Old English

Proper noun

Old English

1. The ancestor language of Modern English, also called Anglo-Saxon, spoken in most of Britain from about 400 to 1100.

   Synonyms:

   Anglo-Saxon

2. (colloquial, nonstandard, proscribed) Archaic English (Early Modern English) or Middle English speech or writing, or an imitation of this: "old" English.
   • Those who claim that they've been reading Shakespeare in Old English betray their ignorance: they haven't.2008, Stephen J. Harris, Bryon Lee Grigsby, Misconceptions About the Middle Ages, page 177
3. (historical) The form of black letter used by 16th-century English printers.
4. (Ireland) A historical ethnic group in Ireland descended from Norman invaders from Britain from the 12th century to the 17th century.