:—WGer. -innja, repr. OTeut. -inî, occurs in several OE. fem. sbs., a few of which have survived into mod. Eng.
1. It is used to form feminines from sbs. denoting male persons or animals, as in OE. gyden goddess (f. god), mynecen nun (f. munuc monk), wylfen she-wolf (f. wulf wolf). The only surviving instance of this use is VIXEN female fox. 2. It is added in a few instances to the stem of a vb. or to that of a verbal-abstract sb., as in BURDEN, BURIAN, OE. rǽden condition.
