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

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H.
Haar (1.), m., ‘flax,’ from the equiv. MidHG. har, OHG. haro (gen. MidHG. and OHG. harwes), m.; Goth. *harwa- (gen. *harwis) is also implied by OIc. hǫrr (dat. hǫrve), m., ‘flax.’ As to its connection with Haar (2.) see the latter. Perhaps the word is most closely related to E. hards (‘refuse of flax, tow’). See Hede.
Haar (2.), n., ‘hair,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. hâr, n.; comp. the corresponding OIc. hâr, n., AS. hœ̂r, n., E. hair, Du. haar; a common Teut. word (in Goth., however, tagl and skuft). The following Teut. words are also primit. allied — OIc. haddr and AS. heord, ‘hair’ (Goth. *hazda), as well as Ir. cass, ‘curled hair.’ In the non-Teut. languages comp. OSlov. kosmŭ, m., kosa (Lith. kasa), f., ‘hair,’ and probably also OSlov. čésati, ‘to comb,’ Lat. carere, ‘to card wool.’ The more definite relations in sound existing between these words are difficult to determine (comp. also Gr. κόμη, Lat. coma?). On the other hand, there is no phonetic difficulty in connecting the Teut. *hera-, ‘hair,’ with harwa-, deduced under Haar (1.); the mere possibility is, however, all that can be maintained. Comp. also Locke and kraus. — An old derivative of Haar, AS. hœ̂re, OHG. hârâ, hârrâ, f., ‘hair shirt, coarse garment,’ found its way into Romance (Fr. haire).
Habe, f., ‘possession; handle,’ from MidHG. habe, OHG. haba, f., ‘goods, possession’; Du. have, ‘possession’; allied to the following word.
haben, vb., ‘to have, possess,’ from the equiv. MidHG. haben, OHG. habên; corresponding to OSax. hebbian, Du. hebben, AS. habban, E. to have, OIc. hafa, Goth. haban; a common Teut. vb. with the stem habai-. Its identity with Lat. habere can scarcely be doubted. It is true that Lat. h initially requires, according to the laws of substitution, a Teut. g, and Teut. h a Lat. c (comp. Gast, Gerste, Geist, and Hals, Haut, and heben). Probably Lat. habê- and Teut. habai- are based upon an Aryan prim. form khabhêj; the correspondence between Teut. h and Lat. h is only possible on the assumption of an Aryan kh. On this supposition haben and heben in their etymology are primit. allied, just as Lat. habere and capere.
Haber (UpG.), m., ‘oats, from the equiv. MidHG. haber, habere, m., OHG. habaro, m. The form Hafer first occurs in ModHG.; like Roggen, it is derived from LG.; OLG. haƀoro, havoro (now hawer), Du. haver. Also allied to OSwed. hafre, hagre, and farther to Finn. kakra, borrowed from Teut. In E. the word is wanting, but is found a few times in MidE., which, like Northern E. (haver), borrowed it from Scand. The E. term is oats, from AS. âta (yet Scotch haver occurs even in the MidE. period). In investigating the origin of the G. cognates, the g in OSwed. hagre (Finn. kakra) must be taken into account. The usual derivation from OIc. hafr, AS. hœfer, m., ‘he-goat’ (Lat. caper, Gr. κάπρος, comp. Habergeiß), is therefore impossible, especially since this word belongs to the dialects in which Hafer is wanting; Hafer too must have been the favourite food of the goat ere it could be thus named. Perhaps Gr. κάχρυς, ‘parched barley’ (Aryan base khaghru-), or Lat. avena, ‘oats’ (Aryan base khaghwes), are primit. allied.
Habergeiß, f., ‘common snipe,’ not found in the earlier periods; Haber- in this compound is the only remnant of the old name for a goat (AS. hœfer, OIc. hafr; Gr. κάπρος, Lat. caper) in G.; the bird is so called because at the pairing season it utters high in the air a sound like the distant bleating of a goat. See Bock and Haber.
Habicht, m. (with a dental suffix as in Hüste and Mond, &c.), ‘hawk,’ from the equiv. MidHG. habich, habech (also hebech, modified), m., OHG. habuh, m.; a common Teut. term by chance not recorded in Goth.; comp. OSax. *haƀoc (in the proper names Haƀuchorst, Haƀocasbrôc), Du. havik, AS. heafoc, E. hawk, OIc. haukr (for *hǫƀukr). The Goth. form would be *habaks, with a suffix aks-, as in ahaks, ‘pigeon’ (comp. also Kranich, Lerche); comp. the consonantal suffix in Gr. ὀρτυγ-, ‘quail.’ Against the derivation from the stem hab, haf, in heben, orig., ‘to take firm hold of, lay hold of’ there is nothing to object from the Teut. point of view; Italic capus, ‘hawk,’ is certainly derived from the root kap (capio). The Kelt. cognates, W. hebauc, OIr. sebocc, ‘falcon,’ are undoubtedly borrowed from Teut. Comp. also Falke.
Hach, m., ‘fellow,’ from MidHG. hache, ​m., ‘fellow, churl’; allied to MidHG. hę̂chel, f., ‘artful woman, match-maker.’ The derivation is not clear, since cognate terms in OTeut. are wanting.
Hächse, see Hechse.
Hacke, f., ‘heel,’ prop. a MidG. and LG. word (in UpG. Ferse); comp. Du. hak; not recorded in MidHG., but it occurs once in the transition period from OHG. to MidHG. (hachun, ‘heels’); usually derived from hacken. On account of its meaning, it is more probably related to Du. hiel, AS. hôh, ‘heel,’ hêla, f. (for *hôhila), E. heel, and the equiv. Scand. hœ̂ll, m.
hacken, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. hacken, ‘to hack, hew’; OHG. *hacchôn is by chance not recorded; comp. AS. haccian (hœccean), E. to hack, OFris. tohakia, ‘to hack to pieces.’ Not found in Goth.; may we assume *hawôn, a derivative from the stem haw in hauen? The medial guttural may have been simply an insertion before w, as in queck and keck. — Hacke, f. (thus even in MidHG.), Häckerling (ModHG. only), and Hächsel are derivatives.
Hader (1.), m., ‘contention, strife, brawl,’ from MidHG. hader, m., ‘quarrel, strife’; unrecorded in OHG. For this word OTeut. has most frequently a deriv. in u- (w-), signifying ‘battle,’ which appears in West Teut. only as the first part of compounds; AS. heaþo-, OHG. hadu- (Goth. *haþu-). In Scand. Hǫð is the name of a Valkyre, and Hǫðr that of a mythological king and the brother of Balder; the names are probably based upon Haþu-z, an OTeut. war-god. With these Κότυς, the name of a Thracian goddess, has been compared. The following, however, are certainly allied: — OSlov. kotora, f., ‘battle,’ Ir. cath, m., ‘battle’ (with which Kelt. Catu-rîges, proper noun, lit. ‘war-kings,’ is connected), Ind. çátru-s, ‘enemy’; perhaps too Gr. κότος, κοτέω; a deriv. in r, like Hader, is preserved in OSlov. kotora, ‘battle’; see also Haß. In G. the old form haþu became obsolete at an early period, being supplanted by Kampf and Krieg, but it was retained in OHG. as the first component in some compound proper names, such as Hadubrant; ModHG. Hedwig is OHG. Haduwîg, ‘battle strife.’ Similarly appears OHG. hilta, f., ‘battle,’ in MidHG. only in proper names, such as Hildebrandt, Brünhilt, &c. It would be very interesting to find out why the OTeut. words gave place to the later forms.
Hader (2.), m., ‘rag, tatter, clout,’ from MidHG. hader, m., ‘patch, torn piece of stuff,’ OHG. hadara, f., ‘patch, rag’; also with a suffix l, MidHG. hadel, from which Fr. haillon is borrowed. The word does not seem to have been diffused in the Teut. group. It is not allied to Hader (1.); the two words are based on different stems. Hader, ‘patch’ (from Teut. haþrô, Aryan kátrâ), is either connected with the nasalised stem kant- in Lat. cento, Gr. κέντρων, ‘garment made of rags,’ Sans. kanthâ, f., ‘patchwork garment,’ or with Sans. çithirá, ‘loose, unbound.’
Hafen (1.), m., ‘pot,’ from MidHG. haven, m., OHG. havan, m., ‘pot’; a specifically UpG. word unknown to the other dialects. It belongs to the root haf (pre-Teut. kap), lit. ‘to comprehend, hold,’ which appears in HG. heben, and not to haben, root hab (pre-Teut. khabh).
Hafen (2.), m., ‘port, haven, harbour,’ a LG. word, unknown to UpG.; it was first borrowed in ModHG.; in MidHG. hap, n., habe, habene, f., formed from the same root. Du. haven, f., late AS. hœfene, f., E. haven, and OIc. hǫfn, f., ‘harbour,’ correspond in sound to MidHG. habene, f. LG. haven, Dan. havn, Swed. hamn, are masc. — Phonetically the derivation from the root hab (khabh), ‘to have,’ or from haf, hab (kap), ‘to seize, hold, contain,’ is quite possible; in both cases the prim. sense would be ‘receptacle’; comp. Hafen (1.). This is the usual explanation; for another etymology see under Haff. Perhaps, however, OIc. hǫfn is primit. allied to the equiv. OIr. cúan (from *copno?).
Hafer, see Haber.
Haff, n., ‘inland sea, gulf,’ a LG. word, orig. ‘sea’ (generally), which is also the meaning of AS. hœf (plur. heafu), n., Scand. haf, n., MidLG. haf; the UpG. words, MidHG. hap, habes, n., and habe, f., which correspond in sound, also signify ‘sea,’ as well as ‘port’ (see Hafen). As we need not assume an orig. difference between the words for ‘harbour’ and ‘sea,’ and since in any case the meaning ‘harbour’ is derived from the signification ‘sea’ — the converse would be hardly possible — the usual assumption mentioned under Hafen (2.), that Hafen is lit. ‘receptacle,’ is quite problematical. Hence Hafen may probably be explained by some such word as ‘marina,’ in the sense of ‘statio marina.’ The connection of AS. hœf, ‘sea,’ as ‘heaving,’ in ​the sense of Lat. altum (‘high sea’), with heben (root haf, pre-Teut. kap), is not impossible, though scarcely probable.
Haft (1.), m., ‘hold, clasp, brace, rivet,’ from MidHG. and OHG. haft. m., ‘bond, fetter,’ OHG. also n., AS. hœft, m., OIc. haft, n., ‘setter.’ Connected with the root haf in heben, lit. ‘to seize.’
Haft (2.), f., ‘keeping, custody, prison,’ from MidHG. and OHG. haft (i stem) and hafta, f., OSax. hafta, f., ‘imprisonment.’ To this are allied OHG. and OSax. haft, AS. hœft, adj., ‘captured,’ OIc. haptr, m., ‘prisoner,’ hapta, f., ‘captured woman.’ The root haf (comp. heben) has preserved in these forms its old signification; comp. Lat. captus, captîvus. See the following word.
haft, adj. suffix, as in schmerzhaft, lebhaft, &c.; prop. an independent adj., ‘combined with,’ which was used as a suffix even in MidHG. and OHG.; in Goth. audahafts, ‘overwhelmed with happiness, supremely happy.’ This suffix is usually identified with the adj. hafta-, Lat. captus, discussed under Haft (2.). It might also be derived from the root hab, ‘to have,’ Lat. habere; the meaning supports the latter supposition.
Hag, m., ‘hedge, fence, enclosure,’ from MidHG. hac, hages, m., n., ‘thorn bushes, copse, fence, enclosed wood, park,’ OHG. hag, m., once as ‘urbs’ (comp. HG. Hagen, and names of places ending in -hag); Du. haag, f., ‘enclosure, hedge,’ AS. haga, m., E. haw, ‘enclosure, small garden’; OIc. hage, m., ‘pasture.’ Only in Goth. is a cognate word wanting; comp. Hain, Here, Hagen, and Hecke. The derivation is uncertain; it is at all events not connected with hauen, root haw; the meaning of ModHG. behagen is unsuitable.
Hagedorn, ‘hawthorn,’ an OTeut. term, MidHG. hagedorn, AS. hœgþorn, hagaþorn, E. hawthorn, OIc. hagþorn, m. Comp. Hagestolz.
Hagel, m., from the equiv. MidHG. hagel, OHG. hagal, m., ‘hail’; comp. Du. hagel, m., AS. hagol, hœgel, m., E. hail; OIc. hagl, n.; the common Teut. word for ‘hail,’ by chance not recorded in Goth. only. A single pebble was called a ‘stone.’ OIc. haglsteinn, AS. hœgelstân, E. hailstone, MidHG. and earlier ModHG. Hagelstein. Comp. ModHG. kieseln, ‘to hail,’ Kieselstein, ‘hailstone.’ Perhaps Hagel itself signified orig. nothing but a ‘pebble’; at least there are no phonetic difficulties against the derivation from pre-Teut. kaghlo-, ‘flint-stone’ (comp. Gr. κάχληξ, ‘small stone, pebble’).
Hagen, m., ‘grave,’ from MidHG. hagen, OHG. hagan, m., ‘thorn-bush, fence of thorns’; even in MidHG. a contracted variant hain, Hain, occurs, See the latter and Hag.
hagen, behagen, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. hagen, behagen, ‘to please, gratify,’ OHG. *bihagôn: comp. OSax. bihagôn, AS. onhagian, ‘to please, suit.’ The stem hag, ‘to suit,’ is widely diffused in OTeut., and its str. partic. is preserved in OHG. and MidHG. (gihagan and behagen, ‘suitable’). Allied to Scand. hagr, adj., ‘skilful,’ hagr, m., ‘state, situation, advantage,’ hœgr, ‘suitable.’ The root hag, from pre-Teut. kak, corresponds to the Sans. root çak, ‘to be capable, able, conducive,’ whence çakrá, ‘strong, helpful.’
hager, adj. (in UpG. rahn), ‘haggard, lean,’ from MidHG. hager, adj.; comp. E. haggard (MidE. hagger), which is usually connected with E. hag.
Hagestolz, m., ‘old bachelor,’ from MidHG. hagestolz, m., a strange corruption of the earlier hagestalt, OHG. hagastalt, m., prop. ‘possessor of an enclosure’ (allied to Goth. staldan, ‘to possess’); a West Teut. legal term, which originated before the Anglo-Saxons crossed to England (comp. also OIc. haukstaldr). It was used in contrast to the owner of the manor-house, which was inherited by the eldest son, in accordance with the OTeut. custom of primogeniture, and signified the owner of a small enclosed plot of ground, such as fell to the other sons, who could not set up a house of their own, and were often entirely dependent on their eldest brother. Even in OHG. glosses, hagustalt as an adj. is used for Lat. caelebs (hagustalt lîp, ‘single life’), and even for mercenarius, ‘hired labourer’; MidHG. hagestalt, m., ‘single man’; OSax. hagustald, m., ‘farm-servant, servant, young man’; AS. hœgsteald, hagosteald, m., ‘youth, warrior.’ The same phases in the development of meaning may be seen in the Rom.-Lat. baccalaureus, Fr. bachelier, E. bachelor.
Häher, m., ‘jay, jackdaw,’ from MidHG. hëher, m. and f., OHG. hëhara, f.; in AS., by a grammatical change, higora, m., OIc. here and hegre, m., ‘jay,’ MidLG. heger. It is rightly compared with Gr. κίσσα (from *κίκjα), ‘jay,’ or Sans. çakuná, ‘a large bird’ (Lat. ciconia, ‘stork’).
​ Hahn, m., ‘cock,’ from MidHG. han, OHG. hano, m.; comp. AS. hana (as well as cocc, E. cock), OIc. hane, Goth. hana, m.; a common Teut. word for ‘cock,’ with the stem hanan-, hanin-, which is common to the OTeut. dialects. A corresponding fem. Henne is merely West Teut.; OHG. hęnna, MidHG. and ModHG. hęnne, f., AS. hęnn. On the other hand, Huhn seems to be really of common gender; it may at least be applied in OHG. to ‘cock’ also; comp. Otfried’s êr thaȥ huan singe, ‘before the cock crows,’ lit. ‘sings.’ In this passage we have a confirmation of the fact that the crowing of the cock was regarded as its song. The term Hahn by general acceptation signifies ‘singer.’ With this word, according to the laws of substitution, the stem of Lat. canere, ‘to sing’ (comp. Lith. gaidýs, ‘cock,’ lit. ‘singer,’ allied to gêdoti, ‘to sing’). A fem., ‘songstress,’ of Huhn is hardly conceivable; thus it follows that Henne is merely a recent West Teut. form. The common gender Huhn, however, can hardly be connected with the root kan, ‘to sing,’ since it is, at least, a primit. form. The method of its formation, as the name of the agent, has no analogies.
Hahnrei, m., ‘cuckold,’ ModHG. only; of obscure origin; in earlier G. it signifies ‘capon.’ Its figurative sense, ‘cuckold,’ derived from ‘capon,’ agrees with the expression Hörner tragen, lit. ‘to wear horns.’ Formerly the spur was frequently cut of and placed as a horn in the comb; the hoodwinked husband is thus compared to a capon. On account of the earlier variant Hahnreh, we may regard Hahnrei as a compound of Reh.
Hai, m., simply ModHG., from the equiv. Du. haai, f., ‘shark,’ Swed. haj, Ic. há-r.
Hain, m., ‘grove,’ made current by Klopstock as a poetical term. The form of the word, as is shown under Hagen (1), may be traced back to MidHG., in which, however, Hain is but a rare variant of Hagen; it signified orig. ‘thorn-bush, thorn, fence, abatis, enclosed place.’ Thus the word does not imply the idea of sacredness which Klopstock blended with it.
Hake, Hahen, m., ‘hook, clasp,’ from MidHG. hâke, hâken, m., OHG. hâko, hâcko, m., ‘hook.’ The HG. k can neither be Goth. k nor Goth. g; the former would be changed into ch, the latter would remain unchanged. The variants OHG. hâgo, hâggo, MidHG. hâgge, point to Goth. *hêgga, n., ‘hook’ (comp. Raupe, Schuppe). Curiously, however, the corresponding words of the cognate dialects have k and are graded: AS. hôc, m., ‘hook,’ E. hook, MidDu. hoek, ‘hook’; comp. also Du. haak, AS. hăca, OIc. hăke, m., ‘hook.’ The relations of the gutturals (especially of the gg) are still obscure; comp. also Kluppe, Schuppe, Kautz, Schnauze. A typical form is wanting. It it is impossible to connect the word hangen, Goth. hâhan (for hanhan); it ia more probably related to Hechel and Hecht.
halb, adj., ‘half,’ from MidHG. halp, OHG. halb (gen. halbes). adj.; comp. OSax. and LG. half, Du. half, AS. healf, E. half, OIc. hálfr, Goth. halbs, adj.; the common Teut. adj. for HG. halb; there are no undoubted cognates in the non-Teut. languages (Teut. halba-, from pre-Teut. kalbho-). The fem. of the adj. is used in OTeut. as a subst. in the sense of ‘side, direction’; Goth. halba, OIc. halfa, OHG. halba, MidHG. halbe, OSax. halƀa; hence it might seem as if the adj. had orig. some such meaning as ‘lateral, that which lies on one side.’ But in any case the adj. in the sense of ‘half’ was purely a numeral in primit. Teut.; the ModHG. method of reckoning anderthalb (11/2), drittehalb (21/2), viertehalb (31/2), is common to Teut.; comp. OIc. halfr annarr (11/2), halfr þriþe (21/2), halfr fjorþe (31/2); AS. ôþer healf, þridde healf, feorþe healf; even in MidE. this enumeration exists (it is wanting in E.); in HG. it has been retained from the earliest period.
halb, halben, prep., ‘on account of,’ from MidHG. halp, halbe, halben, ‘on account of, by reason of, from, concerning’; prop. a case of the MidHG. subst. halbe, f., ‘side,’ mentioned under halb (adj.), hence construed with the gen.; MidHG. mîn-halp, dîn-halp, der herren halbe, sëhens halben, ‘on my, thy account, on the gentlemen's account, for the sake of seeing.’ Similarly the ModHG. halber, ‘on account of,’ recorded in the 15th cent., is a petrified form of the inflected adj.; so too halben, dat. plur., halbe, halp, from OHG. halb, probably an instr. sing. (since Notker halb has been used as a prep.). This usage is also found in the other Teut. languages; comp. OIc. af-halfu, MidE. on-, bi-halfe; Goth. in þizai halbai, ‘in this respect.’
Halde, f., ‘precipice, declivity, slope,’ from MidHG. halde, OHG. halda, f., ‘mountain declivity.’ OIc. hallr, ‘hill, slope,’ ​caorresponds both to the HG. word and to Goth. hallus, AS. heall, which are translations of ‘petra’; see Holm. These may be further related to HG. Halde, which, however, is more closely connected with Goth. *halþs, ‘inclined’; comp. AS. heald, OIc. hallr, OHG. hald, adj., ‘overhanging, inclined’; yet the dental in these words may be a suffix. If Goth. hallus, ‘rock,’ were allied, OIc. hváll, hóll (Goth. *hwêlus), m., ‘hill,’ might be compared, as well as AS. hyll, E. hill. For an Aryan root kel, ‘to rise,’ comp. Lat. celsus, collis, and Lith. kalnas, ‘hill.’
Hälfte, f., ‘half’ ModHG. simply, abstract of halb. Introduced by Luther into the literary language from MidG. and LG. (a strictly HG. word would end in b instead of f; comp. OSax. half, under halb); the Teut. type is probably halƀiþa?. In UpG. Halbteil (16th cent.) is used.
Halfter, f., from the equiv. MidHG. halfter, OHG. halftra, f., ‘halter’; comp. Du. halster, AS. hœlstre, E. halter; a West Teut. word most closely allied with OHG. halp, MidHG. halp, plur. helbe, ‘handle, helve,’ AS. hylf, m., equiv. to E. helve; in earlier ModHG. also Helb, ‘hilt, helve.’ From the same root are formed with a suffix m, OHG. halmo (for *halbmo), in OHG. jioh-halmo, MidHG. giech-halme, ‘rope fastened to the yoke to guide the oxen,’ MidHG. halme, ‘handle, helve, lever of a bell,’ halm-ackes, ‘axe’ (comp. also Hellebarte), likewise MidE. halme, ‘handle’; so too the modified forms OHG. joh-helmo, MidHG. giech-helme; AS. helma, ‘handle’ (equiv. also to E. helm), and Du. helmstock, ‘tiller,’ are not connected with this word; see Helm (2). ‘Handle’ is the orig. sense of the whole group, and even of Halfter. Perhaps Lith. keltuvě, ‘swiple of a flail,’ is allied.
Hall, m., ‘sound’; see hell.
Halle, f., ‘hall, large room, entrance hall, porch,’ unknown to MidHG. The word, which was introduced by Luther into the literary language, was originally entirely unknown to the UpG. dials. (in earlier UpG. Vorschopf was used); it may have originated among the Franc. and Sax. tribes of Germany. It is a thorough OTeut. term; OIc. hǫll, f., AS. heall, f., E. hall, OSax. halla, MidLG. halle, f., ‘hall, a large room covered with a roof and open or closed at the side,’ sometimes ‘temple, house of God.’ Not allied to Goth. hallus, AS. heall, ‘rock,’ AS. and E. hill. From the OG. is derived Fr. halle. Against the derivation from the root hel, ‘to conceal’ (comp. hehlen), there is no weighty objection, Halle, ‘the concealed or covered place.’ Yet comp. also Sans. çâlâ, ‘house.’ —
Halle, f., ‘saltern,’ is the ordinary G. Halle, not, as was formerly supposed, a Kelt. term (W. halen, ‘salt’); Halloren, a late Lat. derivative of Halle, ‘saltern.’ Comp. OHG. halhûs, ‘salt-house,’ MidHG. halgrâve, m., ‘director and judge in matters connected with salt-mines.’
hallen, vb., ‘to sound, resound’; comp. hell.
Halm, m. and n., ‘stalk, stem, straw,’ from MidHG. halm, m., and halme, m., OHG. and OSax. halm, m.; comp. AS. healm, E. halm; the meaning in West Teut. is ‘grass or corn-stalk’; Scand. halmr, ‘straw.’ In sense and sound corresponding to Lat. calamus, Gr. κάλαμος, ‘reed, reed-pen, halm’ (Ind. kalamas, ‘reed-pen’), OSlov. slama, f., ‘halm.’ Perhaps the Lat. word is derived from Gr.; it is also conceivable that Halm, like Hanf, was obtained from a South Russ. tribe by the Aryans who had migrated westwards. Yet it is more probable that Halm and Gr. κάλαμος, like Lat. culmus, ‘stalk,’ are connected with Lat. culmen, ‘peak, summit,’ and farther with excello.
Hals, m., ‘neck,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. hals, m.; corresponding to OSax. and Du. hals, AS. heals (E. to halse, ‘embrace,’ but now antiquated; the modern word is neck), OIc. hals, m., ‘neck,’ Goth. hals (gen. halsis), m.; all point to a common Teut. mas., halsa-. Primit. allied to Lat. collum for *colsum, n., ‘neck’ (OLat. also collus, m.); comp. also Gr. κλοιός, ‘collar’ (from *κλοσιός)?. Whether Lat. excello, excelsus, are also primit. allied (Hals, lit. ‘prominent part of the body’) remains uncertain. From Teut. is derived Fr. haubert, OFr. halberc, ‘hauberk,’ from hals-bërg(a). —
halsen, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. halsen, OHG. halsôn, ‘to embrace, fall on one's neck’; comp. Du. omhelzen, ÁAS. healsian, ‘to implore,’ MidE. halsien, Scand. hálsa, ‘to embrace.’
halt, adv., ‘moreover, forsooth, methinks,’ prop. a compar. meaning ‘rather,’ MidHG. and OHG. halt, adv., OSax. hald, ‘rather’; orig. a compar. adv. of the posit. adv. halto, ‘very.’ The compar. ending, according to the law of apocope, has ​disappeared, as in baß for the earlier batiz; orig. haldiz formed, like Goth. haldis, OIc. heldr, ‘rather.’ In no case is it related to the OHG. adj. hald, ‘inclined,’ mentioned under Halde; with the exception of the OHG. halto, adv., no other word in the posit. can be found.
halten, vb., ‘to hold, support, detain, observe, perform, consider,’ from the equiv. MidHG. halten, OHG. haltan; comp. OSax. haldan, ‘to preserve, receive, detain as a prisoner, tend (cattle), adhere to, maintain,’ Du. houden (see haudern), AS. healdan, str. vb., ‘to watch over, lead, possess, rule,’ E. to hold; Goth. haldan, redupl. vb., ‘to graze cattle’; a redupl. vb. common to Teut. According to the OHG. variant halthan, haltan points to the normal Goth. form *halþan, which is also supported by OSwed. halla. The orig. sense of OTeut. haldan is perhaps ‘to keep together by careful watching,’ hence ‘to tend a herd, govern a tribe, rule.’ In the non-Teut. languages an Aryan root kalt of cognate meaning is not found. If the dental belonged orig. to the pres. stem merely, the word might also be derived from the root kol, and hence connected with Gr. βου-κόλος. No relation between haldan and Herde is possible. — ModHG. Halt, m., is wanting both in MidHG. and OHG.
Hamen, m., ‘tunnel-net,’ from MidHG. and MidLG. hame; akin probably to the equiv. OSwed. haver, ModSwed. håf, m., OHG. hamo, m., ‘tunnel-net.’ The latter word is considered identical with OHG. *hamo (in lîhhamo, ‘body,’ OSax. gûðhamo, feðarhamo; comp. Leichnam, Hemd, and hämisch), orig. ‘covering, dress.’ From the meaning ‘Tuch,’ in the restricted sense in which it is used by fishermen and huntsmen (i.e. ‘toils’), the signification ‘net’ might of course be developed; but that is not certain. OHG. hamo, MidHG. ham, hame, m., ‘fishing-rod, fishing-hook,’ and the modern dial. Hamen, are not allied to the words mentioned above; they seem to be cognate with Lat. hâmus, ‘fishing-hook, hook’; the h might be explained as in haben.
hämisch, adj., ‘malicious,’ from late MidHG. hęmisch, adj., ‘close, malicious, cunning, perfidious,’ orig. perhaps ‘veiled, obscure’; allied to OHG. *hamo, ‘covering, dress,’ mentioned under Hamen, Hemd, and Leichnam.
Hammel, m., from the equiv. MidHG. and MidLG. hamel, OHG. hamal, m., ‘wether’ (MidHG. also ‘steep, rugged height; cliff, pole’); prop. an adj. used as a subst., OHG. hamal, ‘mutilated,’ which elucidates the MidHG. meanings; OHG. hamalôn, MidHG. hameln (and hamen), ‘to mutilate,’ AS. hamelian, E. to hamble (‘mutilate, lame’); OHG. hamalscorro, m., ‘boulder,’ OHG. hamal-, hamalung-stat, f., ‘place of execution,’ MidHG. hamelstat, n. and m., ‘indented coast,’ hamelstat, f., ‘rugged ground.’ Allied to OHG. ham (inflected hammêr), adj., ‘mutilated, crippled’ (comp. hemmen), just as Fr. mouton to Lat. mutilus.
Hammer, m., ‘hammer, clapper,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hamer (plur. hęmer), OHG. hamar (plur. hamarâ), m.; comp. OSax. hamur, AS. hamor, m., E. hammer, and its equiv. OIc. hamarr, m. (also ‘cliff, rock’); the common Teut. word for ‘hammer,’ by chance not recorded in Goth. only. For the elucidation of its earlier history the subsidiary meanings in Scand. are important; the cognate term kamy in OSlov. signifies ‘stone.’ Hence it has been assumed that Hammer is lit. ‘stone weapon.’ Whether Sans. açman, ‘rock, stone weapon, hammer, anvil,’ &c., and Gr. ἄκμων, ‘anvil’ (Lith. aknmů, ‘stone’), are also allied is uncertain.
Hämmling, Hemmling, m., ‘eunuch,’ ModHG. simply, a deriv. of Hammel.
Hampfel, f., from the equiv. MidHG. hant-vol, ‘a handful.’
Hamster, m., from the equiv. MidHG. hamster, m., ‘German marmot’; OHG. hamastro, m., signifies only ‘curculio, weevil,’ so too OSax. hamstra, f., for *hamastra. The existing meaning is probably the earlier. In form the word stands quite alone; its occurrence in G. only, perhaps supports the view that it was borrowed. A corresponding word has not yet been found in a neighbouring language.
Hand, f., ‘hand,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. hant, f.; comp. OSax. and Du. hand, AS. hand, f., E. hand, OIc. hǫnd, Goth. handus, f.; a common Teut. word for ‘hand,’ unknown to the other divisions of the Aryan group, most of the languages having special terms of their own. It is usually derived from Goth. hinþan, ‘to catch,’ frahunþans, m., ‘prisoner’ (comp. the cognate E. to hunt, AS. huntian), in the sense of ‘the grasping, seizing part,’ and to this there is no objection, as far as the sound and meaning are concerned. ​Yet the fact remains that the old names of parts of the body have no corresponding str. verbal stems; comp. Herz, Ohr, Auge, Finger, Daumen. With regard to the form, it is to be observed that the word, according to Goth. handus, was orig. a u-stem, but is declined even in OHG. like nouns in i, though traces of the u declension remain throughout OHG. and MidHG.; comp. abhanden.
Hand, ‘kind, sort,’ is developed from the medial sense ‘side’; comp. MidHG. ze beiden handen, ‘on both sides,’ aller hande, ‘of every kind,’ vier hande, ‘of four sorts.’
handeln, vb., ‘to manage, act, deal, bargain,’ from MidHG. handeln, OHG. hantalôn, ‘to grasp with the hands, touch, feel, prepare, perform’ (hence O. Lorraine handeleir, ‘to sweep’); a derivative of Hand; Handel, m., has arisen from the vb. handeln merely, just as Ärger from ärgern (see arg), Geiz from geizen, Opfer from opfern — since it does not appear until late MidHG. (handel, m., ‘transaction, procedure, event, negotiation, wares’). AS. handlian, E. to handle, AS. handele, equiv. to E. handle; Scand. hǫndla, ‘to treat.’
Handwerk, n., ‘handicraft, trade, guild,’ from MidHG. hantwerc, n., ‘manual labour,’ but in the MidHG. period confused with antwerc, n., ‘tool, machine,’ whence the meaning ‘any vocation requiring the use of tools’ was developed.
Hanf, m., ‘hemp,’ from MidHG. hanf, hanef, m., OHG. hanaf, hanof, m.; a common Teut. word for ‘hemp’ (Goth. *hanaps is by chance not recorded); comp. AS. hœnep, E. hemp, OIc. hampr. The usual assumption that the word was borrowed from the South Europ. Gr. κάνναβις (Lat. cannabis) is untenable. The Teutons were not influenced by Southern civilisation until the last century or so before our era; no word borrowed from Gr.-Lat. has been fully subject to the OTeut. substitution of consonants (see Finne (1), Pfad, and the earliest loan-words under Kaiser). But the substitution of consonants in Goth. *hanaps compared with Gr. κἀνναβις proves that the word was naturalised among the Teutons even before 100 B.C. “The Greeks first became acquainted with hemp in the time of Herodotus; it was cultivated by the Scythians, and was probably obtained from Bactria and Sogdiana, the regions of the Caspian and the Aral, where it is said to grow luxuriantly even at the present time.” Thus we can all the more readily reject the assumption of South Europ. influence; comp. Leinen. Why should not the Teutons in their migration from Asia to Europe have become acquainted with the culture of hemp when passing through the south of Russia, where the plant grows wild, and indeed among the very people who directly or indirectly supplied the Greeks with the word κἀνναβις? (comp. also Erbse). κἀνναβις itself is a borrowed term, and Goth. *hanaps corresponds in sound quite as well with OSlov. konoplja, Lith. kanápes, ‘hemp.’ The word is found even among the Persians (kanab). It does not seem to be genuinely Aryan.
Hang, m., ‘declivity, propensity, bias,’ from MidHG. hanc (-ges), m., ‘declivity, banging.’ See hangen.
hangen, vb., ‘to hang, be suspended,’ from MidHG. hâhen (hienc, gehangen), OHG. hâhan (hiang, gihangan), str. vb.; comp. fangen, from OHG. fâhan: before h an n is suppressed (comp. OHG. dâhta from denchan, dachte from denken; brachte, OHG. brâhta, from bringen). Corresponding to Du. hangen, AS. hôn (hêng, hangen), E. to hang, Goth. hâhan for *hanhan, str. vb., ‘to hang.’ In ModHG., E., and Du., the old str. vb. has been confused with the corresponding wk. vb., so that the trans. and intrans. meanings have been combined; comp. Du. hangen, E. to hang, ‘to suspend and to be suspended’; in MidHG. hâhen, is trans. and intrans., while hangen (OHG. hangên, AS. hangian) is intrans. only, ‘to be suspended’; to this is allied OHG. and MidHG. hęngen, ‘to hang down (one's head), give a horse its head, permit, grant,’ comp. henken. The ModHG. vb. is due to a blending in sound of MidHG. hâhen (hangen) and hęngen, yet in meaning it represents only MidHG. hâhen, OHG. hâhan. Terms undoubtedly allied to the common Teut. root hanh (hâh) are wanting in the other Aryan languages; Goth. hâhan, ‘to leave in doubt,’ has been compared with Lat. cunctari, ‘to delay.’
Hanse, f., ‘Hanse,’ from MidHG. hans, hanse, f., ‘mercantile association with certain defined powers as knights, merchant's guild’; orig. an UpG. word (prob. signifying any corporation, association? OHG. and Goth. hansa, f., AS. hôs, ‘troop’), yet it soon became current in all G. dialects, and has been preserved in its application to the towns of the great North G. ​Hanseatic League, while the orig. sense ‘troop’ became obsolete even in MidHG. The nominal vb. hänseln is simply ModHG. ‘to admit any one into a corporation’ (not into the Hanse only).
hänseln, vb., ModHG. only, different from the earlier homonymous word mentioned under Hanse; lit. ‘to make a Hans, i.e. a fool, of anybody’ (comp. the abusive terms Hansdumm, Hansnarr, Hanswurst).
hantieren, vb., from the equiv. late MidHG. hantieren, ‘to trade, sell’; not a derivative of Hand, meaning ‘to handle,’ because in that case we should expect nd for nt in MidHG. and ModHG., but from Fr. hanter, ‘to haunt, frequent,’ which found its way from MidDu. into the ModTeut. dialects. It is curious to observe in how many ways obscure words have been corrupted in G. Comp. the earlier spelling handthieren.
hapern, vb., ‘to stick, hitch,’ formed from Du. (MidDu.) haperen, ‘to miss, stutter’; yet also Suab. hăperen (as well as Swiss hâpen, ‘to crawl’?). The corresponding terms, origin, and history of the diffusion of the cognates are obscure.
Harfe, f., ‘harp,’ from the equiv. MidHG. harfe, harpfe, OHG. harfa, harpha, f.; comp. AS. hearpe, f., E. harp; a common Teut. word (Venantius Fortunatus calls harpa a barbaric, i.e. Teut. instrument), denoting a string instrument peculiar to the Teutons. Its use was confined in earlier times to the OTeut. chiefs, just as the violin or fiddle was to the common folk.
Häring, Hering, m., ‘herring,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hœ̂rinc (-ges), m., OHG. hâring, m.; comp. Du. haring, AS. hœ̂ring, m., E. herring; a specifically West Teut. word (in OIc. sild), whose â (œ̂) is also attested by Fris. dials. and by the ModHG. pronunciation with œ̂. The OHG., MidHG., and MidDu. variant hęring points to a connection with OHG. hęri, ‘army,’ and thus regards the fish as ‘one that comes in shoals,’ as Heerling, ‘small army.’ Whether the older form hâring (Anglo-Fris. hœ̂ring) is related to these cognates is uncertain. The Teut. word found its way into Rom. (Fr. hareng).
Harke, f., ‘rake,’ a LG. word, in UpG. Rechen; comp. Du. hark, AS. *hearge, EL. harrow, OIc. herfe, n., ‘harrow,’ Dan. harv, Swed. hœrf. Considering the almost certain identity of the words, their phonetic relations present some difficulties. The root might perhaps be Sans. kharj, ‘to scratch,’ yet AS. hyrwe (*hearge), E. harrow, OIc. herfe, ‘rake,’ are difficult to reconcile with it.
Harlekin, m., ‘harlequin,’ first naturalised towards the end of the 17th cent. from Ital. arlecchino (applied to the masked clown in Ital. comedy), and Fr. harlequin, arlequin.
Harm, m., ‘harm, distress, sorrow,’ very rarely occurs in MidHG. and earlier ModHG., probably formed from E. harm and revived in the last cent. through the influence of E. literature (comp. Halle, Heim); MidHG. (entirely disused) harm, m., ‘injury, pain’; OHG. haram, OSax. harm, m., ‘affront, cutting words, mortification’; AS. hearm m., ‘insult, harm’; E. harm; OIc. harm, m., ‘grief, care.’ From pre-Teut. *karma, Sans. *çarma?, çîrma?. This is also indicated by OSlov. sramŭ (from *sormŭ), m., ‘shame, disgrace.’ An OG. (OHG. and OSax.) compound, OHG. haramscara, OSax. harmscara, f., ‘outrageous, excruciating punishment,’ was retained as late as MidHG., in which harn-, harm-schar, ‘torment, distress, punishment,’ remained current, when Harm alone had already disappeared. Comp. herb.
Harn, m., ‘urine,’ earlier dial. variant Harm (Luther), from MidHG. harn (Bav. and East Rhen.), harm, m. and n., OHG. haran, m., ‘urine’ (respecting the variant with m see Farn); a specifically UpG. word, probably identical orig. with AS. scearn, OIc. skarn, n., ‘mud’; sk and h (the latter for k without s) would have interchanged in OTeut. Allied to Gr. σκώρ; comp. hocken, drosseln, links, Stier. The derivation of Harn from a root har, ‘to pour out,’ remains dubious.
Harnisch, m., ‘harness, armour,’ from MidHG. harnasch, variants harnas, harnesch, n., ‘harness’; borrowed at the end of the 12th cent. from OFr. harnais, ‘armour, gear,’ which has come to be a common Rom. term (Ital. arnese), but may be traced probably to a Kelt. source (W. haiarnaez, ‘iron utensils’); the connecting link might be MidE. harnez, ‘armour’ (E. harness).
harren, vb., ‘to wait, linger in expectation, delay,’ from MidHG. harren, ‘to wait, sojourn’; a MidG. word, entirely unknown to OHG. as well as the other Teut. dialects, but undoubtedly a genuine Teut. term; of obscure origin (allied, like Gr. ​καρτερεῖν, to hart?; comp. Lat. durare, akin to durus).
harsch, adj., ‘hard, rough,’ ModHG. simply; E. harsh (‘bitter, severe’); unknown to AS., OHG., and OIc. Clearly a derivative of hart; comp. rasch, allied to grade, Goth. *rasqa- to raþa-, ‘quick’ (OHG. rado), OIc. horskr, ‘quick,’ to AS. hrade, OIc. beiskr, ‘bitter,’ to Goth. bait-ra-; hence Goth. hardus, ‘hard,’ perhaps presupposes *harsks, *harsqs. Yet it might also be connected with Ic. hörtl, ‘hardness of the frozen ground’; ModHG. Harsch, ‘snow-crust,’ dial. But hart (‘hard’) alone suffices to elucidate this latter sense, as is shown by OHG. hęrtemânôt, MidHG. hęrtemânot, ‘hard month,’ applied to December and January. See the following word.
hart, adj. ‘hard, stiff, severe, stern, difficult, hard by,’ from MidHG. hęrte, hart, adj. (harte, adv.; comp. fast, adv., allied to fest, schon to schön, &c.), ‘hard, firm, difficult, painful,’ OHG. hęrti, harti, hart, adj. (harto, adv.), ‘hard’; comp. AS. heard, ‘hard, strong, brave,’ E. hard (hardy is probably derived directly from Rom. — Fr. hardi, which, however, is a derivative of G. hart), Goth. hardus, adj., ‘hardy, severe.’ A common Teut. adj. from pre-Teut. kartús; comp. Gr. κρατύς, ‘strong, powerful, potentate,’ καρτερός, κρατερύς, ‘strong, staunch, mighty, violent,’ adv., κάρτα, ‘very strongly’ (OHG. harto, adv., ‘very, extremely’); allied perhaps to Sans. krátu-s, m., ‘force, strength’ (root kar, ‘to do, make’), or however to Lith. kartùs, ‘bitter’ (root kṛt, ‘to cut, split’). Others compare Sans. çárdha-s, ‘bold, strong,’ to the Teut. adj.
Hart, Hard, f. and m., ‘forest,’ from MidHG. hart, m., f., and n., OHG. hart, ‘forest’; comp. also Spessart from spëhtes hart (allied to Specht); Harz for MidHG. Hart; Haardt in the Palatinate.
Harz, n., ‘resin,’ from MidHG. harz, n. and m., ‘resin, bitumen,’ with the variants hars, harse; OHG. harz, and with a suffix harzoh, ‘resin’; Du. hars, f., with an abnormal s, but LG. hart; unknown to E. and Scand. as well as Goth.; of obscure origin, scarcely allied to Gr. κάρδαμον, ‘cress,’ For other OTeut. words with the same meaning see under Bernstein and Ritt (also Theer).
haschen, vb., ‘to snatch,’ a MidG. word made current by Luther, unknown to the modern UpG. dialects as well as to OHG., MidHG., and all other languages. Probably connected with haft, heben, root haf (Lat. capio); Goth. *hafskón, ‘to seize,’ must have become *haskôn in G., just as Goth. haifsts, f., ‘quarrel, fight,’ has become the OHG. adj. heisti, ‘violent’; comp. OHG. forscôn, ‘to demand,’ for *forhskôn, Goth. waúrstw, ‘work, for *waúrhstw. Comp. harsch, Hast, Hauste.
Hase, m., ‘hare,’ from MidHG. hase, OHG. haso, m.; a common Teut. term for ‘hare’; comp. Du. haas, AS. hara (with change of s into r), E. hare, OIc. here, m.; Goth. *hasa (OHG. haso) or *haza (AS. hara), is by chance not recorded. To the pre-Teut. kasa(n), Ind. çaçá (instead of çasá, just as çváçuras for *sváçuras, comp. Schwäher), ‘hare,’ corresponds; the word also occurs in a remarkable manner only once again in OPruss. (as sasins for szasinas). The primit. word kasa-, ‘hare,’ may be connected with AS. hasu, ‘grey.’ From Teut. is derived Fr. hase, f., ‘doe-hare.’ — The term Hasenscharte, ‘hare-lip,’ is not recorded in G. until the 14th cent., but it already exists in AS. as hœrsceard (in E. hare-lip); comp. further the OIc. nickname Skarðe, also OFris. has-skerde, ‘hare-lipped.’
Hasel, f., ‘hazel,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hasel, OHG. hasala, f., hasal, m.; comp. AS. hœsel, E. hazel, OIc. hasl (hence hǫslur, plur., ‘boundary posts’); the common Teut. word for ‘hazel,’ from pre-Teut. kósolo-; hence in Lat., with the normal change of s into r, corulus, ‘hazel’; comp. further OIr. coll, ‘hazel,’ for *cosl.
Haspe, Häspe, f., ‘hasp, clamp, hinge,’ from MidHG. haspe, hespe, f., ‘hinge of a door; windle’ (with the variant hispe, f., ‘clasp’), OHG. haspa, ‘a reel of yarn’; comp. OIc. hespa, f., ‘hank, skein of wool; bolt of a door’; E. hasp, MidE. haspe, ‘bolt, wollen yarn,’ so too AS. hœsp, hœps, heps, f. The double sense ‘door bolt, door look, and hasp,’ seems OTeut.; as a technical term in weaving, this word, like Rocken, found its way into Rom. (Ital. aspo, OFr. hasple); see also Kunkel. Whether the two meanings have been developed from one, or whether two distinct words have been combined, is uncertain, since we have no etymological data.
Haspel, m., from the equiv. MidHG. haspel, m., OHG. haspil, m., ‘reel, windle'; a derivative of Haspe.
Hast, f., ‘haste, hurry,’ ModHG. simply; ​a MidG. and LG. word; comp. MidDu. haas, f., MidE. haste, E. haste; borrowed from OFr. haste, hâte (comp. Ital. astivamente), which again correspond to the OTeut. cognates of ModHG. heftig; comp. OHG. heisti, AS. hœ̂ste, ‘violent’ (Goth. haifsts, ‘dispute’).
Haß, m., from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. haȥ, (gen. haȥȥes), m., ‘hatred’; in OHG. the older neut. gender occurs once (comp. Goth. hatis, n., Scand. hatr, n.); AS. hęte (E. hate) and OSax. hęti are also masc.; the common Teut. term for ‘hate,’ pointing to pre-Teut. kodos, kodesos (Lat. *codus, *coderis), n. ModHG. Hader, and Gr. κότος, may also be allied, since an Aryan root kō̆t, kō̆d, is possible. The orig. sense of Haß is indicated by Haß and heßen, as well as the wk. vb. hassen, from MidHG. haȥȥen, OHG. haȥȥęn, haȥȥôn, which in OHG. also means ‘to pursue’ (OSax. hatôn, ‘to waylay’). Haft too seems allied; hence the prim. meaning of Haß is probably ‘hostile, hasty pursuit.’ —
häßlich ‘ugly, loathsome,’ from MidHG. haȥ-, hęȥȥelîch, ‘malignant, hateful, ugly.’
hätscheln, vb., ‘to fondle, pamper,’ recently coined in ModHG.?.
Hatschier, m., ‘imperial horseguard,’ first occurs in early ModHG., borrowed from Ital. arciere (Fr. archer), ‘archer.’
Hatz, ‘baiting, chase’; comp. hetzen.
Haube, f., ‘hood, cap (woman's), crest, tuft,’ from MidHG. hûbe, OHG. hûba, f., ‘covering for the head worn by men (MidHG., especially by soldiers, ‘peaked helmet, steel-cap’) and women’; comp. AS. hûfe, in a special sense ‘mitre’; Scand. húfa, f., ‘cap, hood.’ The cognates are connected by gradation with Haupt (Aryan root kū̆p).
Haubitze, f., ‘howitzer,’ first occurs in early ModHG., introduced during the Hussite Wars from Bohemia (houfnice, ‘stone slinger’), hence the earliest recorded form, Haubnitze.
hauchen, vb., ‘to breathe, respire, exhale,’ from MidHG. (rare) hûchen, ‘to breathe,’ an UpG. word; perhaps recently coined in imitation of the sound. Cognate terms are wanting.
Hauderer, m., ModHG. only, from the equiv. Du. stalhouder, lit. Stallhalter, ‘jobmaster’ (in MidG. Geschirrhalter, also Posthalter); Du. houden is ModHG. halten.
hauen, vb. ‘to hew, chop, carve,’ from MidHG. houwen, OHG. houwan (MidHG. houwen, OHG. houwôn), ‘to hew’; comp. OSax. hauvan, AS. heáwan, E. to hew, OIc. hǫggva; Goth. *haggwan, a redupl. vb., is wanting; Teut. hauw, haw, from pre-Teut. kow; not allied to κόπτω, but to OSlov. kovą, kovati, ‘to forge,’ Lith. káuju (káuti), ‘to strike, forge,’ kovà, ‘combat.’ Comp. Hacke, Heu, Hieb. —
Haue, f., ‘hoe, mattock, pickaxe,’ from MidHG. houwe, OHG. houwa, f., ‘hatchet.’
Haufe, m., ‘heap, pile, mass,’ from MidHG. hûfe, houfe, m., hûf, houf, m., ‘heap, troop,’ OHG. hûfo, houf, m., ‘heap, troop’; comp. OSax. hôp, Du. hoop, AS. heáp, m., E. heap; Scand. hópr, ‘troop,’ is borrowed from LG.; Goth. *haups, *hûpa are wanting; these words, which belong to the same root, are evidently related by gradation (comp. OHG. hûba, ‘hood,’ allied to OHG. houbit, ‘head’). Probably related to OSlov. kupŭ (Goth. *haupa-), m., ‘heap,’ Lith. kaúpas, ‘heap,’ kuprà, ‘hump’ (Lett. kupt, ‘to form into a ball’), although the correspondence of Slav. p to LG. and E. p is not normal; Slav. p is mostly f or b in LG. and Goth. Since Goth. p indicates pre-Teut. b, the word may be connected also with Lat. incubo, ‘the treasure demon who lies on the hoard, nightmare.’ Others compare it to Lith. kugis, ‘heap.’
häufig, adj., copious, abundant,’ ModHG. only, lit. ‘by heaps.’
Haupt, n., ‘head, chief, leader,’ from MidHG. houbet, houpt (also höubet), n., OHG. houbit, n.; the OTeut. word for ‘head,’ supplanted in the 16th cent. by Kopf in all the G. dials. (Kohl-, Krauthaupt, almost the only existing forms, are dialectal), while E. and Scand. have retained the earlier form — AS. heáfod, E. head (for *heafd), n., OIc. haufuþ, later hǫfuþ, n., Swed. hufvud, Dan. hoved, ‘head,’ Goth. haubiþ, n. Since all the Teut. dialects point to an old diphthong au in the stem, of which û in OHG. hûba, ‘hood,’ is the graded form (comp. Haube), the Aryan base must be koupot, and Lat. căput, for which *cauput might have been expected, was probably transformed by the influence of a word corresponding to AS. hafola, ‘head,’ Sans. kapâla, ‘skull,’ an assumption also supported by Lat. capillus, ‘hair (of the head).’ The MidHG. höubet (Luther Heupt), formed by mutation from OHG. houbit, is still preserved in zu Häupten, in which primit. phrase the plur. curiously represents the sing.
​ Haus, n., ‘house, household,’ from MidHG. and OHG. hûs, n., which has the same sound in all OTeut. dials.; ModDu. huis, E. house (to which husband, hussy, and hustings, are allied). Goth. *hus is found only once in gudhûs, ‘temple,’ lit. ‘God's house' (for which Goth. razn is used; comp. Rast), but may be also inferred from the borrowed term, OSlov. chyzŭ, ‘house.’ In the other Teut. dialects it is the prevalent term, corresponding to G. Haus. Probably cognate with Hütte, and like this term allied to a Teut. root hū̆d, ‘to hide’ (AS. hŷdan, E. to hide); hûsa- for hûssa-, hûþta-, lit. ‘that which hides’?. See further under Hütte. Others connect Goth. hûs with Goth. huz-ds, ‘refuge,’ and Lat. custos. In this case too the prim. sense assigned would hold good.
hauß, haußen, adv., ‘out of doors, abroad,’ from MidHG. hûȥe for hie ûȥe, ‘here outside,’ like MidHG. hinne for hie inne.
Hauste, m., from the equiv. MidHG. hûste, m., ‘shock of corn, haycock,’ cannot be traced farther back; evidently for hûfste, akin to hûfe, ‘heap.’ Comp. Lith. kùpstas, ‘tump.’
Haut, f., ‘hide, skin, cuticle,’ from MidHG., and OHG. hût, f., ‘hide’; ModDu. huid, AS. hŷd, f., E. hide, Scand. hûð, f.; the OTeut. word for ‘hide’ (Goth. *hûþs, gen., *hûdais, is by chance not recorded), from pre-Teut. kûtí-s, f.; it is Lat. cŭtis (for the gradation of û to ŭ, see laut and Sohn); comp. Gr. κύτος, n., ‘skin, covering’; the root has a prefix s in Gr. σκῦτος, n., ‘skin, leather,’ Lat. scû-tum, ‘shield,’ σκῦ-λον, ‘skin, arms stripped of a slain enemy.’ Hence the dental in OHG. hût, Lat. cutis, would be a suffix merely; for s-ku as a root meaning ‘to cover, hide,’ see under Scheune, Scheuer. The E. vb. to hide, from AS. hŷdan, may belong to the same root with an abstract dental suffix *hûdi-, ‘covering,’ hûdjan, ‘to envelop.’ Yet traces exist, as may be seen under Hütte, of a root hud from kudh, ‘to veil,’ in the non-Teut. languages.
Hebamme, f., ‘midwife,’ from MidHG. hębamme; the latter form, from hęve-amme, has been modified in sense by connection with heben, its last component representing an earlier anne equiv. in meaning, OHG. usually hevi-anna, f.; anna, f., ‘woman’ is cognate with Lat. ănus, ‘old woman’ (see Ahn), and hence probably stands for anua, anva (comp. Mann, Kinn). Yet OHG. hęvianna may be really nothing more than the pres. partic. of heben, prim. form hafjan(d)jô, ‘she who lifts,’ of which the later forms are modifications. In MidE. midwîf, E. midwife, ModDu. vroedvrouw, from vroed, ‘wise, prudent’ (comp. Span. comadre, Fr. sage-femme); no word common to Teut. can be found. There were probably no regular midwives in the Teut. period.
Hebel, m., ‘lever, yeast,’ first occurs in early ModHG. in the sense of ‘lever’; comp. MidHG. hębel, hęvel, OHG. hęvilo, m., ‘yeast’ (as a means of causing a thing to rise); v, f, as the older form, was supplanted by connecting the word with heben.
heben, vb., ‘to raise, lift, levy, solve (doubts) settle (disputes), remove,’ from MidHG. hęben, hęvea, ‘to rise, raise, list,’ OHG. hęffan, hęvan (prop. hęffu, hęvis, hęvit, hęffamês, inf. hęffan), from habjan, which occurs in Goth. in the sense of ‘to raise, lift up’; root, haf, hab; b properly belonged in the str. vb. to the pret. plur. and partic., but may have found its way into other stems. AS. hębban (sing. hębbe, hęfst, hęfþ, &c.), E. to heave; ModDu. heffen; OIc. hefja. Respecting j as a formative element of the pres. stem in str. vb., see under schaffen, lachen, &c.; it corresponds to Lat. i in vbs. of the 3rd conjug., such as facio. Hence Lat. capio corresponds exactly to Goth. hafjen; Aryan root kap. There are numerous examples in Teut. of the sense ‘to seize,’ which belongs to the Lat. vb.; see under Haft. Since Lat. capio is not allied to habeo, and Lat. habeo is cognate with Teut. haben (capio, root kap, habeo, ‘to have,’ root khabh), haben is entirely unconnected with heben. Yet in certain cases it cannot be doubted that the words related to haben have influenced the meaning of those connected with heben; some words may be indifferently assigned to the one or the other; comp. e.g. Habe with Handhabe. With the root kap, Lat. capio, some also connect Gr. κώπη, ‘handle.’
Hechel, f., ‘flax-comb,’ from MidHG. hęchel, also hachel, f.: comp. Du. hekel; MidE. hechele, E. hatchel and hackle; wanting in OIc.; Swed. häckla, Dan. hegle (Goth. *hakila, *hakula, is assumed). Probably allied to OHG. and MidHG. hęcchen, hecken (hakjan), ‘to pierce’ (espec. of snakes), and further to the cognates of Hafen (E. hook). Goth. hakuls, ‘cloak,’ OHG. hahhul, MidHG. hachel, m., OIc. hǫkull, m., AS. ​hacele, ‘cloak,’ are not allied; they belong rather to a conjectural Goth. *hôka, f., ‘goat’ (AS. hêcen, ‘kid,’ from Goth. *hôkein, n.; see under Geiß), and hence probably mean ‘hairy garment.’ See also Hecht.
Hechse, Hächse, f., from the equiv. MidHG. hęhse, OHG. hahsa, f., ‘hock' (especially of horses); the presumable form in Goth. is *hahsi (gen. *hahsjôs), f. Corresponding in sound to OInd. kakšýâ, f., ‘girth (of a saddle),’ a derivative of kákša-s, m., ‘passage for the girths, armpit'; Lat. coxa, ‘hip,’ whence the adv. coxim, ‘squatting,’ from which a meaning similar to that of the HG. word may be deduced. The signification of the primit. Aryan word fluctuated between ‘armpit, hip, and hock.’ In the Teut. group the following are also allied to Goth. *hahsi, f. — OHG. hahsinôn, MidHG. hęhsenen, ‘subnervare, to hamstring,’ AS. hôxene, MidE. houghsene, Fris. hôxene, ‘hock.’
Hecht, m., ‘pike,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hęchet, hęcht, OHG. hęhhit, hahhit, m.; comp. OSax. hacud, AS. hacod, hœced, m., ‘pike’; a West Teut. word connected with OHG. and MidHG. hęcken, ‘to pierce,’ mentioned under Hechel. On account of its pointed teeth the pike is called the ‘piercer.’ Comp. E. pike, Fr. brochet, ‘pike,’ from broche, ‘spit,’ Scand. gedda, ‘pike,’ allied to gaddr, ‘prickle.’
Hecke (1.), f., ‘hedge,’ from MidHG. hęcke, f., OHG. hęcka, hęgga, f., ‘hedge,’ the latter from hagjô-, whence also AS. heęg, f., MidE. hegge, E. hedge; AS. also hege, m., ‘hedge' (comp. E. haybote, ‘an allowance of wood for repairing fences'). Of the same origin as the cognates mentioned under Hag.
Hecke (2.). f., ‘the act of breeding,’ ModHG. simply, probably neither identical nor even cognate with Hecke (1), ‘hedge,’ because E. hedge, ‘Hecke (1),’ and hatch, ‘Hecke (2).’ are totally distinct; the former is MidE. hegge (AS. hęcg, f. ’), the latter MidE. hacche (AS. *hœcce?); E. hatch, ‘brood, incubation.’ MidHG. has a wk. vb., hęcken, ‘to propagate’ (of birds), MidE. hacchen, E. to hatch; OHG. hęgidruosa, MidHG. hęgedruose, f., ‘testicle,’ may be cognate (g in AS. hagan, ‘gignalia,’ in comparison with the earlier kk in MidE. hacche, is conceivable), and hence too MidHG. hagen, m., ‘bull kept for breeding,’ earlier ModHG. Hacksch, ‘boar kept for breeding.’ The cognates seem to indicate a Teut. root hag, hakk, ‘to propagate.’
Hede, f., ‘tow,’ ModHG. simply, from LG. heede, formed from Herde by suppressing the r (see Miete); comp. MidDu. herde, ‘flax fibre,’ AS. heorde, f., ‘refuse of flax, tow,’ E. hards (plur.). Are AS. heord and OIc. haddr, ‘hair,’ allied? For Hede (probably Goth. *hazdô, *hazdjó) UpG. has Werg.
Hederich, m., ‘hedge-mustard, ground ivy,’ from late MidHG. hederī̆ch, m., a corruption of Lat. (glecoma) hederacea.
Heer, n., from the equiv. MidHG. hęre, OHG. hęri, hari, n., ‘army’; comp. Goth. harjis, m., AS. hęre, m., OIc. herr, m.; a common Teut. word for ‘army,’ still current in Swed. and Dan. här, Du. heer- in compounds. AS. hęre was supplanted in the MidE. period by the Rom. army; yet AS. hęre-gcatwe, ‘military equipment or trappings,’ has been retained down to ModE. as heriot; similarly the AS. word for har-bour (comp. Herberge). The term chario-, ‘army,’ met with in Teut. proper names of the Roman period, corresponds to OIr. cuire, ‘troop,’ OPruss. karjis, ‘army,’ of which Lith. káras, ‘war,’ is the base (Heer, lit. ‘that which belongs to war’); to this OPers. kâra, ‘army,’ is allied?. In MidHG. and earlier ModHG. there is another deriv. of the root kar, viz. harst, MidHG. also harsch, ‘body of troops.’ The verbal form from the assumed word for ‘war' was perhaps Goth. *harjón, ‘to wage war upon’; comp. OIc. herja, ‘to go on a predatory expedition,’ AS. hęrigan. E. to hurry, to harrow, OHG. heriôn, MidHG. hern, ‘to ravage, plunder.’ Comp. further Herberge and Häring.
Hefe, f., ‘yeast, lees, dregs,’ from MidHG. hęve, hëpfe, m. and f., OHG. hęvo, hëpfo, m. (from hëppo, hafjo, ‘yeast’); as a substance producing fermentation it is derived from the root haf, lit. ‘raising'; hence also OHG. hęvilo, MidHG. hęvel, ‘yeast,’ as well as AS. hœf, Du. hef, heffe, f., ‘yeast’ (see Hebel). Similarly Fr. levain, levûre, are related to lever. Yet OHG. hëpfo can scarcely be referred to the Aryan root kap, ‘to raise.’
Heft, ‘handle, hilt, stitched book, number (of a periodical),’ from MidHG. hęfte, OHG. hefti, ‘haft, handle of a knife, hilt of a sword’; connected with the root haf ('to lift') or hab ('to have'). —
heften, vb., ‘to stitch,’ from MidHG. and OHG. heften, ‘to fasten.’
​ heftig, adj., ‘vehement, violent, impetuous,’ from MidHG. hęftec, adj., ‘remaining firm, persistent,’ then ‘earnest, important, strong.’ It seems to be based upon a blending of two words orig. quite distinct, for ModHG. heftig, ‘vehemens,’ is late OHG. heiftig, MidHG. heifte, adv. heifteclîchen, with which Goth. haifsts, OFr. haste, as well as ModHG. Hast, are connected.
hegen, vb., ‘to enclose, cherish, foster, from MidHG. hęgen, ‘to cherish, keep,’ lit. ‘to surround with a fence,’ OHG. hęgen, ‘to fence in’; allied to Hag.
Hehl, m., from the equiv. MidHG. hœle, MidG. héle, ‘concealment’; also MidHG. hœle, adj., ‘concealed’; derivatives of MidHG. hëln. See hehlen.
hehlen, vb. from the equiv. MidHG. hëln, OHG. hëlan, ‘to keep secret, conceal,’ AS. hëlan, E. to heal, ‘to cover, conceal,’ Du. helen, ‘to conceal.’ Root hē̆l, from pre-Teut. kē̆l (Sans. *çal), in the sense of ‘concealing cover’; see further under Halle, Hehl, Hölle, Hülle, Hülse, as well as hohl, Höhle, and Helm. The Aryan root is attested by Lat. cêlare (ê as in Goth. *hêlei, which is indicated by MidHG. hœle, f., mentioned under Hehl), occulo, Gr. root καλ in καλύπτω, ‘I cover,’ καλύβη, ‘hut,’ OIr. celim, ‘I hide.’
hehr, adj., ‘exalted, sublime, sacred,’ from MidHG. hêr, adj., ‘distinguished, exalted, proud, glad,’ also ‘sacred,’ OHG. and OLG. hêr, ‘distinguished, exalted, splendid.’ The corresponding compar. is used in G. in the sense of ‘dominus’; comp. Herr, lit. ‘the more distinguished, venerable’ (orig. current in the Teut. languages of Mid. Europe only). The orig. sense of the adj. is probably ‘venerable,’ for the E. and Scand. adj. has the meaning ‘grey, hoary, old man’; OIc. hárr, AS. hâr, E. hoar (and the lengthened form hoary), ‘grey.’ Goth. *haira- (neu. sing. mas. *hairs) is wanting. The common assumption of a Teut. root hai, ‘to glitter, shine,’ from which an adj. hai-ra- can be derived with the double sense given above, is supported by OIc. heið, ‘clearness of the sky’ (see under heiter), as well as by Goth. hais (dat. plur. haizam), n., ‘torch.’ With the root hai (from pre-Teut. koi), Sans. ké-tú-s, m., ‘light, lustre, torch,’ is connected.
Heide (1.), f., ‘heath, uncultivated land, heather,’ from MidHG. heide, OHG. heida, f., ‘heath, untilled, wild, overgrown land, heather’; comp. Goth. haiþi, f., ‘field, AS. hœ̂þ, m. and n., ‘heath, desert,’ also ‘heather,’ E. heath, OIc. heiðr, f. The prim. sense of the common Teut. word is ‘treeless, untilled plain’; the meaning ‘heather’ evolved from this is West Teut. (AS. Du. and G.), so too Du. hei, heide. Goth. haiþi, ‘field, plain,’ from pre-Teut. kâitî, occurs also in OInd. kšêtra-m, ‘field, cornfield, region, country,’ for skêtram. See the next word.
Heide (2.), m., ‘heathen, pagan,’ from MidHG. heiden, m., ‘heathen’ (espec. ‘Saracen’), OHG. heidan, m.; comp. Du. heiden, AS. hœ̂þen, E. heathen, OIc. heiðenn, ‘heathen.’ Ulfilas is acquainted only with the corresponding fem. haiþnô, ‘heathen woman,’ while the masc. plur. equiv. to Lat. gentes, Gr. ἔθνη, appears as þiudôs. The connection of the word with human progress is difficult to decide; on account of the diffusion of the word in all the Teut. dialects, we are evidently not concerned here with a word originating in the OHG. Biblical texts and translations. The usual assumption that Lat. paganus, ‘heathen,’ was the model on which the Teut. word was built needs to be restricted, since it is improbable that all the OTeut. dialects independently of one another should have given an inaccurate rendering of paganus, especially since the Slav. languages have borrowed the word directly (OSlov., Russ. poganŭ). Lat. paganus, ‘heathen’ (Ital. pagano, Fr. païen), appears in the second half of the 4th cent. after Christianity was established as the religion of the Empire by Constantine and his sons, and the old worship was forced from the towns into the country districts. The late occurrence of the Lat. word explains the fact that in Goth. first of all a solitary instance of the new term ‘heathen’ is found in the form haiþnô, f., ‘a heathen woman.’ But the appearance of the word in Goth. is more easily accounted for than in any other dialect from the Goth. forms haiþi, f., ‘field,’ haiþiwisks, ‘wild’ (miliþ h., ‘wild honey’). Hence in Goth. a form *haiþins would be connected more closely with Lat. paganus, while in the other dialects the corresponding word cannot probably be explained from the Lat. form. Perhaps here, as in the case of Kirche and Pfaffe, the influence of the Goths and of their Christianity upon the other Teutons is discernible. Comp. the history of the word taufen.
​ Heidelbeere, f., ‘bilberry, whortleberry,’ from MidHG. heidelbęr, heitbęr, n. and f., OHG. heidbęri, n., ‘bilberry, whortleberry’; corresponds to AS. hœ̂ð-bęrie, with the same meaning. Allied to Heide, f.
heikel, adj., ‘hooked, captious, nice,’ ModHG. only, but widely current in the dials.; Swiss. heikχel, Bav. and Suab. haikel, East Fris. hekel, ‘fastidious with regard to food.’ Geographically heifel and Efel seem to supplement each other, and hence may be regarded as identical.
Heil, n., ‘health, welfare, salvation,’ from MidHG. and OHG. heil, n., ‘health, happiness, salvation’; comp. AS. hœ̂l, n. (for hâli, from hailiz), ‘health, happiness, favourable omen’; OIc. heill, n. (f.) (from hailiz), ‘favourable omen, happiness.’ Not the neut. of the following adj., but properly an older as stem, pre-Teut. káilos (declined like Gr. γένος, Lat. genus, n.). Comp. also the next word.
heil, adj., ‘hale, healthy, sound,’ from MidHG. and OHG. heil, adj., ‘healthy, whole, saved’; comp. OSax. hél, AS. kâl, E. whole, OIc. heill, ‘healthy, healed,’ Goth. hails, ‘healthy, sound,’ In OTeut. the nom. of this adj. was used as a salutation (Goth. hails! χαῖρε! AS. wës hâl!) Teut. haila-z, from pre-Teut. kailos (-lo- is a suffix), corresponds exactly to OSlov. cĕlŭ, ‘complete, whole,’ which, like Pruss. kailûstikun, ‘health’ (from *kailûstas, ‘healthy’), is based upon Aryan kailo-; the OIr. cognate cél, ‘augury,’ corresponds to AS. hœ̂l, OIc. heill, n., ‘favorable omen,’ as well as to OHG. heilisôn and AS. hœ̂lsian, ‘to augur.’ Sans. kalya-s, ‘healthy,’ kalyãna-s, ‘beautiful,’ and Gr. καλός, κάλλος, are probably not related to the root kai with the suffix lo-.
heilen, vb., ‘to heal, cure,’ from MidHG. and OHG. heilen, ‘to heal,’ as well as MidHG. heilen, OHG. heilên, ‘to get well’; comp. AS. hœ̂lan, E. to heal (to which health is allied, AS. hœ̂lþ, OHG. heilida, f., ‘health’). —
Heiland, from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. heilant, m., ‘Saviour’; prop. a partic. of heilen (a being retained in the partic. derivative as in Weigand); the term is HG. and LG.; comp. OSax. hêliand, AS. hœ̂lend. In England, where it became obsolete as early as the 13th cent., the word, even in the older period, was never so deeply rooted as in Germany. In Goth. nasjands, AS. nergend.
heilig, adj., ‘holy, sacred, inviolable,’ from the equiv. MidHG. heilec, OHG. heilag, adj.; comp. OSax. hêlag, AS. kâleg, E. holy, OIc. heilagr, adj.; all have the common meaning, ‘sanctus.’ In Goth. only is the adj. unknown (yet hailag occurs in a Goth. Runic inscription); the earlier old heathen form weihs (see weihen) was used instead. The development of meaning in heilig from the subst. Heil is not quite clear. Is the word Heil used in a religions sense? Comp. OIc. heill, ‘favourable omen,’ OHG. heilisôn, ‘to augur,’ OIr. cel, ‘augury’?.
Heim, n., ‘home,’ from MidHG. and OHG. heim, n., ‘house, home, dwelling-place,’ comp. OSax. hêm, ‘dwelling-place,’ AS. hâm. ‘home, dwelling-place, house,’ E. home, OIc. heimr, m., ‘dwelling, world,’ Goth. haims, f., ‘village.’ In the 17th cent. and in the first half of the 18th, the ModHG. word vanished from the literary language (the adv. heim only being still used), but was restored through the influence of English literature (see Halle, Elf). The meaning of the Goth. subst. is found in the remaining dialects only in names of places formed with -heim as the second component. In Goth. a more general meaning, ‘dwelling,’ is seen in the adj. anahaims, ‘present,’ afhaims, ‘absent’ (see Heimat). The assumption that ‘village’ is the earlier meaning of Heim is also supported by Lith. këmas, kaímas, ‘(peasant’s) farm’; Sans. kšêma-s, ‘secure residence,’ allied to the root kši, ‘to dwell securely, while away’ (kšitís, f., ‘dwelling, earth’), OSlov. po-čiti, ‘requiescere,’ po-kojĭ, ‘rest’; perhaps also Gr. κώμη (for κῴμη), ‘village’?.
-heim, adv., from MidHG. and OHG. heim, acc. sing., ‘home(wards),’ and MidHG. and OHG. heime, dat. sing., ‘at home’; in the other dialects, except Goth., the respective substs. in the cases mentioned are likewise used adverbially in the same sense. For further references comp. Weile.
Heimat, f., from the equiv. MidHG. heimôt, heimuot, heimuote, f. and n., OHG. heimuoti, heimôti, n, ‘native place’; a derivative of Heim. Goth. *haimôdi is wanting (haimôþli, ‘native land or fields,’ is used instead, OHG. heimuodili). Respecting -ôdi as a suffix, see Armut, Einöde.
Heimchen, n., ‘cricket,’ dimin. of Heime, m, and f., from MidHG. heime, OHG. heimo, m., ‘cricket’; AS. hâma, ‘cricket’; a derivative of Heim, hence lit. ‘inmate’ (a pet term?).
heimlich, adj., ‘private, secret, ​comfortable, snug, from MidHG. heim(e)lich, adj., ‘secret, confidential, concealed,’ also ‘homemade, domestic’; allied to Heim.
Heirat, f., from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. hîrât, m. and f., ‘marriage,’ lit. ‘care of a house’; Goth. *heiws, ‘house,’ in heiwa-frauja, m., ‘master of the house.’ The earlier ModHG. form Heurat is due to MidHG. *hîa-rât for hîw-. AS. hîrêd, hîrĕd, ‘family,’ MidE. hîred, and AS. hîwrœ̂den, MidE. hîreden in the same sense. The first component, Goth. heiwa-, is widely diffused in OTeut. OIc. hjú, hjún, n. plur., ‘man and wife, married couple, domestics,’ OIc. hyske, n., ‘family,’ híbýle, hýbýle, n., ‘place of residence.’ AS. hîwan, plur., ‘servants,’ E. hind (E. hive, which is often connected with the cognates in question, is not allied, since it is due to AS. hŷf, ‘beehive’). Scand. hyske, n., corresponds to the West Teut. terms, OHG. hîwiski, n., ‘family, housekeeping, domestics,’ also OHG. hîun, plur., ‘man and wife, servants,’ hîwo, ‘husband,’ hîwa, ‘wife.’ Goth. heiwa-, ‘house, housekeeping,’ has consequently numerous cognates within the Teut. group. Its relation to the non-Teut. words is dubious; Lat. civis, ‘citizen,’ Lith. szeima, szeimýna, ‘domestics,’ OSlov. sěmĭja, sěmija, ‘domestics,’ are usually connected with it. Others refer it to the root appearing in Heim. See Rat.
heischen, vb., ‘to ask for, demand, require,’ from MidHG. heischen, prop. eischen, HG. eiskôn, ‘to ask’; the addition of initial h in the MidHG. and ModHG. verbs is correctly ascribed to the influence of heißen. Comp. OSax. êscôn, Du. eischen, AS. âscian, E. to ask; Goth. *aiskôn is wanting. It corresponds to Lith. jëskóti, OSlov. iskati, ‘to seek,’ also probably to Armen. aiç, ‘investigation,’ and Sans. icch (icchati), ‘to seek’ (see anheischig).
heiser, adj., ‘hoarse,’ from MidHG. heiser, ‘rough, hoarse.’ with the variant MidHG. heis, heise, OHG. heisi, heis, ‘hoarse’; Goth. *haisa- is also indicated by AS. hâs; in MidE. besides hǫ̂se, an abnormal hǫ̂rse occurs, whence E. hoarse; so too MidDu. heersch, a variant of heesch (the latter also ModDu.); the r of the MidHG. and ModHG. derivative heiser is the widely diffused adj. suffix in bitter, lauter, hager, mager, &c. The Scand. háss, for the expected *heiss (Goth. *hais), also presents a difficulty. Some have attempted to connect the stem with that in hus-ten, which is impossible; hôs, hwôs, in husten, cannot, on account of the vowels, correspond to Goth. *haisa. Others, with greater reason, connect it with E. to whistle, AS. hwistlian, and with ModHG. wispeln, ‘to whisper’ (the Teut. root hais, hwī̆s, appears with a derivative k in AS. hwîskrian, OIc. hvískra, ‘to whisper,’ Du. heesch, ‘hoarse’).
Heister, m., ‘beech tree,’ a Franc. and Hess. word, which also appears in LG., but is entirely unknown to UpG. and MidG.; even in the MidHG. period heister occurs; comp. Du. heester (whence Fr. hêtre). Note the local term Heisterbach.
heiß, adj., ‘hot, ardent, vehement,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. heiȥ; comp. Du. heet, AS. hât, E. hot, OIc. heitr; a common Teut. adj. for ‘hot,’ pointing to Goth. *haita-; from the root hī̆t, to which Hitze is akin. This root may be extended from hī̆, with which OHG. an MidHG. hei, gehei, ‘heat’ is connected. See heizen.
heißen, vb., ‘to bid, command, be called, signify,’ from MidHG. heiȥen, OHG. heiȥȥan, ‘to name, be named, be called, command, promise’; the passive sense, ‘to be named, nominari,’ did not orig. belong to the active, but only to the Goth. and AS. passive form. AS. hâtan, ‘to name, promise,’ hâtte, ‘I am called’ and ‘I was called’; OIc. heita, ‘to name, be named, promise, vow’; Goth. haitan, a redupl. vb., ‘to name, appoint, call, invite, command,’ in the pass. ‘to be named.’ A common Teut. vb. with the prim. sense ‘to call any one by name, to name,’ No words undoubtedly allied to the Teut. root hait, from pre-Teut. kaid, exist in the non-Teut. languages. See anheischig.
-heit, fem. suffix of abstract terms in the West Teut. dialects; prop. an independent word — MidHG. heit, f., ‘method, nature,’ OHG. heit, m. and f., ‘person, sex, rank, estate,’ AS. hâd, ‘estate, race, method, quality’; Goth. haidus, m., ‘method’; see further under heiter. As an independent word it became obsolete in E. in the MidE. period, and was preserved only as a suffix, as in ModHG.; AS. -hâd, E. -hood (boyhood, falsehood, maidenhood), and also E. -head (maidenhead).
heiter, adj., ‘clear, serene, bright, cheerful,’ from MidHG. heiter, OHG. heitar, adj., ‘serene, bright, glittering’; comp. OSax. hêdar, AS. hâdor, ‘serene’; a West Teut. adj., but in Scand. heiþ-r, ‘serene,’ without the derivative r (all used orig. of ​the clear, cloudless sky only); comp. OIc. heiþ, ‘clear sky.’ Comp. Teut. haidra-, haida-, from pre-Teut. kaitró-, kaito-, with Sans. kêtú-s, m., ‘brightness, light, rays, flame, lamp’ (identical in form with Goth. haidus, m., ‘manner, mode,’ connected with -heit), from the root cit (kêt), ‘to shine forth, appear, see’; to this is allied a Sans. adj. citrá-s, ‘glittering, radiating, bright, glorious,’ containing a derivative r, but with a differently graded vowel in the stem. A figurative sense is specially attached to OIc. heiþr (gen. heiþar and heiþrs), m., ‘honour,’ as well as to -heit.
heizen, vb., ‘to heat,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. heizen, a variant of heiȥen (comp. beizen, reizen); a nominal verb from heiȥ, stem haita-, Goth. *haitjan; comp. AS. hœ̂tan, ‘to make hot, heat’ (from hât), E. to heat. See heiß.
Held, m., from the equiv. MidHG. helt (gen. hęldes), m., late OHG. hęlid, ‘hero’; corresponding to OSax. hęlith, AS. hœlep- (nom. sing., hœle), ‘man, hero,’ OIc. hǫlðr, hǫldr (from *haluþr), and halr, ‘man,’ Teut. halē̆þ-, from kalē̆t-, kalét-, may most probably be connected with Ir. calath, Bret. calet, ‘hard.’
helfen, vb., ‘to help, assist, avail, remedy,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hëlfen, OHG. hëlfan; a common Teut. vb. used in the same sense in all the dialects; comp. Goth. hilpan, OIc. hjalpa, AS. hëlpan, E. to help, Du. helpen, OSax. hëlpan. Teut. root help from pre-Teut. kelb-; a root of another Aryan dialect apparently allied in meaning curiously ends in p (kelp); comp. Lith. szèlpti, ‘to help,’ paszalpà, ‘help’ (in Sans. the root çalp does not occur). Sans. kḷp, ‘to accommodate oneself to, suit,’ is even less closely connected.
hell, adj., ‘clear, bright, evident,’ from MidHG. hël (gen. hëlles), adj., ‘loud, sonorous,’ OHG. hël in gahël, unhël, missahëll; in MidHG. the meaning ‘sonorous’ was still current, but that of ‘glittering’ is found neither in OHG. nor MidHG. Comp. OHG. hëllan, MidHG. hëllen, ‘to resound’; MidHG. hal (gen. halles), m., ‘sound, resonance,’ whence ModHG. hallen; further Scand. hjal, n., ‘chattering,’ hjala, ‘to chatter’?. Comp. holen.
Hellbank, Höllbank, f., ‘bench near the stove,’ allied to earlier ModHG. Helle, Hölle, f., ‘the narrow space between the stove and the wall’; the word is first recorded towards the end of the 15th cent., but was in existence at an earlier period. Comp. AS. heal, MidE. hal, ‘angle, corner’ (comp. OIr. cuil, ‘corner’). The ModHG. form is due to a confusion with Hölle, which, like the ModHG. Hell- ‘winkel,’ is connected with the root hel, ‘to veil, conceal.’
Hellebarte, f., from the equiv. MidHG. helmbarte, f., ‘halberd’; for the second part of the compound see Barte (1). The first component has been ascribed to two sources — to the very rare MidHG. helm, halm, ‘helve, handle,’ which would probably suit, as far as the sense is concerned, helmbarte, ‘an axe fitted with a handle’?. But since helmbarte, in such a derivation, should have halm- as the component, the phonetic relation of the words is in favour of the derivation from hëlm, m., hence hëlmbarte, ‘an axe for cleaving the helmet.’ From G. the Rom. words (Fr. hallebarde) are derived.
Heller, m., from the equiv. MidHG. heller, haller, m., ‘a copper coin worth about 1/17d.’; according to the ordinary supposition, “it was so called from the imperial town of Schwäbisch-Hall, where it was first coined.” The OHG. term halling, ‘obolus,’ which apparently contradicts this, is perhaps rightly regarded as identical with MidHG. hęlblinc, m. ‘a fourth of a farthing.’
helligen, behelligen, vb., ‘to importunate,’ from MidHG. hęlligen, ‘to weary by pursuit, tease, torment’; a nominal verb from MidHG. hęllic, adj., ‘wearied, exhausted,’ ModHG. hellig, ‘wearied.’ The origin of the adj. is obscure.
Helm (1.), m., ‘helmet,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. hëlm, m.; the same in OSax., OFris., and AS. (AS. hëlm, ‘helmet, protector,’ E. helm), OIc. hjalmr, Goth. hilms, ‘helmet’; a common Teut. str. noun, helma-, ‘helmet,’ from pre-Teut. kelmo-. Comp. OInd. çárman-, n., ‘protection’ (comp. the AS. meaning), with which the root kel in ModHG. hehlen, hüllen, is connected. Lith. szálmas, ‘helmet,’ and OSlov. šlěmŭ, ‘helmet,’ were borrowed at an early period from Teut.; so too the Rom. class — Ital. elmo (Fr. heaume), ‘helmet.’
Helm (2.), m. ‘tiller,’ ModHG. simply, from LG., whence a number of nautical terms found their way into HG. (see Boot, Kahn, Barke, Flagge, Spriet); comp. Du. helmstock, ‘tiller.’ E. helm, AS. helma, ‘rudder,’ Scand. hjálm, f., ‘tiller.’ In this case, as in most of the other nautical expressions, ​it cannot be decided in which division of the Saxon and Scand. group the technical term originated; as in other instances — see Boot, Bord — AS. contains the earliest record of the word. The MidHG. helm (see Hellebarte), ‘helve, handle,’ which occurs only once, and its variant halme, do not seem to be actually allied to the present term; they are connected with Halfter.
Hemd, n., ‘shirt,’ from MidHG. and MidLG. hęmde, hęmede, OHG. hęmidi, n., ‘shirt,’ prop. ‘long under-garment’; allied to OFris. hemethe, AS. hęmeþe (Goth. *hameiþi?); a dimin. term, formed like OHG. jungîdi, ‘young of animals.’ The sense ‘short garment, bodice,’ originates in Teut. hama-, ‘garment,’ the same as OIc. hamr, m., ‘covering, skin, external form.’ See further under Leichnam, also Hamen, hämisch. The Goth. form *hameiþja- previous to its permutation was kamîtjo-, and with this the late Lat. term camisia, ‘tunica interior, under-garment, shirt,’ recorded at the beginning of the 5th cent., and chiefly in relation to soldiers, must be connected in some way; it differs little from the assumed form in pre-Teut.; OIc. hams, m. (from hamisa-), ‘slough of a snake,’ has a derivative s. Probably Sans. çamulýa, ‘shirt,’ is prim. allied. Since there is no doubt that the HG. word is classical Teut., the vulgar camisia must be traced back to a Teut. origin, which is also attested by W. hefis, ‘chemise,’ and OIr. caimmse, ‘nomen vestis.’ The relation of the initial HG. h to Rom. c would correspond to that of Fr. Chivert to its OHG. original Hiltibert, i.e. a Franc. ch forms the connecting link. In Lat. camîsia we obtain for HG. Hemd other related terms in Rom. (Fr. chemise, Ital. camicia).
hemmen, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. hęmmen (MidG.), hamen, ‘to stop, hinder, check’; OHG. *hamên and *hęmmen are wanting. The early existence of the word, which is not found in Bav., is proved by OIc. hemja, ‘to check,’ and Sans. çamay, ‘to annihilate,’ which is perhaps cognate with the latter. It is based upon a Teut. root ham, meaning ‘to mutilate’; comp. OHG. ham (inflected form hammêr), ‘lame, paralytic’ (Goth. *ham-ma-, from *ham-na-, orig. a partic.), and further also OHG. hamal, ‘mutilated’ (see Hammel). Scand. suggests the possibility of a different etymology— hemja, ‘to curb any one, lame, check,’ from hǫm, f., ‘hind-leg of a horse,’ hemill, ‘rope for tethering cattle by the thighs when they are grazing,’ hafa hemil á, ‘to restrain any one.’ In Suab. and Bav. hemmen means only ‘to tether horses when grazing,’ Comp. also Lith. kámanos, plur., ‘bridle.’
Hengst, m., ‘stallion,’ from MidHG. hęngest, OHG. hęngist, m., ‘gelding, horse (generally),’ comp. Du. hengst, m., ‘stallion,’ AS. hęngest, m., ‘male horse (generally),’ obsolete at the beginning of the MidE. period; OIc. hestr (from *hinhistr), m., ‘stallion, horse (generally).’ The earlier meaning of the HG. word was equus castratus, and by the adoption of the general term Pferd, ‘horse,’ the word obtained in ModHG. (from the 15th cent.) as ‘ungelded, male horse.’ In Goth. probably *hangists. The attempt to explain the word etymologically has not yet been successful; comp. Lith. szankus, ‘nimble’ (of horses)?, or Lith. kinkýti, ‘to put (horses) to’?.
Henkel, m., ‘handle, shank,’ ModHG. simply, allied to henken.
henken, vb., ‘to hang, suspend,’ from MidHG. and OHG. hęnken, prop. a variant of OHG. and MidHG. hęngen (k is Goth. gj). To these two words, varying in sound, different meanings were attached; comp. MidHG. hęnken, ‘to hang up,’ hęngen, ‘to hang down (one's head),’ espec. ‘to give a horse the reins.’ Yet MidHG. hęngen is also used in the sense of hęnken, ‘to execute by hanging.’
Henker, m., from the equiv. MidHG. (rare) hęnker, hęnger, m., ‘hangman,’ allied to henken.
Henne, f., ‘hen,’ from MidHG. and MidLG. hęnne, OHG. henna, f.; comp. AS. hęnn, E. hen (AS. hana was even in the AS. period supplanted by its equiv. cock); a West Teut. fem. of the common Teut. hano, ‘cock,’ to which are allied the graded forms, OIc. hœna, OSwed. and ModSwed. ho̊na, ‘hen’ (OHG. also hęnin, hęninna, ‘hen’). See Hahn, Huhn.
Heppe, see Hippe.
her, adv., ‘hither, this way.’ from MidHG. hër (hëre), OHG. hëra, adv., ‘hither,’ formed like OHG. wara, ‘whither’; allied to Goth. hiri, adv. imperat., ‘come here.’ Connected with a pronom. stem hi-. See heute, hier, hinnen.
herb, adj., from the equiv. MidHG. hęre, inflected hęrwer (also hare, inflected harwer), ‘bitter, harsh’; Goth. and OHG. *har-wa- is wanting. Allied to OSax. ​har-m, AS. hear-m, adj., ‘painful, mortifying, bitter’?. See Harm.
Herberge, f. (with ĕ as in Herzog, allied to Heer), ‘shelter, quarters, inn,’ from MidHG. hęrbërge, f.; lit. ‘a sheltering place for the army’ (rare in MidHG.), most frequently ‘lodging-house for strangers,’ also ‘dwelling’ generally. OHG. hęri-bërga, ‘camp, castra,’ then also ‘hospitium, tabernaculum.’ MidE. hereberge, ‘hospitium,’ E. harbour; Scand. herberge, n., ‘inn, lodging, room, chamber.’ The compound, in its later form, seems to have been adopted from G. by the other Teut. languages, and also by Rom.; Fr. auberge, Ital. albergo; OFr. preserves the older meaning ‘camp.’ Comp. Herr, bergen.
Herbst, m., ‘autumn, harvest,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hęrbest, OHG. hęrbist, m.; comp. MidLG. hervest, Du. herfst, AS. hœrfest, m., and the equiv. E. harvest; a common West Teut. word, archaic in form (whether OIc. haust, n., ‘autumn,’ Swed. and Dan. höst, are identical with Herbst is still very dubious). Hence the statement of Tacitus (Germ. 26) — ‘(Germani) autumni parinde nomen ac bona ignorantur,’ can scarcely be accepted. It is true that Herbst in UpG. is almost entirely restricted to ‘the fruit season,’ espec. ‘the vintage’ (the season itselt is prop. called Spätjahr, Suab. Spätling). This coincides with the fact that Herbst is connected with an obsolete Teut. root harb, from Aryan karp (Lat. carpere, καρπός, ‘fruit’), ‘to gather fruit,’ which perhaps appears also in Lith. kerpù (kìrpti), ‘to shear.’ In Goth. the term is asans (‘season for work, for tillage’; comp. Ernte).
Herd, m., ‘hearth, fireplace, crater,’ from MidHG. hërt (-des), m., ‘ground, earth, fireplace, hearth,’ OHG. hërd, m., hërda, f., ‘ground, hearth.’ This double sense is wanting in the other West Teut. languages, Du. heerd, haard, m., ‘hearth,’ OSax. herth, AS. heorþ, E. hearth, The meaning of herþa- (Goth. *haírþs), ‘hearth,’ is West Teut., while ‘ground’ is simply HG.; it is not improbable that two orig. different words have been combined (comp. OIc. hjarl, ‘ground, land’?). Herd, ‘hearth,’ with Goth. haúri, n., ‘charcoal’ (plur. haurja, ‘fire’), OIc. hyrr, m., ‘fire,’ may be connected with a Teut. root hĕr, ‘to burn’ (comp. Lat. crĕ-mare).
Herde, f., ‘herd, flock, drove,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hërte, hërt, OHG. hërta, f.; the common Teut. word for ‘herd’; Du. herde (obsolete, see Hirte; kudde, f., is used instead, see Kette), AS. heord, f., E. herd, OIc. hjǫrð, f., Goth. haírda, f., ‘herd.’ The Teut. type herdô (the d of the ModHG. form, compared with OHG. t, is due to LG. influence), from pre-Teut. kerdhâ; comp. OInd. çárdhas, n., çárdha-s, m.,. ‘troop’; also OSlov. črĕda, f., ‘herd’?. See Hirte.
Hering, see Häring.
Herling, Härling, m., ‘sour grapes’ (ModHG. only), for the earlier, *Herwling, allied to herwe, ‘bitter.’
Hermelin, m. and n. (accented like a foreign word), from the equiv. MidHG. hęrmelîn, n., ‘ermine,’ dimin. of MidHG. harme, OHG. harmo, m., ‘ermine’; a G. word merely, wanting in the other OTeut. languages, but in spite of the phonetic correspondence with Lith. szermǔ, ‘ermine’ (Lith. sz for Sans. ç, Aryan k, whence Teut. h), there is no doubt about its being genuinely Teut. From G. are derived the Rom. words similar in sound (ModFr. hermine, Ital. ermellino) rather than from the MidLat. mus armenius (for which the earlier mus ponticus is found).
Herold, m., ‘herald,’ late MidHG. only (14th cent.), hęralt, hęrolt (also ęrhalt), m., ‘herald’; undoubtedly an OG. military term, which, like a large number of others of the same class (comp. Hader, Kampf), became obsolete at an early period. Herold itself is derived from an OFr. term recorded towards the end of the 13th cent., héralt, ModFr. héraut (comp. Ital. araldo, MidLat. heraldus), which is based, however, upon an OG. *hęriwalto, *hariwaldo, ‘an army official,’ appearing in OSax. as a proper name, Hariold (OIc. Harald). OHG. harên, ‘to praise,’ does not occur in the compound.
Herr, m., ‘master, lord, gentleman, sir,’ from MidHG. hërre (hêre), m., OHG. hē̆rro (hêro), m.; comp. OSax. hêrro, Du. heer, OFris. hêra, ‘lord’; prop. a comparative of hehr (OHG. hêr), in Goth. *hairiza. In the OHG. period this origin was still recognised, as is seen by OHG. hêrero, ‘lord’ (see herrschen). Since the orig. meaning of the adj. hehr was ‘venerable,’ Herr seems to have originated in the relation of the dependants to their master (comp. AS. hlaford, ‘bread guardian,’ under Laib), and was used chiefly as a term of address (see Jünger). Comp. in Rom. the words used in the same sense from Lat. senior, viz., Ital. signore, Fr. seigneur. Herr is orig. native to Germany, but in the form ​hearra it found is way at a very early period (about the 9th cent.) from the German lowlands to England, and later to Scandinavia (ModSwed. herre, ‘master’). In ModHG. only a fem. Herrin has been formed from Herr (as in Ital. signora from signore). The older language used Frau, Herr having supplanted the earlier frô (see under frohn).
herrlich, adj. (with shortened ê before a double consonant, as in the two following words, probably due to its association with Herr), ‘lordly, splendid, magnificent,’ from MidHG. and OHG. hêrlich, adj., ‘distinguished, excellent, magnificent.’ Allied to hehr.
Herrschaft, f., ‘lordship, dominion, master and mistress, employers (as used by servants),’ from MidHG. hêrschaft, f., OHG. hêrscaft, hêrscaf, f., lit. ‘lordship,’ then ‘high rank, manor, magistracy.’ Allied to Herr, but probably not to hehr.
herrschen, vb., from MidHG. hersen, hêrsen, OHG. hêrisôn, ‘to rule, reign,’ but also hêrrisôn even in OHG., from its association with hêrro, ‘lord’ (for ModHG. sch after r from an older s, comp. Hirsch, Kirsche). The origin of the meaning ‘to rule’ cannot be explained from the posit. hehr, OHG. hêr, ‘august, exalted, venerable, glad,’ but from the originally compar. hêrro, ‘lord.’ Thus OHG. hêrisôn, ‘to be lord and master, dominari,’ is related to hêrro, hêriro, ‘lord,’ as Goth. *hairiza (compar.) is to *hairisôn, vb.
Herz, n., ‘heart,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hërze, OHG. hërza, n.; comp. OSax. hęrta, OIc. hjarta, Goth. haírtô, AS. heorte, and the equiv. E. heart; the common Teut. word for ‘heart,’ which may be traced back even to West Aryan. The Teut. type hertôn-, from Aryan kerd (kṛd), corresponds to Lat. cor, cor-dis, n., Gr. καρδία and κῇρ for *κῆρδ, n., Lith. szirdìs, f., OSlov. srŭdĭce, n., OIr. cride. The corresponding East Aryan word for ‘heart’ (Sans. hṛd, hṛdaya, Zend zaredaya), is usually dissociated on account of the initial sound (we should have expected Sans. *çṛd) from the West Aryan class.
Herzog, m., ‘duke,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hęrzoge, OHG. hęrizogo (-zoho), m.; comp. OSax. hęritogo, AS. hęretoga, m., OIc. hertoge, m.; a common Teut. term for ‘the leader of an army,’ in which zoho, zogo, allied to ziohan (as togo to tiuhan), has the old meaning ‘leader.’ Comp. ziehen.
hetzen, vb. ‘to infuriate, provoke, chase, hunt,’ from MidHG. and OHG. hętzen, ‘to chase, hunt, incite’; by permutation from *hatjan; comp. Haß. The subst. Hetze, f., is merely a ModHG. formation from the vb.
Heu, n., ‘hay,’ from MidHG. höu, hou, houwe, n., ‘hay, grass,’ OHG. hęwi, houwi (prop. nom. hęwi, gen. houwes, dat. houwe), n., ‘hay.’ Comp. Goth. hawi (gen. haujis), n., ‘hay, grass’ (with regard to the change of Goth. j into OHG. w and the consequent absence of mutation, see Frau, Au, Gau, &c.; in earlier ModHG. the unmutated form Hau is still retained); OSax. houwi, AS. hêg, hîg (with g for Goth. j as usual), n., MidE. hei, E. hay, OIc. hey, n., ‘hay’; common Teut. hauja- (in the Goth. stem). Apparently from the root hau (see hauen), with the suffix -ja-, Heu, meaning ‘that which is to be cut.’ There is less probability of its being connected with Gr. πόα (Ion. ποίην), ‘grass,’ from ποβίη, κβοξίη (Teut. h equal to Gr. τ for κε, both from Aryan k, as in ἵππος, equal to Lat. equus, Gr. ἕκεσθαι, equal to Lat. sequi).
heucheln, vb., ‘to feign, dissemble,’ ModHG. only, prop. a MidG. word (the corresponding UpG. word is gleißnen), allied to an early ModHG. hanchen, ‘to duck, stoop,’ from MidHG. hûchen, ‘to crouch’; comp. the further cognates under hocken. The variation of meaning ‘to stoop, dissemble,’ is exhibited in an OTeut. root lut, AS. lûtan, ‘to bend, bow,’ to which lot, ‘deceit,’ and Goth. liuta, ‘hypocrite,’ are allied.
heuer, adv., from the equiv. MidHG. hiure, OHG. hiuru, adv., ‘in this year’; derived from hiu jâru (see Jahr), the chief accent being placed on the pron. Respecting hiu see heute, in which the component parts are equally obscure.
heulen, vb., ‘to howl, yell, scream,’ from MidHG. hiulen, hiuweln, ‘to howl, cry, OHG. hiuwilôn, hiwilôn, ‘to shout for joy.’ Also allied to OHG. hûwila, hiuwila, MidHG. hiuwel, f., ‘owl’ (as ‘the howling bird’), and hence more remotely to OHG. hûwo, m., ‘owl.’
Heuschrecke, f., from the equiv. MidHG. höuschrëcke, m., OHG. hęwi-skrëkko, m., ‘grasshopper,’ lit. ‘hay-jumper’ (see Schrecken). A distinctly G. term; comp. Du. sprinkhaan, AS. gœrs-hoppa, equiv. to E. grasshopper, AS. also gœrs-stapa, ‘grass-stalker.’ In Goth. occurs an obscure term þramstei, f. (whence OSlov. chrąstŭ, ‘beetle’).
​ heute, adv., ‘to-day,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hiute, OHG. hiutu; comp. OSax. hiudu, hiudiga (whence AS. heódœg), OFris. hiudega, ‘to-day’; a West Teut. adv. for Goth. *hiô daga, ‘on this day,’ with the accent on the pron., which resulted in the combination of the two words. In the same way *hiutagu became hiutgu, hiuttu, and was finally shortened into hiutu (comp. the similar origin of heuer). Farther, Lat. ho-die and Gr. σ-ήμερον are similarly compounded. Likewise for heute Nacht, ‘to-night,’ OHG. and MidHG. had a parallel adv.; comp. OHG. hî-naht (MidHG. hînet), ‘to-night’ (in Bav. and Suab. heint is used for ‘to-day’). The pronom. stem hi- contained in it appears in Goth. in a few cases, and indeed as a temporal pron., ‘this’; comp. himma daga, ‘to-day,’ and hina dag, ‘until to-day,’ &c. In the Sax. dials. this pronom. stem, which corresponds to Lat. ci- in ci-s, ci-tra, appears as a 3rd pers. pron.; comp. E. he, AS. hê, E. him, AS. him (Goth. himma), &c., OSax. and LG. hê, ‘he.’ See further her, hier.
Hexe, f., ‘witch, hag, sorceress,’ from MidHG. hęcse, f., OHG. hagzissa, hagazussa, hagzus (also hâzus, hâzissa), f., a gloss for furia, striga, eumenis, erinnys; comp. MidDu. haghetisse, ModDu. heks, AS. hœgtesse, f., E. (with the rejection of the apparent termination) hag. The word, which is doubtlessly a compound, has not yet been satisfactorily explained; OHG. hag, AS. hœg, ‘hedge, wood,’ as the first component, seems indubitable. The second part has not been elucidated; some suppose that the prim. meaning of Hexe is ‘forest woman or demon’?. Comp. OHG. holzmuoja, MidHG. holzmuoje, f., ‘forest woman, witch’ (also ‘wood-owl’).
Hieb, m., ‘cut, stroke, blow; sarcasm,’ first recorded in the 17th cent., being recently formed from hauen, pret. hieb, hieben; comp. Handel from handeln and Hetze from hetzen. —
Hief, see Hifthorn.
hier, also hie, adv., from the equiv. MidHG. hier, hie, OHG. hiar, ‘here’; comp. Goth., OIc., AS., and OSax. hêr, equiv. to E. here. Allied to hi- (see heute)?.
Hifthorn, also Hüfthorn (a corruption due to the fact that the horn was carried attached to a belt around the waist — ‘Hüfte’), ‘hunting-horn,’ ModHG. simply; the earliest ModHG. form is Hiefhorn; Hief, also Hift, ‘the blast from a hunter’s horn.’ Allied to Goth. hiufan, AS. heófan, OHG. hiufan, ‘to wail, howl’?.
Hilfe, f., from the equiv. MidHG. hilfe, hëlfe, f., OHG. hilfa, hëlfa, f., ‘help, aid’ (Goth. *hilpi and *hilpa, f.). Comp. helfen.
Himbeere, f., ‘raspberry,’ rom the equiv. MidHG. hintbęr, n., OHG. hint-bęri, n.; lit. ‘hind-, doe-berry.’ With regard to ModHG. Himbeere, with a distinct second component (in MidHG., however, hemper, from hintbere, according to strict phonetic laws), see ModHG. Wimper, from wintbrâ. In AS. hindberie, f., means ‘strawberry’ and ‘raspberry’; comp. E. dial. hindberries, ‘raspberries’ (note too AS. hindhœ̂leþe, ‘ambrosia,’ MidHG. hirz-wurz, AS. heortclœ̂fre, ‘camedus,’ prop. ‘hemp agrimony’). In earlier ModHG. there existed a term Hind-läufte, from MidHG. hintlouf, ‘a plant growing on the hind's track,’ i.e., along forest paths, which was applied to the common chicory.
Himmel, m., ‘heaven, sky, canopy, clime,’ from the equiv. MidHG. himel, OHG. himil (OBav. humil, m.; comp. OSax. himil, Fris. himul, Du. hemel, Swed. and Dan. himmel; the derivative l is the result of differentiation from an earlier derivative n, formed like Goth. himins, OIc. himenn, with which the Sax. forms with f for m are connected; AS. heofon, m., E. heaven, OSax. heƀan, m., ModLG. heven. These forms are based upon a common Teut. hemono- (humeno-); on account of its derivative suffix, note too Gr. οὐρανό. The ModHG. sense, ‘sky’ is current in all the Teut. dials.; the word is probably connected with the OTeut. stem ham, ‘to cover, veil,’ mentioned under hämisch, Hemd, and Leichnam. OHG. himil has also the meaning ‘ceiling,’ especially in the OHG. derivative himilizzi, ModHG. himelze, a fact which supports the last assumption; comp. AS. hûsheofon, Du. hemel, MidLG. hemelte, ‘roof.’ The etymology of Himmel (Goth. himins), based upon OSlov. kamy, Lith. akmŭ, ‘stone,’ as well as upon Sans. açmâ, ‘stone, (the stone-roofed) vault of heaven,’ and Gr. κάμινος, ‘oven,’ are not satisfactory, since the word probably denoted the ‘covering of the earth’ originally.
hin, adv., ‘hence, that way,’ from MidHG. hin, hine, OHG. hina, adv., ‘off, away’; AS. hina (hin- in compounds, e.g., hinsîþ, ‘departure, death’), adv. ‘away,’ allied to the pronom. stem hi- discussed under heute.
​ Hinde, with an affixed fem. termination, also Hindin, f., ‘hind, doe,’ from MidHG. and MidLG. hinde, OHG. hinta, f., ‘hind’; comp. AS. hind, f., E. hind, OIc. hind, ‘hind’; the common Teut. fem. of Hirsch; Goth. *hindi (gen. *hindjôs), f., is wanting. It is generally connected with Goth. hinþan, ‘to catch’ (to which E. to hunt is allied). Others relate it to Gr. κεμ-άς, f., ‘young deer, pricket’; in that case the dental is a suffix, as in hun-d (allied to Gr. κυν-; see Hund), and n before a dental may originate in m (comp. Sund, Schande, and hundert).
hindern, vb., ‘to impede, obstruct, prevent,’ from MidHG. hindern, OHG. hintiren and hintarôn, ‘to repulse, hinder’; comp. AS. hinderian, E. to hinder, OIc. hindra; an old derivative from the prepos. hinter; see the latter and fördern.
Hindin, see Hinde.
Hinken, vb., ‘to limp, walk lame, fit badly,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hinken, OHG. hinchan; a word peculiar to HG., if Scand. hokra, ‘to crawl,’ is not connected with it (AS. hęllehinca, ‘devil,’ is found). Root hink, from Aryan kheng (kh as in haben, from the root khabh, in Lat. habere; comp. farther Nagel), based on the Sans. root khañj, ‘to lump’; allied also to the equiv. Gr. σκάζω for s-khṅgjô, with s prefixed.
hinnen, von hinnen, adv., from the equiv. MidHG. hinnen, OHG. hinnan, hinnân, hinnana, adv., ‘away from here, from hence’; used in ModHG. only with the explanatory prepos. AS. heonan, heonon, adv., ‘from here,’ E. hence (with a suffix s, whence ce). Formed from the pronom. stem hi, like dannen, von dannen, from the pron. þa-. See hinten, hinter.
hinten, adv., from the equiv. MidHG. hinden, OHG. hintana, adv., ‘behind’; Goth. hindana, adv. and prep., ‘behind, on the other side’; comp. OSax. bihindan, ‘behind, along behind,’ AS. hindan, adv., ‘behind,’ AS. behindan, E. behind; allied to hinnen and hinter.
hinter, prep., from the equiv. MidHG. hinter, hinder, OHG. hintar, prep., ‘behind’; while OHG. nt is changed regularly into nd in MidHG., it is frequently retained when -er (i.e., vocal r) follows as an independent syllable; comp. Winter, from OHG. wintar, munter, from muntar. In hindern the d has been inserted in the normal way, just as in MidHG., and earlier ModHG. hinder is found as well as hinter. Goth. hindar, prep., AS. hinder, prop. an acc. neu. of an old compar. in -τερο-ν, Sans. tara-m. (of which AS. and Goth. have preserved a superl. in -tama-s, Goth. *hinduma, whence hindumists, ‘outermost,’ AS. hindema, ‘the last’). Comp. OInd. pratarám (compar. of pra), adv., ‘further, onwards,’ avatarám (allied to prep. ava), adv., ‘further away,’ vitarám (allied to prep. vi), comp. wider. The compar. hinter is used as an adj. in OHG. hintaro, ModHG. hinter, ‘hinder, posterior.’
Hippe (1.), f., ‘sickle,’ a MidG. form introduced by Luther into the ModHG. literary language instead of Heppe, from MidHG. hęppe, hepe (hâppe), f., ‘pruning-hook’.; OHG. hęppa (hâppa), f., whence Fr. happe, ‘axle-tree bed, cramp’ (from the type happia, Fr. hache, ‘hatchet,’ is derived). Numerous South-Western dials. (Suab. also) use hâp (hôp), from MidHG. hâpe, OHG. hâppa (from Goth. *hêb-). Allied to Gr. κώπη, ‘hilt, handle’?, κοπίς, ‘knife, dagger’?.
Hippe (2.), f., Hipplein, n., ‘goat,’ only in ModHG.; the more usual dial. heppe (Bav., Thur., and Hess.) makes it probable that the word is a pet or child's term for OG. *haber, ‘he-goat’; on this point see Habergeiß and Hitte.
Hirn, n., from the equiv. MidHG. hirne, OHG. hirni, n., ‘brain.’ We should have expected Goth. *haírni, n., for which hwairneins, ‘skull,’ occurs once in the gen. sing. OIc. hjarne, m., ‘brain’; also corresponding in sound to the Goth. word hvern, f., ‘the two white boat-shaped bones in the brain of fishes, ooliths’ (LG. has a peculiar word for Gehirn — E. brain, AS. brœgen, Du. brein, MidDu. bregen; see Brägen). The words with initial h and those with hw must be kept distinct. Du. hersen, f., ‘brain’ (E. dial. harns), to which is allied MidHG. hërsenier, ‘covering for the head worn under the helmet,’ proves the origin of OHG. hirni from *hirzni, *hirsní (OIc. hjarne from *hjarsne; comp. Hornisse). This OTeut. herzn-, hersn-, is most nearly related to Sans. çîršn-, ‘head’ (nom. çîrša), and the closely corresponding OIc. as ‘crown (of the head).’ It is also cognate with Gr. κρανίον, ‘skull,’ whence results the further connection with Gr. κάρα, κάρηνον, ‘head,’ Lat. cerebrum (from *ceresrum), ‘brain,’ Sans. çiras, ‘head’; a common Aryan stem, ker, kers, ‘head,’ to which Horn is also allied. Moreover, Gr. κέρνον, ‘a large earthen dish,’ might, according to the ​analogies mentioned under Kopf, be closely related to Hirn, ‘skull.’
Hirsch, m. (in Hess. and Alem. occurs a variant Hirß, whence the Alem. proper name Hirzel), ‘stag, hart,’ from MidHG. hirȥ, hirz, m., OHG. hiruȥ, hirȥ, hirz; the sch in Hirsch is from an older Hirß (comp. Hirse, herrschen, Arsch, birschen). Corresponding to Du. hert, n., AS. heorot, heort, m., E. hart, Scand. hjǫrtr; Teut. *herut-, from *herwut, *herwo-t, with a dental suffix, allied to Lat. cervu-s (t occurs as a suffix in names of animals in Teut.; comp. Gemse, Krebs, and Hornisse); the latter is usually connected with Gr. κεραός. ‘horned’ (allied to κέρας ; comp. Horn). Hence the stag in Lat. and Teut. may have been named from its antlers (the OTeut. languages naturally have a distinct word for the hornless female; see Hinde). A more prevalent term is Aryan eln-, in Gr. ἔλαφος, Armen. eln, Lith. élnis, OSlov. jelenĭ (also W. elain, ‘hind’.
Hirse, f. (older ModHG. and even yet MidG., Suab. Hirsche), ‘millet,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hirse, hirs, OHG. hirsi, hirso, m.; orig. a HG. word merely, which, however, in modern times has spread to the north (E. and Dan. hirse, Swed. hirs). Allied to Lat. cirrus, ‘a tuft (of hair, &c.)’?.
Hirte, m. (a strictly HG. form compared with the orig. LG. Herde), ‘herdsman, shepherd, pastor,’ from MidHG. hirte, OHG. hirti; comp. OLG. hirdi, AS. hyrde (and heorde, connected with heord, ‘herd’), ‘herdsman,’ still found in E. shepherd (sceâphyrde in AS.), OIc. hirðer, Goth. haírdeis, m., ‘herdsman’; derived by the addition of ja- from Teut. herdô-, ‘herd.’ Hence Hirte is orig. ‘he that belongs to the herd.’ Another derivative is exhibited by Du. and MidLG. herder, m., MidHG. hërtœ̂re, ‘herdsman,’ lit. ‘herder,’ whence Herder as a proper name. With this word Lith. kèrdżus, skèrdżus, ‘herdsman,’ is also connected?.
hissen, vb., ‘to hoist,’ ModHG. only, derived as a naut. term from the equiv. LG. hissen; comp. Du. hijschen, E. to hoist, Swed. hissa. Among which of the maritime Teutons this technical tern, the etymology of which is still obscure, originated is not known; see Helm (2); it also found its way into Rom. (Fr. hisser).
Hitte, f., LG. goat (Bav. Hette, Hettel, and without mutation Swiss and Suab. Hattel), a pet term for MidHG. hatele, ‘goat’; comp. the equiv. OIc. haðna as well as Hippe.
Hitze, f., ‘heat, ardour, passion,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hitze, OHG. hizza, f. (for *hitja, the Goth. form); comp. Du. hitte, hette, OIc. hite, m., ‘heat’; all formed by the weakest stage of gradation from the stem of the adj. heiß (Teut. root hī̆t, hait, ‘hot’). OHG. hizza was adopted by Rom. (comp. Ital. izza, ‘anger, indignation’).
Hobel (dial. Hofel), m., ‘plane,’ rom the equiv. MidHG. (rare) hobel, hovel, m.; comp. MidLG. hövel, Swed. hyfvel. ModIc. hefill, m., ‘plane,’ proves nothing for the wrongly assumed connection with heben. Its relation to OHG. hovar, AS. hofer, ‘hump, boss,’ is also dubious.
hoch, adj., ‘high, lofty, proud, dear,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hôch, OHG. hôh, adj.; a common Teut. adj. with the meaning ‘high’; comp. Goth. hauhs, OIc. hár (for hauhr), AS. heáh, E. high, Du. hoog, OSax. hôh; Teut. hauha-, from the uupermutated pre-Teut. káuko- (the weakest vowel stage of the stem is exhibited by the cognate Hügel). OTeut. possessed a mas. and neu. subst. formed from the adj. in the sense of ‘hill’ (type kaukó-s); comp. OIc. haugr (from which E. how in proper names was borrowed), MidHG. houc (-ges), to which such proper names as Donnershaugk are akin. Goth. hiuhma, m., ‘heap, crowd,’ seems also allied. In the non-Teut. languages it is rightly compared with Lith. kaukará, ‘hill, height,’ kaúkas, ‘boil’ (MidHG. hübel, m., ‘hill,’ is connected with Lith. kùpstas, ‘tump,’ as well as to OHG. hofar, AS. hofer, ‘hump’).
Hochzeit, f., ‘wedding,’ from MidHG. hôchzît (also hôchgezit), f. and n., ‘a great ecclesiastical or lay feast,’ then also ‘wedding feast.’
Hocke (1.), ‘shock (of corn), cock (of hay),’ first occurs in ModHG., perhaps from LG.; yet UpG. (Suab. and Tyrol.) hock, m., ‘cock.’ Perhaps allied to hoch and Haufe (root kuk); Lith. kúgis, ‘cock,’ points, however, to a different root. In West Teut. a cognate term with a prefix s appears — MidHG. schocke, schoche, ‘cock,’ E. shock, and the equiv. MidE. schokke. With regard to the prefix s comp. Stier, Drossel, and links.
Hocke (2.), m., ‘huckster,’ MidHG. hucke, m.; MidG. hoke, with a long vowel (hence HG. Höfer, Höferei, &c.), Du. hok, ‘booth’?. Comp. MidDu. heukster, MidE. ​huckstere, E. huckster; probably akin to hocken, ‘to squat.’
hocken, vb., ‘to crouch, squat,’ first recorded in ModHG.; it is, however, an archaic word, as is shown by the prevalence of the root hū̆k, hukk; comp. MidHG. hûchen, ‘to duck, crouch,’ OIc. húka (with a str. partic. hokenn), ‘to crouch,’ Du. huiken. OIc. hokra, ‘to crawl,’ is probably not connected with this word, but with hinken.
Höcker, m., ‘hump,’ from MidHG. hocker, hogger, hoger, m., ‘hump, humpback’; a subst. peculiar to HG., formed from an adj. hogga-, ‘hump-backed,’ and based on OHG. hovar, MidHG. hover, ‘humpback,’ AS. hofer (comp. Lith. kuprà, f., ‘humpback, hump’); hogga- represents hubga, Sans. kubja (for kubjha?), ‘humpbacked’; comp. Gr. κυφός, ‘bent, bowed, stooping,’ for κυφφό-ς, kubghás?.
Hode, f., ‘testicle,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hode, OHG. hodo, n.; comp. MidDu. hode, and in OFris. hotha, ‘testicle.’ Of obscure origin; perhaps allied to Lat. côleus, ‘scrotum,’ if it stands for *côtleus?.
Hof, m., ‘yard, courtyard, manor, court,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. hof (hoves), m.; comp. OSax. and Du. hof, m., AS. hof, n. (obsolete at the end of the AS. period); in West Teut. ‘courtyard, farm, garden (thus in Du. and OHG.), (prince's) palace,’ AS. also ‘circle, district, globe.’ OIc. hof, n. (the same gender as in AS.), ‘temple with a roof,’ later also (under G. influence) ‘palace, courtyard.’ Goth. *hufa-, m. and n., is curiously wanting. Since the cognates are based upon pre-Teut. kúpo, they cannot be allied to Gr. κῆπος, ‘garden,’ Lat. campus.
Hoffart, f., ‘haughtiness, arrogance,’ from MidHG. hôchvart, f., ‘living in high style, magnanimity, splendour, magnificence, haughtiness’; from hôch and vart; MidHG. varn, ‘to live,’ as in Wohlfahrt.
hoffen, vb., from equiv. MidHG. (espec. MidG.), hoffen, ‘to hope,’ which is not yet used, however, by the classicists of the MidHG. period (they employ the term gedingen, wk. vb., with which gedinge, ‘hope,’ is connected; OHG. gidingen and gidingo); it is also unknown to OHG. In OLG., on the other hand, a corresponding tô-hopa, ‘hope,’ is found. The vb. appears earliest in E.; AS. tôhopa, ‘hope,’ AS. hopian, equiv. to E. to hope. At a later period Du. hopen and MidLG. hopen occur. Not until the latter half of the 13th cent. does MidHG. hoffen become more prevalent, after its solitary occurrence since 1150 A.D. It is usually considered as a LG. loan-word. For the early history of the word the corresponding abstract AS. hyht, ‘hope,’ is significant, since it shows that Teut. hopôn represents *huqôn (Aryan root kug). Its connection with Lat. cupio is scarcely possible.
hofieren, vb., ‘to court, flatter,’ from MidHG. hovieren, ‘to make a display, serve, pay court to, be courteous, serenade’; from G. Hof, with a Rom. suffix.
höfisch, adj., ‘courtly, flattering, fawning,’ from MidHG. hövesch, adj., ‘courtly, accomplished’; allied to Hof.
Höhe, f., ‘height, summit, elevation,’ from MidHG. hœhe, OHG. hôhî, f.; comp. Goth. hauhei, f., ‘height.’
hohl, adj., ‘hollow, concave,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. hol, adj.; comp. Du. hol, ‘hollow,’ AS. hol, OIc. holr, adj., ‘hollow’; E. hole is an adj. used as a subst., so too AS., OHG., and MidHG. hol, ‘cave.’ The relation of these cognates, which point to Goth. *hula-, ‘hollow,’ to the equiv. AS. holh, E. hollow, has not been explained. The word is usually connected with the root hel (in hehlen), ‘to conceal by covering’; Goth. hulundi, f., lit. the hiding place, ‘cave.’
Höhle, f., ‘cavity, cave, burrow,’ from MidHG. hüle, OHG. holî, f., ‘excavation, cave’; allied to hohl.
Hohn, m., ‘scorn, scoffing,’ from MidHG. (very rare), hôn, m., OHG. (very rare), hôna, f., ‘scorn, mockery, ignominy’; a fem. subst. formed from an old adj., OHG. *hôn, represented by hôni, ‘despised, ignominious, base,’ Goth. hauns, ‘base,’ AS. heán (obsolete in the beginning of the MidE. period), ‘base, miserable, ignominious.’ With this is connected the vb. höhnen, from MidHG. hœnen, OHG. hônen, wk. vb., ‘to abuse’; comp. Goth. haunjan, ‘to degrade,’ to which hauneins, ‘humility,’ is allied; AS. hŷnan, ‘to degrade, humble’ (from the OHG. vb. Fr. honnir, ‘to cover with disgrace,’ and honte, ‘disgrace,’ are derived). It corresponds in the non-Teut. language to Lett. kauns, ‘shame, ignominy, disgrace,’ Lith. kuveti-s, ‘to be ashamed’; hence Goth. hauns. ‘humble, base,’ can hardly have originated in the sensuous meaning ‘base.’
Höker, see Hocke.
​ Hokuspokus, m., ‘hocus-pocus,’ ModHG. only. It became current in England, where a book on conjuring, with the title ‘Hocus Pocus junior,’ appeared in 1634 A.D. The early history of this apparently fantastic and jocose expression is still obscure; its connection with the phrase used in the celebration of mass, ‘hoc enim est corpus meum,’ cannot be established.
hold, adj., ‘favourable, gracious, charming, lovely,’ from MidHG. holt (gen. holdes), OHG. hold, adj., ‘gracious, condescending, favourable, faithful’; Goth. hulþs, ‘gracious,’ OIc. hollr, ‘gracious, faithful, healthy,’ AS. and OSax. hold. The common Teut. adj. originally denoted the relation of the feudal lord and his retainers (‘condescending, gracious,’ on the one side, ‘faithful, devoted,’ on the other); comp. MidHG. holde, m., ‘vassal.’ The idea expressed by hold was also current in the religious sphere — Goth. unhulþôns, f., lit. ‘fiends, devils,’ OHG. holdo, ‘genius,’ MidHG. die guoten holden, ‘penates.’ Hold is usually connected with an OTeut. root hal, ‘to bow,’ to which OHG. hald, ‘inclined,’ is allied; see Halde. It has also been referred to hal-ten on the supposition that the dental is derivative; hold, adj., ‘guarded, nursed’?. From the phonetic point of view there is no important objection to either of these derivations.
Holder, UpG., the same as Holunder.
holen, vb., to fetch,’ from MidHG. holn (variant haln), vb., OHG. holôn (halôn), ‘to call, invite, lead or fetch (hither).’ Comp. OSax. halôn, OFris. halia, Du. halen, ‘to fetch’; AS. geholian and *gehalian, E. to hale. The Teut. root hal, hol, corresponds to Lat. calâre, ‘to convoke,’ Gr. καλεῖν. Comp. further Hall, hell, which probably belong also to the same root.
Holfter, Hulfter (rarely Halfter), f., ‘holster,’ in which sense it is ModHG. only; MidHG. hulfter, ‘quiver,’ a derivative of hulft, ‘sheath, covering, case’ (OHG. huluft). These cognates are often wrongly connected with Goth. hulistr, n., ‘sheath, covering,’ which is said to be supported by the MidHG. variant huls, ‘sheath, covering,’ Du. holster and its equiv. E. holster. By such an assumption the f of the OHG., MidHG., and ModHG. form still remains obscure. It is more probably allied to forms with f, such as Goth. hwilftrjôs, ‘coffin.’ It is possible, of course, that there has been a confusion with the words from the stem hul (Goth. hulistr, ‘sheath, covering’).
Holk, m., ‘large, heavy ship,’ from MidHG. holche, OHG. hoicho, transport ship; comp. LG. holk, Du. hulk, ‘transport ship,’ E. hulk. This word, like other nautical terms (see Helm), appears earliest in E., in which hulc, ‘liburna,’ is found in the 9th cent. MidLat. holcas is scarcely derived from ὁλκάς?. It is true that some etymologists also ascribe other Teut. naval terns to a Gr. origin. Comp. Barke.
Hölle, f., ‘hell,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hęlle, OHG. hęlla, f., from hallja; comp. Goth. halja, AS. and E. hell, OSax. hęlla; a common Teut. term applied by Christianity to ‘hades, infernum’; the Scand. hel shows that the earlier word upon which it is based was also used in prehistoric times for a heathen ‘infernum.’ Comp. also OIc. Hel, the goddess of the dead. It was possible for Christianity to adopt the old heathen word in all the Teut. languages; in this case it is quite unnecessary to assume the diffusion of a Goth. or other term (comp. Heide). It is usually connected with the root hel, hal, ‘to cover for concealment,’ hence Hölle, ‘the hiding-place.’ See hehlen, Hülle.
Holm, m., ‘holm,’ first occurs in ModHG.; a LG. word; comp. OSax., AS., and E. holm (AS. ‘sea, lake,’ OSax. ‘hill’), OIc. holmr, ‘small island in a bay or river.’ Apart from the divergent sense in AS., the words (whence Russ. cholmŭ, ‘hill,’ from Slav. *chŭlmŭ, is borrowed) are related to the cognates of E. hill (allied to Lat. collis, culmen). See Halde.
holpern, vb., ‘to jolt,’ ModHG. only (Alem. hülpen), for which in late MidHG. holpeln once occurs. Of imitative origin.
Holunder, m., from the equiv. MidHG. holunder, holder, OHG. holantar, holuntar, m., ‘elder’; for OHG. -tar as a suffix see Wachholder, Maßholder. Its relation to the equiv. AS. ellen, E. elder, is dubious. It is most closely allied to the equiv. Russ. kalína.
Holz, n., ‘wood, timber,’ from MidHG. and OHG. holz, n., ‘forest, thicket, timber.’ In the remaining dialects the meaning ‘forest’ preponderates. Comp. OIc. holt, n., ‘forest, thicket,’ so too AS. and MidE. holt, n., (wanting in E.), but Du. hout, ‘thicket, wood (as material).’ Teut. type hultos, from pre-Teut. kldos; comp. OSlov. (with a different stage of gradation) klada, f., ‘beam, ​wood,’ Gr. κλάδο-ς, m., ‘twig,’ OIr. caill, coill, ‘forest’ (with ll from Id).
Honig, m., ‘honey,’ from MidHG. honec (gen. -ges, variant hünic), OHG. honag, honang, n.; comp. OSax. honeg, Du. honig, AS. huneg, n., E. honey, OIc. hunang, n.; a common Teut. word, wanting only in Goth., in which an older term, miliþ (Gr. μελιτ-, Lat. mel, under Mehltau), is used. The origin is not certain; it has been referred to Gr. κόνις, ‘dust’; Honig, ‘granular’?.
Hopfen, m., ‘hops,’ from MidHG. hopfe, late OHG. hopfo, m.; comp. MidLG. and Du. hoppe, MidE. hoppe, E. hop; MidLat. hupa (for huppa?). The origin of the cognates is obscure; the term may be borrowed, but there is no proof of this. The assumed relation to OHG. hiufo, OSax. hiopo, AS. heópe, ‘brier,’ is not satisfactory, since the latter cannot be assigned to a general sense, ‘climbing plant.’ Nor is it probable that Hopfen is connected with hüpfen. Scand. has humall, m., Sw. and Dan. hamle, formed from MidLat. humlo, humulus (whence Fr. houblon?). — Hopsen — hopsen, see hüpfen.
horchen, vb., ‘to hearken, listen to, obey,’ properly MidG. (in UpG. losen, hören), MidHG. hō̆rchen, late OHG. hôrechen, from *hôrahhôn; comp. AS. *heárcian, E. to hark, OFris. hêrkia; a common West Teut. derivative of hören. Goth. *hauzaqôn? (whence in AS. hŷrcnian, E. to hearken). Comp. E. to talk, connected with to tell, to lurk with to lower (see lauern), to walk, related to wallen.
Horde (1.), f., ‘horde,’ ModHG. only (from the middle of the 16th cent.); comp. Fr. and E. horde, Ital. orda; “a word originating in Asia.” From Tartar horda, ‘camp,’ Pers. ordu, ‘army, camp.’
Horde (2.), f., ‘frames of wickerwork and the space enclosed by them,’ from MidHG. horde (MidG.), ‘enclosure, district;’ comp. Du. horde, ‘wickerwork, hurdle,’ Allied to Hürde.
hören, vb., ‘to hear, give ear to, listen,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hœren, OHG. hôren; common Teut. hauzjan, ‘to hear’; comp. Goth. hœusjan, OIc. heyra, AS. hŷran, hêran, E. to hear, Du. hooren, OLG. hôrian (comp. also the derivative horchen); Teut. root hauz, from pre-Teut. kous, to which is allied Gr. ἀκούω (for *α-κούσjω?; Hesychius, κοᾷ ἀκούει). - The latter is probably connected with the Aryan stem of Ohr (cus), just as Lat. audire stands for *aus-dire (comp. auscultare); in that case the Teut. guttural h, Gr. ἀκ, would be the remnant of a prefix. A more widely diffused stem for hören is OTeut. hlus and klu, from Pre-Teut. klus and klu, which, however, is nearly obsolete in Teut.; comp. laut, lauschen, laustern. Der. gehorsam, from MidHG. and OHG. gehôrsam (AS. gehŷrsum), ‘obedient.’
Horn, n., ‘horn, peak,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. horn, n.; comp. Goth. haúrn, OIc. horn, AS. and E. horn, OFris. horn, Du. horen; a common Teut. word for ‘horn,’ cognate with Lat. cornu, and Ir., W., and Corn. corn (κάρνον την σάλπιγγα Τάλατας, Hesychius); allied to Gr. κέρ-ας, ‘horn,’ with a different suffix (comp. also Teut. Hirsch, lit. ‘horned animal’), as well as the equiv. Sans. çrñ-ga. See further respecting the Aryan root ker under Hirn. Comp. Hahnrei.
Hornisse, f., ‘hornet,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hôrniȥ, hórnū̆ȥ (early ModHG., also Hornauß), OHG. hórnaȥ, hórnū̆ȥ, m.; comp. AS. hyrnet, E. hornet; probably not a derivative of Horn. The Slav. and Lat. words for ‘hornet’ point rather to a Goth. *haurznuts, based upon a root horz, Aryan kṛs (Ind. *çṛs); Lat. crâbro, ‘hornet,’ for *crâsro, OSlov. srŭšenĭ, Lith. szirszone, ‘hornet.’ They point to an old Aryan root kṛs, ‘hornet’; with this comp. OSlov. srŭša, Lith. szirszu̇, ‘wasp.’ A trace of this medial s is retained in Du. horzel, ‘hornet’ (Goth. *haursuls), to which horzelen, ‘to hum,’ is allied.
Hornung, m., ‘February,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. hornunc(g); the termination -ung is patronymic; February is regarded as the offspring of January, which in earlier ModHG. (dial.) is designated by großer Horn, ‘great horn,’ in contrast with February, kleiner Horn, ‘little horn.’ Comp. AS. and OIc. hornung, ‘bastard’?.
Horst, m., ‘shrubbery, eyrie,’ from MidHG. hurst, (MidG.) horst, OHG. hurst, horst, f., ‘shrubbery, copse, thicket’; MidE. hurst, ‘hill, copse,’ E. hurst; of obscure origin.
Hort, m. (like Halle, Heim, and Gau, revived in the last cent., after being long forgotten, by the study of MidHG.), from the equiv. MidHG. hort, m., OHG. hort, n., ‘hoard’; OSax. hord (horth), n., ‘treasure,’ also ‘hidden, innermost room,’ AS. hord, n. and m., ‘treasure, store,’ E. hoard; Goth. huzd, ‘treasure,’ OIc. hodd, n., hoddr, m., ‘treasure.’ Teut. hozda-, from ​Teut. kuzdhó- for kudhto-, partic. ‘that which is hidden’ (comp. Gr. κεύθω, see also Hütte, Haus), Gr. κύσθος, any ‘hollow,’ espec. ‘pudenda muliebria.’
Hose, f., ‘hose, stocking, breeches,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hose, OHG. hosa, f.; comp. AS. hosu, E. hose, and the equiv. OIc. hosa; Goth. *hŭsô is by chance not recorded. ‘Hose’ was originally (in OHG., MidHG., AS., and OIc.) applied to a covering for the legs reaching from the thigh, or even from the knee only, and often also to stockings and gaiters. Considering the numerous correspondences in Kelt. and Rom. the Teut. term is certainly original; the Teut. words found their way into Kelt. (Corn. hos, ‘ocrea’), and Rom. (OFr. hose). The connection of Hose with OSlov. košulja, f., ‘shirt,’ is dubious.
Hub, m., ‘heaving, lift, impetus,’ ModHG. only, allied to heben.
Hube, see Hufe.
Hübel, m., ‘hillock,’ from MidHG. hübel, m. (comp. Du. heuvel), ‘hill’; perhaps cognate with Lith. kùpstas, ‘lump,’ or the same as MidHG. and UpG. bühel (see under biegen).
hübsch, adj., ‘pretty, handsome,’ from MidHG. hübesch, hübsch, adj., prop. ‘courtly,’ then also ‘beautiful.’ OHG. *hubisc is connected by a grammatical change with hof.
Huf, m., from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. huof (gen. huoves), m., ‘hoof’; comp. OSax. hôf, m., AS. hôf, E. hoof, Du. hoef, OIc. hófr. Goth. *hofs, m., ‘hoof,’ is by chance not recorded. Teut. hôfa-, from pre-Teut. *kôpo-, to which is allied OSlov. kopyto, n., ‘hoof’ (akin to kopati, ‘to dig’); others derive hôfa- from pre-Teut. kôpho- and compare it with OInd. çaphá, Zend saƒa, ‘hoof.’ Compared with both these explanations, the derivation of Huf from heben must be rejected.
Hufe (LG. form), Hube (UpG. form), f., from the equiv. MidHG. huobe, OHG. huoba, f., ‘hide of land’ (about 30 acres), so still in OSax. hóƀa, f. (in E. an independent word is found from the earliest period — AS. hŷd, E. hide). Cognate with Gr. κῆπος, ‘garden’; the common type is kâpos.
Hüfte, f., from the equiv. MidHG. huf (plur. hüffe), OHG. huf (plur. huffi), f., ‘hip’; comp. Goth. hŭps (nom. plur. hŭpeis), m., AS. hype (hop-), m. and f., E. hip, and the equiv. Du. heup, f.; Teut. hŭpi-, from pre-Teut. kŭbi; allied to Gr. κύβος, m., ‘hollow near the hips’?. Others comp. Lith. kùmpis, ‘spring or hand of pork’ (allied to Lith kùmpas, ‘crooked’).
Hüfthorn, see Hifthorn.
Hügel, m., ‘hill, knoll,’ ModHG. only, introduced by Luther from MidG.: into the written language; in MidHG. (UpG.), bühel, hübel, were used, which, however, must be separated etymologically from Hügel; see Hübel. Hügel (Goth. *hugils), with dimin. suffix, is related by gradation to OHG. howg, MidHG. houc (-ges), ‘hill,’ which are explained under hoch.
Huhn, n., ‘fowl,’ from MidHG. and OHG. huon (plur. -ir, MidHG. hüener), n.; comp. OSax. hôn, Du. hoen; unknown to E.; OIc. plur. only, hœns (AS. hêns-?), n., ‘fowls.’ Huhn compared with the related words Hahn and Henne is prop. of common gender, and may in OHG. be used instead of Hahn. The Goth. term may have been *hôn or *hônis. Comp. Hahn.
Huld, f., ‘grace, favour, kindness,’ from MidHG. hulde, f., OHG. huldi, OSax. huldî, f.; abstract of hold.
Hülfe, see Hilfe.
Hülle, f., ‘envelop, covering, sheath,’ from MidHG. hülle, OHG. hulla (Goth. *hulja), f., ‘cloak, kerchief, covering’; allied to the root hel, ‘to cover for concealment,’ in hehlen. — ModHG. in Hülle und Fülle meant orig. ‘in food and clothing’; hence Hülle und Fülle was used to denote all the necessaries of life, finally the idea of superfluity was combined with the phrase.
Hülse, f., ‘shell, husk,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hülse, hülsche, OHG. hulsa, for *hulisa (Goth. *hulisi or *huluzi), f., ‘shell’; from the root hél, hul (see hehlen, Hülle), like Goth. jukuzi, f., ‘yoke,’ or aqizi, f., ‘axe’ (see Axt), in AS. without the suffix s, hulu, ‘pod, husk.’
Hulst, m., ‘holly,’ from the equiv. MidHG. huls (comp. Axt, from MidHG. ackes), OHG. huls, hulis, m.; from G., Fr. houx is derived. Comp. E. holly, AS. holegn, E. hulver, Kelt. kelen, ‘holly.’
Hummel, f., ‘humble-bee, drone,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hummel, humbel, OHG. humbal, m.; comp. Du. hommel, ‘drone,’ MidE. humbel-bee, E. humble-bee (AS. *humbol-beó). The origin of the cognates is obscure; the derivation from MidHG. hummen, ‘to hum,’ is not satisfactory, since the soft labial in OHG. humbal must be archaic and original.
​ Hummer, m., ‘lobster,’ ModHG. only, from the equiv. LG. (Dan. and Swed.) hummer; the final source is OIc. humarr, m., ‘lobster’; comp. Gr. κάμαρος, κάμμαρος, ‘a kind of crab,’ although the occurrence of the same names of fishes in several Aryan languages is usually very rare. In E. a different word is used — AS. loppestre, f., E. lobster.
Humpe, f., Humpen, m., ‘drinking-cup, bumper, bowl,’ ModHG. only (from the 17th cent.); it seems, however, to be primitive, since correspondences are found in the Aryan languages, Sans. kumbha, m., ‘pot, urn,’ Zend χumba (the initial h of the ModHG. word probably originated like the h in haben, root khabh; yet comp. also Gr. κύμβος, m., ‘vessel, cup’). However remarkable it may seem that a primit. word like Humpen should have been unrecorded in the entire Teut. group until the 17th cent., yet similar examples of such a phenomenon may be adduced; comp. Schwire, ‘stake,’ in ModHG. dial. only, which, like AS. swër, ‘pillar,’ corresponds to Sans. sváru-s, ‘sacrificial stake.’ In this case, however, the supposition that the word has been borrowed is more probable, because Teut. has for the most part adopted foreign terms for drinking vessels (comp. Krug, Krause, Kruke, Kelch); the assumption, on account of Zend χumba, that the word was borrowed at an early period from a Pers. dial. is alluring (as in the case of Pfad).
humpeln, humpen, vb., ‘to hobble’; ModHG. only, from LG.?. Perhaps allied to hinken.
Hund, m., ‘dog, hound,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hunt(d), OHG. hunt(t), m.; a common Teut. word hunda-, ‘dog’; comp. Goth. hunds, OIc. hundr, AS. hund, E. hound (for the chase only, in other cases dog, AS. docge), Du. hond, LG. hund. If the second syllable in hun-da- is a derivative (comp. Hinde), the Teut. word corresponds to Aryan kun-, ‘dog’; comp. Gr. κύων (gen. κυν-ὁς), Sans. çvã (gen. çún-as), Lat. canis, Lith. szu̇ (stem szun-), OIr. cú. Thus the Aryans in their primit. home were already acquainted with the dog as distinct from the wolf. In Teut. it might also appear as if the word were connected with an old str. vb. hinþan, ‘to catch’ (in Goth.); in popular etymology Hund might he regarded as the ‘captor, hunter, taker of prey.’ The phrase auf den Hund kommen, ‘to fall into poverty, go to the dogs,’ seems to be based upon the OTeut. expression in dice-playing (see gefallen, Sau, and also Daus); probably Hund, like Lat. canis and Gr. κύων, denoted an unlucky throw; in Sans. the professional gambler is called ‘dog-slayer’ (çvaghnin). The probable antiquity of dice-playing is attested by Tacitus' account of the Teutons and by the songs of the Vedas.
Hundert, n., ‘hundred,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and late OHG. hundert, n.; comp. OSax. hunderod, AS. and E. hundred, and the equiv. OIc. hundrað, n.; Goth. *hundaraþ (gen. -dis) is wanting; the word is evidently a compound, the second part of which is connected with Goth. raþjan, ‘to count’ (comp. Rede). The first component was used alone for ‘hundred’; comp. Goth. twa hunda, 200, þrija hunda, 300, &c.; OHG. zwei hunt, driu hunt, &c., AS. tâ hund, þreo hund, 200, 300. This simple term is an Aryan form, Teut. hunda-, from pre-Teut. kmtó-; comp. Lat. centum, Gr. ἑκατόν, Sans. çatám, Zend sata, Lith. szimtas (m is changed in Teut. into n before d; see Rand); OSlov. sŭto is probably derived from Iran. sata. But while the word, judging from the correspondences in these language, denoted our decimal ‘hundred’ in primit. Aryan, we find that it is used in OTeut. for 120, the so-called duodecimal hundred. In OIc. hundraþ in the pre-Christian period denoted only 120, a distinction being made at a later period between tólfrœtt hundraþ, 120, and tírœtt hundraþ, 100; even at the present time hundraþ denotes the duodecimal hundred in Iceland. In Goth. we have only indirect evidence of the combination of the decimal and duodecimal numeration, taíhuntê-hund, ‘ten times ten,’ but twa hunda, 200 (OIc. tíu-tiger, ‘ten tens, 100’). So too in OHG. and AS.; comp. OHG. zëhanzo, ‘100,’ prop. ‘ten tens,’ and also einhunt, AS. teóntig, but tû hund. In other cases also the co-existence of the duodecimal and decimal system may be seen in OTeut. In G. the word for 120 became obsolete at an early period, but its existence may be inferred from the fact that the old word hund in OHG. and MidHG. was used only for several hundreds, while hundred was expressed almost entirely by zëhanzo and zëhenzig.
Hundsfott, m., first occurs in early ModHG., lit. “‘cunnus canis.’ Borrowed from the shamelessness of the ‘proud’ bitch.”
​ Hüne (a LG. form, in earlier ModHG. Heune), m., from the equiv. MidHG. híune, m., ‘giant,’ in which sense it is found in the 13th cent. This word, phonetically identical with MidHG. Hiune, OHG. Hun, ‘Hun, Hungarian,’ existed in Germany in OTeut. names of persons even before the appearance of the Huns. Some etymologists assume, with little probability, that the primit. Teut. Hûno- was the name of the aborigines of Germany. Undoubtedly the North G. Hüne points rather to a Teut. tribe (Sigfrid in the Eddas is called enn hunske). Numerous compound names of places with Hun (Haun) are found in North Germany (Hauna, Hünfeld). Note the names of persons such as Humboldt (OHG. Hûnbolt).
Hunger, m., ‘hunger, famine,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hunger, OHG. hungar, m.; comp. OSax. hungar, AS. hungor, m., E. hunger, OIc. hungr, m.; Goth. *huggrus is wanting (it is indicated by huggrjan, ‘to hunger’), but the term hûhrus (for huñhrus, hunhrus), m., occurs; common Teut. hunhru-, hungru-, ‘hunger,’ from pre-Teut. knkru-?. The Gr. gloss, κέγκεϊ πεινᾷ, points to an Aryan root, kenk, konk; comp. also Lith. kankà, ‘torment,’ with OIc. há, vb., ‘to torment, pain’ (from Teut. *hanhón).
huntzen, vb., ‘to abuse,’ ModHG. only, probably ‘to call one a dog’ (note the formation of ertzen, sietzen, dutzen); then probably also ‘to treat anyone like a dog.’
hüpfen, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. hüpfen, hupfen, ‘to hop’; OHG. *hupfen is by chance not recorded; so too AS. *hyppan, whence MidE. hyppen. E. to hip. Akin also to ModHG. and MidHG. hopfen, AS. hoppian, E. to hop, OIc. hoppa; Goth. *hupôn, *huppjan, are wanting. UpG. dialects besides hoppen, from OHG. *hoppôn (OTeut. *hubbôn). AS. hoppettan, ‘to hop,’ MidHG. *hopfzen, ModHG. hopsen, are differently formed.
Hürde, f., ‘hurdle,’ from MidHG. hurt, plur. hürte and hürde, f., ‘hurdle, wickerwork,’ OHG. hurt, plur. hurdi, f.; comp. Goth. haúrds, f., ‘door,’ OIc. hurð, f., ‘door’ (this sense is also found in MidHG.), likewise ‘wickerwork, hurdle, lid’; AS. *hyrd, MidE. hyrde, AS. hyrdel, E. hurdle. The meaning ‘door’ is only a development of the general sense ‘wickerwork’'; pre-Tent. krti-. Comp. Lat. crâtes, Gr. κυρτία, ‘wickerwork,’ κύρτη, κύρτος, ‘creel, cage,’ κάρταλος, ‘basket’; allied to the Sans. root kṛt, ‘to spin,’ cṛt, ‘to connect, combine.’
Hure, f., ‘whore,’ from MidHG. huore, OHG. huora, huorra (from *hôrjô, Goth.?), f.; comp. AS. and MidE. hôre, E. whore, with an excrescent w), Du. hoer, OIc. hóra, f., ‘whore’; in Goth. hôrs, m., is ‘whoremonger’ (but kalki, f., ‘whore’). To these are allied OHG. huor, n., ‘adultery, fornication,’ OIc. hôr, AS. hôr, n.; probably also MidHG. herge, f., ‘whore’ (Goth. *harjô)?. The Teut. root hôr- is related to Lat. carus, ‘dear,’ OIr. cara, ‘friend,’ and caraim, ‘I love.’ Its connection with Harn is less probable, although Gr. μοιχός, ‘adulterer.’ is formed from ὀμειχεῖν, ‘mingere.’ In Slav.-Lith., too, words with cognate sounds are found in the sense of ‘whore.’ OSlov. kurŭva, f. (Lith. kùrva, f.), is perhaps derived from the Teut. word.
hurra, interj., ‘hurrah!’ from MidHG. hurrâ, interj. (allied to MidHG. hurren, ‘to move quickly’).
hurtig, adj., ‘quick, prompt, speedy,’ from MidHG. hurtec, hurteclîch, ‘quick,’ prop. ‘dashing violently against’; Mid. hurt, m. and f., ‘coming into violent collision, impact,’ is said to be borrowed from Fr. heurt (Ital. urto), ‘thrust,’ which again is derived from Kelt. hwrdh, ‘thrust.’ Yet hurtig may be regarded as a genuine Teut. word, allied to OHG. rado, AS. hrœd, ‘quick,’ with which OIc. horskr, ‘quick,’ is also connected.
Husar, m., ‘hussar,’ ModHG. only (from the 16th cent.); final source Hungarian huszár.
husch, interj., ‘hush! quick!’ from MidHG. husch (but used only as an interj. to express a feeling of cold); hence ModHG. huschen.
Husten, m., ‘cough,’ from the equiv. MidHG. huoste, OHG. huosto, m., from an earlier *hwôsto with the loss of the w (Up. Alsat. and Swiss wuešte with the w retained and the h before it suppressed); comp. Du. hoest, AS. hwôsta, m., E. (dial.) whoost, Scand. hóste (for *hvóste), m., ‘cough.’ The verbal stem hwôs was retained in the AS. str. vb. (pret. hweós), beside which a wk. vb. hwêsan, E. wheeze, occurs. Teut. root hwôs (Goth. *hwôs-ta), from pre-Teut. kwôs, kâs, corresponds to the Sans. root kâs, ‘to cough,’ Lith. kósiu (kóseli), ‘to cough,’ OSlov. kašĭlĭ, m., ‘cough.’
Hut (1), m., ‘hat,’ from MidHG. and OHG. huot (gen. huotes), m., ‘hat, cap, ​helmet’; comp. Du. hoed, AS. hôd, E. hood. It is most closely allied to AS. hœtt, E. hat, and the equiv. OIc. hǫttr; in Goth. both *hôþs and *hattus are wanting. It is probably connected more remotely with Lith. kǔdas, ‘tuft (of hair, &c.), crest of a cock,’ and perhaps also with the Teut. root had, hôd, in the two following words.
Hut (2.), f., ‘heed, care, guard,’ from MidHG. huot, huote, f., OHG. huota, f., ‘oversight and foresight as a preventive against harm, care, guard’; Du. hoede, ‘foresight, protection.’ To this is allied
hüten, vb., ‘to heed, take care,’ from MidHG. hüeten, OHG. huoten, ‘to watch, take care’; Goth. hôdjan is wanting, AS. hêdan, E. to heed (also as a subst.), Du. hoeden, OSax. hôdian. Teut. root hôd, from the Aryan kā̆dh (kō̆dh?) or kā̆t; perhaps allied to Lat. cassis (for *cat-is), ‘helmet,’ also to MidHG. huot, ‘helmet,’ E. hat. See Hut (1).
Hütte, f., ‘cottage, hut, foundry, tent,’ from MidHG. hütte, OHG. hutta, f., ‘hut, tent’; a specifically HG. word which found its way into Du., E., and Rom.; comp. Du. hut, E. hut, Fr. hutte, ‘hut’ In Goth. perhaps *huþja, and related to AS. hŷdan, E. to hide (from *hûdjan), Teut. root hū̆d, from Aryan kū̆th, allied to Gr. κεὐθω?. Comp. Haus.
Hulzel, f., ‘dried pear cuttings,’ from MidHG. hutzel, hützel, f., ‘dried pear’; probably an intensive form of Haut?.