# An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/F (full text)

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F.
Fabel, f., ‘fable,’ even in MidHG. fabel, fabele, f., from Fr. fable, Lat. fabula.
Fach, n., ‘compartment, shelf, panel, special branch,’ from MidHG. vach, OHG. fah(hh), n., ‘part, division of space, of a partition, wall, &c.,’ also ‘contrivance, an enclosed space in water for catching fish, fish-weir, hurdles for fishing’; with the latter meanings some have connected Gr. πάγη, ‘noose, snare, fishing hurdles,’ to which there is no objection phonetically. Yet we must proceed in the case of the HG. word as well as of AS. fœc, ‘space, time,’ from a general and primary sense, such as ‘division, a portion of space or time.’ Allied to HG. fügen. —
fach, adj., suffix, ‘-fold,’ from MidHG. (very rare) vach, in manecvach, zwivach, OHG. not found; mannigfach, lit. ‘with many divisions’; moreover, MidHG. vach, denotes also ‘fold,’ and -fach as a suffix may be an imitation of the earlier suffix -falt in manecvalt, ‘manifold.’
fächeln, vb., ‘to fan,’ simply ModHG. from Fächer.
Fächer, earlier also Fächel, m., ‘fan,’ ModHG. only; the derivation is uncertain; perhaps a diminutive of MidHG. vach, ‘veil.’ Yet the suspicion that the word was borrowed is not unfounded, since MidHG. foche, focher, ‘fan,’ point to Lat. focarius, foculare (from focus). The change of ​a to o may be due to LG. (comp. Aberglaube, Adebar), as in anfachen, from Lat. focare.
Fackel, f., ‘torch,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vackele, vackel, OHG. facchala, f.; comp. AS. fœcele, f., ‘torch,’ with the abnormal variant þœcele, f. It is usually regarded as a loan-word from Lat. facula, (dimin. of fax). The sounds, however, point with greater probability to a genuinely Teut. word, which was perhaps connected with Lat. facula; Du. fakkel, f., has ck, like the HG. word, in contrast to AS. c; the vowels too of the AS. stem and derivative syllable tell in favour of a genuinely native word; likewise OHG. rôrea gafaclita, ‘reed shaken to and fro by the wind.’
Faden, m., ‘thread, file, shred,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vaden, vadem, OHG. fadam, fadum, m.; Goth. *faþms is wanting. Comp. OSax. fathmos, ‘both arms stretched out,’ AS. fœþm, ‘both arms distended, embrace, protection, bosom,’ E. fathom (a measure), OIc. faðmr, ‘both arms, bosom.’ Consequently the primary sense is ‘encompassing with both arms,’ which could be adopted as a measure (see Klafter); hence the use of ‘fathom’ as a measure in Eng., Scand., LG., Du., and also in ModHG. (adopted from LG. and Du.). The ModHG. meaning ‘thread’ is a recent development; its lit. sense is ‘as much yarn as can be measured with the arms stretched out.’ The primary sense, ‘encompassing,’ results from Goth. faþa, f., MidHG. vade, f., ‘hedge, enclosure.’ The base of the cognates is a Teut. root, feþ, faþ, pre-Teut. pet, pot, which accords with the Gr. πετ in πετάννυμι, ‘to spread out,’ πέταλος, ‘outspread, broad, flat’; Lat. patere, ‘to stand open,’ is even more remote.
fähig, ‘capable, competent, able,’ from fangen.
fahl, adj., ‘dun, fawn-coloured, pale,’ from MidHG. val (gen. wes), adj., ‘pallid, discoloured, faded, yellow, fair,’ OHG. falo (nom. falawêr); comp. OSax. falu, AS. fealo (gen. fealwes), E. fallow, OIc. fǫlr, ‘pallid, pale’; comp. falb. Allied primit. to Lat. palleo, ‘to be pallid,’ pallidus, ‘pallid,’ Gr. πολιός (suffix ιο as in δεξιός, Goth. taihs-wa) ‘grey,’ OSlov. plavŭ, ‘whitish,’ Lith. pàlvas, ‘tawny,’ Sans. palita-s, ‘grey.’ By this interpretation of the cognates the ch of UpG. falch, ‘cow or horse of fawn colour,’ gefalchet, ‘fallow,’ remains unexplained; these suggest a connection with Falke. The cognates, Ital. falbo, Fr. fauve (comp. also braun, blond, blau), are derived from Teut.
fahnden, vb., ‘to inform against,’ from MidHG. vanden, OHG. fânton, ‘to visit’; comp. OSax. fandian, AS. fandian, ‘to test, beseech, demand’; probably from a root fenþ in finden (comp. Du. vanden, ‘to visit a woman in childbed’).
Fahne, f. (mas. in UpG.), ‘banner, flag, standard, squadron,’ from MidHG. vane, van, m. ‘flag, banner’; in this sense OHG. has the compound gundfano, m., since fano most frequently means ‘cloth’ (comp. ougafano, ‘veil,’ halsfano, ‘neckcloth’); allied to Goth. fana, ‘cloth, stuff, rag,’ AS. fana and gûþfana, m., ‘standard, banner,’ E. fane, vane, Du. vaan, ‘flag.’ The Teut. fanan, pre-Teut. pano-n-, has in the wider sphere of the Aryan languages many cognates which also point to the general and older meaning, ‘stuff, cloth’; Lat. pannus, ‘small piece of cloth, rag,’ OSlov. o-pona, ‘curtain,’ ponjava, f., ‘sail.’ Akin also perhaps to Gr. πῆνος, n., ‘garment,’ πηνίον, ‘spool, spindle.’ An Aryan verbal root, pen, appears in OSlov. pĭną (pęti), ‘to span, hang.’ The OTeut. gunþfano, ‘standard,’ was adopted with the meaning ‘flag’ by Romance (comp. Fr. gonfalon, Ital. gonfalone), while the simple form in Romance retained at different times the earlier and general meaning (comp. OFr. and ModFr. fanon, ‘rag, towel, fanon (of a priest).’ —
Fähndrich, Fähnrich, ‘cornet, ensign,’ like Gänserich, first formed in ModHG. from the shorter MidHG. word; comp. MidHG. vęnre (the ModHG. d is excrescent, as in schaudern, minder), OHG. faneri, m., ‘standard-bearer.’
Fähre, f., from the equiv. MidHG. vęre, vęr, f., n., ‘ferry’; comp. Du. veer (E. ferry is borrowed from OIc. ferja, f., ‘ferry’). Also akin to OHG. farm, MidHG. varm, ‘skiff, ferry,’ and OHG. fęrid, n., ‘navigium'; like Ferge, connected with fahren. See Praam.
fahren, vb., ‘to drive, convey, sail,’ from MidHG. varn, OHG. faran, ‘to move from one place to another, go, come’; corresponds to Goth. (rare) faran, ‘to wander, march,’ OSax. and AS. faran, ‘to proceed, march,’ E. to fare, OIc. fara, ‘to move’ (of any kind of motion). The root far in Goth. farjan (OHG. fęrian, MidHG. vęrn) means ‘to go by ship,’ and is therefore connected with the nouns mentioned under Fähre. The primary meaning of the Teut. ​root far, ‘continued motion of every kind,’ is supported also by führen. As derivatives of the Aryan root per, por, comp. Gr. πόρος, ‘way, passage,’ πόρθμος, ‘straits’ (see Furt), πορθμεύς, ‘ferryman,’ πορεύω, ‘to bring, convey, cross,’ πορεύεσθαι, ‘to go, travel, march’ (hence there is a leaning in Gr. also to the meaning ‘to go by ship’ in the case of the root πορ); OSlov. perą. pirati, ‘to fly’; Sans. root par, ‘to lead across’; Lat. peritus, ‘experienced’ —
Fahrende Habe, ‘movables,’ from the equiv. MidHG. varnde habe, varndez guot, OHG. faranti scaz.
Fahrt, f., ‘journey, ride, drive, voyage, course,’ from MidHG. vart, OHG. fart; comp. OSax. fard, ‘journey, voyage,’ AS. fyrd, ferd, f., ‘journey, voyage, expedition, troops on the march,’ OIc. ferð, f., ‘journey’; Goth. *farþs or *fards is wanting, but the term us-farþô (us skipa, ‘shipwreck’) occurs once. From por-ti-s, a derivative of the root por appearing in fahren; comp. also fertig.
Fährte, f., ‘track, trail, scent,’ prop. the plur. of MidHG. vart, OHG. fart, ‘track. way, journey, voyage,’ See Fahrt.
falb, adj., identical with fahl.
Falbel, f., ‘flounce,’ simply ModHG., from Fr. and Ital. falbala, whence also E. furbelow.
Falke, m., ‘falcon, hawk,’ from the equiv. MidHG. valke, OHG. falcho, m. (in UpG. still written Falch). In the other Teut. languages the word does not appear till late in the Middle Ayes (OIc. falke, E. falcon, Du. valk), yet Falco already existed in Lombardic proper names (comp. also AS. Wester-falcna). Among the Anglo-Saxons the falcon was called wealhheafoc, ‘Welsh hawk’; OIc. valr, ‘falcon,’ is prop. ‘the Kelic (bird)’; comp. Walnuß, welsch. Hence it is possible that OHG. falcho originated in the tribal name Volcae, ‘Kelts’; *volcon- may have become falkon-, and the Romance cognates (Ital. falcone, Fr. faucon) borrowed from it. But it is also possible that the word is connected with the cognates of fahl (UpGer. falch, ‘a fawn-coloured cow’); hence Falke, ‘a fawn-coloured (bird)’?. If, on the other hand, the word originated in the Lat.-Rom. cognates (Lat. falco is recorded in the 4th cent.), we must base it on the Lat. falx, ‘sickle’; falco, lit. ‘sickle-bearer’ (on account of its hooked claws?).
fallen, vb., ‘to fall, abate, diminish,’ from the equiv. MidHG. valn, OHG. fallan; the common Teut. word for ‘to fall’ (singularly, however, it is unknown to Goth.); comp. OIc. falla, AS. feallan, E. to fall, OSax. fallan. The Teut. root fal-l, pre-Teut. phal-n., appears in Gr. and Sans. as sphal with an s prefixed; comp. Gr. σφάλλω, ‘to fell, overthrow,’ σφάλλομαι, ‘to fall, be deceived.’ Lat. fallo is based directly upon the root phal, ‘to deceive’; Sans. root sphal, ‘to stagger’; also Lith. pǔlu, púlti, ‘to fall,’; and akin to Sans. phala, ‘ripe, falling fruit’?. —
Fall, n., ‘fall, ruin, event, case (in gram., &c.),’ OHG. and MidHG. val. (gen. valles), m.; comp. AS. fyll, m., ‘fall, death, ruin.’ —
Falle, f., from MidHG. valle, OHG. falla, f., ‘snare, decipula’; AS. fealle, f., ‘laqueus, decipula’ (wanting in E.), Du. val, ‘snare, noose.’
falsch, adj., ‘false, wrong,’ from the equiv. MidHG. valsch, adj.; OHG. *falsc is not recorded. On account of late AS. fals, E. false, Scand. fals, which are clearly derived from Lat., the word is doubtlessly connected in some way with Lat. falsus. But since the latter retained its s unchanged (comp. Ital. falso, Fr. faux, from OFr. false), we cannot imagine that the word was borrowed directly from Lat.-Romance (OIc. falskr is a German loanword of the 15th cent.). Probably MidHG. valsch, a comparatively recent formation (comp. fein, wach), from OHG. gifalscón, gifęlscen, vb., ‘to falsify,’ which is derived from a Lat. *falsicâre; Romance *falscare, ‘to falsify.’ The assumption that MidHG. valsch (akin to vâlant, ‘demon’?) is primit. allied to Lat. fallere, Gr. σφάλλεσθαι, is scarcely valid.
-falt, -fältig, adj. suffix, ‘-fold,’ from MidHG. -valt, OHG. falt; comp. Goth. -falþs, AS. -feald, E. -fold, OIc. -faldr; a common Teut. suffix in the formation of multiplicatives; it corresponds to Gr. πλάσιος in δι-πλάσιος, &c. (also δίπαλτος, ‘twofold’), for pltios, with which -falt seems to be primit. cognate. See falten, and Einfalt under ein.
falten, vb.. ‘to fold, plait, knit (the brow),’ from the equiv. MidHG. valten, OHG. faltan, faldan; corresponds to Goth falþan, OIc. falda, AS. fealdan, E. to fold; the Teut. root is falþ, ‘to fold,’ pre-Teut. plt, with which comp. OSlov. pletą. plesti, ‘to twist,’ Gr. διπλάσιος, ‘twofold’ (see under -falt), Sans. puṭa, ‘fold,’ for plta.
Falte, f., ‘fold, plait, crease, hem,’ from MidHG. valte, OHG. falt, m., ‘fold,’ is ​primit. cognate with Sans. puṭa, ‘fold’ (from pulta). See falzen. — From an OTeut. Faltstuhl (AS. fyldstôl), ‘folding stool,’ is derived the Fr. cognate fauteuil, which has lately been adopted again by ModHG.; comp. MidLat. faldistolium, faldistorium, Ital. faldistorio.
Falter, m., simply ModHG., ‘butterfly’; the MidHG. term is vîvalter (corrupted also into zwivalter), ‘butterfly,’ from which the ModHG. word has been corrupted by connecting it with falten. But MidHG. vîvalter is based upon an OTeut. term for ‘butterfly,’ which may have been *feifaldrô in Goth.; comp. OHG. fîfaltra, OSax. fîfoldara, AS. fîfealde, OIc. fifrilde, ‘butterfly’; akin to Du. vijfwouter, ‘a sort of butterfly.’ The origin of this term is not yet established, although it is probably a reduplicated form like beben and zittern.
falzen, vb., ‘to fold, groove, rabbet,’ from MidHG. velzen, valzen, OHG. falzen, ‘to fold’; Falz, m., from MidHG. valz, m., ‘fold, joint’; akin to OHG. anafalz, ‘anvil,’ AS. anfilt, E. anvil, Du. anbeeld, ‘anvil’ (see Amboß). The cognates are undoubtedly connected with falten; MidHG. valz may have been *falti in Goth., which would probably represent falt-ti, pltni- (comp. schnitzen from schneiden). — Falz, see Balz.
fangen, fahen, vb., ‘to catch, seize, fish (an anchor), soften (hides),’ from MidHG. vâhen, vân, OHG. fâhan, ‘to catch, intercept, seize’; the common Teut. vb. — Goth. fâhan, OIc. fá, AS. fôn (for *fôhan from *fõhan; wanting in E.) — has the same meaning. Root fanh (whence fãh, fâh), and by a grammatical change fang (this form is really found only in the partic. and pret., but it has made its way in ModHG. into the pres. also), pre-Teut. pank. With the Teut. cognates some have compared the unnasalised root pak, in Lat. pax, pacem (lit. ‘strengthening’?); akin to the nasalised pango (partic. pactum), with g for c?, Sans. pãça, ‘cord’; the root pak appears without a nasal in Teut. fôg; see HG. fügen. —
Fang, m., ‘catch, capture, fang, clutches, haul,’ from MidHG. vanc, m., OHG. fang; comp. AS. feng, ‘clutch, embrace,’ fang, ‘capture,’ E. fang (tooth, claw).
Fant, m., ‘coxcomb,’ a LG. form (comp. Du. vent, ‘a would-be wit, fool’), for MidHG. vanz, m., ‘rogue’ (still existing in alfanz, lit. ‘vagabond’; comp. ModHG. Firle, Fanz, the first part of which is obscure, perhaps connected with AS. fyrlen, ‘foreign’?). See Alfanzerei.
Farbe, f., ‘colour, complexion, suit (of cards),’ from MidHG. varwe, OHG. farawa, ‘colour’; a fem, subst. from the MidHG. adj. var, inflected form varwer, ‘coloured,’ from OHG. faro (nom. farawêr); comp. Du. verw. The word originated probably in Middle Europe, but found its way to the North; Dan. farve, Swed. färg. Is Goth. *farwa-, adj. (whence Lith. parwas, ‘colour’), or *fazwa to be postulated?
Farn, m., n., ‘fern,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. varn, varm; corresponds to Du. varenkruid, AS. fearn, E. fern. The interchange of n and m in OHG. and MidHG. is due to the assimilation of the suffix na- to the initial labial; comp. OHG. feim with OInd. phêna, and OHG. bodam with Sans. budhna. Farn is wanting in OIc.; yet comp. Swed. dial. fänne (Ic. *ferne). The type is doubtlessly Aryan parna-, which is identical with Sans. parṇa, n., ‘wing, feather, foliage, leaf’; hence Farn is lit. ‘feather-like leaf’ (Gr. πτερίς, ‘fern,’ and πτερόν, ‘feather’). Probably allied also to Lith. papartis, Russ. paporotĭ (OSlov. *papratĭ), ‘fern.’
Farre, m., ‘bullock, bull,’ from the equiv. MidHG. varre, var, m., OHG. farro, far, m.; corresponding to Du. varre, var, ‘bull,’ AS. fearr, m., OIc. farre, m., ‘bull.’ Since there is a corresponding fen. form, Färse, the rr must have originated in rz (rs), (comp. dürr, irre). —
Färse, f. (unknown to UpG.), ‘heifer,’ from MidHG. (MidG. and LG.) vęrse, f.; comp. Du. vaars, ‘heifer’ (likewise vaarkoe, ‘heifer’); in Goth. probably *farsi, gen. farsjôs; E. heifer, from the equiv. AS. heáhfore, heáfre, f., seems to contain Farre, Färse, in the final syllable. The stem farz, fars, does not recur exactly in the cognate languages, yet Gr. πόρις, πόρτις, ‘calf, heifer,’ agree with it in sound; likewise Sans. pṛšatî, ‘white-spotted cow’ (fem. of prat, ‘speckled, spotted’)?.
Färse, see under Farre.
farzen, vb., ‘to fart,’ from the equiv. MidHG. varzen (also vurzen, vërzen), allied to OHG. fërzan, ‘to fart’; corresponds to AS. feortan, E. to fart; OIc. (with transposition of the r), freta. Teut. root fert, from the Aryan perd, with the same meaning; comp. Sans. root pard, Gr. πέρδειν, Lith. pérdżu, pérsti, Russ. perdětĭ.
Fasan, m., ‘pheasant,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. fasân, fasant, m.; the ​latter is derived from Lat. Gr. fasianus (φασιανός, ‘a bird from the Phasis in Colchis’), ‘pheasant,’ whence also Ital. fagiano, Fr. faisan.
Fasching, m., ‘carnival,’ from MidHG. vaschanc, m., ‘Shrovetide’; how it is connected with Fastnacht (Shrove-Tuesday) has not yet been explained.
faseln, vb., ‘to talk irrationally,’ only in ModHG., a derivative of OHG. fasôn, ‘to track, seek here and there’; but the latter word is probably not from the root fas in Faser.
Faser, f., ‘fibre, filament,’ from late MidHG. vaser, f., ‘fringe,’ most frequently vase, m., f., ‘fibre, fringe, border,’ OHG. faso, m., fasa, f.; AS. fœs, n., MidE. fasil, ‘fringe.’
Fasnacht, see Fastnacht.
fassen, vb., ‘to hold, grasp, comprehend,’ (refl.) ‘to make up one's mind,’ from MidHG. vaȥȥen, OHG. faȥȥôn, ‘to handle, seize, load, pack, arm oneself, dress, go’; it seems to be a combination of two or more really different roots. Comp. OIc. fǫt, neu. plur., ‘garments’ (Goth. *fata, ‘garments,’ may be deduced from Span. hato, Port. fato, ‘stock of clothes, wardrobe’); the West Teut. fat (see Faß), has not this meaning, but MidHG. (OHG.) vaȥȥen, ‘to dress oneself, points that way. In the sense ‘to seize,’ the word may be connected with Faß, lit. ‘engulphing,’ from which the meaning ‘to load’ would be evolved. In the sense of ‘to go’ (sich vaȥȥen, MidHG.) it must probably be connected with Fuß, or more closely with AS. fœt, ‘step.’ See Fetzen, Fitze.
fast, adv., ‘almost, nearly,’ from MidHG. vaste, vast, adv. (from vęste, ‘firm’), ‘firmly, strongly, powerfully, very, very quickly,’ OHG. vasto, adv., from fęsti; similar unmutated advs. from mutated adjs. are schon from schön, spat from spät. ModHG. has also turned fest into an adv., the older adv. fast having been specialised in meaning; even in MidHG. vęste is an adv.
fasten, vb., ‘to fast,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vasten, OHG. fastên; comp. Goth. fastan, OIc. fasta, AS. fœstan, E. to fast, Du. vasten; a common Teut. verb, invariably used in the sense of ‘to fast,’ which, therefore, was probably a religions conception even of the heathen Teutons. The corresponding abstract is Goth. fastubni, AS. fœsten, OSax. fastunnia, OHG. fasta, fasto, m., MidHG. vaste, f., vasten, n., ‘fast,’ whence Slav. postŭ, ‘fast, was borrowed at an early period. The cognates are probably connected with fest in the sense of ‘to contain oneself, exercise restraint in eating and drinking,’ or ‘to obey a religious precept’; comp. Goth. fastan, ‘to adhere to, hold, observe.’ —
Fastnacht, f., ‘Shrove Tuesday,’ from MidHG. vasenaht, ‘eve of the first day of Lent.’ According to the OTeut. computation of time (comp. Abend) the evening and night were counted as part of the following day (thus in AS. frîgeœ̂fen, ‘Thursday evening,’ frîgeniht, ‘Thursday night’). The meaning given above did not belong to the word originally. The first part of the compound is an old verb faseln, ‘to play the fool’; the form Fastnacht may have been introduced by the priests.
Faß, n., ‘vessel, cask, vat,’ from MidHG. vaȥ, OHG. faȥ(ȥȥ), n., ‘cask, vessel, chest’; corresponds to MidLG. and Du. vat, AS. fœt, ‘vessel, receptacle, chest’ (E. vat), OIc. fat, ‘cask.’ The prim. signification of those cognates (pre-Teut. podo-) may have been ‘receptacle,’ and since Fessel is an allied word, we have to postulate the meaning ‘to hold together’ for the Teut. root fat. Lith. pũdas, ‘pot, vessel,’ would be in Goth. *fôta- instead of *fata-. ModHG. Gefäß is not an immediate derivative of Faß, because it assumes a Goth. *gafêti, n., See fassen, Fetzen, Fitze.
faul, adj., ‘rotten, worthless, lazy,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and MidLG. vûl, OHG. fûl; comp. Du. vuil, AS. fûl, E. foul, OIc. fúll, Goth. fûls, ‘decayed’; la- is derivative; fû- as the Teut. root is deduced from OIc. fúenn, ‘putrefied,’ which as a partic. points to an obsolete verb (Goth. *fauan, formed like bauan), of which OIc. feyja, ‘to allow to putrefy,’ is the factitive (Goth. *faujan). From fū̆ several Teut. dialects have formed nouns with the meaning ‘cunnus’ (OIc. fuþ); see Hundsfott. The root fū̆, from Aryan pū̆, is equally represented in the allied languages; Gr. πύον, ‘matter,’ and the equiv. Lat. pûs, n.; Sans. and Zend root pû (pûy), ‘to stink, putrefy,’ Lith. pûvù, půti, ‘to putrefy’ (akin to Lith. púlei, ‘matter,’ with a derivative l as in faul); also Gr. πύθω, ‘to cause to rot,’ Lat. pûteo, ‘to stink,’ pŭter, ‘putrid, rotten.’ The primary meaning of the root pŭ is ‘to emit a smell of putrefaction.’ —
faulenzen, vb. ‘to be lazy,’ from late MidHG. vûletzen, ‘to be rotten,’ an intensive derivative of faul; comp. blißen, seufzen.
​ Faust, f., ‘fist,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and MidLG. vûst. OHG. fûst, f.; corresponds to AS. fŷst, E. fist, Du. vuist. This term, common to West Teut., is unknown to OIc.; in Goth. it may have been *fûsti- or *fûhsti-, f. The possible loss of a h before st is supported by the connection with Gr. πύξ, ‘with the fist,’ πύγμαχος, ‘boxer,’ πυγμή, ‘fist, boxing,’ Lat. pugnus, ‘fist,’ pŭgil, ‘boxer,’ perhaps also pugio, ‘dagger’ (lit. ‘fist weapon’), and further pugna, pugnare, &c. The comparison of Faust with OSlov. pęstĭ, f., ‘fist,’ is less trustworthy; this is possible only if the assumed Goth. *fûhsti is further derived from fuñhsti-, pre-Teut. pnkstí-; in that case, however, the Gr. and Lat. terms cited would have no connection with the word.
Faxe, plur., ‘fooleries, tricks,’ ModHG. only; of obscure origin.
fechten, vb., ‘to fight, fence,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vëhten, OHG. fëhtan; a term common to West Teut. for ‘to fight, contend,’ unknown to Scand. and Goth.; comp. Du. and MidHG. vechten, OFris. fluchta, AS. feohtan, E. to fight. Whether the verb has always belonged to the e class is questionable; it may have passed from the pret. plur. and partic. of the u class into the e class; in that case, we should have to assume Goth. *fiuhtan, *fáuht, *faúhtum, *faúhtans, instead of *faíhtan, *faht, *faúhtam, *faúhtans. This conceivable assumption facilitates the connection with Lat. pugna, pugnare; yet the latter are probably only derivatives of pugnus, ‘fist’; perhaps the inferred Goth. *fiuhtan, ‘to fight,’ is similarly related to Faust.
Feder, f., ‘feather, pen, plume, spring, flaw (in jewels),’ from the equiv. MidHG. vëder, vëdere, OHG. fëdara, f.; the term common to Teut. for ‘feather’; comp. OSax. fëthara, AS. fëþer, f., ‘feather, wing,’ E. feather, OIc. fjǫþr, f., Goth. *fiþra, f., akin to the collective noun Gefieder (see Fittich). Goth. *fiþra, from pre-Teut. pétrâ, f., has in the allied Aryan languages some correspondences which prove the existence of an Aryan root pet, ‘to fly’; comp. the Sans. root pat, ‘to fly,’ pátatra, n., ‘wing,’ patará, adj., ‘flying,’ çatápatra, ‘having a hundred wings or feathers,’ Gr. πέτομαι, ‘to fly,’ πτερόν (for *πετερόν), ‘wing,’ πτίλον (for *πετίλον), ‘feather’; it is less certain whether Lat. penna, ‘feather’ (for *petsna?), is allied. See Fittich. —
Federlesen, n., lit. ‘picking of the feather from a person's dress’ as a mark of servile flattery; found even in MidHG. —
Federspiel, n., ‘lure,’ from MidHG. vëderspil, n., ‘a bird trained for hawking, falcon, sparrow-hawk, hawk.’
Fee, Fei, f., ‘fairy,’ from the equiv. MidHG. fei, feie, f.; borrowed from an OFr. dialect (Burgund.), feie, ModFr. fée (Ital. and Romance, fata, lit. ‘goddess of destiny,’ from Lat. fatum), whence also E. fay and fairy.
Fegefeuer, n., ‘purgatory,’ from MidHG. vëgeviur, n., ‘purgatory,’ from MidHG. vëgen, ‘to purify’; formed on the model of MidLat. purgatorium.
fegen, vb., ‘to sweep, scour, winnow (corn), purge,’ from MidHG. vëgen (OHG. *fegôn), ‘to purify, adorn, sweep, scour,’ Du. vegen. Goth. *figôn is connected with Goth. fagrs, ‘suitable,’ AS. fœ̂ger, E. fair, OHG. and OSax. fagar; from the root feh, fah, fag, fôg in fügen; OIc. fœgja, ‘to cleanse,’ probably belongs to the same root (the Goth. form being fégjan); Aryan root, pē̆k, pō̆k?.
Fehde, f., ‘feud,’ from MidHG. vêhede, vêde, OHG. fêhida, ‘hate, enmity, quarrel, feud’; corresponds to AS. fœ̂hþ, f., ‘enmity, revenge, feud’; Goth *faihiþa, ‘enmity,’ is probably an abstract noun from the Goth. adj. *faihs, ‘hostile,’ which appears in AS. as fâh, fâg, ‘exiled, outlawed, proscribed’ (AS. gefâa, m., ‘enemy,’ E. foe; comp. OHG. gifêh, MidHG. gevêch, ‘hostile, malignant’). A pre-Teut. root, pī̆q, ‘to injure, cheat’ (comp. also Goth. faih, ‘imposition, deception,’ bifaihôn, ‘to deceive, overreach’), is indicated by the Lith.; comp. Lith. pìktas, ‘angry,’ pýkti, ‘to get angry,’ peíkti, ‘to curse,’ paíkas, ‘stupid’ (akin to Pruss. po-paikâ, ‘he cheats’). Respecting the interchange of meaning between ‘to injure’ and ‘to deceive,’ see trügen. Hence E. foe is lit. ‘one who injures,’ OHG. fêhida, lit. ‘hurt, injury.’
fehlen, vb., ‘to miss, want, err,’ from MidHG. vêlen, vœlen, ‘to fail, mistake, cheat, be wanting, miss’; borrowed in the MidHG. period (about 1200 A.D.) from Fr. faillir, ‘to fail, miss, deceive,’ which again, like Ital. fallire, is derived from Lat. fallere. The word was also adopted by E. in the 13th cent.; comp. E. fail, likewise Du. feilen, ‘to fail, miss, deceive,’ Scand. (since the 14th cent.), feila.
Fehme, f., ‘criminal tribunal’ (in ​Westphalia formerly), from MidHG. veime, f., ‘condemnation, punishment, secret tribunal,’ Goth. *faima, f., would, on the analogy of τέσσαρες, Goth. fidvôr, favour the connection with the root τι in Gr. τίνω, ‘to atone for,’ derived from ki, ‘to punish, avenge’; Gr. ποίνη, as a derivative of the same root, may have been formed with a different suffix from that which appears in Fehme. In spite of the late formation of the word, its origin is difficult to discover and uncertain. Its connection with Du. veem, ‘guild, association,’ is also disputed. Others again refer it to OSax. a-fêhian, ‘to condemn’ (see feige). It is quite impossible to connect it with an older LG. form, Fehme, ‘oak-mast,’ which, with Bav. dehme, deehel, ‘oak-mast,’ belongs to a different stem.
Feier, f., ‘holiday, festival, celebration,’ from MidHG. vîre, f., OHG. fîra, fîrra, ‘festival, holiday’; borrowed from MidLat. fêria (formed from Lat. feriae), with the lat ê strengthened, as Kreide, Speise, Seide, Pein; the cause of the rr in OHG. fîrra is the i of fêria.
Feiertag, m., ‘holiday, festival,’ from MidHG. vîr-, vîretac, OHG. firatag. —
feiern, ‘to celebrate,’ from MidHG. vîren, OHG. fîrrôn, fîrôn, ‘to celebrate, keep a festival,’ formed from Lat. feriari. The borrowed word is found in the Teut. languages of Middle Europe (Du. vierdag, OFris. fîra), but is wanting in E. and Scand. The Romance languages preserve Lat. feriae in the sense of ‘fair’; comp. Ital. fiera, Fr. foire (hence E. fair). Comp. Messe and Fest. —
ModHG. Ferien (since the 16th cent.), ‘vacation, holidays,’ has been derived anew from Lat. feriae.
feige, adj., ‘cowardly, dastardly,’ from MidHG. veige, OHG. feigi, adj., ‘doomed to death, accursed, unhappy,’ then also ‘timid, cowardly’ (in the ModHG. sense feige is wanting in the UpG. dialects); comp. OSax. fêgi, ‘doomed to death,’ Hess. fêg, Du. veeg, veege, ‘on the point of death,’ AS. fœ̂ge, Scotch fey, OIc. feigr, ‘doomed to death, on the point of death.’ In the sense of ‘fated to die,’ the adj. is primit. Teut. (Goth. *faigs). It has also been compared with Sans. pakvás, ‘ripe,’ so that the Teut. cognates would represent pêkj, pêki (with an inserted vowel); comp. feil. Far more improbable is the assumption that it is connected with Goth. faihs, OHG. fêh, AS. fâh, ‘variegated,’ as is it were thought that the person doomed to death by the fates was distinguished by some coloured mark. Some compare it with the cognates discussed under Fehde, some with Lith. paíkas, ‘stupid, silly,’ others, again, with an OSax. féhian, ‘to condemn.’ See Fehme.
Feige, f., ‘fig,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vîge, OHG. fîga, f., ‘fig’; comp. OSax. fîga, Du. vijg; derived, like other South Europ. names of trees and fruits, from Rom. Lat. (ficus, f.), or more strictly from North Ital. and Provenç. figa, whence also Fr. figue. The AS. fîctreów is connected directly with the Lat., the later E. form fig-tree being based upon Fr. figue. Comp. Pfirsich, Pflaume, Birne, varieties of fruit, which were borrowed in the OHG. period, or even earlier, from the Lat. Goth. smakka, ‘fig,’ corresponding to OSlov. smokŭ, was obtained from a different source. See Ohrfeige.
Feigwarze, f., from the equiv. MidHG. (rare) vîcwarzen, n., vîcwęrze, f., ‘venereal ulcer,’ for which is found, mostly in the same sense, MidHG. vîc, m., from Lat. fîcus, whence also the equiv. AS. fîce; comp. Ital. fico, ‘fig, venereal ulcer.’
feil, adj., ‘for sale, venal,’ from MidHG. veile, veil, OHG. feili, with the curious variant fâli, adj., ‘purchaseable’; akin to the equiv. OIc. falr, with an abnormal vowel. Teut. faili- has according to OHG. fâli, OIc. falr, an inserted vowel in the accented syllable (comp. feige); hence it corresponds to Aryan pêli-, and is connected with Gr. πωλέομας, ‘to sell,’ and more remotely with the OInd. root pan for paln-, ‘to purchase, buy, exchange.’ —
feilschen, with sch after l for s, ‘to higgle, bargain,’ from MidHG. veilschen, OHG. *feilisôn, ‘to bargain for something.’
Feile, f., ‘file,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vîle, OHG. fîla, fîhala (not fĭhala), f.; corresponds to AS. feól (dial. variant *fîl), f., E. file, Du. vijl, ‘file.’ The OIc. term is þél, f., ‘file,’ with an abnormal initial sound; Goth *feihala or *þeihala must be assumed. The form with initial f from Aryan p points to the widely diffused root pik, ‘to scratch,’ akin to Lat. pingo, pictor, OSlov. pĭsati, ‘to write.’ Yet OIc. þel, from *þîhl, points to Teut. þinh, equiv. to pre-Teut. tek, tenk, in ModHG. Dachs; for the interchange of f and þ comp. düster (finster), Fackel, Fehme (also OHG. fîn, fîma compared with LG. dîme, ‘heap of corn.’
Feim, m., ‘foam,’ from the equiv. ​MidHG. veim, OHG. feim, m.; comp. the corresponding AS. fâm, E. foam, which are primit. allied to the equiv. Sans. phêna, OSlov. pěna. ModHG. abgefeimt, from an earlier abfeimen, ‘to skim’ (comp. raffiniert, from Fr. raffiner, ‘to refine’).
fein, adj., ‘fine, elegant, cunning,’ from MidHG. vîn, fîn, adj., ‘fine, beautiful’; OHG. *fîn may be inferred from the adv. fînlîhho, which is first recorded in a gloss of the 10th cent.; comp. Du. fijn, E. fine. Borrowed from a word common to Romance, Ital. fino (Fr. fin), with the prim. meaning ‘perfect, genuine, pure,’ which is a late adj. form from Lat. finire.
Feind, m., ‘enemy, foe, fiend,’ from MidHG. vînt, vîent, vîant, OHG. fîant, m., ‘enemy’; the common Teut. noun for ‘enemy’; comp. OSax. fîund, AS. feónd, E. fiend, OIc. fjánde, Goth. fijands. In contrast to Lat. hostis, discussed under Gast, the Teut. designates his enemy according to the disposition of the latter; Feind (pres. part. of the Sans. root pî, pîy, ‘to scorn, hate’) is lit. ‘the hater’; comp. OHG. fîen, AS. feógan, Goth. fijan, ‘to hate,’ akin to Goth. faian, ‘to blame.’ Fehde is perhaps allied to it; for the transformation of the pres. part. into a subst. comp. also Freund, Weigand, and Heiland.
feist, adj., ‘fat, in good condition,’ from MidHG. veiȥt, veiȥet, OHG. feiȥȥit, adj., ‘fat, greasy’; properly a partic. without gi-, ge- of a Goth. verb *faitjan, ‘to fatten,’ OHG. feiȥȥen, which is from the nominal stem faita-, ‘fat,’ OIc. feitr, MidHG. veiȥ. With the assumed Goth. *faitiþs are connected AS. fœ̂ted, fœ̂tt, and E. fat (comp. fett). Goth. *faita-, from pre-Teut. paido-, has no unquestionable cognates in the allied languages; it can scarcely be connected with OSlov. pitĕti, ‘to nourish, feed,’ on account of the faulty shifting of the dental (Slav. t corresponding to Goth. t is impossible); it is more probably related to the root πῖδ, ‘to swell, flow forth’; comp. πῖδαξ, ‘a spring,’ πιδύω, ‘to gush forth.’
Felber, m., ‘white willow,’ from MidHG. vëlwer, older vëlwâre, m., from vëlwe, ‘willow,’ OHG. fëlawa, fëlwa, f., ‘willow tree.’ Probably Osset. färwe, ‘alder,’ is primit. allied to it.’
Feld, n., ‘field, space, square (chessboard), panel,’ from MidHG. vëlt (gen. -des), OHG. fëld, n., ‘field, soil, surface, plain’; a word common to West Teut. pointing to Goth. *filþ, n.; OSax. and AS. fëld (lþ in both dialects are regularly changed into ld), E. field, Du. veld. It is still questionable whether OIc. fjall, ‘mountain,’ is identical with it, since the former is more probably connected with ModHG. Fels. On the other hand, the following are certainly allied: — OIc. fold, f., ‘pasture,’ AS. folde, f., OSax. folda, ‘earth, country, ground’ (pointing to Goth *fuldô). Finn. pelto is derived from Teut. felþos, which, with OIc. folda, is based upon the Aryan root plth (Sans. pṛth), ‘to be broad, flat’; comp. Sans. pṛthivî, ‘earth,’ as well Fladen.
Felge, f., ‘felly (of a wheel),’ from MidHG. vëlge, OHG. fëlga, f., ‘rim of a wheel, tyre,’ OHG. also ‘harrow, roller for breaking clods’; comp. Du. radvelge, ‘felloe,’ AS. fëlg, E. felly (rim, fellow). Is OHG. felga, ‘roller, harrow,’ to be connected with AS. *fealge (MidE. falge, ‘fallow land’), E. fallow, and its e to be regarded therefore as formed by mutation? MidHG. valgen, ‘to plough up, dig,’ makes such a supposition very probable. It is possible that the two classes in the sense of ‘felloe’ and ‘barrow’ are not allied to each other. Between OHG. fëlga and AS. felga, ‘felloe,’ there is no connecting link.
Fell, n., ‘hide, skin, fur,’ from MidHG. vël(ll), OHG. fël(ll), ‘human skin, hide’; comp. Goth. fill, n., in þrûts-fill, ‘leprosy,’ faurafilli, ‘foreskin’; OIc. fjall, ‘skin, hide,’ in compounds, AS. fëll, n., ‘skin, hide,’ E. fell, Du. vel. Common to Teut. orig., but universal in the wider sense of ‘skin,’ both of men and animals. Teut. fella- from pre-Teut. pello- or pelno-; comp. Lat. pellis, Gr. πέλλα, ‘hide, leather,’ ἄπελλος, n., ‘(skinless) unhealed wound,’ ἐρυσίπελας, ‘erysipelas, St. Anthony's fire,’ ἐπίπλοος, ‘caul of the entrails,’ the latter for ἐπίπλοϝος, akin to Lith. plėvė, ‘caul, skin’; also akin to AS. filmen, ‘membrane, foreskin,’ E. film; likewise Gr. πέλμα, ‘sole of the foot or shoe,’ and perhaps πέπλος, ‘garment,’ as a reduplicated form (πέ-πλ-ος, root πελ).
Felleisen, n., from the equiv. MidHG. velîs, m., ‘valise, knapsack’; the ModHG. form is a corruption of the MidHG. word which is based upon the equiv. Fr. valise.
Felsen, m., ‘rock,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vęlse, vęls, m., OHG. fęlis, m., felisa, f. (from which Fr. falaise, ‘cliff,’ is borrowed); akin to OSax. fęlis, m., probably also to OIc. fjall, ‘mountain’; the latter would be *filza- in Goth., the former *falisa-; in Du. and E. the word is wanting. OIr. ​ail (from *palêk), ‘rock,’ OSlov. planina, ‘mountain,’ Sans. parvata, ‘rock, mountain,’ may be primit. allied. Connected also with OInd. púr, ‘fastness, citadel,’ to which Gr. πόλι-ς has been referred? or with Sans. pâšâṇa (for *palsâna), ‘stone’?.
Fenchel, m. (Suab. and Alem. Fenkel), from the equiv. MidHG. vënchel, vënichel, OHG. fënahhal, fënihhal, m., ‘fennel’; comp. AS. finul, E. fennel; formed from Lat. (fœniculum, feniculum, feniclum), fenuclum; from the same source the Romance cognates Fr. fenouil, Ital. finocchio, ‘fennel,’ are derived.
Fenster, n., ‘window,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vęnster, OHG. vęnstar, n.; comp. Du. venster, n. Based, with a curious change of gender, on Lat. fenestra, from which, however, the fęnstar of the Mid Europ. Teutons could only be produced by shifting the accent back according to the Teut. custom (comp. Abt) and by syncopating the second e. This indicates that the word was borrowed very early, in the beginning of the OHG. period. Yet the idea was well known to the older periods, as is testified by the terms naturally applied to the existing object — Goth. augadaurô, ‘eye-gate,’ AS. êgþŷrel, ‘eye-hole,’ OIc. vindauga (whence MidE. windôge, E. window). By the introduction of the Southern term (comp. also OIr. senister, W. ffenester) the idea was probably reconstructed. This word was borrowed at the same period as other words — Ziegel, Mauer — relating to the building of houses.
Ferge, m., ‘ferryman,’ from MidHG. vęrge, vęrje, vęre, OHG. fęrjo, fęro (nom. sing. fęrjo, gen. and dat. fęrin, accus. fęrjun), m., ‘mariner, ferryman.’ The j is changed into g after r as in Scherge, Latwerge. Goth. *farja, m., ‘mariner,’ is wanting. Most closely allied to Fähre; also akin to Goth. farjan, ‘to navigate,’ see root far under fahren.
Ferien, see Feier.
Ferkel, n., ‘sucking-pig,’ from MidHG. vęrker, verchel, vęrhelîn, OHG. farhelî(n); dimin. of MidHG. varch, n., ‘pig, sucking-pig,’ OHG. farah, farh, n.; AS. fearh, m., E. farrow; Du. varken, n., ‘pig’; Goth. *farha- is wanting. In any case it is a pre-Teut. word, since the allied Aryan languages have words corresponding to it both in sound and meaning; *farhaz from pre-Teut. porkos, corresponds to Lat. porcus (Gr. πόρκος), Lith. pàrszas, OSlov. prasę, n., OIr. orc. Like Eber and Schwein, this word too, unknown to Indian, is essentially West Aryan, while Kuh is a common Aryan word.
fern, adv., ‘far, distantly, remotely,’ from MidHG. vërrene, vërren, vërne, OHG. vërrana, vërranân, adv., ‘from afar’; the adv. in answer to the question ‘where’? is vërre in MidHG. and vërro in OHG. The adject. form in MidHG. is vërre, in OHG. vër, which are probably derived from the old adv. The remaining Teut. branches have no old orig. adj.; as an adv., however, we meet with Goth. faírra, which is also a prep., ‘distant, away from,’ OIc. fjarre, AS. feor, E. far, OSax. fërr. Besides these words relating to distance in space, OTeut. has also allied terms for distance in time; Goth. fairneis, ‘old, in the preceding year,’ OSax. firn, ‘preceding, passed away (of years),’ OHG. firni, MidHG. virne, ‘old’ (see under Firnewein); akin also to OIc. forn, ‘old,’ MidHG. vorn, ‘earlier, formerly,’ with a differently graded vowel. To the Teut. stem fer-, for- from pre-Teut. per, pṛ, are allied Gr. πέρᾶ, ‘further,’ πέρᾶν, ‘on the other side,’ Armen. heri, ‘distant,’ Sans. pára-s, ‘more, remote,’ paramás, ‘remotest, highest,’ parás, adv., ‘far of, in the distance.’ The cognates of Aryan per- have too great and involved a ramification to be fully explained here. See firn.
Ferse, f., ‘heel, track, footsteps,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vërsen, OHG. fërsana, f.; corresponds to Goth. fairzna (for *fairsna), f., AS. fyrsn, f. (pointing to Goth. *faírsni-); E. obsolete, the term ‘heel’ (AS. hêla) being used, in Scand. hœ̂ll; Du. verzen, OSax. fërsna. Common, like Fuß, and numerous other terms relating to the body (Herz, Niere, Ohr, Nase, &c.), to Teut. and the allied languages, and hence derived from the OAryan vocabulary; comp. fersnó-, -ni-, from pre-Teut. pē̆rs-nâ, -ni-, with Sans. pâršṇi-s, f. (like AS. fyrsn in the formation of its stem), Zend pâšna, m., Gr. πτέρνα, f., ‘heel, ham,’ Lat. perna, ‘leg (of mutton, &c.), ham,’ pernix, ‘quick, speedy’ (for *persna, *persnix).
fertig, adj., ‘ready, complete, dexterous,’ from MidHG. vęrtec, vęrtic (from vart, ‘journey’), adj., ‘able to walk, walking, in motion, ready, fit,’ OHG. fartîg; Du. vaardig, ‘ready.’ The adj., like bereit and rüstig, probably meant orig. ‘equipped for a military expedition.’
​ Fessel (1.), f., ‘fetter, chain, shackle,’ from MidHG. vęȥȥel, OHG. fęȥȥil, m., ‘band for fastening and holding the sword,’ then also ‘band, fetter’; AS. fętel, ‘sword-belt,’ OIc. fetell, m., ‘band, bandage, sword-belt’; akin to root fat (see Faß, fassen), ‘to hold’?. The ModHG. has retained its general sense by taking the place of another OTeut. word for ‘fetter’; MidHG. vëȥȥer, f., ‘fetter, shackle for the foot,’ OHG. fëȥȥera, OSax. fëter, AS. fëter, E. fetters (plur.), OIc. fjǫturr. These words, which are usually connected with Lat. pedica, Gr. πέδη, ‘fetter,’ Lat. compes, and hence with the cognates of ModHG. Fuß, can scarcely be allied to the terms indicating a Goth. *fatils, ‘sword-belt.’
Fessel (2.), f., ‘pastern.’ See Fuß.
Fest, n., ‘festival, fête, feast,’ from the equiv. MidHG. fëst, n., from Lat. festum, whence Ital. festa, Fr. fête (E. feast); Feier is the earlier loan-word. Gothic has simply a native dulþs, ‘feast.’ See Dult.
fest, adj., ‘firm, solid, strong,’ from MidHG. vęst, vęste, OHG. fęsti, adj., ‘firm, strong, steadfast’; see the corresponding adv. fast, which is not mutated; neither was the adj. originally formed by mutation, since, according to OSax. fast, AS. fœst, E. fast, OIc. fastr, adj., ‘firm,’ we have to assume a Goth. *fastu-, which is probably an old to- partic. like laut, traut, zart, alt, &c., from the root fas-, ‘to fasten’; *fasta-, lit. ‘fastened,’ then ‘firm.’ Goth. still retains only the verb fastan, ‘to keep firm, hold fast.’ See fasten.
Fetisch, m., ‘fetish,’ adopted by ModHG. at beginning of the 17th cent. The earlier parallel form Fetisso is more closely connected with the Port. base feitiço, ‘enchantment,’ but the modern form with Fr. fêtiche.
fett, adj., ‘fat, plump,’ only in ModHG., introduced by Luther from MidG. and LG. instead of the genuine UpG. feist; LG. fett, comp. Du. vet from an earlier fêtt, AS. fœ̂tt, ‘fat,’ which, with OHG. feiȥȥit, are derived from Goth. *faitiþs; see feist. As to the origin of the ModHG. idiom, sein Fett haben, jemandem sein Fett geben, ‘to get one's due, give any one his due,’ opinions are divided; although the reference to einbrocken, jemandem etwas einbrocken (to play one a trick), &c., supports the assumption of a purely Ger. origin, some etymologists regard it as partly translated and partly borrowed from the Fr. donner à quelqu'un son fait, avoir son fait, others even as an ironical reference to the Fr. faire fête à quelqu'un, ‘to make a person heartily welcome.’
Fetzen, m., from the equiv. MidHG. vêtze, m., ‘rag, tatters’; probably from MidHG. vaȥȥen, ‘to dress,’ OIc. fǫt, ‘clothes.’ From a Teut. (Goth.) fata, ‘clothes,’ Span. hato, and Port. fato, ‘wardrobe,’ are derived. Comp. fassen, Faß. In the dialectal compounds Alltags-, Sonntagsfetzen, Fetzen denotes ‘clothes.’
feucht, adj., ‘moist, damp, humid,’ from the equiv. MidHG. viuhte, OHG. fûhti, fûht, (Goth. *fûhtu- is wanting). The adj. is West Teut.; comp. LG. fucht, AS. fûht, E. obsolete, Du. vochtig, ‘damp.’ An allied root (pū̆k), qū̆k, quak, is assumed for OSlov. kysnąti, ‘to grow sour,’ kvasiti, ‘to acidify,’ which are scarcely connected with this word.
Feuer, n., ‘fire, ardour, passion,’ from the equiv. MidHG. viur, OHG. and OLG. fiur, older fûir, n.; comp. Du. vuur, AS. fŷr (from *fûir), n., E. fire; a word common to West Teut. for ‘fire’; in Goth. fön (gen. funins), OIc. fune, ‘fire,’ but it is doubtful whether they are cognate with HG. Feuer; comp. OIc. (only in poetry) fúrr, m., and fýre, n., ‘fire.’ The r in all the words is a suffix, and fû (from pre-Teut. pû) the root; comp. Gr. πῦρ and Æol. πύΐρ, n. (πυρσός, ‘torch’). In Sans. a verbal root pû, ‘to flame, beam brightly,’ is found, whence pâvaká, ‘fire.’
Fibel, f., ‘primer,’ first occurs in early MidHG. (15th cent.), probably a LG. word orig. formed from Bibel; the earlier variant wibel (wivel?) points to ModGr. pronunciation. Perhaps Fibel represents Bivel (comp. Essig, Bieber).
Fichte, f., ‘pine, fir,’ from MidHG. vichte, f., OHG. fiohta, fiuhta, f., ‘fir.’ No cognate term is found in any of the other Teut. dialects, yet Fichte is proved from the non-Teut. languages to be primitive; comp. Gr. πεύκη, ‘fir,’ Lith. puszìs, ‘fir.’ The HG. form is fuller by a dental affix than the Gr. and Lith. words.
Fieber, n., ‘fever,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vieber, OHG. fiebar, n.; from Lat.-Romance febris, with a change of gender as in AS. fêfor, n., equiv. to E. fever; OHG. and MidHG. ie for e, as in Brief, Ziegel, Spiegel, Priester; so too ModHG. Bieber-, MidHG. biever, from vieber, with an interchange of consonants, as in Essig and Kabeljau.
​ Fiedel, f., from the equiv. MidHG. videl, videle, f., OHG. fidula (as early as Otfried), f., ‘fiddle, violin’; comp. Du. vedel, AS. fiþele, E. fiddle, OIc. fiþla. OHG. fidula is based, according to AS. fiþele, ‘fiddle,’ fiþelêre, ‘fiddler,’ fiþelestre, ‘fidicina,’ upon an older West Teut. *fiþula. The latter form with þ might be deduced from Lat. *fitula or fidula (for fidicula?), yet these primary forms are not recorded. There is undeniable connection between the Teut. class and the Romance cognates — Ital. viola, Fr. viole, ‘violin,’ the origin of which, it is true, is much disputed. Still Harfe found its way from Teut. into Romance.
fillen, vb., ‘to flay,’ from the equiv. MidHG. villen, OHG. fillen; allied to Fell.
Filz, m., ‘felt, blanket; miser; reprimand,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vilz, OHG. filz, m.; comp. Du. vilt, AS. and E. felt, Swed. and Dan. filt, ‘felt’ (Goth. *filtis, pre-Teut. *peldos, n.). Lat. pilus, pileus, Gr. πῖλος, are scarcely allied; it is more probably connected with OSlov. plŭstĭ, ‘felt.’ From the Teut. word are derived the similarly sounding Romance words, Ital. feltro, Fr. feutre, MidLat. filtrum, ‘felt.’ Other words also relating to weaving were introduced into Romance from Teut. See Haspe, Rocken.
finden, vb., ‘to find, discover; deem, consider,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vinden, OHG. findan; comp. Goth. finþan, OIc. finna, AS. findan, E. to find, OSax. fîthan, findan, ‘to find.’ Teut. fenþ, as a str. verbal root from pre-Teut. root pent; akin to OHG. fęndo, m., ‘pedestrian,’ AS. fêþa, ‘foot-soldier,’ OHG. funden, ‘to hasten’?. Some etymologists adduce Lat. invenire and OSlov. na iti, ‘to find,’ to show by analogy that from a verb of ‘going’ the meaning ‘find’ can be evolved. With the Teut. root fenþ the equiv. OIr. root ét- (from pent-) is most closely connected.
Finger, m., ‘finger,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vinger, OHG. fingar, m.; a common Teut. term; comp. Goth. figgrs, OIc. fingr, AS. and E. finger. It is uncertain whether the word is derived from fangen, root fanh, and it is questionable whether it comes from the root finh, pre-Teut. pink, ‘to prick, paint,’ Lat. fingo (see Feile); it is most probably primit. allied to fünf (Aryan penqe). The terms Hand, Finger, Zehe are specifically Teut., and cannot be etymologically explained with certainty. Besides there existed even in OTeut. a definite term for each finger. First of all the thumb obtained its name, which is a rudimentary and hence very old form; for the remaining names see under Daumen.
Fink, m., ‘finch,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vinke, OHG. fincho, m.; corresponds to Du. vink, AS. finc, E. finch, Swed. fink, Dan. finke, ‘finch’; Goth. *finki-, *finkjan-, are wanting. There is a striking similarity of sound in the Rom. words for ‘finch’ — Ital. pincione, Fr. pinson, to which the E. dialectal forms pink, pinch, ‘finch,’ belong. Yet there is no suspicion that the Teut. word was borrowed; the Teut. class is probably primit. allied to the Rom. word.
Finne (1.), f., ‘fin,’ first occurs in ModHG. from LG. finne, Du. vin, ‘fin’; first recorded in the Teut. group in AS. (finn, m., E. fin), hence it cannot have been borrowed from Lat. pinna, ‘fin of the dolphin, feather.’ No Teut. word can be proved to have been borrowed from Lat. before the period of the OTeut. substitution of consonants, i.e., before the beginning of our era (see Hanf). Hence AS. finn must be assumed as primit. cognate with Lat. pinna. Is it, like penna, based upon pesna (OLat.)? If it were based upon *pis-nâ, ‘fin,’ it might perhaps be regarded as cognate with piscis, Goth. fiska- (fis-ka), ‘fish.’
Finne (2.), f., ‘tumour, scrofula,’ from MidHG. vinne, pfinne, ‘pimple, foul rancid smell’; comp. Du. vin, ‘pimple.’ The relation of the initial sounds is not clear; MidHG. pfinne points to Goth. p, Du. vin to f initially; perhaps the double form is due to confusion with Finne (1.); p may be the correct initial sound.
finster, adj., ‘dark, gloomy, morose, sullen,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vinster, OHG. finstar; OSax. *finistar, as an adj., is not found, but it may be inferred from a subst. with the same sound, meaning ‘darkness’; the stem is essentially Ger., but a series of phonetic difficulties (see düster) hamper the discovery of the type. In OHG. there exists besides finster an OHG. dinstar, MidHG. dinster, whose initial d must have been substituted for an earlier (OSax., Goth.) þ; to these OSax. thimm, ‘dark,’ corresponds. The interchange of þ and f, judging from the parallel forms under Feile and Fackel, cannot be denied. In that case the root would be þem (see Dämmerung). But OSax. thiustri, AS. þŷstre ‘gloomy,’ have no connection with it.
​ Finte, f., lit. ‘feint,’ also ‘trick, fib,’ first occurs in ModHG., from Ital. finta, ‘cunning’ (Fr. feinte).
Firlefanz, m., ‘nonsense, drollery,’ from MidHG. virlefanz, m., ‘a sort of dance,’ whence the meaning in ModHG. ‘foppish, silly manner.’ Some have tried to connect it with Norw. fillefant, ‘scoundrel,’ fantefolk, ‘gipsies,’ which would make it akin to Fant. On account of the late appearance of the word it is impossible to decide, however, whether AS. fyrlen, ‘far, distant,’ is the basis of the first part of the compound, or rather MidHG. firlei, ‘a dance’ (Fr. virelai, ‘virelay’). See Fant.
firn, adj., ‘old, of last year,’ from MidHG. virne, adj., ‘old,’ also ‘experienced,’ OHG. firni, ‘old’; corresponds to Goth. faírneis, ‘old,’ AS. fyrn, ‘old,’ OSax. fërn, ‘past’ (of years). The reference to the year gone by exists in the Goth. and OSax. words, but does not appear to be found in OHG. and MidHG., although the stem is known to modern UpG. dialects; comp. Alem. fernig, ‘of last year.’ ‘In the preceding year’ is MidHG. vërt, vërne; MidG. and UpG. preserve even now an OTeut. adv. fert, fered, ‘in the preceding year’; comp. OIc. fjǫrþ, adv., ‘in the preceding year,’ from Goth. *faíruþ, pre-Teut. peruti (perouti), Gr. πέρυτι, πέρυσι, ‘in the preceding year,’ OIr. onn-urid, ‘from the preceding year onwards,’ Lith. pernai, ‘in the preceding year,’ Sans. pa-rut. Hence the idea of ‘the preceding year’ is primit. inherent in the stem per, Teut. fer; the general sense of time gone by appears in the Teut. adj. fern and its cognates.
Firn, Firne, m., ‘snow of the preceding year or years, glacier,’ prop. an adjectival subst. in the sense of ‘old snow,’ first recorded in the last century; see the preceding word. —
Firnewein, ‘last year's wine’; see firn.
Firnis, m., ‘varnish,’ from MidHG. firnîs, ‘varnish, rouge’; from Fr. vernis (whence also E. varnish), Ital. vernice. Finally derived from Lat. vitrum, vitrînus.
First, m., f., from the equiv. MidHG. virst, OHG. first, m., ‘ridge of a roof, summit’; comp. LG. and Du. (with gradation), vorst, ‘ridge of a roof,’ AS. first, fyrst, f.; Goth. *faírsti- or fairshti- is wanting. Allied to Sans. pṛšṭhá-m, n., ‘back, summit, mountain-peak,’ which is nearest in sound to Du. vorst. From Teut., OFr. freste, Prov. frest, ‘gable,’ are derived.
Fisch, m., ‘fish,’ from the equiv. MidHG. visch, OHG. fisk, m.; a common Teut. term; comp. Goth. fisks, OIc. fiskr, AS. fisc, E. fish, Du. visch, OSax. fisc. Teut. fiska-z, from pre-Teut. pisko-s, corresponds to Lat. piscis and OIr. iasc (with the normal loss of p from prehistoric peiskos). The word belongs to the three most western groups of the Aryan division, which have also the word Meer in common; in East Aryan matsya. Further, there are no names of fishes common to Teut. and Lat.-Kelt. Perhaps the term was a migratory word of early civilization, the source of which cannot be discovered.
Fist, m., ‘fart,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vist, m.; akin to the equiv. Du. veest, AS. fist. A common Aryan root pezd appears in Lat. pêdo for pezdo, as well as in Gr. βδέω, from *βσδέω, Lith. bezdù (bezděti), Hence Teut. fisti- is to be explained by Aryan pezd-i-. From the verbal noun fist a verbal root fī̆s, ‘pedere,’ was inferred in very early times. Comp. OIc. físa.
Fistel, f., ‘fistula, reed, falsetto,’ from MidHG. fistel, f., ‘a deep abscess in ducts or passages,’ even in OHG. fistul, formed from the equiv. Lat. fistula; the term was first applied to the voice in ModHG.
Fittich, m., from the equiv. MidHG. vittich, vëttach, m., n., vëttache, f., m., ‘wing, pinion,’ OHG. fëtah, older fëthdhah, m.; in meaning a collective of Feder; comp. OSax. fëtherac, OHG. fëderah, MidHG. fëdrach, ‘wing’; the formation of OHG. fëthdhah is not clear; was the Goth. form *fiþþaks? The dentals are obscure, yet the word is undoubtedly related to Feder.
Fitze, f., ‘knot of yarn, skein, wrinkle,’ from MidHG. vitze, OHG. fizza, f., ‘a number of reeled threads tied together, skein, yarn’; akin to OIc. fǫt, ‘clothes,’ MidHG. vaȥȥen, ‘to dress,’ root fat, fet? ‘to spin’? ‘to weave’?. Yet it is more closely connected with OSax. fittea, AS. fitt, ‘chapters, divisions in poems.’
fix, adj., ‘quick, smart,’ first occurs in ModHG.; Lat. fixus and its Romance derivatives are not used in this sense; whether borrowed from it or not is doubtful.
flach, adj., ‘flat, shallow, superficial,’ from MidHG. vlach, OHG. flah(hh), adj., ‘flat, smooth’; comp. Du. vlak, ‘even.’ Akin to the graded forms AS. flôc, E. flook, fluke (‘flounder’), North E. flook-footed, ‘flat-footed.’ This suggests Lat. plaga, ‘district,’ or more probably, on account of its ​meaning, OSlov. plosku, ‘flat’; Lat. plânus scarcely represents *plagnus (see Flur); related to Gr. πλάξ (stem πλακ), ‘surface,’ Gr. πλακοῦς, Lat. placenta, ‘cake.’ But E. flat, OIc. flatr, OHG. flaȥ, ‘flat, level,’ have nothing to do with flach. A MidG. and LG. parallel form of flach is mentioned under Blachfeld.
Flachs, m., ‘flax,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vlahs, OHG. flahs, m.; comp. Du. vlas, AS. fleax, n., E. flax; a common West Teut. term, unknown to Scand. and Goth. Usually referred to the root fleh (or fleht) in flechten; s (Goth. *flahsa-) is probably a suffix.
flackern, vb., ‘to flare, flicker,’ from MidHG. vlackern, ‘to flicker,’ OHG. (once) flagarôn (for flaggarôn?), ‘to fly, flutter about’; akin to AS. flacor, ‘flying, fluttering,’ MidE. flakeren, ‘to fly, flutter about,’ MidDu. flackeren, Scand. flökra, vb., ‘to flutter,’ as well as the equiv. flökta. Comp. the cognate stems AS. flicorian, E. to flicker, Du. flikkern, ‘to glimmer, gleam’; this class, on account of the numerous words it comprised at an early period, cannot be derived from Lat. flagrare, nor even be connected with fliegen, to which OHG. flogarôn, flokrôn, ‘to flutter,’ and flogezen, MidHG. vlokzen, ‘to flutter, gleam,’ may be referred.
Fladen, m., ‘flat cake, cow dung,’ from MidHG. vlade, m., ‘broad, thin cake,’ OHG. flado, ‘offering-cake’; corresponds to Du. vlade vla, f., ‘pancake,’ MidE. flaþe (Goth. *flaþa). Pre-Teut. platan- or plathan- would have to be assumed, perhaps with the primit. sense, ‘surface, flat thing’; comp. Gr. πλατύς, ‘broad’; Gr. πλάθανον (θ for Aryan th), ‘cake-mould’; Sans. pṛthús, ‘broad’ (akin to Sans. pṛthivî, ‘earth,’ under Feld), práthas, n., ‘breadth,’ Lith. platùs, ‘broad.’ Allied to the graded forms plôth, Lat. Plôtus, Plautus, lit. ‘flatfooted,’ semiplôtia, ‘slipper,’ MidHG. vluoder, ‘flounder,’ lit. ‘flat fish.’ Remoter cognates of the whole class are OIc. flatr, OHG. flaȥ, ‘level, flat.’ From Fladen, which is probably West Teut. only, arc derived the early MidLat. flado, Ital. fiadone, ‘honeycomb,’ Fr. flan, ‘flat cake, custard’ (whence E. flawn, ‘a kind of custard’). Comp. for its meaning MidHG. breitinc, m., ‘a sort of biscuit,’ akin to breit.
Flagge, f., ‘flag, ensign, standard,’ borrowed, like most words with gg (see Dogge, Bagger), from LG. and Du. in the ModHG. period; comp. Du. vlag, E. flag, Dan. flag, Swed. flagg. A modern Teut. word not recorded in the earlier periods. In which of the Teut. maritime tribes this and other nautical terms were first used we know not, for the earlier history eludes us. Since, however, AS. preserves the earliest forms of a number of nautical terms which are afterwards found in all the cognate languages (see Bord, Boot, Helm (2), Spriet, &c.), the silence of the AS. records — no term *flacge is found — may be accepted as a proof that Flagge is not native to England.
Flamberg, m., ‘broad-sword,’ simply ModHG. from Fr. flamberge, the origin of which is often referred to Ger., though no suitable type can be found.
Flamme, f., ‘flame, blaze, flash,’ from the equiv. MidHG. flamme, vlamme, f.; comp. OLG. flamma, Du. vlam, formed from Lat. flamma.
Flanke, f., ‘flank, side,’ simply ModHG., from Fr. flanc, which, with its Rom. cognate (Ital. fianco), is derived from OHG. hlanca, ‘side’ (see lenken). For Fr. fl, from Teut. hl, see flau.
Flasche, f., ‘bottle, flask,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vlasche, OHG. flasca, f. (MidHG. also vlesche with mutation); comp. Du. flesch, AS. flasce, f., E. flask, OIc. (found early) flaska, f., Goth. *flaskô, whence Finn. lasku. The word is recorded in Teut. at an early period, but on account of its correspondence with the Rom. words for ‘bottle,’ it may have been borrowed; comp. MidLat. flasco (occurs very early), Ital. fiasco, ModFr. flacon. Some etymologists derive MidLat. flasco from Lat. vasculum. An exhaustive history of these cognates has not yet been attempted.
flattern, vb., ‘to flutter, dangle,’ in MidHG. vladern from MidHG. vlëdern (see Fledermaus); MidDu. flatteren, E. to flatter, akin to flutter, also MidE. fliteren, E. to flitter; AS. floterian, MidE. floteren, ‘to undulate,’ are, however, certainly allied to the root flut, ‘to flow.’
flau, adj., ‘feeble, stagnant, insipid, dull,’ simply ModHG.; borrowed in the last century from LG. flau, Du. flauw, ‘languid, faint, indifferent,’ which, with E. flew, ‘soft, tender,’ are derived from Rom. Considering the late appearance of the cognates, and the area to which they are confined, it is certain that they originated ​in Fr. flou, OFr. flau, floi; the latter is of Teut. origin (see lau), so that ModHG. flau is finally derived from a pre-Teut. hléwa-. Comp. Flanke.
Flaum, m. (Up.G. Pflaum also), ‘down,’ from MidHG. phlûme, f., OHG. pflûma, ‘down,’ from Lat. plûma, whence also AS. plûmfëþere. As the shifting of the initial sound proves, however, the word must have been borrowed in the earlier OHG. period; comp. the OIr. word (also derived from the Lat.) clúm, ‘feather’ (OW. plumauc, ‘pillow’). Scand. and E. have for Flaum an apparently genuine Teut. word (see Daune. It is certainly recorded by Pliny that Teut. tribes in the olden time sent flocks of geese to Rome; but perhaps it was only ‘down’ (see also Flocke), which was valuable to the Southerners, and so the Lat. pluma may hare been introduced into Teut. at an early period. The initial f of the ModHG. form for pf may be due to the connection with Feder.
Flaus, m., orig. ‘a tuft of wool,’ then ‘a woollen coat, pilot cloth,’ from MidHG. vlûs, ‘fleece, sheepskin,’ a variant of MidHG. vlies. See Flies.
Flause, f., ‘trick, pretence,’ simply ModHG; MidHG. *vlûse does not occur; it is probably connected with OHG. giflôs, n. ‘whispering,’ giflôsida, f., ‘illusion,’ flôsâri, ‘liar.’
Flechse, f., ‘sinew, tendon,’ only ModHG., from Lat. flexus.
Flechte, f., ‘plait, braid (of hair), wattle, lichen,’ from late MidHG. vlëhte, t., ‘plait, lock of hair,’ allied to the following word.
flechten, vb., ‘to plait, braid, wreathe,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vlëhten, OHG. vlëhtan; a corresponding Goth. *flaíhtan, akin to flahta, f., ‘lock of hair,’ is wanting; OIc. flétta for flehtan. Teut. root fleht, from pre-Teut. plekt; the t, as also in Lat. plecto compared with plicare, was orig. only a formative element of the present tense, for according to Gr. πλέκω, πλοκή, πλόκος, the Aryan root must have been plek; comp. Sans. praçna, ‘braid, basket.’ Falten (root falþ) and flechten (root fleh) are entirely unrelated.
Fleck, Flecken, m., n., with many senses which are historically the same, ‘spot, stain, patch,’ from MidHG. vlëc, vlëcke, m., ‘piece of stuff, patch, rag, piece of land, place, spot, differently coloured spot, stain, blemish,’ OHG. flëc, flëccho; Du. vlek, f., ‘spot of dirt,’ vlek, n., ‘village’; Goth. *flikka- or *flikkan- (or rather *þl-) is wanting; comp. OIc. flekkr (gen. plur. flekkja), m., ‘a fleck, spot, stain,’ as well as flík, f., ‘rag, piece of stuff.’ Its connection with Scand. flikke, AS. flicce, E. flitch, is dubious. See flicken.
Fledermaus, f., ‘bat,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vlëdermûs, OHG. flëdarmûs, f.; corresponds to Du. vledermuis; E. flittermouse does not occur in AS., and may be due to the influence of MidEurop. Teutonic. That the animal was thought to be a mouse is shown by AS. hreape-, hrêremûs; the E. term bat, MidE. backe, Dan. aftenbakke (aften, ‘evening’), is unique. Fledermaus, lit. ‘fluttering mouse,’ from OHG. flëdarôn, MidHG. vlëdern, ‘to flutter.’
Flederwisch, m., first occurs in early ModHG. with a reference to flëdern, ‘to flutter.’ In MidHG. once vëderwisch, Du. vederwisch; prop. ‘a goosewing for dusting,’ or rather Flederwisch, ‘whisk for fanning away.’
Flegel, m. (Suab. Pflegel), ‘flail, churl,’ from MidHG. vlęgel, OHG. flęgil, m., ‘flail’; comp. Du. vlegel, E. flail; probably from MidLat. flagellum, ‘quo frumentum teritur’ (whence also Fr. fleau, ‘flail’). On account of its meaning it cannot be connected with the Teut. root flah, ‘to flay’ (OIc. flá, ‘to flay’). Yet it may be primit. allied to Lith. plakù, plàkti, ‘to strike,’ Lat. plango, Gr. πλήγνυμι, ‘to strike.’
flehen, vb., ‘to implore, supplicate,’ from MidHG. vlêhen, OHG. flêhan, flêhôn, ‘to implore,’ OHG. also ‘to fondle, flatter’; initial fl for earlier þl, as in fliehen (Goth. þliuhan); comp. Goth. gaþláihan (ai a genuine diphthong), ‘to fondle, embrace, console, exhort in a friendly way,’ akin to Goth. gaþláihts, f., ‘comfort, warning.’ Also allied to OIc. flár, ‘false, cunning,’ AS. flâh. ‘wily, cunning,’ both pointing to Goth. *þlaiha-. The primary meaning of the root flaih was perhaps ‘importunate, insinuating speech.’
Fleisch, n., ‘flesh, meat, pulp (of fruit),’ from the equiv. MidHG. vleisch, OHG. fleisk, n.; it has the same meaning in West Teut. and Scand. Strange to say, a Goth. *flaisk, *flaiskis, n. (or þl- comp. fliehen), is not recorded, the term used being leik or mims, n. Comp. Du. vleesch, AS. flœ̂sc, E. flesh; OIc. flesk is used only of ‘pork,’ and more especially of ‘ham’ and ‘bacon,’ while kjǫt was the common Scand. word for ‘meat.’ It may well be imagined ​that the Scand. specialised meaning of the word was the oldest, and that the meaning common to West Teut. was established only by generalisation; comp. OIc. flikke, AS. flicce, E. flitch (dial. flick), as well as AS. (Kent.) flœc for flœ̂sc, ‘meat.’ Russ. poltĭ, Lith. páltis, ‘flitch,’ cannot, on account of their vowel-sounds, be cognates. The k of the OTeut. word is probably a suffix; comp. Du. vleezig, ‘plump’?. — eingefleischt, ‘incarnate,’ simply ModHG. formed like the Lat. incarnatus, ‘embodied.’
Fleiß, m., ‘industry, application, diligence,’ from MidHG. vlîȥ, OHG. flîȥ, m. ‘diligence, zeal, care,’ OHG. also ‘contest,’ from OHG. flîȥȥan, MidHG. vlîȥen, ‘to be zealous, apply oneself, ModHG. befleißen, partic. be-, geflissen. Comp. Du. vlijt, ‘diligence,’ AS. flitan, ‘to emulate, quarrel, contend,’ E. to flite. On the evolution of meaning see Krieg. ‘To emulate’ seems to have been the lit. meaning of the merely West Teut. root flī̆t (Goth. fl- or þl-? — see fliehen). No further references have been discovered.
flennen, vb., ‘to weep ruefully, grin,’ from MidHG. *vlennen; akin to OHG. flannên, ‘to make a wry face,’ from pre-Teut. *flaznan?. Root flas, from pre-Teut. plos, in Lat. plôrare, ‘to weep’?.
fletschen, vb., ‘to beat flat, grin,’ from MidHG. vletsen, ‘to show one's teeth’; remoter history obscure.
flicken, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. vlicken, ‘to put on a patch, mend’; akin to Fleck.
Flieder, m., ‘elder,’ simply ModHG. from. LG.; comp. Du. vlier, ‘elder.’ Earlier forms are not recorded; the word did not originate in either Scand., E., or HG.
Fliege, f., ‘fly, fluke (of an anchor),’ from the equiv. MidHG. fliege, OHG. flioga, f.; comp. Du. vlieg, AS. fleóge, equiv. to E. fly, which is based upon AS. flŷge, OHG. fliuga, MidHG. fliuge, ‘fly’; hence a mutated form (Goth. *fliugjô), besides an unmutated Goth. *fliugô; in OIc. with a different gradation fluga, f., ‘fly, moth’; akin to fliegen (Goth. *fliugan). For an older term for ‘fly’ see under Mücke.
fliegen, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. vliegen, OHG. fliogan, ‘to fly’; comp. Du. vliegen, AS. fleógan (3rd sing. flŷhþ), E. to fly, OIc. fljúga; the common Teut. term for ‘to fly’; Goth. *fliugan may be inferred from the factitive flaugjan, ‘to keep on flying.’ Fliegen is in no wise connected with fliehen, as is proved by the initial sound of the root in Goth. þliuhan, ‘to flee,’ compared with usflaugjan; see Fliege, Vogel. Teut. root fliug, from pre-Teut. pleugh, plugh; akin to Lat. plûma for plûhma?. For an older root extending beyond Teut. see under Feder.
fliehen, vb., ‘to flee,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vliehen, OHG. fliohan; corresponds to OSax. fliohan, AS. fleón (from fleóhan), E. to flee, OIc. flýja; the f before l is a common substitution for an older initial þ, as in flehen (Goth. þlaihan), flach (from Goth. þlaqus); comp. Goth. þliuhan, ‘to flee.’ This older form was retained only in Goth.; Scand. has f (flýja), like the West Teut. verbs. Hence the Teut. root is þluh, and by a grammatical change þlug, pre-Teut. root tluk, tleuk. Fliegen is primit. allied, since it is based upon the root plugh. In the earliest OIc. and in West Teut. the forms of both the verbs must undoubtedly have been confused; thus OIc. flugu and AS. flugon in the earliest period may mean ‘they fled’ and ‘they flew.’ See Flucht.
Fließ, Fließ, n., ‘fleece,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vlies, n.; comp. Du. vlies, AS. fleós, n., E. fleece; also a mutated form AS. flýs, flýss, MidHG. vlius, earlier ModHG. fleuss, flüss. A second parallel form is represented by ModHG. Flaus. In East Teut. the cognates are wanting; whether Goth. *fl- or *þliusis, n. (comp. fliehen), is to be assumed we cannot say, since satisfactory references to non-Teut. forms have not yet been produced. To explain Vließ from Lat. vellus is futile, since the latter is more probably primit. allied to Wolle, and to regard Vließ as borrowed from vellus is impossible; flechten, Flachs, &c., are also totally unconnected with the word.
fließen, vb., ‘to flow, stream,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vlieȥen, OHG. flioȥȥan, str. vb.; corresponds to OSax. fliotan, Du. vlieten, AS. fleótan, E. to fleet, OIc. fljóta, Goth. *fliutan, ‘to flow.’ The Teut. root fliut, flut, from pre-Teut. pleud-plud, corresponds to Lett. pludêt, ‘to float,’ plûdi, inundation,’ Lith. plústi, ‘to take to swimming,’ plûdìs, ‘floating wood.’ Several Teut. terms for ‘ships’ point to the latter sense, which, of course, is earlier than the ModHG. ‘flowing,’ though in OHG. MidHG. and ModHG., fließen signifies ‘to be driven by flowing water, to swim.’ See Floß, Flotte (Flut, Goth. flôdus, is not a cognate). Instead of the root plud, other ​Aryan languages have an allied shorter root plu; comp. Gr. πλέω, ‘to navigate, swim,’ Sans. plu, pru, ‘to swim,’ Lat. pluere, ‘to rain’ (fließen in a restricted sense).
Fliete, f., ‘fleam, lancet,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vliete, vlieten, OHG. flietuma; further derived from Gr. and MidLat. phlebotomum, ‘lancet, an instrument for opening veins,’ whence also the equiv. cognates AS. flŷtme, Fr. flamme, E. fleam, Du. vlijm.
flimmern, vb., ‘to glimmer, sparkle, scintillate,’ like the older ModHG. flimmen, a derivative, by gradation, of Flamme.
flink, adj., ‘brisk, nimble, lively,’ simply ModHG. from LG. and Du. flink, ‘brisk, agile, nimble’; akin to earlier ModHG. flinken, ‘to glitter, shine’; comp. Gr. ἀργός, ‘gleaming, quick.’
Flinte, f., ‘flintlock, gun, musket,’ first used in the 17th cent.; comp. Dan. flint, ‘musket’; probably akin to Swed. flinta, Dan. flint, ‘stone,’ prop. ‘flint-stone.’ Du. and E. preserve older terms — Du. vuurroer, ModHG. Feuerrohr, E. firelock. Flint, ‘stone,’ AS. and E. flint, whence Fr. flin, ‘thunderstone,’ is probably related to Gr. πλίνθος, ‘brick.’
Flitter, m., ‘spangle, tinsel,’ simply ModHG.; orig. ‘a small thin tin coin’; akin to MidHG. gevlitter, ‘secret laughter, tittering,’ vlittern, vb., ‘to whisper, titter,’ OHG. flitarezzen, ‘to coax in a flattering manner’; MidE. fliteren, ‘to flutter,’ E. flittermouse. The root idea is ‘unsteady motion,’ upon which ModHG. Flitter is based. With the meaning of OHG. flitarezzen, ‘to flatter, fondle,’ as well as ModHG. flïtern, ‘to whisper, titter,’ is connected Flitterwoche, f., which first occurs in early ModHG. The following foreign terms are interesting: — Scand. hjúnóttsmánaþr, lit. ‘a month of the nuptial night’; Dan. hvedebrodsdage, lit. ‘wheat-bread days’; E. honeymoon, derived from the Scand. word?, or rather formed from the Romance phrases, such as Fr. lune de miel, Ital. luna di miele.
Flitzbogen, m., ‘crossbow,’ first occurs in early ModHG. from LG.; comp. Du. flitsboog, ‘crossbow,’ from Du. flits, ‘javelin’; hence Fr. flèche, ‘arrow,’ and its Romance cognates are probably derived.
Flocke, f., ‘flake, flock (of wool), flue,’ from MidHG. vlocke, m., ‘flake, snowflake,’ OHG. floccho; comp. Du. vlok, Dan. flokke, Swed. flokka, E. (not in AS.) flock, but OIc. flóke, ‘flock (of hair, wool, &c.).’ The supposition that the word was borrowed from Lat. floccus is hardly worth considering, since the HG. word is recorded even in the OHG. period, and gives no support to such a derivation (yet comp. Flaum). Besides many possible roots exist within the Teut. group, either in fliegen (Teut. root flugh, from pre-Teut. plugh) or in AS. flacor, ‘flying’ (see flackern); on account of OIc. flóke, the latter is to be preferred. E. flock, ‘herd,’ is beside the mark; like OIc. flokkr, ‘herd, flock,’ and AS. flocc, it almost certainly belongs to fliegen, and probably signified orig. ‘a swarm of flying creatures’ (Kette, ‘covey,’ on the other hand, meant prop. ‘any kind of herd’).
Floh, m., ‘flea,’ from MidHG. vlôch, vlô, m., f., OHG. flôh, m.; a common Teut. term; comp. Du. floo, AS. fleáh, E. flea, OIc. fló. It probably means ‘fugitive,’ and is akin to fliehen; hence a Goth. *þláuhs, not *fláuhs, is to be assumed. But even if *fláuhs is the Goth. form, it cannot be connected with either Gr. Ψύλλα or Lat. pulex, since neither vowels nor consonants are in accord. Fliegen too is unrelated, since the final sound of its stem is g only, and not h.
Flor, m., ‘gauze, crape, bloom,’ ModHG. only; formed from Du. floers; akin to MidHG. floier, ‘headdress with dangling ribbons’ (comp. Schleier)?, flôrsen, ‘adornment, finery’?.
Florin, m., ‘florin,’ from late MidHG. flôrîn, m., ‘a gold coin first made in Florence, and stamped with a lily, the armorial bearings of the town’ (appeared about the middle of the 14th cent.); MidLat. florinus, from flos, ‘flower’; Ital. fiore.
Floskel, f., ‘flourish, showy phrase,’ simply late ModHG., from Lat. floscellus.
Flosse, f., from the equiv. MidHG. vloȥȥe, OHG. floȥȥa, f., ‘float; Floßfeder, ‘fin,’ even in MidHG. vloȥvëdere, in OSax. simply fëthara, ‘float,’ like Gr. πτέρυξ, ‘feather, float,’ Lat. pinna, ‘feather, float.’ See Finne. Flosse, akin to fließen, ‘to float.’
Floß, n., ‘float, raft, buoy, stream, fishing-net,’ from MidHG. vlôȥ, OHG. flôȥ, m., n., ‘raft,’ also in MidHG. and OHG. in the senses ‘current, flood, river’; Du. vlot, ‘raft’; comp. AS. fleót, n., ‘ship,’ E. fleet, AS. flota, ‘ship’ (also ‘mariner, sailor’), E. float, subst. and verb; note too AS. flŷte, ‘cream, flos lactis,’ with which E. to fleet (‘to skim’) is connected, LG. flot, ‘cream’; ​comp. Lith. pluditi, ‘to float,’ under fließen (Flosse).
Flöte, f., from the equiv. MidHG. floite, vloite, f., ‘flute’; corresponds to Du. fluit, from OFr. flaüte, ModFr. flûte (whence also E. flute, Du. fluit); comp. Ital. flauto, ‘flute.’ In the idiom flötengehen, ‘to come to nothing,’ a LG. fleuten, ‘to flow’ (OLG. fliotan), appears; it meant orig. (in the 18th cent.) ‘to go through, run away.’
flott, adj., ‘afloat; merry, luxurious,’ first occurs in ModHG. from LG.; comp. Du. vlot, ‘floating, swimming’; it is connected with fließen, Floß, but has, like Flotte, Sax. the dental medially, hence it must be assumed that the word was borrowed from LG.
Flotte, f., ‘fleet, navy,’ ModHG. only, from Fr. flotte, which, with its Rom. cognates, was borrowed from Scand. flote, n., ‘fleet’; comp. Du. vloot, but E. fleet; all allied to fließen, Teut. root flut.
flößen, flötzen, vb., ‘to float (timber), skim (milk),’ from MidHG. vlœȥen, vlœtzen, ‘to cause to flow, wash down (soil),’ factitive of fließen. The MidHG. forms with ȥ and tz correspond to those of heißen, reißen (MidHG. heiȥen-heitzen, reiȥen-reitzen), and are based upon a Goth. inflexion flautja, flauteis, since tj leads, through the medium of tt, to HG. tz, but t without j to ȥ.
Flötz, n., older Fletze, n., ‘vein of ore,’ from MidHG. vlętze, n., ‘threshing-floor, vestibule, stratum,’ OHG. flęzzi; comp. AS. flętt, ‘floor of the hall,’ OIc. flet, ‘room, hall’; akin to the OIc. adj. flatr, OHG. flaȥ, ‘flat, wide, level,’ mentioned under Fladen and flach.
fluchen, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. vluochen, OHG. fluohhôn, ‘to curse, imprecate,’ with an existent str. partic. OHG. farfluohhan, ‘depraved, wicked’; comp. OSax. farflôken, ‘accursed’; Goth. flôkan (not *flêkan), str. vb., ‘to lament,’ Du. vloeken, ‘to curse, execrate,’ In E. and Scand. the Teut. root flôk does not occur. Goth. flôkan, ‘to lament, bewail,’ shows the earlier meaning of the cognates; the root flôk, from pre-Teut. plâg, may be connected with Lat. plangere, ‘to strike, mourn,’ Gr. root, πλαγ in πλήσσω (ἐξεπλάγη), ‘to strike.’ The Lat. verb facilitates the transition of the meaning ‘to strike,’ ‘to lament,’ then ‘to imprecate, curse.’ —
Fluch, from the equiv. MidHG. vluoch, m., OHG. fluoh, m., ‘curse, imprecation’; Du. vloek.
Flucht, f., ‘flight, escape, refuge; row, floor,’ the equiv. MidHG. vluht, OHG. and OSax. fluht, f., a verbal abstract from fliehen; Du. vlugt, AS. flyht, E. flight; Goth. *þlaúhti-, ‘flight,’ is wanting, for which þlauhi- occurs. In OIc. flótte, m., ‘flight,’ pointing to Goth. þlaúhta. The verbal abstract of fliegen might in Scand. and West Teut. coincide with this word; in fact, AS. flyht, E. flight, and Du. vlugt signify both ‘fleeing’ and ‘flying.’ See fliegen with respect to this confusion.
Fluder, n. ‘mill trough,’ from MidHG. vlôder, n., ‘flowing, flooding, mill trough,’ OHG. flôdar, ‘flood of tears.’ In Goth. *flauþr, n., is probably to be assumed, based upon a root flau, flu; comp. OHG. flouwen, flęwen, MidHG. vlouwen, vlöun, ‘to wash, rinse.’ The prop. sense of the word is exactly that of fließen; comp. OIc. flau-mr, ‘current, flood’; for pre-Teut. plu, see under fließen.
Flug, m., ‘act of flying, flight, flock,’ from MidHG. vluc (pl. vlüge), OHG. fluy, m.; corresponding to AS. flyge, OIc. flugn, m., ‘flight’; verbal abstract of fliegen. For another form see under Flucht. Goth. *flugi- and *flauhti- are wanting. —
flugs, adv., ‘hastily, quickly,’ a gen. of Flug, MidHG. fluges, ‘quickly.’
Flügel, m., ‘wing, leaf (of a folding door), aisle, grand piano,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vlügel, m..; comp. Du. vleugel, ‘wing’; a late derivative of fliegen. Strange to say, a common Teut. word is wanting. For an OAryan root, ‘to fly,’ see Feder (also Farn).
flügge, adj., ‘fledged,’ a LG. form for the strictly HG. flücke, MidHG. vlücke, OHG. flucchi, ‘able to fly.’ Akin to MidDu. vlugghe, with LG. permutation, E. fledged; prop. a verbal adj. from fliegen, with the meaning ‘capable of flying.’
flugs, see Flug.
Flunder, m., ‘flounder,’ a LG. word derived from Scand.; comp. ODan. flundra, OSwed. flundrae, E. flounder. Akin also to OIc. flyðra, MidHG. vluoder, ‘flounder’?.
flunkern, vb., to glimmer,’ from the older ModHG. flinken, ‘to shine’; see flink. In the orig. sense ‘to brag,’ which is probably LG., it is still the same word; ‘to cause to shine’ forms the link between the meanings.
Flur, f., m., ‘field, meadow, floor, entrance-hall’; the division in meaning in ModHG. Flur, m., ‘vestibule,’ Flur, f., ​'corn field,’ was unknown to the older language; MidHG. vluor, m., f., ‘cornfield, floor, ground.’ The meanings ‘entrance to a house, vestibule, paved floor,’ belong to MidHG. and LG.; comp. Du. vloer, ‘vestibule, barn-floor,’ AS. flôr, m., f., ‘vestibule, barn-floor,’ also ‘storey,’ E. floor; Scand. flór, ‘floor’ of a cow-house (Goth. flôrus is wanting). The resulting prim. meaning, ‘floor,’ has been extended only in HG. to ‘corn-field.’ Teut. flóru-s, from pre-Teut. plôrus, plârus, is most closely related to OIr. lár for *plár, ‘floor, paved floor.’ OPruss. plonis, ‘barn-floor,’ has a different suffix; it is allied to Lith. plónas, ‘flat’; hence perhaps it may be connected with Lat. plânus.
flüstern, vb., ‘to whisper,’ earlier ModHG. flistern, from OHG. flistran, ‘to caress,’ to which the old (also Swiss) forms flismen, flispern, ‘to whisper,’ are allied; comp. also Du. fluisteren.
Fluß, m., ‘river, stream, flow,’ from MidHG. vluȥ, OHG. fluȥ, m., ‘river, stream, cast, bronze cast, rheumatism’; in these senses simply a ModHG. derivative of fließen, pointing to Goth *fluti-. E. flyte signifies a peculiar kind of ‘vessel, pontoon.’ For the genuinely Teut. word for ‘river, flowing water,’ see under Au; comp. also Strom.
flüssig, adj., ‘fluid, liquid,’ from MidHG. vlüȥȥec, ‘liquid, flowing,’ OHG. fluȥȥig; like Fluß, a specifically HG. form.
Flut, f., ‘flood, inundation, billow,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vluot, m., f., OHG. fluot, m.; a word common to Teut.; comp. Goth. flôdus, f., OIc. flôþ, AS. flôd, m., n., E. flood, OSax. flôd, Du. vloed. Goth. flôdus, from pre-Teut. plôtú-s, is based upon a Teut. root flô (from pre-Teut. plô); comp. AS. flôwan, equiv. to E. to flow, OIc. flóa, ‘to flow.’ Akin to the Gr. root πλω in πλώ-ω, ‘to float, sail, πλωτός, ‘floating, sailing, navigable.’ Perhaps this Aryan root plô is related to the Aryan root plu mentioned under fließen and Fluder; yet there is no direct connection between Flut and fließen and Gr. πλύνω.
Focke, f., ‘sail on the foremast,’ simply ModHG., borrowed from LG.; comp. Du. fok, ‘foremast,’ Dan. fok, Swed. fock, ‘foresail.’
Fohlen, n., ‘foal,’ from MidHG. vol, vole, OHG. folo, m., ‘colt, foal’; comp. Goth. fula, m., ‘foal (of an ass),’ OIc. fole, ‘foal’ (of a horse, rarely of an ass), AS. fola, m., E. foal; a term common to Teut. for the young of a horse or an ass, derived from pre-Teut. pelón-, Related by gradation to Gr. πῶλος, ‘colt,’ as a general term ‘young animal,’ and Lat. pullus, ‘the young,’ especially of fowls. See Füllen.
Föhn, m., a Swiss word, ‘humid and tempestuous south wind’; the corresponding term in MidHG. is wanting, though OHG. fônna, f. (fônno, m.), ‘rainy wind, whirlwind,’ is recorded; from Lat. favonius (the intermediate form is faunio-), whence also Ital. favonio, Rhæto-Rom. favuogn.
Föhre, f., ‘fir,’ from MidHG. vorhe, OHG. forha, f., ‘pine-tree’; corresponding to AS. furh, f., E. fir (MidE. firre, formed from Dan. fyr), OIc. fura, f., ‘fir’; Goth. *faúrhus, f., is wanting. If the initial f is to be regarded as in vier related to Lat. quattuor, Föhre may be connected with Lat. quercus, ‘oak’; for the change of meaning Eiche and Tanne might be compared. In earlier ModHG. Ferch, ‘oak,’ is also recorded once, and is akin to OHG. vereh-eih, Lomb. fereha, ‘æsculus.’ Thus the connection between Föhre and quercus (pre-Teut. qṛku-) is certain. In any case, Feuer is not a cognate. Fichte, Birke, Buche, Föhre are the few names of trees whose existence can be traced beyond Teut. Comp. also Kiefer.
folgen, vb., ‘to follow, succeed, result, obey,’ from the equiv. MidHG. volgen, OHG. folgên; comp. Du. volgen, AS. fylgan, folgian, E. to follow, OIc. fylgja; the verb common to West Teut. and Scand. for ‘follow,’ which has supplanted the common Aryan verbal root seg (see sehen), Lat. sequi. The origin of the cognates is uncertain. There are indications that the verbal stem is a compound; the first component may be voll; comp. AS. ful-eóde, ‘he followed,’ AS. and OLG. fulgangan, OHG. fola gân, ‘to follow.’ Consequently gehen (OHG. gên, gân) is the second part of the word. The composite nature of the word is supported by the fact that there are no old and widely diffused derivatives of the verb. It is true that the connection between the sense ‘to follow’ and the prefix voll has not yet been explained. —
Folge, f., ‘sequel, result,’ from MidHG. volge, f., ‘retinue, succession, forced service, pursuit,’ &c. OHG. sëlbfolga, ‘faction.’
foltern, vb., ‘to put to the rack, torture,’ from late MidHG. vultern, ‘to put on the rack.’ Akin to Folter, ‘rack,’ early ModHG only. of obscure origin. It is ​most frequently considered to be partly translated and partly borrowed from MidLat. pulletrus, poledrus, prop. ‘colt,’ which signifies ‘rack’ in Span. and Port. (potro), “like Lat. equuleus from equus, because it bore some resemblance to a horse.” MidLat. poledrum is derived again from Gr. πῶλος, ‘foal.’ “The wooden horse and the wooden ass — frames with a sharp-edged back, upon which the delinquents were compelled to ride — were favourite instruments of torture.”
foppen, vb., ‘to quiz, rally, banter,’ early ModHG. only, from slang.
fordern, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. vordern, OHG. fordarôn, ‘to demand, request, challenge, summon’; corresponding to Du. vorderen; a specifically Ger. form, orig. unknown to the other dialects, yet the word found its way from Ger. into Dan. and Swed. It is a derivative of vorder.
fördern, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. vürdern, vurdern, OHG. furdiren (also fordarôn), ‘to promote, take an active part in, help’; like fordern, from vorder.
Forelle, f., ‘trout,’ with a foreign accent, for the genuine dialectal (Franc.) fórelle, still existing; dimin. of an older Forene (whence *Forenle, Forelle); comp. MidHG. fórelle, fórle, forhen, forhe, f., ‘trout,’ OHG. forhana, f., ‘trout’; comp. also OLG. forna, furnie, AS. fôrne. Probably not from Föhre, OHG. foraha, ‘the fish living near firs, in the brooks of fir forests.’ It is probably connected with the Aryan adjs. in the cognate languages, meaning ‘spotted, speckled.’ Teut. forhana, from pre-Teut. prknâ; comp. Sans. pṛ́çni, ‘speckled,’ and Gr. περκνός, ‘livid, dusky’ (πέρκη, ‘perch’).
Forke, f., see Furke.
Form, f., ‘form, fashion, pattern, mould,’ from ModHG. (post-classical), forme, form, f., ‘form, shape,’ from Lat. and Rom. forma.
Formel, f., ‘formula, form,’ late ModHG., from Lat. formula.
forschen, vb., ‘to search, investigate,’ from MidHG. vorsken, OHG. forskôn (rarely Franc. forspôn, with assimilation), ‘to demand, ask’; a form peculiar to HG., unknown to the remaining dialects, and pointing to Goth. *faúrskôn, *faúrhskôn. The sk is a derivative like Lat. sc (comp. dreschen, wünschen, waschen). Goth. *faúrskôn would be the normal form for faúrhskôn, like Goth. waúrstw, ‘labour,’ for waúrhstw. The Teut. root forh is identical with the root of fragen, from the pre-Teut. root pṛk (see fragen). An sc derivative is also seen in Lat. poscere (for porscere), ‘to demand,’ as well as in the Sans. root pṛch, ‘to ask.’
Forst m., ‘forest, wood,’ from MidHG. vorst, OHG. forst, m., ‘wood’; also the MidHG. variants vŏrëst, fŏrest, fŏrest, fŏreist (but probably not fôrest), n., ‘wood, forest’; these forms are certainly of Romance origin, — MidLat. and Romance foresta, whence Fr. forêt. It is questionable whether the OHG. forst, vorst, m., are also derived from Romance. Opinions are divided on this point; some etymologists connect the Rom. word with Lat. foris, ‘outside’; others more probably refer OHG. forst to OHG. foraha, ‘fir’; hence forst would be lit. ‘fir wood.’ OHG. forst might also be connected with Goth. faírguni, ‘mountain.’ Goth. *faúrst for faúrhst, ‘mountain forest,’ would have to be construed like the assumed Goth. *faúrskôn for *faúrhskôn, mentioned under forschen.
fort, adv., ‘forwards, continuously, away,’ from MidHG. vort, adv., ‘forwards, further, continuously.’ OHG. *ford is wanting; it would correspond to OSax. forth, AS. forþ, E. forth; Goth. *faúrþ, and its compar. faúrþis, adv., ‘formerly’? Fort, OTeut. forþ, from an earlier frþo, pṛto, is allied to vor. See fürder, fordern, fördern, and vorder.
Fracht, f., ‘freight, load, cargo,’ ModHG. only, from LG. fracht; comp. Du. vracht, E. fraught, freight; it signified orig. ‘reward, charge for conveyance,’ and afterwards ‘the load itself.’ Comp. OHG. frêht (probably implying Goth. *frá-aihts), ‘earnings, reward,’ gifrêhtôn, ‘to merit’; the restricted meaning of the modern dialects is seen first in MidDu. and MidE., and also passed into Romance — Fr. fret. Comp. eigen.
Frack, m., ‘dress coat,’ ModHG. only; comp. frac, ‘dress coat’; its etymology and native source obscure, hardly to be sought for in Fr. froc, ‘monk’s habit.’ Comp. E. frock.
fragen, vb., ‘to ask, inquire, interrogate,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vrâgen, OHG. frâgên (with the rare variant frâhên); corresponding to OSax. frâgôn, Du. vragen; confined to the Teuts. of MidEurope (Goth. *frêhan, *frêgan), with the meaning ‘to ask,’ from a Teut. root frē̆h, from which the Goth. pret. frah ​(frêhum) and the partic. fraíhans are formed. The corresponding pres. has a derivative n (comp. scheinen), Goth. fraíhnan, AS. frignan, frînan, beside which appears a form with the present in io-, AS. fricgan (Goth. *frigjan). For another verbal derivative of the same root see under forschen, which, like OHG. jërgôn, ‘to beg,’ has its r transposed. The following Teut. words also belong to the root frē̆h, ÀS. frëht, ‘oracle,’ frihtrian, ‘to predict,’ fricca, ‘herald.’ The Teut. root frē̆h is derived, according to the law of the substitution of consonants, from an Aryan root prē̆k, pṛk, which may have orig. combined the meanings ‘to ask, beg’ (rogare, interrogare). Comp. the prim. allied forms — Sans. root pṛch (for pṛç-sk), ‘to ask, long for; to desire, beg for something,’ praçná, ‘inquiry,’ Zend root pares, peres, ‘to ask, demand,’ Lat. prĕc- (nom. plur. preces, ‘entreaties’), prscâri, ‘to beg,’ procax, ‘insolent,’ prŏcus, ‘wooer, suitor,’ OSlov. prositi, ‘to demand, beg.’
frank, adj., ‘free, independent,’ first occurs in ModHG., from Fr. franc (Ital., Span., and Port. franco), which was again derived from the Teut. tribal name Franken, OHG. Franchun, and may have been applied generally to any freeman. The term Franken is prop. a derivative of a lost OHG. *francho, ‘javelin,’ preserved in AS. franca and OIc. frakke; the Saxons (Sachsen) are similarly named after a weapon — OHG. Sahsun, from sahs, ‘sword’ (see Messer).
Franse, f., ‘fringe,’ from MidHG. franze, f., ‘fringe, ornament, fillet’; hence franzen, vb., ‘to fringe.’ From Romance; comp. Fr. frange, Ital. frangia. “This orig. Fr. word corresponds exactly to the well-known OHG. framea, in the same way as vendange to vindemia; Fransen are pendant ‘darts’ or lace, just as the flap of a coat is a broad spear-head (see Schoß, Gehren); the etymology is both grammatically and logically unobjectionable.” Though framea has certainly not been preserved within the entire Teut. group in the sense of ‘javelin,’ or in any other sense, yet the Latinised framea long remained current in early MidLat. The derivation of the Romance words from Lat. fimbria, ‘fringe,’ is not free from phonetic difficulties.
Fraß, m., ‘devouring, gluttony, food, pasture,’ from MidHG. vrâȥ, m., ‘food, feeding’; akin to fressen; OHG. frâȥ, MidHG. vrâȥ, m., also ‘gormandiser.’
Fratze, f., ‘grimace, distortions, caricature,’ f., ModHG. only, whence Du. fratsen, f. plur., ‘grimaces, distortions,’ is borrowed. The absence of the word in OHG. and MidHG. favours the supposition that it was borrowed, and we are compelled to accept that view, since it is impossible to trace the word to a satisfactory Teut. source; the proposed derivation from AS. frœtwe, f. plur., ‘work of art, ornaments (carvings?),’ is phonetically impossible. The word might be finally derived from Ital. frasche, plur., Fr. frasgues, ‘tricks, hoax.’
Frau, f., ‘mistress, lady, wife, woman,’ from MidHG. vrouwe, OHG. frouwa, f., ‘mistress, gentlewoman, lady, wife, woman’; orig. perhaps only a HG. fem. form (‘wife of the master, mistress of the house’), of OHG. frô, ‘master,’ which became obsolete in Ger., just as in Romance dominus disappeared in many dialects while domina (in the forms donna, dame) was retained in the entire group; comp. Schwieger. See Frohndienst. Frouwa, in the form of frua, found its way into OLG., and thence as frú into Scand.; the word remained unknown to E. The fem. form was OTeut. (Goth. *fraujô, f.), and was used in Scand. — changed according to phonetic laws into Freyja — as the name of a goddess. In the MidHG. period frouwe was popularly connected by a graceful fancy with freuen, fröuwen; comp. Freidank’s saw, “Durch vröude vrouwen sind genant, Ir vröude ervröuwet elliu lant, Wie wol er vröude kante, Der sie êrste vrouwen nante” — “Woman is named from the joy she gives, Her favours fill the world with bliss, What a deep sense of joy had he, Who first named it woman.” See Jungfer and the following word.
Fräulein, n., ‘young lady, damsel, miss,’ from MidHG. vröuwelîn, n., dimin. of MidHG. vrouwe, ‘woman’, orig. ‘noble maiden, young lady of noble birth, mistress, sweetheart,’ also ‘girl of mean rank, servant-girl.’
Frauenzimmer, n., ‘woman,’ from late MidHG. vrouwenzimmer, n., ‘women's apartment’; the connecting link in meaning is collective, ‘the body of women residing in its own apartments, the female inhabitants of the gynæceum,’ also ‘retinue of a lady of high rank,’ just as Hof (court) is used collectively of ‘the people at court.’ “The application of a collective term to an individual” is analogous to the use of ​Bursche and Kamerad; the modern sense dates from the beginning of the 17th cent.
frech, adj., ‘bold, insolent, shameless,’ from MidHG. vrëch, adj., ‘courageous, bold, daring,’ OHG. frëh(hh), ‘covetous, greedy’; corresponding to Goth. *friks only in faíhufriks, ‘covetous, avaricious’ (with respect to faílu, ‘money,’ see Vieh), OIc. frekr, ‘greedy,’ AS. frec, ‘daring.’ ‘Greedy’ was probably the primary meaning of the adj. stem freka- common to Teut.; when specially applied to war it meant ‘eager for combat, daring’; AS. frëca acquired the meaning ‘warlike hero,’ earlier E. freak, ‘hero, man.’ For early Teut. words similarly restricted in meaning when applied to a warrior's life, see bereit, fertig, rüstig. There are derivatives of the OTeut. freka-, Goth. friks, in the Romance languages — OFr. frique, ModProv. fricaud, ‘cheerful, lively.’ Teut. freka-, from pre-Teut. prĕgo-, scarcely belongs to fragen.
frei, adj., ‘free, exempt, frank, voluntary,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vrî, OHG. frî; a common Teut. stem frija-, ‘free’ (unknown only to Scand.), which is assumed by Goth. freis (acc. sing., mas. frijana), AS. frî, freó (from frija-), E. free, OLG. frî. From these are formed the abstracts — Goth. freihals, ‘freedom,’ lit. ‘having one's neck free,’ AS. freóls, ‘freedom’ (also ‘peace, quiet’; comp. freólsdœg, ‘holiday’). Scand. frjáls for the non existent *frîr, ‘free,’ is identical with these words, being used as an adj. signifying ‘with a free neck’; akin to OHG. and MidHG. frîhals, ‘freeman.’ A ring around the neck was an OTeut. mark of a slave. Although frija- prevails throughout the Teut. group in its modern sense ‘free,’ to which W. ridd, ‘free’ (from prija-), also corresponds, yet there is some evidence that the meanings ‘dear, loved,’ once belonged to the adj. in earliest Teut.; comp. the corresponding abstr. Goth. frijaþwa, ‘love,’ AS. freód (for *frijôdus), ‘love, favour,’ AS. frîgu, ‘love’ (also freódryhten, freóbearn); allied to Goth. frijôn, ‘to love,’ mentioned under Freund and Friede. All these derivatives point to a Teut. root frî, ‘to cherish, spare, treat forbearingly’ (MidHG. vrî-ten, Goth. freidjan, ‘to spare’); frei in an active sense should perhaps be compared with held, which also denoted the relation of the higher to the meaner person. Frei is lit. ‘loving, loved, spared.’ This sense is placed beyond doubt by the earlier history of the word — Goth. frija-, from pre-Teut. priyó-; comp. Sans. priyâ-s, ‘dear, favourite,’ from the root prî ‘to rejoice, make well-disposed,’ In OAryan the fem. of the adj. priyã means ‘spouse,’ also ‘daughter’; to this OSax. frî, and AS. freó, ‘wife,’ correspond. With the Sans. root prî, OSlov. prijaja (prijati), ‘to assist,’ prijateljĭ, ‘friend,’ are also connected. See Freitag, freien, Freund, Friede, Friedhof.
freien, vb., ‘to woo,’ from MidHG. vrîen, ‘to woo, marry’; unknown to UpG., prop. a LG. word, made current chiefly by Luther, Comp. Du. vrijen, ‘to sue for’ (MidHG. vrîen, ‘to set see, rescue,’ must in the main be regarded as a different word). In the sense of ‘to woo, marry,’ the verb must be directly connected with the OTeut. root frî, ‘to love’; comp. OSax. frî, ‘wife, beloved.’ For the diffusion of the Teut. root frî (from Aryan prî); see frei, Freitag, and also Freund.
freilich, adv., from the equiv. MidHG. vrîlîche, adv., ‘certainly, by all means,’ prop. adv. from vrîlîch, ‘free, boundless.’
Freitag, m., ‘Friday,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vrîtac, OHG. frîatag, m., ‘dies Veneris’; corresponding to Du. vrijdag, AS. frîgdœg, frîgedœg, E. Friday, ‘dies Veneris,’ OIc. Frjádagr (for which Föstadagr, ‘fast day,’ is used in ModIc.); lit. ‘Freia’s day’ (primit. Teut. Frijjó), equiv. to Lat. dies Veneris. Freia corresponds to Venus. OIc. Frigg, like OHG. Frîa, is lit. ‘lover, goddess of love’; akin to Sans. priyã, f., ‘spouse, beloved’ (OSax. frî, AS. freó, ‘wife’). See frei.
Freite, f., ‘wooing, courtship,’ from MidHG. vrîât, vrîâte, f., ‘making an offer of marriage’; abstract noun from freien; also in the same sense MidHG. vrîe; an essentially Mid. word.
fremd, adj., ‘strange, foreign, unfamiliar, peculiar,’ from MidHG. vręmede, vręmde, ‘foreign, distant, strange, singular, rare,’ OHG. framadi, fręmidi, ‘foreign, singular’; a common Teut. adj. for ‘foreign,’ unknown only to Scand.; comp. Goth. framaþs, ‘foreign, estranged, excluded from,’ AS. fręmþe, fręmde, ‘foreign, alien, estranged’ (E. obsolete), OSax. fręmithi, Du. vreemd. A derivative of the stem appearing in the Goth. prep. fram, ‘far from,’ AS. and E. from, OHG. fram, adv., ‘away, forward.’
fressen, vb., ‘to eat greedily, devour, corrode,’ from MidHG. vrëȥȥen, OHG. frëȥȥen, ‘to eat up, consume, feed,’ of men and ​animals; derived from an earlier *fraëȥȥan, by syncope of the unaccented a, comp. Goth. fraïtan, ‘to consume’ (E. to fret, ‘to cut away’), with the similarly shortened pret. sing. frêt, plur. frêtun, for *fraét, *fraêtun. The Goth. verbal prefix occurs in other cases in OHG. as fir, far, MidHG. and ModHG. ver, and from ëȥȥen combined with this ver a new verb, verëȥȥen, is formed in MidHG. with the same meaning as frëȥȥen, which is etymologically equiv. to it. For the verbal prefix see Frevel, ver-.
Frettchen, n., ‘little ferret,’ dimin. of an earlier ModHG. Frett, m., ‘ferret,’ occurs in ModHG. from Romance; comp. Ital. furetto, Fr. furet (E. ferret), MidLat. furetum, furetus. ‘ferret,’ which is based upon early MidLat. furo, ‘polecat,’ equiv. to Lat. fur, ‘thief.’
Freude, f., ‘joy, pleasure, delight,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vröude, vreude, OHG. fręwida, f.; akin to freuen, MidHG. vröuwen, OHG. frouwen; see froh. For the suffix see Gemeinde, Begierde, Zierde, Beschwerde.
Freund, m., from the equiv. MidHG. vriunt(d), OHG. friunt, m., ‘friend, relative’; comp. OSax. friunt, ‘friend, relative,’ Du. vriend, AS. freónd, E. friend, Goth. frijônds. Goth. frijônds, and hence also the other words, are partics. from an OTeut. and Goth. vb. frijôn, ‘to love,’ AS. freógan, ‘to love’ (see frei); therefore the word, signifying lit. ‘lover,’ is used in many dialects (even yet in LG., Hess., Franc., Alsat., Suab., and Bav.) for ‘relative.’ As to the formation, see Heiland, Feind.
Frevel, m., ‘wanton offence, outrage, sacrilege,’ from MidHG. vręvel, f., m., ‘boldness, presumption, arrogance, insolence, violence,’ OHG. fravilî, f., ‘boldness, daring, insolence’; abstr. subst. from the OHG. adj. fravili, fręvili, MidHG. vręvele, ‘bold, proud, daring, insolent,’ ModHG. frevel, adj.; comp. AS. frœfele, ‘daring,’ Du. wrevel, ‘outrage.’ Connected with the HG. adj. are two or three difficult forms which furnish a hint for discovering the etymology. OHG. fraballîcho, adv. with b, and frabarî, f., ‘audacia,’ with b and r. Parallel to MidHG. vręvel there exists a form vor-ęvel, ver-ęvel, corresponding to MidHG. ver-ëȥȥen, compared with vr-ëȥȥen. We have probably to assume a Goth. *fraabls, or rather *fra afls (comp. fressen), and with this OIc. afl, n., ‘power, strength,’ and OHG. avalôn, ‘to torment oneself, work,’ are closely connected. In OHG. fra was preserved as a fully accented prefix in adjs., as in frá-bald, ‘daring,’ from bald, ‘bold.’ See Fracht (a compound containing Goth. fra). —
freventlich, adv., ‘sacrilegiously,’ first occurs in ModHG., formed like eigentlich, wesentlich, &c., from the MidHG. adj. vrevele, but with a change of the suffix l into n.
Friede, m., ‘peace, tranquillity, quiet,’ from MidHG. vride, m., ‘peace, quiet, protection,’ OHG. fridu, m., ‘peace’; corresponding to OSax. frithu, m., AS. freoþo, friþu, f., OIc. friþr, m., ‘peace’; the common Teut. word for ‘peace.’ Found in Goth. only in Friþareiks, equiv. to Friedrich (lit. ‘prince of peace’); akin to Goth. gafriþôn, ‘to reconcile.’ The Teut. form friþu- contains the suffix Þu like Goth. dau-þu-s, ‘death’; þrítu-s, from an Aryan root pri, Teut. fri, lit. ‘to love, spare’; Friede, orig. ‘state of love, forbearance’ (see frei). It is worth noticing that Teut. first coined a word for ‘peace,’ for which no common term can be found in the Aryan languages, and the same may be said of ‘Krieg.’ See Hader.
Friedhof, m., ‘churchyard’; the orig. sense is not exactly ‘peaceful enclosure,’ but rather ‘an enclosed place’; akin to MidHG. vride, ‘enclosure, a place hedged in’; MidHG. vrîthof, OHG. frîthof, ‘enclosed space around a church,’ must have given rise to Freithof. In their origin Friede and MidHG. vrît-hof are of course allied; yet vrît-hof must be connected chiefly with Goth. frei-djan, ‘to spare,’ OHG. frîten, ‘to cherish, love, protect’; akin also to einfriedigen.
frieren, vb., ‘to freeze, feel cold, be chilled,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vriesen (partic., gevrorn), OHG. friosan (partic. gifroran); the change of s into r has obtained in all parts of the verb, yet s has been preserved in Frieseln and Frost. Comp. Du. vriezen, AS. freósan, E. to freeze, OIc. frjósa; Goth. *friusan is wanting, but may be inferred with certainty from frius, n., ‘frost, cold.’ The change of s into r is also shown by AS. freórig, adj., ‘freezing, frosty, stiff,’ OIc. frer, neu. plur., ‘frost, cold.’ The Teut. root is freus, fruz, from the pre-Teut. root preus, prū̆s. It appears to lie at the base of Lat. prûrio for *prusio, ‘to itch,’ if the connecting link in meaning is to be found in the ‘piercing, itching, burning nature of frost.’ OInd. has a root pruš, ‘to inject a substance,’ which is more ​remote in meaning; akin to Lat. pruîna, ‘rime’ (for *prusvîna); Sans. prušvá, ‘drop, frozen drop, rime.’ Under no circumstances can the word be connected with Lat. frigere.
Fries, m., also Friese, f.,‘frieze (cloth and part of a column),’ ModHG. only, formerly also in the sense of ‘coarse woollen stuff’; from Fr. frise, f., whence E. frieze; the Fr. word, like its Romance cognates, is itself derived from Teut.; comp AS. frise, ‘curled,’ E. to friz, frizzle, OFris. frisle, ‘hair of the head.’
Frieseln, partic. plur., ‘miliary fever,’ ModHG. only, from frieren, which represents an earlier friesen.
flisch, adj.,‘fresh, cool, raw (of a wound),’ from MidHG. vrisc, OHG. frisc, adj., ‘new, young, cheerful, active, pert’; corresponding to AS. fërsc, E. fresh, OIc. ferskr, ‘fresh.’ The further origin is obscure; on account of its meaning Lat. priscus (akin to prior, prius) cannot be allied; perhaps OHG. frisc is derived from früh, OHG. fruo. The HG. word found its way at an early period into Romance (comp, Ital. fresco, Fr. frais), and into E. (frisk).
Frischling, m., ‘young wild-boar,’ from MidHG. vrischinc, vrischlinc, m.; a derivative of frisch with the suffixes -ing, -ling. The OHG. frisking (fruscing), ‘beast of offering,’ was adopted by OFr. as fresange, ‘young pig.’
frisieren, vb., ‘to curl, dress the hair,’ ModHG. only, from Fr. friser, which is again derived from the cognates mentioned at the end of the article Fries.
Frist, f., ‘period, appointed time, respite,’ from MidHG. vrist, f., OHG. frist, f., (neu.), ‘limited period, postponement, space of time’; OSax. frist, AS. first, m., OIc. frest, n. plur., ‘postponement.’ Probably not derived from the root fri (see frei), ‘to love.’ It might more reasonably be connected with the Goth. verbal particle fri in frisahts, if the meaning of the latter were clear. See also Rist
froh, adj., ‘glad, joyous, happy,’ from MidHG. vrô (gen. vrôwes, vrouwes), OHG. frô (inflected form frawêr), ‘glad’; corresponding to OSax. frao (gen. *frawes, frahes), MidDu. vro, ‘glad’; a corresponding word in E. is wanting. OIc. frár, ‘quick, nimble,’ closely agrees in sound; with respect to the meaning, comp. the analogous glatt and E. glad. Thus the sensuous meaning ‘nimble’ might be taken as the starting-point. If the Scand. word be disregarded, ‘gracious, friendly,’ might be assumed as the primary meaning, in order to connect the word with the expressions for ‘master, lord,’ mentioned under frohn.
frohlocken, vb., ‘to exult, triumph, shout for joy,’ from MidHG. vrôlocken (rare), ‘jubilate’; according to MidHG. vrô-sanc, ‘song of joy, hallelujah,’ probably a corruption of an earlier form, frôleichen; OHG. and MidHG. *vrô-leich would be also lit. ‘song of joy.’ E. to frolic is derived from Du. vrolijk, ‘joyous.’
frohn, adj., ‘lordly, holy,’ now only preserved as the first component in archaic compounds; from MidHG. vrôn, adj., ‘relating to the master or lord, sacred.’ In OHG. there appears instead of an adj. *frôn a petrified form frôno, ‘magnificent, divine, sacred,’ which is prop. a gen. plur. of frô, ‘lord’ (used only in the vocative). In MidHG. vrôn appears in numerous compounds for the temporal lord, as well as for the κύριος, ‘the lord,’ κατ’ ἐξοχήν, ‘Christ’; comp. MidHG. vrônlîchnam, m., ‘Christ’s body, the host,’ ModHG. Frohnleihnam; MidHG. vrônkriuze, OHG. daz frôno chrûzi, ‘the cross of Christ’; MidHG. vrônalter, ‘high altar,’ &c.; also vrônhof, ‘mansion,’ vrônwalt, ‘a wood belonging to the lord,’ vrônrëht, ‘public right.’ ModHG. retained Frohndienst, from MidHG. vrôndienst; see fröhnen. As to OHG. frô,‘O lord,’ stress must be laid on its correspondence to AS. freá, ‘lord,’ as well as OSax. frao. Goth. has a form with j, frauja, m. (AS. frêgea), ‘lord,’ which is seen in HG. in the fem. forms OHG. frouwa, MidHG. vrouwe, Goth. *fraujô, With these some connect in Scand. the names of the deities Freyr and Freyja. Whether the stem fraun-, for frawun- and fraujan-, in the sense of ‘gracious, friendly,’ is allied to the adj. froh, ‘glad,’ remains to be proved. Comp. Frau.
Frohne, f., ‘compulsory service, villeinage,’ from MidHG. vrône, f., ‘villein socage.’ See frohn.
fröhnen, frohnen, vb., ‘to serve,’ from MidHG. vrônen (vrœnen) ‘to serve, perform villein socage.’ See frohn, Frohne.
fromm, adj., ‘worthy, pious, harmless,’ from MidHG. vrum (inflected form vrumer), adj., ‘able, excellent, good, gallant, conducive.’ The adj. is prop. a subst. (comp. Schade); MidHG. frum, fruma, OHG. fruma, ‘use, advantage’ (frummen, ‘to ​promote, accomplish’). Akin to the AS. forms with a gradation, fram, adj., ‘brave, conducive,’ fremman, ‘to promote, accomplish’; comp. OIc. framr, ‘preferable,’ and fremja, ‘to execute.’ Also allied more remotely to the OTeut. terms for ‘primus.’ See Fürst, fort, fürder, &c.
Frosch, m., ‘frog,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vrosch, OHG. frosk, m.; corresponding to Du. vorsch, AS. forsc (E. dial. frosk), OIc. froskr, ‘from’; Goth. *frusqa- is by chance not recorded. Before the deriv. sk a guttural has dropped out, as is seen in the cognate terms. AS. frogga, E. frog, would be in Goth. *frugga (*frugwa?); also akin to AS. frocca, earlier E. dial. frock, as well as OIc. fraukr, ‘frog’ (so too MidE. frûte, froute, ‘toad’). Goth. *frusqa-, for *fruhsqa-, therefore be connected with a root ending in a guttural; perhaps the pre-Teut. root pruk?. Hence the attempts to connect the word with frisch or frieren, to which the meaning is also opposed, must be rejected.
Frost, m., ‘frost, cold, chill,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vrost, OHG. frost, m.; comp. Du. vorst, AS. forst, E. frost, OIc. frost, n., ‘frost, cold’; a common Teut. abstract of frieren, Goth. *friusan. Goth. *frusta-, m., n., ‘frost,’ is wanting.
Frucht, f., ‘fruit, crop, product,’ from MidHG. vruht, OHG. fruht, f., ‘fruit’; corresponding to OSax. fruht, Du. vrucht, OFris. frucht. Based on Lat. fructus, which perhaps at the same period as Pflanze and a number of botanical terms, found its way into German.
früh, adj., adv., ‘early, premature(ly),’ from MidHG. vrüeje, adj., ‘early,’ vruo, adv., ‘early’ (hence sometimes the ModHG. fruh unmodified); OHG. fruoji, adj. fruo, adv., ‘early’; comp. Du. vroeg, adj. and adv., ‘early.’ Goth. *frô (or rather *frauô for *frôô?), adv., is wanting. Pre-Teut. prô- appears also in Gr. πρωΐ, ‘early, early in the morning,’ πρωΐα, f., ‘morning,’ πρώϊος, ‘early’; akin to Sans. prâtar, adv., ‘early in the morning.’ Allied more remotely to vor, Fürst, vordere, &c. (also frisch?). It is curious that the OAryan adv., in the sense of ‘early in the morning,’ is restricted to Ger. In Scand., E., and Goth. it is wanting; the words used being Goth. air, OIc. ár, AS. œ̂r, ‘early in the morning’ (see ehe). Moreover, its special meaning was universally diffused at an early period. See Frühling.
Frühling, m., ‘spring,’ a deriv. of früh, early ModHG. only — from the 15th cent.; Lenz is the old West Teut. term.
Fuchs, m., ‘fox, light bay horse, cunning person, freshman (univ.)’ from the equiv. MidHG. vuhs, OHG. fuhs, m.; corresponding to Du. vos, AS. and E. fox; Goth. *faúhs-, m. (weak subst.), is not found. The s is a masc. suffix, as in Luchs; it is wanting, therefore, in the older fem. form, OHG. foha, MidHG. vohe, f., ‘vixen’ (also ‘fox,’ equiv. to Goth. faúhô, f., ‘fox,’ OIc. foa, ‘fox’). OIc. fox, n., is used only in the figurative sense of ‘deceit.’ The ModHG. fem. form Füchsin corresponds to AS. fyxen, E. vixen. Goth. faúhô, f., from pre-Teut. púkâ, makes it appear possible to connect the word phonetically with ModHG. Vogel, Goth. fugls, pre-Teut. pukló-s, in case Sans. puccha, ‘tail, train,’ is of a cognate stem; Fuchs and Vogel, meaning ‘tailed creatures,’ is quite possible. At all events, there is no connection with Lat. L. vulpes.
Fuchtel, f., earlier ModHG. Fochtel, ‘broadsword, a blow struck with it,’ first occurs in ModHG.; akin to feckten.
Fuder, n., from the equiv. MidHG. vuoder, OHG. fuodar, n., ‘measure (varying from 36 to 72 bushels, of wine about 1200 bottles), waggon-load’; comp. OSax. fôthar, Du. voer, AS. fôþer, ‘measure, waggon-load,’ E. fother, fodder, a term in mining. Hence the common West Teut. term fôþr, n., ‘waggon-load,’ from the Teut. root faþ in Faden. From HG., Fr. foudre is derived.
Fug, m., ‘adaptedness, due authority, right,’ from MidHG. vuoc(g), m., ‘propriety,’ as well as the equiv. vuoge, f., ModHG. Fuge, akin to fügen.
Fuge, f., ‘fugue,’ first occurs in early ModHG., from Ital. fuga.
fügen, vb., ‘to fit together, connect’; (refl.) ‘to accommodate oneself,’ from MidHG. vüegen, OHG. fuogen, ‘to shape or unite suitably’; comp. Du. voegen, AS. gefêgan, E. to fay (‘to suit, unite’); Goth. *fôgjan, ‘to make suitable,’ is a factitive of the Teut. root fag, in Goth. fagrs, ‘suitable, fitted,’ whose nearer cognates are to be found under fegen; E. to fadge (‘to suit, join’), may also be mentioned here.
fühlen, vb., ‘to feel, be sensible of, be sensitive to,’ a MidG. and LG. word incorporated in literary Ger. since Luther's time (in Suab. and Alem. spüren and merken, ​and in Bav. empfinden are need); from the equiv. MidHG. vüelen, OHG. fuolen (OHG. also ‘to touch’); comp. OSax. gifôlian, Du. voelen, AS. fêlan, E. to feel; a common West Teut. word for ‘to feel’ (Goth. *fôljan). Akin to OIc. falma, to grope.’ With the Teut. root fôl, fal, an old term for ‘hand’ is connected; OSax. folm, AS. folm, OHG. folma, ‘hand’ (primit. allied to Sans. pâṇ, Gr. παλάμη, Lat. palma, OIr. lám for *plâma).
Fuhre, f., ‘journey, conveyance, waggon, cart-load,’ from MidHG. vuore, f., journey, way, street, escort, food for a ‘journey, fodder,’ OHG. fuora; comp. AS. fôr, f., ‘journey,’ also ‘vehicle’; akin to fahren. See also führen.
führen, vb., ‘to carry, conduct, deal in, manage,’ from MidHG. vüeren, OHG. fuoren, ‘to put in motion, guide, lead’; a factitive of fahren (OHG. faran), like ModHG. leiten, a factitive of OHG. lîdan, ‘to go, drive’; comp. OSax. fôrian, Du. voeren, ‘to lead,’ OIc. fœra, ‘to bring.’ Goth. *fôrjan is wanting; AS. fêran means ‘to go, march.’ Hence the sense ‘to lead’ is essentially Ger.
füllen, vb., ‘to fill,’ from MidHG. vüllen, OHG. fullen, ‘to make full’; a derivative of voll. Comp. Goth. fulljan, OIc. fylla, AS. fyllan, E. to fill, Du. vullen, OSax. fullian, ‘to fill’; also voll. —
Fülle, f., ‘abundance, plenty,’ from MidHG. vülle, OHG. fullî, ‘fulness’; comp. Goth. ufarfallei, f., ‘superabundance.’
Füllen, n., from the equiv. MidHG. vülîn, OHG. fulîn, n., besides MidHG. vüle, OHG. fulî, n., ‘foal’; for the affix -în-, denoting the young of animals, see under Schwein. Based upon Fohlen (Goth fula); hence *ful-ein, n. has to be assumed in Goth.; comp. MidLG. völen, Du. veulen, OIc. fyl. Another derivative of ful- is OHG. fulihha, MidHG. vülhe, f., ‘filly,’ pointing to Goth. *fuliki.
Füllsel, n., ‘stuffing,’ from the equiv. late MidHG. vülsel, n.; a derivative of voll with modification; for the suffix -sel, from OHG. isal, Goth. isl, see Rätsel.
Fund, m., from the equiv. MidHG. vunt, m., ‘finding, discovery, find’; allied to finden; comp. Du. vond, ‘discovery, invention,’ OIc. fundr, fyndr.
fünf, card. num., ‘five,’ from MidHG. vünf, OHG. funf, also earlier finf; corresponding to Goth. fimf, OIc. fimm, AS. fif, E. five, Du. vijf, OSax. fîf. Goth. fimf, from pre-Teut. pempe, pénqe (for the permutation of Aryan q to Teut. f see Föhre, vier, Wolf); comp. Sans. páñcan, Gr. πέντε (πέμπε, πέμπτος), Lat. quinque (for *pinque), Lith. penkí, OIr. cóic, W. pimp; a common Teut. term, like all numbers from 2 to 10; the oldest form is pénqe, pénke. The attempts to discover the root with some such meaning as ‘hand,’ and to connect the word with Finger, have produced no result. The Aryan numerals are presented to us as compact forms, the origin of which is obscure. The ord. fünfte is, like all ordinals, a derivative of an old form; Goth. fimfta, OHG. fimfto, funfto, MidHG. vünfte; Du. vijfde, AS. fîfta, E. fifth. Comp. Lat. quintus for *pinctus, Gr. πέμπτος, Sans. pañcathas, Lith. pènktas.
Funke, m., from the equiv. MidHG. (not a classical form) vunke, m., OHG. funcho, m., ‘spark’; comp. Du. vonk, ‘spark,’ MidLG. and MidE. funke, ‘small fire, spark,’ E. funk, ‘round wood, steam, stink.’ Classical MidHG. has vanke, m. It is uncertain whether Goth. fôn (gen. fŭnins), ‘fire,’ is allied; it is more probable that Sans. pâjas, ‘splendour, gleam of light,’ is primit. cognate.
für, prep., ‘for, in behalf of,’ from MidHG. vür, OHG. furi, ‘before, for’; comp. OSax. furi, ‘before’; a Ger. prep. simply, allied to those discussed under vor. —
fürbaß, adv., ‘forward, further,’ from MidHG. vürbaȥ. adv., from für and baß.
Furche, f., from the equiv. MidHG. vurch (plur. vürhe), OHG. furuh, f., ‘furrow’; comp. Du. voor, AS. furk, f., E. furrow (akin to AS. and E. furlong, ‘the length of a furrow’); OIc. for, f., ‘drain, watercourse.’ Goth. *faúrhus, f., is wanting. It is based upon pre-Teut. pṛk-; comp. Lat. porca, ‘ridge between two furrows,’ and porculetum, ‘field divided into beds’; akin also to Armen. herk, ‘freshly fallow land,’ W. rhych (OGall. *ricâ, OIr. rech), m., f., ‘furrow,’ from the base pṛkâ.
Furcht, f., ‘fear, terror, fright,’ from MidHG. vorhte, vorht, f., ‘fear, anxiety, apprehension,’ OHG. and OSax. forhta, forahta; abstr. of fürchten. In AS. a modified abstr. is found; comp. AS. fyrhto (Goth. faurhtei), hence E. fright, whence to frighten, to fright; E. fear (see Gefahr), is not a cognate.
fürchten, ‘to fear, dread,’ from MidHG. vürhten (pret. vorhte), OHG. furihten, forahtan (pret. forahta), ‘to be afraid’; comp. OSax. forahtjan, AS. ​forhtian; Du. and Scand. are wanting; Goth. faurhtjan, ‘to fear, be afraid,’ with the partic. faúrhts, ‘timid,’ used as an adj. The dental of the vb., which was probably strong orig., is a suffix of the present stem, hence Teut. farh-tjan; the corresponding abstr. OHG. forh-ta is formed like Schande. To the Teut. root forh (Aryan prk?, qerk?), Lat. querquerus, ‘shivering,’ and Gr. καρκαίρω, ‘to tremble,’ have been allied.
fürder, adv., ‘further,’ from MidHG. vürder, OHG. furdir, adv., ‘further in front, further on, away’; apparently an oblique form of the compar. neut., like Goth. faurþis, ‘formerly,’ from fort, Goth. *faurþ; AS. furþor, adv., ‘forward, further, more distantly’ (Goth. *faúrþôs), E. further. See fort.
Furke, f., ‘pitchfork,’ from MidHG. furke, OHG. furcha, f., ‘fork’; comp. Du. vork, AS. and E. fork; from Lat. furca, introduced early in the OHG. period along with Southern horticulture.
Fürst, m., ‘‘sovereign, chief, prince,’ from MidHG. vürste, m., ‘the highest, most distinguished, ruler, prince,’ OHG. furisto, OSax. furisto, Du. vorst, ‘prince’; like Herr, simply a Ger. form. Just as Herr is orig. a compar. of hehr, so is Fürst prop. a superlat. meaning ‘first’; comp. OHG. furist, AS. fyrst, E. first, OIc. fyrstr; Goth. *faúrista is wanting; the corresponding compar. is OHG. furiro, ‘the former, preferable,’ OIc. fyrre, ‘former.’ The usual OSax. and AS. word for ‘first’ is formo, forma, with the suffix ma (Goth. fruma); from Aryan pṛ like Gr. πρόμος, Sans. pûrva-s, OSlov. prŭvŭ, Lith. pírmas, ‘first.’ It is evident that also vor, für, fort, &c., are derivatives of this Aryan root pṛ.
Furt, f. (UpG. masc. also), ‘ford,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. vurt, m.; comp. OSax. *ford in Heriford (lit. ‘lord's ford’), Hereford; MidDu. vord, AS. ford, m., E. ford; comp. AS. Oxenaford (lit. ‘oxen's ford’), ‘Oxford’ (also Schweinfurt, Erfurt). Goth. *faúrdus, ‘ford,’ is wanting. It belongs to the Teut. root far, ‘to go, march,’ and hence signifies lit. ‘a frequented, passable spot’; comp. Gr. πόρος, ‘ford,’ which has a cognate root, and βόσπορος with Oxford; also Zend peretu, ‘bridge’ (Euphrates, lit. ‘having many bridges’?); so too Lat. portus, ‘port’; OIc. fjǫrðr, m, ‘bay.’ Lat. -ritum (for *pritum) in Augustoritum, from Kelt., is also allied to this word.
fuschen, vb., ‘to perform hastily, cheat,’ ModHG. only, of obscure origin.
Fusel, m. ‘bad brandy,’ probably from chemical technology (Lat. fusilis, ‘liquid’?).
Fuß, m., ‘foot, base, pedestal, footing,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vuoȥ, OHG. fuoȥ, m., ‘foot’; a common Teut. and more remotely a common Aryan term for ‘foot’; comp. Goth. fôtus, OIc. fótr, AS. fôt, E. foot, Du. voet, OSax. fôt. The Teut. fôt- (weak subst.), from Aryan pôd-, which interchanged with Aryan pŏd- and pĕd in declension. Comp. Gr. ποδ- in πόδα, nom. sing. πούς (Æol. πώς); Lat. pĕd-em, nom. sing. pes; πέδιλον, ‘sandal,’ πεζός (for πεδjός), ‘on foot’; o gradation in Lat. tripudium; OInd. nom. sing. pâd (locat. padí), ‘foot,’ padá, neu., ‘tread, footstep.’ The e gradation is preserved in Teut. by OIc. fet, n., ‘step,’ but as a measure ‘foot’ (Lith. pėdà, ‘mark of the foot’); akin to OIc. feta, ‘to find the way,’ OHG. fëȥȥan, ‘to go.’ Respecting OIc. fjǫturr see Fessel; OIc. fit, f., ‘the skin of birds between the claws.’ MidE. fetlak, E. fetlock; thus too MidHG. viȥȥeloch, ‘hough,’ earlier ModHG. Fitzloch; they are derivatives (not compounds) of *fet-, ‘foot.’ —
Fußstapfe, f., ‘footstep, trace,’ from stapfen; often divided wrongly into Fuß-tapfe, which would originate in a verb tapfen for stapfen.
Futter, n., from the equiv. MidHG. vuoter, OHG. fuotar, n., ‘nourishment, food, fodder, lining, case’; comp. Du. voeder, n. ‘fodder, lining’; AS. fôdor, n. E. fodder; OIc. fóðr, n., ‘fodder’; Goth. fôdr, n., ‘scabbard.’ Two really different words seem to have converged phonetically in this term. Goth. *fôdr, ‘nourishment,’ seems to be connected with AS. fôda, ‘nourishment,’ E. food, Goth. fôdjan, AS. fêdan, E. to feed, and consequently with a Teut. root fôd, fad (comp. OHG. fatunga, ‘nourishment, food’), from Aryan pā̆t, which also appears in Gr. πατέομαι, ‘to eat’; likewise akin to AS. fôstor, ‘maintenance,’ E. to foster, foster-brother, &c. The second, Futter, ‘case,’ Goth. fôdr, ‘sheath,’ has been thought to be allied to Sans. pãtra-m, n., ‘vessel, receptacle.’ The Teut. cognates in both senses found their way into Rom.; comp. Prov. and OFr. fuerre (ModFr. feurre), ‘sheath,’ formed from Goth. fôdr, OHG. fuotar, ‘sheath,’ ModFr. feurre, ‘straw for feeding cattle,’ ModFr. fourreau, ‘case, sheath,’ &c.
Futteral, n., ‘case, lining, sheath,’ ModHG. only, from MidLat. fotrale, a derivative of OHG. fôtar, MidHG. vuoter; comp. Futter.
füttern, vb., equiv. to MidHG. vüetern, vuotern, ‘to feed, nourish,’ OHG. fuotiren (Goth. *fôdrjan); a derivative of Futter, ‘nourishment.’