Chaucer-era gloss
Middle English Translator
Gloss modern English into Chaucer-era Middle English spellings like knyght and chirche, or look words up in reverse. A word list, not a full translation.
Middle English gloss
15 of 15 words translated.
A gloss, not a translation. Each word is swapped for one common Chaucerian spelling; Middle English spelling was not standardized and grammar is not modelled. Words underlined with dots are not in the dictionary and stay in Modern English.
Word by word
- The → The
- knight → knyght
- went → wente
- through → thurgh
- night → nyght
- to → to
- church → chirche
- with → with
- his → his
- wife → wyf
- and → and
- friend → freend
The text you type stays in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server or saved by this tool, and it works from the word lists on this page. Use Copy or Download to keep a result.
What this Middle English translator does
It swaps about 230 common modern words for one Chaucer-era spelling each, such as knight to knyght, night to nyght, through to thurgh, church to chirche, little to litel and eye to ye. The reverse direction looks up Middle English spellings and returns modern words.
Middle English spans roughly 1100 to 1500. The forms here follow the London English of Chaucer’s day, in the late 1300s.
A gloss, not a translation
Middle English grammar is not modelled. Verbs are shown in the infinitive, nouns have no endings, and word order stays modern. Words that are not in the list stay in modern English and are underlined with dots so you can see them.
Spelling variation
Spelling was not standardized, so other spellings of the same word are just as real. Reverse lookup tolerates y and i, doubled letters and a final -e, so you can type your own spellings.
Next steps
For full entries, quotations and every variant, use the Middle English Dictionary from the University of Michigan.
Common questions
What is the difference between Old English and Middle English?
Old English (about 450 to 1150) has case endings and special letters and looks very foreign. Middle English (about 1100 to 1500) looks closer to modern English, though spelling varies a lot. Our homepage covers Old English.
Which dialect does it use?
The forms follow Chaucer’s London English from the late 1300s. Other regions spelled the same words differently.
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