan)

Etymology

From Latin sinus (compare French sein, Italian seno, Romanian sân, Spanish seno).

Noun

sagn m

1. (Sutsilvan, Surmiran, anatomy) breast (of a woman)

Related terms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Surmiran) pèz
• (Sutsilvan) péz
• (Puter, Vallader) pet