name ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Proper Noun

1. 1
   A renowned Old English alliterative poem, preserved in a single manuscript within the Nowell Codex, composed sometime between 975 and 1025 AD.

   "John Gardner’s retelling of Beowulf is titled Grendel."

2. 2
   An Anglo-Saxon personal name, usually with reference to the hero of the poem, or to the poem itself. poetic

   "Beowulf is as great a hero as Sigmund."

Example

More examples

"Beowulf became king of the Geats."

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old English Bēowulf, probably equivalent to bee + wolf, though the first element is uncertain.

Related phrases

anglo saxonold english

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.