Kvika

Old Norse Dictionary - kvika

Meaning of Old Norse word "kvika"

As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:

Old Norse word kvika can mean:kvika

kvika: 1. u, f. the quick under the nail or under a horse’s hoof, Bs. ii. 184, freq. in mod. usage.

kvika: II. fermentation, swelling, of a fluid; eitr-kvikja, q. v.; ok af þeim kviku dropum kviknaði ok varð maims líkandi, Edda 4; see kvikva.

kvika: 2. að, to move, stir; hann kvikar ekki; this verb is freq. in mod. usage, but is not recorded in old writers.

kvika: 3. u, f. obstructions of the ducts in the nose, which used to be thought to be quick (i. e. live) worms; Vespasianus hafði kvikur í nösum, en þat mein kalla þeir ‘vespas,’ því var hann kallaðr Vespasianus, V. had ‘worms in the nose,’ which disease they call vespas, therefore he was called V. (sic), Post. (Unger) 155.

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᚴᚢᛁᚴᛅ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements

Abbreviations used:

f.: feminine.

freq.: frequent, frequently.

mod.: modern.

q. v.: quod vide.

v.: vide.

i. e.: id est.

Works & Authors cited:

Bs.: Biskupa Sögur. (D. III.)

Edda: Edda. (C. I.)

Post.: Postula Sögur. (F. III.)

➞ See all works cited in the dictionary