Durst
/dɜːrst/noun
An archaic past tense form of dare, used to mean "had the courage to."
Did you know?Durst is the old past tense of *dare*, preserved in phrases like “if he durst,” and it survives as a fossil of Old English grammar rather than a separate magical word.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dʰers-
“to dare, be bold”
Old English
OE
dearr / dorste
“I dare / I dared, had the courage to”
Middle English
ME
durst
“past tense of dare; ventured, had the courage”
Early Modern English
English
durst
“archaic past tense form of dare, especially in literary and biblical usage”
Modern English
English
durst
“chiefly archaic or dialectal past tense of dare”