ägna

== Swedish == === Etymology === From Old Norse eigna, related to eiginn. Related to äga (“to own”) and egen (“(one's) own”). Also compare German eignen, English own. === Pronunciation === === Verb === ägna (present ägnar, preterite ägnade, supine ägnat, imperative ägna) (reflexive, with åt (“towards”)) to engage oneself (in some activity), to spend time (doing something) to devote oneself (reflexive) synonym of lämpa sig (usually with åt (“towards”)) to spend (something towards something) to devote to spare to pay (obsolete) to make own (make have possession) (All other senses ultimately derive from this one.) ==== Usage notes ==== Ägna does not imply dedication in the way devote sometimes does. Spend is a match for tone. See the song quotation above for an example of a case where devote gives the wrong idea. Can intuitively be understood as "spend oneself towards something" in (sense 1), though the native intuition is closer to "do something." ==== Conjugation ==== ==== Related terms ==== tillägna ==== See also ==== syssla ämna === References === “ägna”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish) “ägna sig”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish) “ägna”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish) “ägna”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish) === Anagrams === ägan