Rustic Speech and Folk-Lore

by Elizabeth Mary Wright

Thole (Sc. Irel. Nhb. Dur. Lakel. Yks. Lan. Stf. Der.), to bear, suffer, endure, O.E. þolian, M.E. tholien, tholen:

Ne sal nafre eft crist þolien deað for [to] lesen hem of deaðe.

Ænes drihten helle brac his frend he ut brohte

Him self he þolede deað for hem wel diere he hes bohte.

Moral Ode, ll. 184-6, c. 1170.

Development of standard English ‘Wont’

Won (Sc. Nhb. Dur. Cum. Wm. Lan. Chs. Der.), to dwell, live, O.E. wunian, M.E. wunien, wunen, and wonen, with o written for u as in N.E. come, love, &c.

A Schipman was ther, wonying fer by weste.

Prologue, l. 388.

But in many districts this is said to be obsolescent in the dialects of to-day. The past participle of this verb, O.E. wunod, M.E. wuned, early came to be used in the sense of accustomed, for instance: