🇺🇸
/əˈraɪntɪd/
🇺🇸
/əˈraɪntɪd/
🇬🇧
/əˈrɔɪntɪd/
🇬🇧
/əˈrɔɪntɪd/
Past Tense
aroynted
Past Participle
aroynted
Gerund
aroynting
3rd Person
aroynts
Aroynted is the past tense of the archaic verb 'aroynt', meaning to drive away, banish, or command someone to leave—often with scorn, magic, or authority. It’s famously shouted by Shakespeare’s witches ('Aroint thee, witch!') as a supernatural shooing-off, like yelling 'Begone!' while waving a broomstick. You won’t hear it at the supermarket—but you might spot it in a dusty folio or a Renaissance fair.
The villagers aroynted the stranger, fearing he was a spy.
‘Aroynt thee, wretched knave!’ cried the old crone, brandishing her staff.
In *Macbeth*, the First Witch cries ‘Aroint thee, witch!’ to dismiss a rival.
His rude remark aroynted every guest from the dinner table.
She aroynted the cats from her garden with a loud hiss and a wave of her scarf.
a-
Comes from Old English and Proto-Germanic prefix 'a-', meaning 'on', 'out', or serving as an intensifier/interjectional particle. In imperative constructions like 'aroint' and 'aroynt', it functions as a forceful, exclamatory prefix. Examples include 'aside', 'aback', 'afloat', and archaic 'away' (as in 'away with you!').
roynt
Likely a variant or corruption of Middle English 'rount' or 'rownt', possibly related to 'rout' (to drive out) or 'raunt' (to scold, rebuke). Not a classical Latin or Greek root; instead, it is a native Germanic expressive verb stem formed for emphatic dismissal. No clear cognates outside early English dialects; appears only in this lexicalized imperative form. Core meaning: 'be gone!' — a blunt, magical, or contemptuous expulsion.