liðinni

Liðinni is an Icelandic word form linked to the noun lið, which broadly means part, member, or team. In literary and historical Icelandic, liðinni is used to convey a sense of the past or former times, and it appears in phrases that anchor statements in earlier periods. The form is typical of a formal or historical register and is more commonly found in written languages than in everyday speech.

Etymology and form: liðinni emerges from standard Icelandic inflection, combining the base meaning of lið with definite inflectional endings. Because Icelandic is highly inflected, liðinni can appear in different shapes depending on case, number, and definiteness, especially within longer noun phrases. In practice, it is most recognizable in fixed phrases rather than as a free-standing word.

Usage and function: in historiography, journalism, and stylized prose, liðinni functions to signal temporal distance or to evoke tradition. It often co-occurs with nouns denoting time, such as tíð, to indicate “past times” or “former periods.” A common example is frá liðinni tíð, meaning “from past times.” In modern prose, its use is largely restrained to formal narration, quotations, or textual analysis.

Relation to related terms: lið itself covers several related senses—part, portion, or member—which underpins the connection to temporal or sequential expressions in which liðinni appears. Tíð and related terms are often used in complementary phrases to discuss time and history.

See also: lið; tíð; framarandi and other Icelandic time-related phrases.