USELL ADJ. wretched, miserable, lowly ...c1175 obs. rare ETYMOLOGY from early Scandinavian, Old Danish usel (Danish ussel [miserable, wretched]), from the Scandinavian base of Old Icelandic ú- (un-) + the Scandinavian base of Old Icelandic sæll (happy) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE c1175 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...Acc uss birrþ witenn þatt he warrþ, All wiþþ hiss aȝhenn wille, Unnorne & wrecche & usell child Inn ure mennisscnesse, Forr þatt he wollde inn heoffness ærd Uss alle makenn riche..." From: The Ormulum (The Ormulum is a 12th century work of biblical exegesis, written by a monk named Orm, or Ormin, an Augustinian canon in the north of England) - Edited by Robert William Burchfield
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