þjónustum

þjónustum is an Icelandic verb-related term that appears in linguistic and historical contexts. It is tied to the ordinary verb þjóna, which means to serve. In standard modern Icelandic, everyday usage tends to favor forms like við þjónum for “we serve,” while þjónustum is not part of common contemporary speech. Instead, it is most often encountered in archaic, literary, or dialectal texts, where it may function as a historical or stylistic variant of a first-person plural form.

In linguistic descriptions, þjónustum is treated as a finite form of the verb þjóna that occurs in older written records. Its exact tense or mood can vary by analysis and manuscript tradition, and it is typically described as an archaic or poetic form rather than a living, widely used construction. Because of its rarity in modern Icelandic prose, it is most likely to appear in religious hymns, sagas, or scholarly editions of older texts.

Etymology traces þjónustum to the Old Norse verb þjóna, from which the modern Icelandic verb is derived. The form illustrates how Icelandic historically produced various person and mood inflections through suffixes or stem changes, producing forms that are now mainly of interest to philologists and language historians. In contemporary reference works, þjónustum is usually labeled archaic, literary, or dialectal.

See also: þjóna, þjónusta, Icelandic verb conjugation.