tt, [braut, via], to alter, change: bregða implies the notion of breach, breyta simply denotes change: with dat.; b. farveg (of a river), to form a new channel, Grág. i. 350, Nj. 4, Ld. 158, Fms. ii. 158, Fb. i. 292; flestar Þjóðir þurfa at b. (transform) nafni hans til sinnar tungu, Edda 14; þá vóru snjóvar miklir ok breyttir (changed, become impassable) vegir allir, Eg. 543, Rb. 262 (where the acc. is wrong;).

β. reflex., hafa þau ekki breyzk síðan, they have not changed since, Fms. viii. 5.

γ. to vary; b. háttum, to vary the metre, Edda 121; b. hári sínu, to dress the hair, Greg. 45; b. málum, to speak rhetorically, dress one’s words, Fms. vi. 392; réttr ok b., plain and artificial, Edda 120; úbreyttr, plain.

II. metaph., absol. without case, to conduct oneself, act, do, behave; ef við breytum svá, if we do so, Nj. 202, Ísl. ii. 181, Fms. i. 150; b. eptir e-m, to imitate, Symb. 15; b. til e-s, to attempt, Grág. ii. 94.

2. in mod. use chiefly in moral sense, to behave, conduct oneself; b. vel, illa, kristilega, cp. breytni, N. T., Vidal., Pass.