fæddist

Fæddist is an Icelandic verb form meaning "was born" or "were born." It is the simple past tense of the intransitive verb fæðast, which means "to be born." The form is used when stating the birth of a person or an animal, typically in biographical notes, genealogies, and historical prose. In standard Icelandic, fæddist agrees with the subject; for example, "Barnið fæddist í Reykjavík" translates to "The child was born in Reykjavík." The word is commonly found in past-tense narration of births and in records that describe people or creatures by their birth.

The root fæð- is related to birth; related vocabulary includes fæðing (birth) and fæddur (the adjectival form meaning "born"). These terms together form part of Icelandic’s birth-related vocabulary and show how the language expresses life events that begin at birth.

In contemporary usage, fæddist remains a standard form for describing the moment of birth in past time, appearing in biographies, family histories, and historical writing. It is most often encountered with ordinary subject nouns in third-person narratives but can occur in various sentential contexts where a birth is being reported.

See also: fæðing, fæddur.