wedan

From Proto-Germanic *wōdijaną, derived from *wōdaz (“insane or enraged,” whence Old English wōd) + *-ijaną (causative suffix).

• IPA^(key): /ˈweː.dɑn/

wēdan

1. to be or go insane, or to rage

   Fulnēah nān mann ne hlīepþ undruncen, būtan wēnunga hē wēde.

   Almost no one dances sober, unless maybe they're crazy.

   Þā sē henġest onġeat hwæt horsa þis wæs, þā wēdde hē and teslāt þā rāpas and hlēop tō þǣre mīeran, and hēo onweġ tō wuda.

   When the stallion recognized what kind of horse this was, it became frantic and snapped the reins in half and leapt over to the mare, and the mare ran away into the woods.

   • late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy

     Hwā mæġ þām wēdendan ġītsere ġenōg forġiefan? Swā him man māre selþ, swā hine mā lyst.

     Who can give enough to a raging materialist? The more you give them, the more they want.

   • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, John 10:20-21

     Maniġe heora cwǣdon, "Dēofol is on him, and hē wētt. Hwȳ hlystaþ ġē him?" Sume cwǣdon, "Ne sind nā þis wōdes mannes word. Cwist þū mæġ wōd mann blindra manna ēagan ontȳnan?"

     Many of them said, "There's a demon in him, and he's crazy. Why are you listening to him?" Others said, "These aren't the words of a madman. Can a madman open blind people's eyes?"

2. (especially with dogs and other animals) to have rabies