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

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K.
Kabel, neuter and feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German kabel, feminine and neuter, ‘cable’; the latter borrowed, through the medium of Dutch and Low German, from French câble, masculine, ‘rope, cable’ (Middle Latin capulum); English cable and Scandinavian kabill, from the same source.
Kabliau, Kabeljau, masculine, ‘cod-fish,’ first occurs in early Modern High German, recorded in Low German from the 15th century and adopted by the literary language; from Dutch kabeljaauw; Swedish kabeljo, Danish kabeljau, English cabliau; also, with a curious transposition of consonants (see Essig, kitzeln, Kitze), Dutch bakeljauw, which is based upon Basque baccallaóa. The Basques were the first cod-fishers (especially on the coast of Newfoundland, the chief fishing-place). See Labberdan.
Kabuse, feminine, ‘small hut, partition, caboose,’ Modern High German only, from Middle Low German kabhûse; compare English caboose, which was probably introduced as a naval term into Dutch, kabuys, and into French, cambuse. The stem of the English word is probably the same as in English cabin, and hence is Keltic; English cabin and the cognate French cabane, cabinet, are based upon Welsh kaban. The cognates also suggest Modern High German Käster, ‘small chamber,’ and Old High German chafterî, ‘beehive,’ the origin of which is obscure.
Kachel, feminine, ‘earthen vessel, stove-tile,’ from Middle High German kachel, kachele, feminine, ‘earthen vessel, earthenware, stove-tile, lid of a pot,’ Old High German chahhala. In English the word became obsolete at an early period. In Dutch, kachel, borrowed from High German, is still current (in Middle Dutch kakele).
kacken, verb, ‘to cack, go to stool,’ early Modern High German only. Probably coined by schoolboys and students by affixing a German termination to Latin-Greek caccare (κακκᾶν; allied to κακός?. Compare Middle High German quât, ‘evil, bad, dirt’); the Old Teutonic words are scheißen and dialectic drißen. In Slavonic too there are terms similar in sound, Bohemian kakati, Polish kakác. The primitive kinship of the German word, however, with Greek, Latin, and Slavonic is inconceivable, because the initial k in the latter would appear as h in Teutonic.
Käfer, masculine, ‘beetle, chafer,’ from the equivalent. Middle High German këver, këfere, Old High German chëvar, chëvaro, masculine; compare Anglo-Saxon čeafor, English chafer, Dutch kever, masculine. The Gothic term was probably *kifra, or following Anglo-Saxon ceafor, *kafrus also (compare Low German kavel). The name, which has the same import in all the dialects at ​their different periods, signifies ‘gnawing animal’ (compare Middle High German kifen, kiffen, ‘to gnaw, chew,’ Middle High German kiffel under Kiefer), or ‘husk animal,’ from Old High German chëva, ‘husk,’ Middle High German kaf, English chaff (Anglo-Saxon čeaf).
Kaffer, ‘uneducated person,’ properly a student's term, from Arabic kâfîr, ‘unbeliever.’
Käfig, masculine and neuter, ‘cage, gaol,’ from Middle High German kęvje, masculine, feminine, and neuter, ‘cage (for wild animals and birds),’ also ‘prison’; the j of the Middle High German word became g (compare Ferge and Scherge). Old High German chęvia, feminine, is derived from Low Latin cávia, Latin cặvea, ‘birdcage’ (respecting High German f for Latin v, compare Pferd, Vers, and Verdikt), whence also Modern High German Kaue. Allied to the Romance words, Italian gabbia, gaggia, French cage (hence English cage), and Italian gabbiuolo, French geôle (English jail, gaol), ‘prison.’ Further, Bauer first obtained the meaning ‘cage’ in Middle High German.
Käfter, neuter, compare Kabuse; the meaning ‘little chamber’ is Modern High German only; in Old High German chafteri, ‘beehive,’ Suabian Kâft, ‘student's room’. Allied to Anglo-Saxon ceafortûn, ‘hall’.
kahl, adjective, from the equivalent Middle High German kal (genitive kalwer), ‘bald,’ Old High German chalo (genitive chalwêr, chalawêr); compare Dutch kaal, Anglo-Saxon calu, English callow. Probably borrowed from Latin calvus (Sanscrit khalvâta, ‘bald-headed’), whence French chauve, since Latin crispus and capillare have also been introduced into Teutonic; compare Anglo-Saxon cyrsp, English crisp, Old High German and Middle High German krisp, ‘curly,’ and Gothic kapillôn, ‘to crop one's hair.’ Probably the Teutons and the Romans were equally struck by each other's method of wearing the hair. Other etymologists are inclined to connect Teutonic kalwa- with Old Slovenian golŭ, ‘bare, naked.’
Kahm, Kahn, masculine, ‘mould on fermented liquids,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kâm (kân); compare Icelandic kám, neuter, ‘thin coating of dust, dirt,’ English coom, ‘soot, coal dust’ (with i mutation, English keam, keans); Gothic *kema-, *kemi-. The root ka- is inferred from Middle High German ka-del, masculine, ‘soot, dirt.’ Derivative ̣kahmig, adjective, ‘mouldy’ (of wine).
Kahn, masculine, ‘boat, skiff, wherry,’ Modern High German only (strictly unknown to Upper German and Rhenish, as in the case of Boot; in Upper German Nachen); from Low German kane, Dutch kaan; compare Old Icelandic kœ́na, feminine, ‘a kind of boat.’ Old Icelandic kane signifies ‘wooden vessel,’ whence the meaning ‘boat’ might be evolved according to the analogies adduced under Schiff; compare Danish kane, with a somewhat different sense ‘sleigh.’ Low German kane looks like a metathesis of Anglo-Saxon naca (compare fißeln and Ziege). From the Teutonic cognates, Old French cane, ‘ship, is derived, but hardly so Modern French canot, which is of American origin.
Kaiser, masculine, ‘emperor,’ from the equivalent Middle High German keiser, Old High German keisar; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon câsêre, Gothic kaisar. The ai of the Modern High German orthography originated in the Bavarian and Austrian chancery of Maximilian I., in which the Middle High German ei necessarily became ai (according to the lexicographer Helvig, A.D. 1620, Meissen Saxon Keiser was Bohemian-Bavarian Kayser). The ae of Latin Caesar, upon which the word is based, cannot be made responsible for the Modern High German ai. Moreover, the relation of Latin ai to Gothic-Teutonic ai is not explained. The Romans, it is true, used ae for ai in Teutonic words, compare Latin gaesum, under Ger; yet the use of Teutonic ê to represent ae in Latin Graecus (Gothic Krêks, Old High German Chriah, ‘Greek’) is opposed to this. At the same period as the adoption of the names Grieche and Römer (Gothic Rûmôneis), i.e., the beginning of our era, the Teutons must have borrowed the Latin term, connecting it chiefly with Caius Julius Cæsar (similarly the Slavs use the name Karl der Große of Charlemagne, in the sense of ‘king’; Old Slavonic kraljǐ, Russian korolǐ, whence Lithuanian karálius, ‘king’); yet not until the Roman emperors adopted the title Cæsar could this word, which probably existed previously in Teutonic, assume the meaning ‘emperor,’ while the Romance nations adhered to the Latin title imperator; compare French empereur. Old Slovenian césarǐ (in Russian contracted Car) is derived through a German medium (which also elucidates Middle English and Old Icelandic keiser) from Cæsar. Thus Kaiser is the earliest Latin word borrowed by Teutonic (see Hanf). For a Kelt loan-word meaning ‘king’ see under Reich.
Kajüte, feminine, ‘cabin,’ early Modern High German, from Low German kajüte, Dutch kajuit, French cajute. The origin of the group is obscure, but is hardly to be assigned to Teutonic.
Kalander, masculine, ‘weevil,’ from the equivalent Low German and Dutch kalander (compare French calandre).
Kalb, neuter, ‘calf,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kalp (b), Old High German chalb (plural chalbir), neuter; compare Anglo-Saxon cealf, English calf, Dutch kalf, Old Icelandic kalfr, masculine; Gothic has only a feminine kalbô (Old High German chalba, Middle High German kalbe), ‘heifer over a year old that has not calved.’ Middle High German kilbere, feminine, Old High German chilburra, feminine, ‘ewe lamb,’ is in a different stage of gradation; compare Anglo-Saxon cilforlamb, ‘ewe lamb,’ and Modern High German dialectic Kilber (Swiss), ‘young ram,’ (English dialectic ​chilver). In the non-Teutonic languages there is a series of words with the phonetic base glbh-, denoting ‘the young of animals.’ Compare Sanscrit gárbha, ‘covey,’ also ‘child, offspring’; in the sense of ‘mother's lap’ the Indian word suggests Greek δελφύς, ‘womb,’ and its derivative ἀδελφός, ‘brother’; compare also δέλφαξ, ‘pig, porker.’ To the a of the Teutonic word o in Greek δολφός ἡ μήτρα, ‘the womb,’ corresponds.
Kaldaunen, feminine plural, ‘intestines,’ from Middle High German and Middle Low German kaldûne; a Middle High German and Low German word (in Upper German Kutteln). It is based upon a Romance and Middle Latin caldûmen, a derivative of Latin calidus (caldus) ‘warm,’ meaning chiefly ‘the still reeking entrails of newly slaughtered animals’; compare. South-West French chaudin, Bologn. caldôm, ‘entrails.’ From East Romance (and German?) the word found its way also into Slavonic; compare Czech kaldoun, ‘entrails,’ Croat. kalduni, ‘lung.’
Kalender, masculine, ‘calendar,’ from Middle High German kalender (with the variant kalenḍenœre), masculine; the latter comes from Latin calendarium, but is accented like calendae.
kalfatern, verb, ‘to caulk a ship,’ from Dutch kalefateren; the latter is derived from French calfater.
Kalk, masculine, ‘lime,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kalc, kalkes, Old High German chalch, masculine. The Modern High German variant Kalch (occurring in Upper German and Middle German) is based upon Old High German chalh for chalah (hh). Allied to Anglo-Saxon čealc; but English chalk has assumed a divergent sense, just as Middle High German kalc means both ‘lime’ and ‘white-wash.’ The cognates are derived from the Latin accusative calcem (nominative calx), and were borrowed at a very early period, as is indicated by the initial k, or rather c of the High German and English words, for somewhat later loan-words such as Kreuz (from crucem) have z for Latin c; c remains as k in old loanwords such as Kaiser, Gothic lukarna, from Latin lucerna, Keller, from cellarium. The Teutons became acquainted through the Italians both with the name and thing about the same period as with Mauer and Ziegel (Tünche).
Kalm, masculine, ‘calm,’ of Low German origin; Low German kalm, English calm; based on the French calme.
Kalmank, Kalmang, masculine, from English calamanco, French calmande, feminine, all with the same meaning, ‘fine woollen stuff.’ Middle Latin calamancus may be derived from the East.
Kalmäuser, masculine, ‘moping fellow,’ simply Modern High German, of obscure origin; the second part of the compound is exactly the same as in Duckmäuser, which see.
kalt, adjective, ‘cold,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German kalt (genitive kaltes): corresponding to Anglo-Saxon ceald, cald, English cold, Old Icelandic kaldr, Gothic kalds,; an old participle formation corresponding to the Latin vbs. in -tus, Sanscrit ta-s (Gothic d from Aryan t), as in alt, laut, todt, traut, zart, &c. kal- as the root appears in a stronger stage of gradation in Modern High German kühl, and in a weaker stage in Old Icelandic kulde, ‘cold.’ In Old Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon the strong verb of which Modern High German kalt and Old Icelandic keldr are participles is retained; Scandinavian kala, ‘to freeze,’ Anglo-Saxon calan, ‘to freeze’; allied to Swiss χale, ‘to cool,’ and hence ‘curdle.’ Note Modern English chill from Anglo-Saxon čyle (from čęli, kali). The root is identical with that of Latin gelu, ‘frost,’ gelâre, ‘to congeal,’ gelidus, ‘cold.’
Kamel, neuter, ‘camel,’ from Latin camêlus; in Middle High German kemmel, këmel, which point to the Byzantine and Modern Greek pronunciation of Greek κάμηλος, and hence to κάμιλος (the e of kemel is produced by i- mutation from a). The Modern High German word is a more recent scholarly term, borrowed anew from Latin (compare French chameau, Italian camello), while the Middle High German word was brought back from the Crusades, and hence is due to immediate contact with the East. Moreover, at San Rossore, near Pisa, a breed of camels has existed from the Crusades down to modern times, some of which are exhibited in Europe as curiosities. In the Old Teutonic period there was, curiously enough, a peculiar word for ‘camel’ current in most of the dialects, which corresponded to Greek ἐλεφαντ-, Gothic ulbandus, Anglo-Saxon olfend, Old High German olbenta, Middle High German olbent; allied to Old Slovenian velĭbądŭ, ‘camel.’ The history of this word is quite obscure.
Kamerad, masculine, ‘comrade, companion,’ Modern High German only, from French camarade (Italian camerata, ‘society,’ literally ‘comrades living together in a room,’ then too ‘companion’), whence also English comrade. Old Teutonic had a number of terms for Modern High German Kamerad; compare Geselle, Gesinde, Old High German gidofto, ‘companion’ (compare Decht and Dost), simply forms illustrative of the Old Teutonic heroic age, which were partly disused in the Middle High German period in favour of the foreign terms Kumpan and Kamerad.
Kamille, feminine, ‘camomile,’ from Middle High German kamille, feminine, which is again derived from Middle Latin and Italian camamilla (Greek χαμαίαμηλον). ​The term became current in the Middle Ages through medical science, which was learnt from the Greeks (compare Arzt, Büchse, Pflaster).
Kamin, masculine, ‘chimney, fireplace, fireside,’ from Middle High German kámîn, kę́mîn; the Modern High German accentuation, which differs from the Middle High German, is due to the word being based anew on Latin camînus, while the latter is due to a German version of the foreign word. English chimney is French cheminée, ‘chimney, fireplace,’ which is phonetically cognate with Middle Latin caminata, properly ‘room with a stove or fireplace,’ and hence with Middle High German kęminâte (γυναικεῖον); allied also to Czech, Polish, and Russian komnata, ‘room.’
Kamisol, neuter, ‘waistcoat, jacket,’ simply Modern High German formed like the French camisole, ‘under-vest’ (allied to Middle Latin camisia, ‘shirt’; see Hemd).
Kamm, masculine, ‘comb,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kam (mm), kamp (b); it signifies ‘comb’ in the widest sense; Old High German chamb; compare Anglo-Saxon comb, English comb (also Anglo-Saxon hunigcomb, English honeycomb?), Gothic *kambs. The term is undoubtedly Old Teutonic; our ancestors attached great importance to dressing their hair. The literally meaning of the word is ‘instrument with teeth,’ for in the allied Aryan languages the meaning ‘tooth’ obtains in the cognate words. Old High German chamb is based upon pre-Teutonic gombho-; compare Greek γομφίος, ‘molar tooth,’ γαμφηλαί, γαμφαί, ‘jaws, beak’; Old Indian jambha, masculine, ‘tusk’ (plural ‘bit’), jambhya, masculine, ‘incisor,’ Old Slovenian ząbŭ, ‘tooth’ Greek γόμφος, ‘plug, bolt,’ points to a wider development of meaning. —
kämmen, verb, ‘to comb, card (wool),’ is a verbal noun; Modern High German kęmmen, Old High German chemben, chęmpen; Anglo-Saxon cęmban. In Upper German the term strählen is current, Strähl too being the word for ‘comb.’
Kammer, feminine, ‘‘chamber, office,’ fro Middle High German kamer, kamere, feminine, with the general meaning ‘sleeping apartment, treasury, storeroom, money-chest, royal dwelling, justice chamber,’ &c.; Old High German chamara, feminine, ‘apartment, palace.’ English chamber, from French chambre; but the High German word is based upon a Romance word (Spanish and Portuguese) camara, ‘room’ (Italian camera), which again is derived from καμάρα, ‘any enclosed space with a vaulted roof, a term restricted to the more civilised classes in the Middle Ages and current in the Romance and Teutonic groups; compare further Old French camra, Slavonic komora. The numerous meanings in Middle High German are also indicated by the Modern High German derivatives and compound terms Kämmerer, Kämmerei, and Kammerherr.
Kammertuch, neuter, ‘cambric,’ manufactured first at Cambray (Dutch Kamerijk); corresponding to Dutch kamerijksdock.
Kamp, masculine, a Low German word, compare Dutch (Middle Dutch) kamp; from Latin campus?. Kamp, however, has a special sense, ‘enclosed piece of ground, field.’
Kämpe, masculine, ‘combatant, wrestler,’ first introduced into literary Modern High German by the study of the Teutonic languages, yet the special history of the word is not known. The form Indicates a Low German origin; compare Old Low German kęmpio, ‘combatant, warrior.’ Perhaps it was originally a legal term of the Saxon Code. See Kampf.
Kampf, masculine, ‘combat,’ from Middle High German kampf, masculine and neuter, ‘combat, duel, tilting’; Old High German champf, masculine, Anglo-Saxon camp, comp; Old Icelandic kapp, neuter. The Old Icelandic word is interesting, because it signifies literally ‘zeal, emulation,’ which is the original meaning of Kampf (Modern High German Krieg has gone through a similar development of meaning). Hence there is no probability in the assumption that Old Teutonic *kampa- is derived from Latin campus, thus connecting it with Campus Martius. This older assumption receives no support from phonetic laws, for kamp does not look unlike a Teutonic word, while the meaning of the Scandinavian word makes it impossible. We should consider, too, whether the old Teutons, with their numerous terms relating to war, had any need of borrowing such a word. Some connect Old Teutonic kampo- with Sanscrit jañg, ‘to fight.’ High German Kämpfer, and Kämpfe, Kämpe, properly ‘combatant,’ is Middle High German kęmpfe, Old High German chęmphio, ‘wrestler, duellist’; Anglo-Saxon cęmpa, and Old Icelandic kappe signify ‘warrior, hero’; this term, denoting the agent, passed into Romance (compare French champion, whence also English champion).
Kampfer, masculine, ‘camphor,’ from Middle High German kampfer, gaffer, masculine, from Middle Latin camphora, cafura (French camphre; Italian canfora and cafura, Modern Greek καφουρά); the latter terms derived finally from Indian karpûra, kapûr, or from Hebrew kôpher, ‘pitch, resin.’
Kanel, masculine, ‘cinnamon bark,’ accented on the termination, from Middle High German kanêl, ‘stick or cane of cinnamon’; the word was borrowed in the Middle High German period from French canelle, cannelle, ‘cinnamon bark,’ which is a diminutive of French canne (Latin canna) ‘cane,’ Italian canella, ‘tube.’
​ Kaninchen, neuter, ‘rabbit,’ diminutive of an earlier Modern High German Kanin; it is based upon Latin cuniculus, which passed into High German in various forms; Middle High German küniclîn (accented on the first syllable), evidently germanised, also künolt, künlîn, külle. The Modern High German form is based upon a Middle Latin variant, caniculus; the form with a is properly restricted to North and Middle Germany, while ü (Künchel) is current in the South. Compare Middle English coning, English coney, from French connin (Italian coniglio).
Kanker (1.), masculine, ‘spider’ (Middle German), from the equivalent Middle High German kanker (rare), masculine. The derivation of the word from Latin cancer, ‘crab’, is, for no other reason than the meaning, impossible. It seems to be based upon an Old Teutonic verb ‘to weave, spin.’ This is indicated by the Old Icelandic kǫngulváfa, kǫngurváfa, ‘spider’; Anglo-Saxon gongelwœ̂fre, ‘spider,’ must also be based upon a similar word; its apparent meaning, ‘the insect that weaves as it goes along,’ is probably due to a popular corruption of the obscure first component. We should thus get a primary Teutonic stem kang, ‘to spin,’ which in its graded form appears in Modern High German Kunkel. his stem has been preserved in the non-Teutonic languages only in a Finnish loan-word; compare Finnish kangas, ‘web’ (Gothic *kaggs).
Kanker (2.), masculine, ‘canker,’ from Old High German chanchar, cancur; compare Anglo-Saxon cancer, English canker. Probably Old High German chanchur is a real Teutonic word from an unpermutated gongro-; compare Greek γόγγρος, ‘an excrescence on trees,’ γάγγραινα, ‘gangrene.’ Perhaps a genuinely Teutonic term has been blended with a foreign word (Latin cancer, French chancre).
Kanne, feminine, ‘can, tankard, jug,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kanne, Old High German channa, feminine; compare Anglo-Saxon canne, English can; Old Icelandic kanna, Gothic *kannô. The Old Teutonic word cannot have been borrowed from Latin cantharus (Greek κάνθαρος); an assumed corruption of kantarum, masculine accusative to a feminine kannô, is improbable. The derivation of Kanne, from Latin canna, ‘cane,’ is opposed by the meaning of the word. Since Modern High German Kahn is based upon a Teutonic root ka-, the latter can hardly be adduced in explanation of Kanne, although the meaning of both might be deduced from a primary sense ‘hollowed wood,’ If we assume, as is quite possible, a Gothic *kaznô, ‘can,’ another etymology presents itself, Gothic kas, Old Icelandic ker and Old High German char, ‘vessel,’ would be cognate, and -nô-, a suffix of the same root. If we compare, however, with Kanne the Suabian and Alemannian variant Kante, which is based upon Old High German chanta, we obtain kan- as the root. The German word passed into French (Modern French canette, ‘small can,’ equivalent to Middle Latin cannetta, diminutive of Middle Latin canna).
Kante, feminine, ‘sharp edge, border, margin, fine lace,’ Modern High German only, from Low German kante, ‘edge, corner’; the latter, like English cant, ‘corner, edge,’ which is also unknown to the earlier periods of the language, is derived from French cant, ‘corner,’ which, with Italian canto, is said to be based finally on Greek κάνθος, ‘felloe of a wheel.’
Kantschu, masculine, ‘leather whip,’ from Bohemian kančuch, Polish kańczuk. The word is of Turk. origin (Turk. kamčẹ, ‘whip’). Compare Karbatsche.
Kanzel, feminine, ‘pulpit,’ from Middle High German kanzel, Old High German cancella, chanzella, feminine, literally ‘the place set apart for the priests,’ then ‘pulpit’; from the equivalent Middle Latin cancellus, cancelli, ‘grating,’ cancelli altaris, ‘the grating enclosing the altar, the part separated, rom the nave of the church by a grating’; in Middle Latin generally ‘any part surrounded by a parapet, especially an oriental flat roof.’ “Qui vero Epistolas missas recitare volebant populo in regione Palæstinæ antiquitus, ascendebant super tectum et de cancellis recitabant et inde inolevit usus ut qui litteras principibus missas habent exponere Cancellarii usitato nomine dicantur” (du Cange). Hence Kanzler. From the same source, Middle Latin cancellus, is derived English chancel, taken from Old French, the meaning of which forms the starting-point for the development of the signification of the High German word.
Kapaun, masculine, ‘capon,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kappûn; borrowed after the era of the substitution of consonants from Romance cappônem (Latin capo, equivalent to Greek κἀπων); compare Italian cappone, French chapon (whence also Servian kopun). Even in the Anglo-Saxon period capûn, ‘gallinaceus,’ is found derived from the same source (English capon); compare Dutch kapoen. From the Latin nominative cappo is derived Middle High German kappe, and even Old High German chappo. For another term see under Hahnrei.
Kapelle (1.), feminine, ‘chapel, orchestra,’ an early loan-word, which always remained, however, under the influence of Middle Latin capella, on which it is based, for while numerous other words borrowed from Latin have their accent changed according to the ​Teutonic method, the Latin accent is retained in Old High German chapëlla, Middle High German kapëlle, and the Modern High German form. It is true that in Middle High German káppelle (Modern Alemannian käppelle), with the German accent also occurs, and hence the Upper German Kappel, Käppel, frequent names of villages. Middle Latin capella has a peculiar history; as a diminutive of capa (compare Kappe) it signified ‘a cape’; the chapel itself, in which the cloak of St. Martin and other relics were preserved, first obtained the name of capella; then from about the 7th century the use of the word became general. —
Kaplan, masculine, ‘chaplain,’ from Middle High German kappellãn,. It is based on Middle Latin capellânus, which originally denoted the priest who had to guard the cloak of St. Martin. — Middle Latin capella also signifies the body of priests under a bishop, hence the other meanings of Modern High German Kapelle.
Kapelle (2.), feminine, ‘cupel,’ Modern High German only; it is based upon a combination of Middle Latin capella, French chapelle, ‘lid of an alembic,’ and Middle Latin cupella, French coupelle, ‘cupel, crucible’ (diminutive of Latin cupa).
Kaper, masculine, ‘pirate,’ from the equivalent Dutch kaper.
Kapitel, neuter, ‘chapter,’ from Middle High German kapítel, ‘solemn assembly, convention,’ Old High German capítal, capítul, ‘inscription.’ Middle Latin capitulum has also both these meanings.
kapores, adjective, ‘broken, destroyed,’ Modern High German only; according to the general acceptation it is not allied to Modern High German kaput, but is rather derived from Hebrew kappârâh, ‘reconciliation, atonement.’
Kappe, feminine, ‘hood, cowl’; the meaning Middle High German kappe, feminine, upon which it is based, does not correspond very often with that of Modern High German, its usual signification being ‘a garment shaped like a cloak and fitted with a cowl as a covering for the head’; hence Tarnkappe, which has first been made current in Modern High German in this century through the revival by scholars of the Middle High German tornkappe (properly ‘the cloak that makes the wearer invisible’). Old High German chappa; Anglo-Saxon cœppe, ‘cloak,’ English cap. The double sense of the Middle High German word appears in the Middle Latin and Romance cappa, ‘cloak, cap,’ on which it is based (on the primary form câpa is based English cope, from Middle English cope, as well as Old Icelandic kápa, ‘cloak’). With regard to the meaning compare Modern French chape (cape), ‘cope, scabbard, sheath, case,’ and the derivatives chapeau, ‘hat,’ and chaperon, ‘cowl.’ The Middle Latin word was adopted by the more civilised classes of Europe, passing into Slavonic as well as into Romance and Teutonic. The word was not borrowed, or rather not naturalised before the 8th century, for an earlier borrowed term would have been *chapfa in Old High German and *kapfe in Middle High German — Compare Kapelle.
kappen, verb, ‘to chop, lop,’ Modern High German simply, from Dutch kappen, ‘to split’; compare Danish kappe and English chap. In UpAlsat. kchapfe is found with the High German form; allied also to the dialectic graded forms kipfen, kippen; hence the Teutonic root kep, kapp.
Kappes, Kappus, masculine, ‘headed cabbage,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kappaȥ, kappûs, kabeȥ, masculine Old High German chabuȥ, chapuȥ, directly connected with Latin caput, which strangely enough does not appear in Middle Latin in the sense of ‘cabbage-head’; Italian capuccio (hence French cabus and English cabbage) presumes, however, a Middle Latin derivative of caput in the sense of ‘cabbage-head, headed cabbage.’ The naturalisation of the Italian word in High German may have been completed in the 7th century or so; by that time a number of Latin names of plants, as well as the art of cookery and gardening introduced from the South, was already firmly established in Germany.
Kappzaum, masculine, ‘cavezon,’ Modern High German only, corrupted from Italian cavezzone, whence also French caveçon, ‘cavezon.’
kaput, adjective, literally ‘lost at play,’ Modern High German simply, from French capot; faire capot, ‘to cause to lose,’ être capot, &c. The French expression was introduced into German with a number of other terms originally used at play (compare Treff).
Kapuze, feminine, ‘cowl,’ Modern High German only, from Italian capuccio, whence also French capuce; Middle Latin capúcium; derivative Kapuziner (Middle Latin capucinus).
Karat, neuter, ‘carat,’ not derived fro Middle High German gárât, feminine and neuter, ‘carat,’ which in Modern High German must have been Gárat. The Modern High German has been more probably borrowed anew from French carat or Italian caráto; the Middle High German word has adopted the German accent, while the Modern High German term preserves the accent of the Romance word upon which it is based.
Karausche, feminine, ‘crucian,’ Modern High German only; older variants, karaȥ, karûtsch; from French carassin, ‘crucian’?. Compare also English crucian, and its equivalent Italian coracino, Lithuanian karósas, Servian karaš, Czech karas, which forms are nearer to High German than to French; the final source is Greek κορακῖνος (Middle Latin coracînus).
Karbatsche, feminine, ‘hunting-whip,’ ​rowed from Slavonic like Kantschu and Peitsche in Modern High German; Polish karbacz, Bohemian karabáč (from Turk. kęrbač).
Karbe, Karve, feminine, ‘caraway,’ from the equivalent Middle High German karwe and karne, feminine; allied to French and Italian carvi, ‘caraway.’ The usual assumption that this word as well as English caraway is based on Latin careum (Greek κάρον), ‘caraway,’ is not quite satisfactory, hence the influence of Arabic al-karavîa is assumed.
Karch, masculine, ‘dray,’ from the equivalent Middle High German karrech, karrich, Old High German charrū̆k (hh), masculine. Probably current even in the 8th century on the Upper and Middle Rhine, as may be inferred from the initial h, ch (compare Pferd). It is based upon the late Latin carruca, ‘honoratorum vehiculum opertum, four wheeled travelling car’ (a derivative of carrus; compare Karren); French charrue, ‘plough,’ is likewise based upon Latin carrûca, which also signifies ‘plough’ in Middle Latin.
Karde, feminine, ‘fuller's thistle,’ from Middle High German karte, feminine, Old High German charta, feminine, ‘teasel, the instrument made from the thistle and used by cloth-weavers for carding wool.’ The final source is Middle Latin cardus, carduus, ‘thistle’ (French chardon, Italian cardo), the d of the Modern High German word compared with the t of Old High German and Middle High German is due to the word, which was naturalised about the 7th century, being based anew on the Latin form. —
Kardetsche, Kardätsche, feminine, ‘carder's comb’; a derivative of Karde.
Karfreitag, masculine, ‘Good Friday,’ from the equivalent Middle High German karvrîtac, mostly kartac, masculine; Karwoche, ‘Passion Week,’ is also current even in Middle High German. The first part of the compound is Old High German chara, feminine, ‘lamentation. mourning’ (charasang, ‘elegy’). This Old Teutonic word for Klage, ‘lament,’ as distinguished from the other synonyms, signifies properly the silent, inward mourning, not the loud wailing, for in Gothic the cognate kara, feminine, means ‘care,’ Anglo-Saxon cearu, feminine, ‘care, suffering, grief,’ English care. A corresponding verb signifying ‘to sigh’ is preserved in Old High German quëran (Gothic *qaíran). Other derivatives of the Teutonic root kar, qer, are wanting. See also karg.
Karfunkel, masculine, ‘carbuncle,’ from Middle High German karbunkel, masculine, with the variant karfunkel, probably based on Middle High German vunke, Modern High German Funke; b is the original sound, for the word is based upon Latin carbunculus (compare English carbuncle, Modern French escarboucle).
Karg, adjective, ‘sparing, niggardly,’ from Middle High German karc (g), ‘prudent, cunning, sly, stingy’; in Old High German charag, ‘sad’; a derivative of the Old Teutonic kara, ‘care,’ discussed under Karfreitag. From the primary meaning ‘anxious,’ the three significations ‘sad,’ ‘frugal,’ and ‘cunning’ might be derived; compare Anglo-Saxon čearig, ‘sad,’ and English chary, allied to English care. The syncope of the vowel in Middle High German karc compared with Old High German charag is normal after r.
Karpfen, masculine, ‘carp,’ from the equivalent Middle High German karpfe, Old High German charpho, masculine; compare English carp; allied to Old Icelandic karfe. It cannot be decided whether Karpfen is a real Teutonic word; probably Middle Latin carpo, French carpe, and Italian carpione are derived from Teutonic. In Keltic too there are cognate terms for ‘carp,’ Welsh carp; compare also Russian karpŭ, koropŭ, Servian krap, Lithuanian kárpa, ‘carp.’
Karre, feminine, Karren, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German karre, masculine and feminine, Old High German charra, feminine, charro, masculine, ‘cart’; the High German words and also the English car (Old Icelandic kerra) are based on Middle Latin carrus, masculine, carra, feminine, and their Rum. derivatives (Modern French char, ‘car’). Latin carrus, ‘four-wheeled transport waggon,’ is again of Keltic origin (Gaelic carr, Breton karr); compare Karch, Pferd. — Kariole, Karriole, feminine, Kariol, neuter, ‘jaunting car,’ simply Modern High German from French carriole. — Kärrner, masculine, ‘carter.’
Karst, masculine, ‘hoe,’ from the equivalent Middle High German karst, masculine, Old High German and Old Saxon carst; the word is not found in other groups. The etymology is dubious; allied to kehren (karjan), ‘to sweep’?.
Kartaune, Kartane, feminine, ‘short, heavy cannon,’ from Italian quartana, Middle Latin quartâna; this term, as well as its earlier Modern High German version Viertelsbüchse, signifies a gun “which fired 25 lbs., in comparison with the heaviest piece of artillery firing 100 lbs.”
Karte, feminine, ‘card, chart, map,’ from late Middle High German karte, feminine; formed from French carte.
Karthause, Kartause, feminine, ‘Carthusian monastery,’ from late Middle High German kartûse, feminine, which is again derived from Cartûsía, Chartreuse (near Grenoble, where the Carthusian order was founded in 1084 A.D.). — Karthäuser, ‘Carthusian friar,’ from Middle High German karthûser, karthiuser.
Kartoffel, feminine, ‘potato,’ derived by a process of differentiation from the earlier Modern High German form Tartuffel. Potatoes were introduced into Germany about the middle of the 18th century from Italy, as is proved by the Italian name (compare Italian tartufo, tartufolo; see Trüffel). Another name, Erdapfel, ​seems to indicate that the plant was brought from the Netherlands and France, Dutch aard-appel, French pomme de terre. The dialectic Grumbire is due to a similar conception, its original form being Grundbirne. Tuffeln is a shortened form of Kartoffel, resulting from the position of the accent (compare Kürbis from cucúrbita). The rarer dialectic Bataten (Franconian), which corresponds to English potato, is based upon Italian and Spanish patata, the final source of which is an American word. Potatoes were introduced in the 17th century from America into Spain and Italy, and were transplanted from these countries to the north.
Käse, masculine, ‘cheese,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kœse, Old High German châsi, masculine; Latin câseus (whence also Old Irish caise), before the 5th century at the latest was adopted in the vernacular form câsius (variant căscus?) by the Teutons; compare Dutch kaas, Anglo-Saxon čŷse, English cheese. It corresponds in Romance to Italian cacio, Spanish queso; yet câseus was supplanted in the dialects at an early date by Latin *formaticus, ‘(cheese) mould’; compare French fromage (Italian formaggio). Old Icelandic has a peculiar word for ‘cheese,’ ostr, in Gothic perhaps *justs (compare Finnish juusto, ‘cheese’); the assumed Gothic *justs is connected etymologically with Latin jus, ‘broth,’ Old Slovenian jucha, ‘soup,’ Old Indian yûšán, ‘soup’ (compare Jauche), the root of which is yu, ‘to mix,’ in Lithuanian jáuju, jáuti, ‘to mix (dough).’ From this collocation of terms it is probable that *justs is the Old Teutonic word for ‘cheese,’ and that the Teutons did not learn how to make cheese from the Southerners, but only an improved method of doing so when they adopted the term Käse from them. It is true that according to Pliny, Hist. Nat. xi. 41, the barbarians generally were not acquainted with the method; yet compare also Butter.
Kastanie, feminine, ‘chestnut’; compare Old High German chęstinna, Middle High German kę́stene, kę́sten, kastânie. The latter is evidently a return to the original form, Latin castanea, which had already been transformed to kęstenne (compare Upper German Kešte). Moreover, Old High German chęstinna and Anglo-Saxon čisten (čistenbeám, Middle High German kestenboum, English chestnut) point to a Latin *castinia, *castinja. Compare French châtaigne, Italian castagna, ‘chestnut.’ The Latin word is derived from the equivalent Greek καστανέα, -νεια, -νειον, -νον; the chestnut was named from the town of Κάστανα, in Pontus.
kasteien, verb, ‘to chastise,’ from Middle High German kastîgen (g for j), kę̂stigen, Old High German chęstîgôn, ‘to chastise, punish’; the alteration of the accent and the vowels corresponds to that in Kastanie (which see) compared with the dialectic Keste. Latin castîgare (whence also French châtier, and further English chastise) was adopted on the introduction of Christianity (compare Kreuz, Priester, and predigen) from ecclesiastical Latin; Old High German chę̂stîgôn, like many words borrowed in the Old High German period (see predigen), was accented after the German method.
Kasten, masculine, ‘chest,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kaste, Old High German chasto, masculine; this word, which is at all events really Teutonic, is wanting in the rest of the Old Teutonic dialects Gothic *kasta, ‘receptacle,’ may be connected with kasa-, ‘vessel,’ so that the dental would be a derivative; yet kas signifies specially ‘an earthen vessel, pot’ (compare kasja, ‘potter’). This Gothic kas, moreover, became char in Old High German by the normal change of s into r; in the Modern High German literary speech it is now wanting, but it appears in Middle High German binen-kar, upon which Modern High German Bienenkorb is based.
Kater, masculine, ‘tom-cat,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kater, katere, masculine, Old High German chataro, masculine; the r of Kater appears to be a masculine suffix; compare Morder and Mord, Tauber and Taube; Enter-ich and Ente?, Ganser and Gans?, &c., Compare Katze.
Kattun, masculine, ‘cotton, calico,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kottûn, masculine, which is again derived from Dutch kattoen, French coton, equivalent to English cotton.
Katze, feminine, ‘cat,’ from the equivalent Middle High German katze, Old High German chazza, feminine; a common European word in the Mid. Ages and in modern times; of obscure origin. Compare also Anglo-Saxon catt, masculine, English cat; Old Icelandic kǫttr, masculine. These assume Gothic *katta, *kattus. Early Middle Latin cattus and its Romance derivatives (Italian gatto, French chat), Irish and Gaelic cat, masculine, and Slavonic kotǔ, ‘tom-cat,’ Lithuanian katě, ‘cat', kátinas, ‘tom-cat’ (allied to Servian kotiti, ‘to litter,’ &c., kot, ‘brood, litter’), suggest the possibility that the Teutonic term was borrowed from a neighbouring race after the period of the Teutonic substitution of consonants, at latest a century before or after the migration of the tribes. It is a remarkable fact, however, that German retains a primary and independent masculine form of the word in Kater (Gothic *kaduza?), which also occurs in Dutch and Low German kater (compare English caterwaul).
kauderwelsch, adjective, ‘jargon,’ first occurs in early Modern High German allied to an unexplained verb kaudern, ‘to talk unintelligibly,’ ​hence ‘strange, unintelligible foreign tongue.’ It seems to have been a Swiss word originally and allied to Suabian and Swiss kauder, chûder, ‘tow’; or should it be churwelsch?
Kaue, feminine, ‘coop, cage, pen,’ from Middle High German kouwe (köwe), feminine, ‘miner's hut or shed over a shaft’ (Old High German *kouwa, Gothic *kaujô, are wanting); from Latin cavea (intermediate form cauja?), ‘cavity.’ See also Käfig.
kauen, verb, ‘to chew,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kûwen, kiuwen, Old High German chiuwan; Modern High German au and Middle High German û in this word compared with äu in wiederkäuen is properly Middle German merely. It corresponds to Anglo-Saxon ceóuwan, English to chew, and the equivalent Dutch kaauwen. The verb, which is based on a Teutonic root këw, ku, pre-Teutonic gew, is wanting in Gothic; compare Old Slovenian žĭvą, žują, žĭvati, ‘to chew.’ The Aryan root is gjū̆, gī̆w, ‘to chew’; see Rieme. Greek γεύομαι for γεύσομας is totally unconnected with High German kauen, being allied to kosten.
kauern, verb, ‘to crouch’; its relation to Middle High German hûren (Dutch hurken), ‘to squat,’ is obscure; in English and in Scandinavian an initial k also appears, Middle English couren, English to cower; Danish kûre, Swedish kûra, in the Modern High German sense; Old Icelandic kúra, ‘to be inactive’ Compare kauzen.
kaufen, verb, ‘to buy,’ from Middle High German koufen, Old High German choufôn. The meaning in Old High German and Middle High German is somewhat more general, ‘to trade, negotiate,’ specially also ‘to buy, sell, or to barter.’ Compare Gothic kaupôn, ‘to trade,’ Anglo-Saxon čŷpan (Gothic *kaupjan), ‘to buy, sell.’ The word has numerous interesting meanings; its primary sense is ‘to barter,’ and was used by the parties on either side, and hence on the development of the system of paying in specie it signified both ‘to buy’ and ‘to sell’; compare also Anglo-Saxon ceáp, ‘trade, business, cattle’ (cattle was, in fact, the chief medium of payment in exchange; compare Geld and Vieh). It is most closely allied to Latin caupo, ‘retail dealer, innkeeper,’ and in connection with this fact it is certainly remarkable that a nomen agentis corresponding to Latin caupo is far less widely diffused than the Teutonic verb kaupôn (only in Old High German does choufo mean ‘shopkeeper’). The Teutonic verb in the form of kupiti, ‘to buy’ (allied to kupŭ, ‘trade,’ kupĭcĭ, merchant,’ Lithuanian kùpezus, ‘merchant’), passed into primary Slavonic and Finnish (kauppata, ‘to trade’). The cognates are wanting in Romance (compare Kaiser). — The Modern High German Kauf is Old High German chouf, masculine, ‘trade, business’; Anglo-Saxon čeáp, ‘trade’; in English the cognates cheap and chapman have been retained.
Kaul-barsch, ‘round posterior,’ Kaul-kopf, ‘bull-head,’ Kaul-quappe, ‘ruff’; in these compounds Kaul signifies ‘a ball of small circumference’; Middle High German kûle, a variant of kugele (compare steil from steigel); older Modern High German Kaule; compare Keule.
kaum, adverb, ‘scarcely,’ from Middle High German kûme, as adjective (?), ‘thin, weak, infirm,’ as adverb (Old High German chûmo), ‘with difficulty, hardly, scarcely, not’; to this is allied Old High German chûmig, ‘powerless, toilsome.’ ‘Feeble’ is the primary meaning of the adjective and adverb, as is shown by Lower Hessian küme, Middle Low German küme, Swiss chum, and Middle English kîme, ‘feeble.’ The corresponding Anglo-Saxon cŷme signifies ‘tender, fine, beautiful’ (compare klein), Teutonic kûmi-, ‘feeble,’ is not found in the other languages.
Kauz, masculine, ‘screech-owl,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kûtze, kûtz, masculine (rarely occurs); in Old High German as well as in the other Old Teutonic dialects the word is wanting, therefore it is difficult to determine its Gothic form. We might assume Gothic *kutts or *kûdna; the first partly suggests Greek βῦζα, ‘owl’ (for gûdja? β as in βαίνα, ‘to go,’ βύσσος, ‘fine flax, equivalent to Modern High German Kaute). Moreover, Modern High German pet names for birds are formed ending in tz, Spatz, Stieglitz, Kiebitz; hence Kau-ze may have to be divided, and thus Greek βύας, ‘owl,’ would be most closely connected with Teutonic kau, kû.
kauzen, verb, ‘to cower’; Modern High German only; like kauern, it is connected with the root kû; zen is a suffix from Old High German zen, azen (ȥȥen, aȥȥen), Gothic atjan; *kûwatjan would be the Gothic form. Compare kauern.
Kebse, feminine, ‘concubine,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kębse, kębese, Old High German chębisa, chębis; in Gothic perhaps *kabisi. Compare Anglo-Saxon čęfes, čyfes. Unfortunately the word is etymologically quite obscure. The meaning is an important one in the history of manners and customs; the Anglo-Saxon word signifies ‘concubine’ and ‘servant,’ and the corresponding masculine kefser in Old Icelandic slave; it is evident that female captives were made slaves and concubines (compare Anglo-Saxon wealh, ‘Kelt. slave,’ wylen, ‘female slave, servant,’ under Welsch). The idea of ‘concubine,’ in spite of Tacitus’ highly-coloured picture of the Old Teutonic family life, is not foreign to ​Old Teutonic antiquity; but the important fact is, and this is confirmed by his general statements, that concubines were chosen from the prisoners, or rather the slaves; in antiquity the slaves were regarded as chattels; compare Latin mancipium, Greek ἀνδράποδον; Old Icelandic man, ‘slave,’ is neuter, and sometimes signifies ‘female slave, concubine.’
keck, adjective, ‘pert, impudent,’ from Middle High German këc, a variant of quëc (inflected këcker, quëcker), ‘living, fresh’; Old High German chëc (inflected chëcchêr), quëc, quëcchêr, ‘living.’ Corresponding to Anglo-Saxon cwicu (cucu), ‘living,’ English quick. The primary meaning of the adjective is ‘living,’ and the Modern High German lebhaft, ‘lively,’ illustrates the development of the signification. For farther comparison we have to proceed from the corresponding Gothic adjective qiwa, ‘living’ (the second c, k of the High German and English words, is an insertion before the Gothic w). Gothic qiwa-, derived from gwiwo-, giwo-, corresponds exactly to Latin vîvus for gwîvus, Sanscrit jîvás, ‘living,’ allied to Latin vîvere (victus); Sanscrit jivâtus, ‘life,’ jîvathas, ‘life’; furthur, in Greek with an initial β (compare βαίνω, ‘to go’), βίος, βίοτος, βιόω; allied to Old Slovenian živŭ, Lithuanian gývas, Old Irish beo, ‘living.’ All these forms indicate an Aryan root gī̆w, ‘to live.’ This root seems to be graded in Teutonic only, in Old Icelandic kveykva, kveikja (Gothic *qaiwjan), ‘to light a fire,’ properly ‘to give life to.’ In Modern High German erquicken and Quecksilber are connected with the same root, and in fact with the Aryan, adjective gī̆wós, ‘living’; the loss of the u after q, which has differentiated keck from queck, is seen also in kommen, Köder, and Kot.
Kegel (1.), masculine, ‘cone, nine-pin, sight (of a gun),’ from Middle High German and Middle Low German k€gel, masculine, ‘nine-pin,’ also ‘stick, cudgel, Old High German chęgil, ‘stake, plug,’ allied to Middle Dutch kegghe, Dutch keg, ‘wedge,’ Modern High German and Bavarian kag, ‘stump.’ Old High German chęgil, ‘plug,’ may have been Gothic *kagils (from pre-Teutonic gagho-), and might be cognate with Greek γόμφο-ς (φ for gh), ‘plug, wooden nail, wedge,’ with the root syllable nasalised. It cannot be decided whether Lithuanian żaginýs, ‘stake, post’ (żagaras, ‘dry branch’), is allied to Kegel, or rather to Kufe, ‘cheek of a sledge.’
Kegel (2.), masculine, ‘bastard’ (retained in Modern High German only in the phrase Kind und Kegel, ‘kith and kin’), from Middle High German kęgel, kękel, ‘illegitimate child,’ Of obscure origin.
Kehle, feminine, ‘throat; channel, fluting,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Middle Low German kele, feminine, Old High German chëla; corresponding to Dutch keel, Anglo-Saxon čeole (obsolete in English) and čeolor. In Gothic perhaps *kilô (genitive *kilôns). Since Teutonic k is derived from pre-Teutonic g, we may compare Sanscrit gala and Latin gula, ‘throat.’ See Herz.
kehren (1.), verb, ‘to turn,’ from Middle High German kêren, Old High German chêrren, ‘to turn, direct’; a difficult word to explain both etymologically and phonetically; in Anglo-Saxon čěrran, čy̆rran (preterite čy̆rde), ‘to turn.’
kehren (2.), verb, ‘to sweep,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kęrn, kęren, kęrjen, Old High German chęrian, chęren; the Gothic form is probably *karjan, not *kazjan; also Old High German ubarchara, ‘offscouring, impurity,’ connected with Icelandic kar, neuter, ‘dirt (on new-born lambs and calves).’ Probably primitively allied to Lithuanian żeriu, żèrti, ‘to scrape.’
Keib, Kaib, masculine, ‘vulgar person,’ properly ‘carrion’; simply Modern High German, and only in Suabian and Alemannian.
keifen, verb, ‘to scold,’ with the Low German form for the strictly High German keiben, Middle High German kîben, ‘to upbraid, quarrel,’ with the equivalent frequentative kibeln, kiveln; Middle High German kîp, kîbes, masculine, ‘wrangling manner, defiance, refractoriness.’ Middle Low German kîven, Dutch kijven, ‘to upbraid,’ Scandinavian kífa, ‘to quarrel,’ kíf, ‘quarrel.’
Keil, masculine, ‘wedge, keystone,’ from Middle High German kîl, ‘wedge, plug,’ with the curious variant kîdel (Modern High German dialectic Keidel), Old High German chîl, ‘plug’; both the Middle High German forms assume Gothic *keiþls’. Scandinavian keiler (Gothic *kaileis), masculine, ‘wedge,’ is abnormal; the root is kî, kai. Old Icelandic kill, ‘canal’ (compare the proper name Kiel), is probably not connected on account of the meaning; since Old High German and Middle High German kîl signifies ‘plug,’ the word is more probably allied to Anglo-Saxon cœ̂g, English key.
Keiler, Keuler, masculine, ‘wild boar,’ Modern High German only, probably not allied to Keule; borrowed from Lit. kuilýs, ‘boar’.
Keim, masculine, ‘germ, bud, shoot,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kîm, kîme, masculine, Old High German chîm, chîmo, masculine (Gothic *keima, masculine). The Teutonic root is kî, which is widely diffused in the Teutonic group. Gothic has only the participle of a verb derived from this root, us-kijans, ‘sprouted,’ for which, however, an earlier variant, keins, ‘germinated,’ is assumed by the verb us-keinan (-nôda). With the same root kî are connected the dental derives. Anglo-Saxon cîþ, Old Saxon kîð, Old High German chîdi ( ​ikîdi), Middle High German kîde, Modern High German dialectic Keide, ‘shoot.’ Old Saxon and Old High German kînan, ‘to germinate,’ has a present affix n of the root kî; the identical Anglo-Saxon cînan, ‘to spring up, burst, burst to pieces, germinate,’ and the corresponding Anglo-Saxon substantive činu, Middle English chine, ‘rift, crack,’ prove that the meaning ‘to germinate’ originated in the actual perception of budding.
kein, numeral adjective, ‘no, none,’ from Middle High German kein, shortened from dechein, Old High German dihhein, also Old High German dohh-ein, nihhein, nohhein, all of which are compounded with ein. The meaning of Old High German and Middle High German dech is obscure.
Kelch, masculine, ‘chalice, cup,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kęlch, Old High German chęlih, kęlih (hh), masculine; corresponding to Old Saxon kęlik; from Latin călicem (calix), borrowed at a time when the word was pronounced kalìkem (compare Keller); the suggestion that Kelch was first adopted from Ecclesiast. Latin on the introduction of Christianity, is refuted by the changes made in Latin crucem, ‘Kreuz’ (‘cross’), which was certainly not borrowed before this time; the German z for Latin c before e points to a far later period than the derivation of Kelch from calicem. There is greater probability in the assumption that the term was imported with the southern culture of the vine; compare Keller, Wein, and Becher. In English and Scandinavian the Latin a is retained; Anglo-Saxon calič, cœlič, and Scandinavian kalkr; compare Old Irish calich. In almost every language the word is restricted to ecclesiastical uses; compare French calice. —
Klütenkelch, ‘calyx,’ Modern High German is due to a confusion by scientists of Kelch (Latin calix), with Greek κἀλυξ, ‘calyx.’
Kelle, feminine, ‘ladle, scoop, trowel,’ from Middle High German and Middle Low German kęlle, feminine, ‘ladle, trowel,’ Old High German chęlla, feminine, ‘trowel’; Gothic *kaljô, feminine, is wanting. Although there are a few points of contact between High German Kelle and Anglo-Saxon cylle, cille, feminine, ‘leather bottle or bag, vessel,’ the Anglo-Saxon word is based upon Latin culleus, ‘leather bag,’ or, as is more probable, a genuine Teutonic word has been confused with a borrowed term in Anglo-Saxon.
Keller, masculine, ‘cellar,’ from the equivalent Middle High German këller, masculine, Old High German chëllâri, masculine; corresponding to Old Saxon kellere, masculine; Scandinavian kjallare, masculine; a Teutonic loan-word which probably passed from the South through Upper Germany to the North; in England only the word did not obtain in the older period; English cellar originated in the Old French celier. The word was borrowed from late Latin cellarium (with a change of gender and accent) in the pre-Old High German period, since the terms borrowed from Latin in Old High German change Latin c before open vowels into z (tz); compare Kreuz. Keller may have been introduced into Germany from the South at the same time as Kelch (which see), perhaps with the culture of the vine; yet the word signifies generally ‘subterranean storeroom.’ —
Kellner, masculine, ‘waiter,’ from Middle High German këlnœre, masculine, ‘butler,’ from Middle Latin cellenarius, with the equivalent variant këllœre, masculine, from Latin cellarius, masculine, ‘steward, butler.’ —
Kellnerin, ‘barmaid,’ Middle High German këlnœrinne, këllœrinne, feminine, ‘maid, servant, housekeeper.’
Kelter, feminine and masculine, ‘wine or oil press,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kęlter, kalter, masculine and feminine Old High German calcatûra, calctûra (also calctûrhûs, Middle High German kalterhûs); borrowed, on the introduction of the southern culture of the vine (see Wein, Becher, Kelch, and Keller), from Latin calcatura, ‘wine-press’ (calcatorium), derived from calcare, ‘to tread.’ Hence Kelter originally means ‘treading press.’ For the genuine Upper German for Kelter see under Trotte and Torkel (in Dutch pers, Anglo-Saxon presse, from Latin pressa). Kelter is Middle German, and is found from the Moselle to the Saale. Corresponding to OLorraine chaucheur, from Latin calcatorium.
Kemenate, feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German kęmenâte, feminine, ‘room with a fireplace,’ especially ‘bedroom,’ also ‘sitting-room, women's apartment.’ During the Old High German period Middle Latin caminâta, ‘room with a stove or fireplace,’ was introduced into German, as is proved by the preservation of the Latin sharp dental in Old High German chęminâta, feminine. From Middle Latin caminata, which is recorded as early as the 6th century, are derived Italian camminata, ‘large room,’ and French cheminée, whence the equivalent English chimney, also Czech, Polish and Russian komnata, ‘room’; compare Kamin.
kennen, verb, ‘to know, be acquainted with,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kęnnen, Old High German chęnnen. The simple form was very little used in Middle High German and Old High German, the usual words being the compounds Old High German irchęnnen, Middle High German erkęnnen, and Old High German bichęnnen, Middle High German bekęnnen, with the meanings of Modern High German kennen. The corresponding Gothic kannjan (uskannjan), as well as Anglo-Saxon cęnnan, gecęnnan, signifies ‘to make known.’ This double sense, which is combined in Old Icelandic kenna, is explained by the ​fact that Old Teutonic kannjan is a factitive of the Old Teutonic preterite-present kann, infinitive kunnan, ‘to know’; erkennen is a derivative ‘to inform oneself.’ Compare further references under können.
Kerbe, feminine, ‘notch,’ from Middle High German kërbe, feminine, kërp, masculine, ‘incision, notch,’ Compare Old Icelandic kjarf, kerfe, neuter, ‘bundle,’ Anglo-Saxon cyrf, ‘incision.’
kerben, verb ‘to notch,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kërben (with a strong participle gekurben in Lower Rhenish); an originally strong verb with the graded forms kërfan, karf, kurbum, korban (compare Anglo-Saxon čeorfan, English to carve, Dutch kerven); the final f of the stem kerf is attested by the Middle High German kërve, a variant of kërbe; Gothic *kaírfan is wanting. The root kerf is found also in Greek γράφω, ‘to write,’ properly ‘to cut in, scratch’ (compare High German reißen with English to write), which with Teutonic kerf points to a Sanscrit root *gṛph.
Kerbel, masculine, ‘chervil,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kërvele, kërvel, feminine and masculine, Old High German kërvola, kërvela, feminine, ‘a culinary and medicinal herb’; compare Anglo-Saxon čerfille, English chervil. It was probably naturalised in Germany before the Old High German period, and is derived from Latin cœrifolium (χαιρέφυλλον), whence also French cerfeuil, Italian cerfoglio, which were borrowed at a period when the initial c before open vowels was still pronounced k; compare Keller, Kerker, Kaiser, Kreuz, Pech, &c. In the period before the High German permutation of consonants, the Italian art of cookery and horticulture, and with the latter many southern vegetables and herbs, were introduced into Germany; compare Rappes, Pfeffer, Minze, Kohl, and Keller,
Kerker, masculine, ‘gaol,’ from the equivalent Middle High German karkœre, kęrkœre, kęrker, masculine, Old High German karkâri, masculine, ‘prison'; from Latin carcerem, probably more strictly from karkerim (compare Old High German krûzi, from Latin crucem under Kreuz), so that the final i of the Old High German word would represent the -em of the accusative (compare Kelch, Linse). Even in Gothic karkara, feminine, ‘prison,’ is found, corresponding to Anglo-Saxon cearcern, Old Irish carcar. In the High German word the second k shows that Kerker was borrowed before the Old High German period, since borrowed terms in Old High German such as chrûzi, from crucem, pronounce the c as tz before open vowels; compare Kaiser, Kelch, Keller, Kerbel, and Pech.
Kerl, masculine, ‘fellow.’ a Middle German and Low German form for Middle High German karl, masculine, ‘man, husband, lover,’ Old High German karal; Old Icelandic karl, masculine, ‘man (opposed to woman), old man, one of the common folk, serf, servant,’ hence English carl, ‘fellow, man.’ Besides these terms, which indicate Gothic *karla-, there appears a form kerla- (Gothic *kaírla-) allied to them by gradation, and assumed by Anglo-Saxon čeorl, ‘serf’ hence čeorlian, ‘to take a husband, marry’), Middle English cheorl, English churl, as well as by Dutch kerel, Frisian tzerl, Low German kêrl, kerel (wanting in Old Saxon). As a proper name the High German Karl was retained without being supplanted by the Middle German and Low German form; on the adoption of Karl by Slavonic see under Kaiser. Both words denoted a full-grown man (generically, ‘husband, lover,’ and also ‘male of animals’ in Old High German and Anglo-Saxon; legally, ‘man of the lower orders’); in Anglo-Saxon ceorl, ‘man,’ retained the entire signification, since it is used even of kings, and in the derivative ceorlian, ‘to marry,’ it preserves its generic meaning and its legal aspect in being applied to the common freemen and the serf. References in non-Teutonic cannot be adduced with any certainty; the comparison of kerl, karl, with Sanscrit jâra (j for g), ‘paramour, lover,’ is possible as far as the stem is concerned; the l of the Teutonic word is at all events a suffix. With regard to the gradation Kerl, Karl, compare Käfer, Giebel, Kiefer, Laut, &c.
Kern, masculine, ‘kerne, stone (of fruit), pith,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kërn, kërne, masculine Old High German kërno, masculine; corresponding to Old Icelandic kjarne, masculine, ‘kernel.’ A corresponding Gothic *kaîrnó, masculine, is wanting (for which we have kaúrnô, neuter?). Anglo-Saxon cyrnel, and the equivalent English kernel are connected phonetically more nearly with Korn, since a derivative of Kern in English would have an initial ch. Old Teutonic kerna- and korna- are allied by gradation to each other just as Brett and Bord, Kerl and Karl.
kernen, verb, ‘to churn,’ allied to English churn, Anglo-Saxon *čirne, *čyrne, Dutch karn, Old Icelandic kirna, feminine, ‘churn,’ with which Anglo-Saxon čyrnan, English to churn, and the equivalent Dutch karnen are also connected. Akin to Modern High German (Up. Palat.) kern, ‘cream,’ Middle Dutch kerne, Scandinavian (Icelandic) kjarne, ‘cream,’ which perhaps are identical with Kern. Probably Teutonic kirnjôn, ‘churn,’ and kirnjan, ‘to churn,’ are primary derivatives of *kerno-, ‘cream.’
Kerze, feminine, ‘taper, wax-light, candle,’ from Middle High German kęrze, ‘candle, taper,’ especially ‘wax candle,’ Old High German chęrza, charza, feminine, charz, masculine, ‘taper, wick, tow.’ We have to proceed from the latter in tracing the development of meaning in Kerze (compare Old Icelandic kerte, neuter, ‘wax-light’; ‘tow, wick made of tow, wick ​with a covering of wax, taper,’ form the series. Hence there is no need to suppose that Kerze has been borrowed from Ft. cerâta, allied to cera, ‘wax,’ an assumption equally at variance with the phonological relations of the words. It is true that neither *karta-, ‘tow,’ nor its derivative *kartjô, ‘taper,’ has any etymological support in the non-Teutonic languages. The Old High German doublet karza, kęrza, may, however, be explained by the assumption of a Gothic *kartjô, feminine, the mutation appearing only at a late period before r and consonants in Old High German.
Kessel, masculine, ‘kettle, cauldron, boiler,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kęȥȥel, Old High German chęȥȥil, masculine; corresponding to Gothic katils, Old Icelandic ketell, Anglo-Saxon čytel, masculine, English kettle, and the equivalent Dutch ketel. This Old Teutonic word is usually derived from Latin catînus, ‘dish’ (Sanscrit kaṭhina, ‘dish’), or its diminutive catillus. Latin catînus is indicated by Old High German kęȥȥîn, chęȥȥî, Middle High German chęȥȥî (Alemannian) ‘kettle,’ Anglo-Saxon cęte, ‘cooking-pot.’ It is shown under Igel that Gothic katils can be derived from Latin catînus. Schüssel and Tisch may have been borrowed at the same period as Kessel. From Latin catînus are also derived the Romance terms, Portuguese cadinho and Tyrolean cadin, ‘wooden dish.’ From Teutonic, Old Slovenian kotilŭ, ‘kettle’ is derived.
Kette (1.), feminine, ‘covey,’ with the earlier variants kitte, kütte, at present dialectic; used in Modern High German only of partridges, &c. Kette is a corruption of the unintelligible kütte, Middle High German kütte, Old High German chutti, neuter, ‘herd, troop’; compare Middle Low German küdde, Dutch kudde, feminine, ‘herd.’ We might connect the word with Lithuanian gũtas, masculine, gaujà, feminine, ‘herd,’ and hence further with the Indian root jû (for gū̆), ‘to drive, urge on,’ Lithuanian gùiti, ‘to drive.’ Therefore the dental of the Old High German word, as in the equivalent Lithuanian gũtas, belongs to the suffix. The Aryan root is gu, ‘to drive cattle.’
Kette (2.), feminine, ‘chain, fetter,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kęten, kętene (Kette is found since the 15th century), feminine, Old High German chętina, chętinna, feminine, ‘chain’; borrowed from Latin catêna, yet hardly from the latter itself, since the word was probably naturalized in German before the High German permutation of consonants (compare Kerker), but rather from a vernacular cadéna (thus Provençal and Spanish, hence French chaine, from which Middle English chaine, English chain is derived), which by a change of accent and by the High German permutation and mutation resulted in chętîna; Dutch keten and Middle Dutch ketene still point, however, to the t of the Latin word. For the transition of ê to î, compare feiern and Pein. The accent is changed, as in Old High German ábbā̆t, from Latin abbát-em.
Ketzer, masculine, ‘heretic,’ from Middle High German ketzer, masculine, ‘heretic,’ also ‘reprobate, Sodomite’ (not recorded in Old High German). The tz presents no difficulties in deriving the word from Greek καθαρός (καθαροί, a Manichean sect spread throughout the West in the 11th and 12th centuries, and persecuted by the Church), if it be assumed that Dutch ketter, ‘heretic,’ is a phonetic version of the High German word. It is true that High German tz from Greek θ (Latin th) cannot be demonstrated; the hard fricative th (þ, θ) may, however, be regarded phonetically as tz, since, e.g., King Chilperic's sign for the was none other than z; the þ in Old Icelandic words sounded also to the Germans of the 9th century like z; þór seemed to them zor. So too in Italy the καθαροί were called Gazari.
keuchen, verb, ‘to gasp,’ from Middle High German kûchen, ‘to breathe’; Middle High German kîchen, ‘to breathe with difficulty, gasp,’ has also been absorbed in the Modern High German verb. Corresponding to Dutch kugchen, ‘to cough,’ from Middle Dutch kuchen, Anglo-Saxon cohhettan, Middle English coughen, English to cough. — Middle High German kîchen is based on a Teutonic root kik, which appears in Low German, Dutch, and English, in a nasalised form; Low German (Holstein) kinghosten, Dutch kinkhoest, masculine, English chincough (for chinkcough), ‘whooping-cough’; allied to Swedish kikhosta, Danish kighoste, Anglo-Saxon čincung.
Keule, feminine, ‘club, pestle; thigh; rude fellow,’ from Middle High German kiule, feminine, ‘club, stick, pole’; cognate with Modern High German Kaule, from Middle High German kûle, a variant of kugele, kugel. See the further references under Kugel.
Keuler, masculine see Keiler.
keusch, adjective, ‘chaste, pure,’ from Middle High German kiusche, kiusch, adjective, ‘moderate, quiet, modest, bashful'; Old High German chûski, adjective, ‘continent, moderate.’ Anglo-Saxon cûse is borrowed from the Old Saxon of the Heliand, Old Saxon *kûsci, of which only the corresponding adverb cûsco is recorded; Dutch kuisch, ‘cleanly, chaste.’ The primary meaning of the Old Teutonic adjective, which appears in all these forms, is presumably ‘pure’; compare Dutch kuischen, ‘to clean, purify’; Old High German unchûskî, ‘dirt’ (also Hessian unkeuscher Weg, ‘road in bad condition’). —
Keuschlamm, ‘chaste tree,’ simply Modern High German, formed from Middle Latin agnus castus, known in Greek by the term ​ἄγνος; this being associated with ἁγνός, ‘pure,’ gave rise to the Latin agnus castus; agnus, Greek ἄγνος, being confused with agnes, ‘lamb,’ led to High German Keuschlamm, one of the strangest products of sciolism (not of popular etymology). The tree is also called Keuschbaum, Dutch kuischboom.
Kibitz, masculine, ‘lapwing,’ with numerous dialectic forms varying at different periods; they are all due to a corruption of a term the etymology of which was not understood; in Middle High German also there are several forms; gîbitze, gîbitz, gîbiȥ occur in the written language. The similarity in sound of the equivalent Russian čibezŭ and of Middle Low German kîvit, Dutch kievit, English peewit, suggests the assumption that Kibitz is of onomatopoetic origin. The suffix resembles that in Stiglitz.
Kicher, feminine, ‘chick-pea,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kicher, Old High German chihhurra, chihhira, feminine; based on Latin cicer (plural cicera), neuter, ‘chick-pea,’ cicera, feminine, ‘chickling vetch'; Middle Latin cicoria, cichorea, which would be most closely allied phonetically to Old High German chihhurra, signifies ‘chicory (Greek κἴχώριον). Middle English chiche, English chiches, chickpeas, plural, with the suffix r wanting as in French chiche, Italian cece. The term was borrowed before the Old High German period (Dutch sisererwt is more recent).
kichern, verb, ‘to titter,’ Modern High German only; allied to Old High German chihhazzen, ‘to laugh,’ a variant of Old High German chahhazzen (Middle High German kachzen); compare also Middle High German kah, masculine, ‘loud laughter,’ and Middle High German kachen, ‘to laugh loudly’; the ch is not based, as in other instances, on Teutonic k, but following Anglo-Saxon ceahhet an, ‘to laugh,’ on Old Teutonic hh. The cognates are onomatopoetic, the root of which cannot be discovered. In Greek similar terms were coined, καχάζω, καγχάζω, καγχαλάω, καγχλάζω, ‘to laugh loudly,’ καχλάζω, ‘to splash and bubble.’ On account of the non-permutation of the consonants the terms cannot have been originally allied. The Greek words may, however, be cognate with Sanscrit kakh, ‘to laugh.’
Kiebitz, see Kibitz.
Kiefer (1.), masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German kiver (masculine, neuter ?), kivel, kivele, ‘jaw, jawbone,’ besides which there is a form from the stem of kauen, Middle High German kiuwel, masculine, and usually kiuwe, këwe, feminine, ‘jaw, jawbone.’ Yet Modern High German kiver, kivel, have, notwithstanding their rare occurrence, a remoter history in the past; with Gothic *kifru- is connected Old Icelandic kjǫptr, kjaptr (Gothic *kiftus), ‘mouth (of beasts), jawbone,’ and also with the a stage of gradation, Anglo-Saxon ceafl, Old Saxon kafl, masculine, ‘jaw of animals’ (with regard to the gradation compare Käfer, Giebel, and Kerl). The Teutonic stem is therefore kef, kaf, or rather keb, kab (before l and r later permutations of b to f sometimes occur), from pre-Teutonic geph or gebh; compare Zend zafare, zafra, neuter, ‘mouth, jaws’ (the corresponding term in Sanscrit *japhra, *jabhra, is wanting); the nasalised root jambh, by gradation jabh, ‘to snap at,’ leads to Greek γαμφαΐ, γαμφηλαί, ‘jaws,’ yet these are probably connected more closely with the cognates discussed under Kamm. See Käfer.
Kiefer (2.), feminine, ‘pine,’ early Modern High German only; it cannot be traced further back; in Upper German Föhre simply. Hence Kiefer probably originated in Kienföhre (respecting the obscuration of old compounds compare Wimper, Schultz, and Schuster). The intermediate form kimfer is recorded as North Bohemian. Compare also Middle High German kienboum, masculine, ‘pine,’ and *kienforhe, feminine, ‘pine-tree’ (attested by the derivative kienforhîn, adjective, ‘of pine’). Compare Kien and Föhre.
Kieke; feminine, ‘foot-warmer,’ simply Modern High German from the equivalent Low German kîke, in Danish ildkikkert, ‘foot-warmer.’ Of obscure origin.
Kiel (1.), masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German kil, masculine and neuter, ‘quill’; not recorded in Old High German; dialectic Keil (Middle German), pointing to Middle High German kîl; Low German quiele, kiel, is connected with Middle English quille, English quill. Gothic *qilus or, *qeilus, and further cognate terms are wanting.
Kiel (2.), masculine, ‘keel,’ from Middle High German kiel, Old High German chiol, masculine, ‘a rather large ship’; compare Anglo-Saxon ceól, masculine, ‘ship,’ Dutch kiel, English keel, Old Icelandic kjóll, masculine, ‘ship.’ Scandinavian kjǫlr, masculine, ‘ship’s keel,’ is not allied to these; from this the English word as well as the Modern High German meaning is probably derived (probably through Low German and Danish influence). The Old Teutonic *kiuls (the assumed Gothic form), ‘ship,’ may be connected with Greek γαυλός (γαῦλος), ‘merchant vessel’ (originally ‘pail,’ also ‘articles in the form of a pail, e.g. beehive’); au would be Gothic iu, as in High German Stier, Gothic stiurs, compared with Greek ταῦρος. The fact that a nautical term was originally common to both the Teutons and the Greeks is no more remarkable than the occurrence of the term Mast among the Teutons and the Romans; besides, the terms relating to shipbuilding stretch still further back, as is proved by the correspondence of Latin ​nâvis, Greek ναῦς, Indian nâus; compare Nachen. With the Greek word, Sanscrit gôlâ, gôlam, ‘cone-shaped pitcher’ (Sanscrit ô for au), has also been compared; hence a similar signification might be assigned to the originally Teutonic word. Compare Kahn.
Kieme, feminine, ‘gill (of a fish),’ Modern High German simply, from the equivalent Low German kîm; allied to Old High German chiela, chêla, as well as Anglo-Saxon cîan, ceón, with the same meaning. Since the forms corresponding exactly in sound with Kieme are wanting in the earlier periods, its origin is uncertain; some have connected it with kauen, root kiw (Aryan giw).
Kien, masculine, ‘resinous wood,’ from Middle High German kien, neuter and masculine, Old High German chien, ‘resinous wood, pine chips, pine torch’; compare Anglo-Saxon *kên, cên, masculine, ‘torch pine.’ Gothic *kêns or *kizns (compare Miete from Gothic mizdô) is wanting; further references cannot be found. Compare also Kiefer.
Kiepe, feminine, ‘wicker basket,’ Modern High German only, from Low German; compare Dutch kiepekorf, masculine, ‘wicker basket, basket for the back,’ Middle Dutch also cûpe, Anglo-Saxon cŷpa, English dialectic kipe, ‘basket’; Gothic *kûpjô or *kiupô is wanting. Whether these terms are borrowed, or rather developed, from Middle Latin cûpa, ‘tun,’ and also ‘measure of corn’ (compare Kufe), cannot be decided.
Kies, masculine, ‘gravel,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kis, masculine; Kiesel, ‘pebble,’ from Middle High German kisel, masculine, ‘flint-stone, hailstone, large hailstone’; Old High German chisil, Anglo-Saxon čeosel, Middle English chisel, ‘pebble.’ Gothic *kisuls, masculine, is wanting; this would be a derivative of *kisa-, on which Middle High German kis and Modern High German Kies is probably based. Dutch kei and kiezel points to kī̆ as the stem.
kiesen, verb, ‘to select,’ from Middle High German kiesen, Old High German chiosan, ‘to test, try, taste for the purpose of testing, test by tasting, select after strict examination.’ Gothic kiusan, Anglo-Saxon ceósan, English to choose. Teutonic root kus (with the change of s into r, kur in the participle erkoren, see also Kur, ‘choice’), from pre-Teutonic gus, in Latin gus-tus, gus-tare, Greek γεύω for γεύσω, Indian root juš, ‘to select, be fond of.’ Teutonic kausjun passed as kusiti into Slavonic.
Kieze, feminine, ‘small basket,’ Modern High German simply, in Middle High German kœ̂tze, feminine, ‘basket, basket for the back.’ Origin obscure.
Kilt, Kiltgang, in Alemannian ‘nocturnal meeting’; wanting in Middle High German. Compare Old High German chwiltiwërch, neuter, ‘evening work’; Old Icelandic kveld, neuter, ‘evening’ (in Iceland and Norway the usual word for evening, while aptann is used poetically and in stately prose). Anglo-Saxon cwyldhreþe, feminine, ‘bat,’ literally ‘evening swiftness,’ cwyldsęten, ‘evening.’ Hence qeldos, neuter, is the oldest word for ‘evening.’ The loss of the w after k is normal; compare feck, Rot, and Röder.
Kind, neuter, ‘child,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kint (genitive kindes), neuter, Old High German chind, neuter, ‘child’; corresponding to Old Saxon kind, neuter, ‘child’; wanting in Gothic, Scandinavian, and English, but a Gothic *kinþa- may be assumed, whence Old Slovenian čędo, ‘child,’ is borrowed. In Old Icelandic a form kundr, masculine, ‘son,’ allied by gradation occurs, and with this an adjective suffix kunds, ‘descended from,’ may be most closely connected, Gothic himinakunds, ‘heavenly,’ qinakunds, ‘female,’ Anglo-Saxon feorrancund, ‘having a distant origin.’ This suffix is an old participle in to (compare alt, falt, laut, traut, Gott), from a root kun, ken, kan, which has numerous derivatives both in the Teutonic and non-Teutonic languages. The root signifies ‘to give birth to, beget’; compare König and also Gothic kuni, Old High German chunni, Middle High German künne, neuter, ‘race’ (Gothic qêns, ‘woman,’ English queen, are, however, unconnected). So too Anglo-Saxon cęnnan, ‘to give birth to, beget.’ Teutonic ken, Aryan gen, has representatives in Greek γένος, neuter, γί-γνομαι, γυνή, in Latin genus, gigno, gens, in Old Slovenian žena, ‘wife’ (Prussian gena, ‘wife’), in Lithuanian gentis, ‘relative,’ and in the Sanscrit root jan, ‘to generate,’ jánas, neuter, ‘race,’ janús, neuter, ‘birth, creature, race,’ janî, feminine, ‘woman,’ jantú, masculine, ‘child, being, tribe,’ jâtá, ‘son’ (the latter is most nearly connected with Teutonic Kind).
Kinn, neuter, ‘chin,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kin, kinne, Old High German chinni, neuter (also ‘jaw’). The older meaning, ‘cheek’ (Gothic kinnus, feminine, ‘cheek’), has been preserved in Kinnbein, ‘cheek-bone,’ in Old High German chinnizan, Middle High German kinnezan, ‘molar tooth,’ Old High German kinnibaccho, ‘jawbone’; compare Anglo-Saxon čin, English chin, Anglo-Saxon činbân, English chin-bone, Modern Dutch kin, feminine, ‘chin’; Old Icelandic kinn, ‘cheek.’ Compare Greek γένυς, feminine, ‘chin, jaw, jawbone,’ also ‘edge of an axe, axe,’ γένειον, neuter, ‘chin, jaw,’ γενείας, feminine, ‘chin, beard’; Latin gena, ‘cheek,’ dentes genuini, ‘molar teeth’; Irish gin, ‘mouth’; Sanscrit hánu-s, feminine, ‘jaw,’ hanavýa, ‘jawbone.’ Hence the meaning varies considerably between cheek, jaw, chin; the primary sense of the root gen in this term cannot be ascertained. On account of the Greek meaning ‘axe’ some deduce the word from a root gen, ‘to cut to pieces.’
​ Kipfel, dialectic, also Gipfel, masculine and neuter, from the equivalent Middle High German kipfe, masculine, ‘roll of fine white bread pointed at both ends’ (Gipfel is a corrupt form); perhaps allied to Old High German chipfa, feminine, Middle High German kipfe, ‘drag of a wheel.’
Kippe, feminine, ‘brink, edge,’ from Middle German and Low German; the proper High German form is Kipfe, meaning ‘point’ in Luther; earlier references are wanting. The nominal verb kippen means ‘to cut of the point’; in the sense of ‘to strike,’ allied to Old Icelandic kippa, ‘to strike,’ Anglo-Saxon cippian, with which Modern High German kappen is also connected.
Kirche, feminine, ‘church,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kirche (Swiss chilche), Old High German chirī̆hha (Swiss chī̆lihha), feminine; corresponding to Dutch kerk, Anglo-Saxon čiriče, čyriče, English church. As is shown by the Old High German hh of chirī̆hha, the word must have existed before the Old High German period; names of places with Kirche are found in Germany even before the beginning of the 8th century; yet the word is unknown to Gothic (the terms used were gudhûs, ‘the house of God,’ gards or razn - bidô, ‘house of prayer’; also aíkklêsjô, ‘coetus christianorum’). The other Teutonic tribes must, however, have adopted the term from Greek through the medium of Gothic (compare Pfaffe, also Heide, Taufe, and Teufel). It is true that Greek κυριακή (with ἡμέρα understood) during the first ten centuries signified ‘Sunday’ exclusively, and only from the 11th century onwards did it obtain the meaning ‘house of the Lord.’ But since the word is foreign, we may assume that the gender of κυριακόν, ‘church’ (or its plural κῦριακά), recorded from the 4th century, was changed (Old High German chī̆rī̆hha, feminine). Since the Greek word was never current in the Romish Church (the Latin-Romance as well as the Keltic term being ecclesia), we have in Kirche a term of the Greek Church, though in other cases the words adopted with Christianity are essentially Latin (from Gothic *kyreika, Russian cerkovĭ, and Old Slovenian crŭky are also probably derived). The introduction of Kirche through a Gothic medium was possible as late as the 9th century at least, for, according to Wal. Strabo, divine service was celebrated on the Lower Danube in the Gothic language even at that period. —
Kirchspiel, neuter, ‘parish,’ from Middle High German kirchspil, also kirspel; the second part of the compound is instinctively connected with Menschenspiel, yet its origin has not been definitely ascertained; some have referred it to Gothic spill, neuter, ‘speech’ (compare Beispiel), and have defined Kirchspiel as ‘the district within which the decision of a church is paramount.’ This assumption is not quite satisfactory, because no connecting link between Kirchenwort, ‘decision of the church,’ and Kirchspiel, ‘parish,’ can be discovered. Following the explanation of Pfarre, we should rather assume some such meaning as ‘district, enclosure, forbearance,’ which is supported by Anglo-Saxon spelian, ‘to spare, protect’; compare Anglo-Saxon spela, ‘representative’?. —
Kirchweih, feminine, ‘dedication of a church,’ from Middle High German kirchwîhe, feminine, which thus early signifies also ‘annual fair,’ and even ‘fête’ generally, Old High German chirihwîhî, feminine, properly ‘dedication of a church’ (compare Alemannian Kilbe, chilbi).
Kirmes, feminine, ‘village fête,’ from Middle High German kirmësse, feminine, ‘dedication festival,’ for the unrecorded kirchmësse, just as Middle High German kirspil is a variant of kirchspel, neuter, ‘parish,’ and kirwîhe a variant of kirchwîhe, ‘dedication of a church.’ Kirmes (Dutch kerkmis, kermis), literally ‘mass to celebrate the dedication of a church’ (in Alemannian chilbe, from kilchwîhe, Bavarian kirta, from kirchtac). Compare Messe.
kirre, adjective, ‘tractable,’ from Middle High German kürre, Middle German kurre, kirre, adjective, ‘tame, mild’; derived, by suppressing the w, from earlier Old High German *churri, *quirri; compare Gothic qaírrus, ‘meek,’ Old Icelandic kvirr, kyrr, adjective, ‘still, quiet.’ Perhaps based on the Teutonic root gër appearing in Modern High German Köder; yet Lithuanian gurti, ‘to grow weak, relax,’ gurus, ‘crumbling,’ may also be allied.
Kirsche, feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German kirse, kërse (Alemannian chriesi), feminine, ‘cherry’ (for the change of s into sch compare Arsch and Hirsch). Old High German chirsa (*chirissa), feminine, is certainly not derived from Latin cerasum, but, like the cognate Romance words, from ceręsia (properly neuter plural of the adjective ceraseus?. Compare Greek κεράσιον, ‘cherry,’ κερασία, κερασέα, ‘cherry tree’), only with a Teutonic accent; the Alemannian form Kriese (from the primary form krêsia, which perhaps appears also in Istrian kriss and Servian kriješa), like Kirsche, is based too on the common primitive form with the Romance accent; Middle Latin *cerę́sea (Italian ciregia, French cerise); compare also Old Slovenian črěšĭnja (primitively Slavonic *čers-, from *kers-?). The adoption of the word by High German occurred before the 7th century, as is shown by the preservation of the initial c as k in High German. For a discussion of the period at which the word was ​borrowed, and of the gender of the Southern terms for fruit, see Pflaume.
Kissen, Küssen, neuter, ‘cushion,’ from Middle High German küssen, küssîn, Old High German chussī̆n, neuter, ‘cushion’; compare Dutch kussen, ‘cushion.’ The German word is derived (compare Pfühl and Flaum) from the equivalent Middle Latin cussînus (French coussin), which comes from Latin *culcitinum, allied to culcita, ‘mattress, cushion’; English cushion and Italian cuscino are modern French loan-words. The i of Modern High German Kissen comes from Middle German and Upper German dialects (compare Pilz and Bims).
Kiste, feminine, ‘box,’ from Middle High German kiste, Old High German chista, feminine, ‘box, chest’; compare Dutch kist, Anglo-Saxon čest, čîste, English chest, Old Icelandic kista, ‘box.’ In Gothic a cognate term is wanting. The assumption that the Teutonic languages borrowed Latin cista (Greek κίστη) at a very early period, at any rate long before the change of the initial c of cista into tz, presents no greater difficulty than in the case of Arche; compare Korb, Koffer, and Sack. Hence between Kasten and Kiste there is no etymological connection; the first has no cognate term in Latin.
Kitt, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German küte, küt, masculine, ‘cement, putty,’ Old High German chuti, quiti, ‘glue, birdlime,’ which makes it probable that the Gothic form was *qidus; compare also Anglo-Saxon cwidu, ‘resin of trees.’ Primitively allied to Latin bitumen, Sanscrit jatu, ‘resin of trees’; common type getú. Allied also to Old Icelandic kváða, Swedish kåda, ‘resin,’ Middle English code, ‘pitch.’
Kittel, masculine, ‘smock-frock,’ from Middle High German kitel, kittel, masculine, ‘smock-frock, shirt, chemise.’ Anglo-Saxon cyrtel, English kirtle, Old Icelandic kyrtell, on account of the medial r and the abnormal dental correspondence, cannot be compared (they are allied to kurz). Its connection with χιτών is impossible. The origin of the High German word has not been explained. The strong suspicion that it has been borrowed cannot be proved.
Kitze (1.), feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German kitze, kiz, neuter, Old High German chizzî, kizzîn, neuter, ‘kid’; from Teutonic *kittîn, neuter, with the original diminutive suffix -îna, which appears in Küchelein and Schwein. Gothic *kidi (kidjis), neuter, may be deduced from Old Icelandic kið, neuter, ‘she-goat,’ whence English kid is borrowed (an English word cognate with Scandinavian must have had an initial ch). Further, the assumed Gothic *kidi and *kittein, with medial dentals, are related to each other, just as the forms assumed under Ziege, tigô and tikkein, with medial gutturals. The close correspondence between Kitze and Zicke proves that they are related; both are pet names for Geiß, ‘goat’ (compare Swiss gitzi for Old High German chitzî).
Kitze (2.), Kietze, feminine, ‘kitten, kid, fawn,’ not found in Middle High German and Old High German, but probably existing in the vernacular, as is indicated by the specifically High German tz compared with Low German tt (kitte); compare Middle English chitte, ‘kitten,’ from an unrecorded Anglo-Saxon *citten (English kitten); Middle English kitlung, English kitling, are probably borrowed from Scandinavian ketlingr, ‘kitten.’ The cognates are related by gradation to Katze.
kitzeln, verb, ‘to tickle,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kitzeln, kützeln, Old High German chizzilôn, chuzzilôn; compare Middle Low German ketelen, Old Icelandic kitla; Anglo-Saxon cytelian (English to kittle) is based on the primary form *kutilôn. English to tickle, Middle English tikelen, is based on a transposition of consonants in the root kit (so too Alemannian zicklen, ‘to provoke’); compare Essig, Fieber, Kabeljau, and Ziege. The Teutonic root kit, kut, ‘to tickle,’ seems to have been coined anew in Teutonic on an onomatopoetic basis; hence the Old High German variants chizzilôn, chuzzilôn. In cognate languages similar correspondences are formed anew; compare Lettic kutēt, ‘to tickle.’ The substantive Kitzel, masculine, ‘tickling,’ first occurs in Modern High German and is formed from the verb; compare Handel.
klabastern, verb, ‘to run noisily,’ Modern High German only; originally a Low German term; in consequence of the entire absence of the word in the earlier periods of the languages its origin is dubious; it is most probably akin to Old High German klaphôn, Middle High German klaffen, ‘to clatter’; Anglo-Saxon clappian, English to clap.
Kladde, feminine, ‘rough draft, day-book,’ Modern High German only, from Low German kladde, ‘impurity, dirt,’ then ‘rough draft’; further details for the elucidation of the Low German word (compare klaterig) are wanting.
Klaff, masculine, ‘crash, yelp, bark,’ from Middle High German klaf (genitive klaffes) and klapf, masculine, ‘report, crack,’ Old High German klaph, masculine, anaklaph, ‘shock’; Middle High German klaffen, klapfen, ‘to ring, resound,’ ûf klaffen, ‘to break asunder, open, gape,’ Old High German chlaphôn; Gothic *klappôn is wanting; Anglo-Saxon clappian, English to clap. ‘Resounding’ is the primary meaning of the stem klapp, while ‘cracking, bursting, gaping’ is the derivative sense; compare Klapp and klopfen.
Klafter, neuter, masculine, and feminine, ‘fathom,’ from Middle High German klâfter, feminine, masculine, and neuter, Old High German ​chlâftra, feminine, ‘length of the outstretched arms, fathom’; for a similar development of meaning compare Elle, Faden, also Spanne and Fuß. Gothic *klêftra or *klêftri, feminine, is wanting, so too the corresponding forms in the cognate languages. Its connection with Anglo-Saxon clyppan, English to clip, ‘to embrace,’ Swiss χlupfel, ‘armful of hay’ (Teutonic root klē̆p), makes it probable that the word is related to Lithuanian glěbti, ‘to encircle with the arms,’ glėbýs, ‘armful,’ glóbti, ‘to embrace’ (root glêb). The Middle High German variant lâfter (lâhter), feminine and neuter, ‘fathom,’ is obscure.
Klage, feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German klage, Old High German chlaga, feminine, ‘complaint,’ properly ‘a wail as an expression of pain’; wanting in all the early periods of the Old Teutonic languages except Old High German; adopted as a legal term in Modern Icelandic in the form of klögun. ModHG and Middle High German klagen, from Old High German chlagôn. The pre-Teutonic root is probably glak or glagh; yet cognates are wanting.
Klamm, masculine, ‘spasm in the throat,’ from Middle High German klam (genitive klammes), masculine, ‘cramp, oppression, fetter’; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon clom (o before m, or rather mm, for a), masculine, feminine, and neuter, ‘firm grip, talon, claw, fetter’;. also Old High German chlamma, Middle High German klamme, feminine Modern High German klemmen, ‘to squeeze,’ from Middle High German klęmmen (Old High German bichlęmmen), ‘to seize with the claws, squeeze in, press together’; compare Anglo-Saxon beclęmman, Old Icelandic klemma. — Modern High German Klemme, feminine, ‘defile,’ from Middle High German klemme, klemde, feminine, ‘narrowness, cramping,’ Old High German not yet found.
Klammer, feminine, ‘cramp, clamp, brace,’ from the equivalent Middle High German klammer, klamer, klamere, feminine, Old High German *klamara, feminine, is wanting; Scandinavian klǫmbr (genitive klambrar), feminine, ‘vice,’ and Middle High German klamere point to a Gothic *klamra or *klamara, feminine, which is connected with the Teutonic root klam, ‘to press together,’ appearing in Klamm. The equivalent Middle High German klampfer, feminine, and the Modern High German dialectic forms Klamper (Bavarian) and Klampfer (Carinthian) are abnormal; compare also English clamp and the equivalent Dutch klamp, masculine; the labial following the m presents some difficulties. Compare the next word.
Klampe, feminine, ‘clamp,’ not yet found in Middle High German; from Low German; compare Dutch klamp, ‘cramp, cleats.’ The strictly High German form is Klampfe (Bavarian, Austrian), ‘cramp’; compare Dutch klamp, English clamp, and the equivalent Scandinavian klampi.
Klang, masculine, ‘sound, clang,’ from the equivalent Middle High German klanc (genitive klanges), masculine, with the variant klanc (genitive klankes), Old High German chlang; compare Dutch klank, masculine, ‘clang, sound,’ as well as English clank and clang; Anglo-Saxon *clong, *clonc, are wanting, so too Gothic *klaggs and *klagks; compare also Middle High German klunc (klunges), masculine, ‘sound,’ and klinc (klinges), masculine, ‘tone, clangour.’ The form klank with a final k is to be regarded perhaps like falzen compared with falten, Zicke with Ziege, and Kitze with Old Icelandic kið (compare also krank), i.e., k represents kk for Aryan kn; glank (or rather glangh) is perhaps the Aryan root of the Teutonic cognates, unless we are tempted to regard Klang (compare klingen) as a new onomatopoetic word (compare Greek κλαγγή, Latin clangor).
Klapp, masculine, ‘clap, slap, blow,’ Modern High German only, adopted from Low German, like its cognates (Klappe, klappen, Klapps). Only klappern, verb, ‘to clatter,’ is current in Middle High German without any presumption of its being borrowed; perhaps it is onomatopoetic. Modern High German Klapp, ‘blow,’ is phonetically Middle High German klapf, klaf, masculine, ‘report, crack’; compare Klaff.
klar, adjective, ‘clear, bright; evident,’ from Middle High German. klâr, ‘bright, pure, beautiful’; adopted in Middle High German from Latin clârus; English clear, Middle English clêr, is borrowed from French clair.
klaterig, adjective, ‘slovenly,’ a Low German word; properly ‘dirty and wet’ (of the weather), then used especially in a figurative sense; compare Low German klaten, ‘dirt, dung,’ allied to Kladde.
klatsch, ‘clap,’ onomatopoetic interjection, Modern High German simply; allied to onomatopoetic cognates for ‘to resound’; compare Dutch kletsen, ‘to crack a whip,’ English to clash.
klauben, verb, ‘to pick or dig out, cull, from Middle High German klûben, Old High German chlûbôn, ‘to pluck to pieces, cleave’; Goth *klûbôn is wanting. The Teutonic root klū̆b anciently formed another verb; see klieben, under which further references are given.
Klaue, feminine, ‘claw, talon, fang,’ from the equivalent Middle High German klâwe, klâ, Old High German chlâwa, chlôa, feminine (compare Braue, from Old High German brâwa). The variants in Middle High German and Old High German render it difficult to determine the Gothic form; Anglo-Saxon clâ, cleá, cleó (plural clâwe), clawu (ă?) are also difficult to explain phonetically; Gothic *klêwa, feminine, is probable, although Old Icelandic kló allows us to infer a graded form, *klôwa, feminine. The common Teutonic stem means ​'claw,’ but it is not found in the non-Teutonic languages. The root is klu, pre-Teutonic glu (compare Knäuel); Old Icelandic klá, ‘to scratch, shave,’ based on a Teutonic klah, is scarcely connected with these cognates.
Klause, feminine, ‘cell,’ from Middle High German klûse, klûs, feminine, ‘hermitage, cell,’ also ‘monastery,’ Old High German chlûsa. Middle Latin clausa, clusa, clausum, closum, with the meanings ‘locus seu ager sepibus vel muris septus aut clausus,’ also ‘monastery’; hence the High German word is based on clusa, which is a later participial form, due to clûsus, the participle of the compounds of claudere, in place of the earlier clausus (compare Italian chiusa). On the other hand, Middle High German klôse, klôs, feminine, ‘hermitage, monastery,’ with the derivative klôsenœre, ‘hermit’ (compare Middle Latin clausarius, ‘monk,’ but clûsinaria, feminine, ‘virgo deo sacra reclusa’), is based on Middle Latin clausa, *clôsa (compare clôsum). The Middle High German meanings of klôse, klûse, ‘rocky cleft, defile, ravine,’ are connected with Middle Latin clûsa, ‘angustus montium aditus.’ Compare also Kloster, Anglo-Saxon clûs, feminine, ‘cell.’
Klausel, feminine, ‘clause,’ in use since the 15th century, from Latin clausula.
kleben, verb, ‘to cleave (to),’ from Middle High German klëben, Old High German chlëbên, verb, ‘to cleave, adhere, hold on’ (for ë from Teutonic and Aryan ĭ compare Quecksilber, leben, verwesen, &c.); corresponding to Old Saxon kliƀôn, Anglo-Saxon cleofian, English to cleave; Gothic *klibôn is wanting; Scandinavian klifa has only the figurative sense ‘to cling to,’ i.e., ‘to repeat.’ A common Teutonic verb meaning ‘to cleave (to),’ formed from the weakest vowel stage of the Teutonic root klī̆b (see kleiben).
Kleck, Klecks, masculine, ‘blot,’ Modern High German simply; only the verb klecken (klecksen) may be traced farther back, Middle High German klęcken, ‘to blot, stain, sputter,’ also ‘to strike sonorously’; the corresponding klac (ckes), masculine, signifies ‘rent, slit, crack.’
Klee, masculine, ‘clover,’ from the equivalent Middle High German klê (genitive k'êwes), masculine, Old High German chlê, chlêo (genitive chlêwes). masculine and neuter; based on klaiw- (see See, Schnee). The remaining Low German dialects, have an extended form, in some cases only partially corresponding, Anglo-Saxon clœ̂fre, clâfre, feminine, English clover, Dutch klaver, Low German klever and klȧver, ‘clover.’ Perhaps these are based on some obscure compound. Except in the West Teutonic languages, too, there are no terms cognate with High German Klee; in Scandinavian, Icelandic smári (smœrur), Norwegian and Swedish (dialectic) smœre are used; Danish klöver is borrowed.
Klei, masculine, ‘clay,’ Modern High German only, from Low German klei, ‘slime, loam, moist earth,’ allied to Dutch klei, feminine, ‘marsh soil, clay, loam'; compare English clay, from Anglo-Saxon clœ̂g. An assumed Gothic *kladdja, feminine, may be connected with the root klai, by gradation klî, meaning ‘to cleave (to),’ which has a wider ramification in Old Teutonic; Anglo-Saxon clâm (from klaim), ‘loam, clay,’ English (dialectic) cloam, ‘pottery,’ Old High German chleimen, Scandinavian kleima, klîna, ‘to besmear’; compare Kleister and klein. It corresponds in the non-Teutonic languages to Greek γλοι, by gradation γλι; compare γλοιός, ‘oil lees, clammy stuff,’ as well as γλίνη and γλιά, ‘glue'; Latin glus, gluten, with û for older oi; Old Slovenian glina, ‘clay,’ glěnŭ, ‘slime’ (Lettic glĭwe, ‘slime’?). Further Middle High German klënen, ‘to cleave (to), spread over,’ is connected with the Greek and Slavonic noun with the suffix na.
kleiben, verb, ‘to stick, glue,’ from Middle High German and Old High German kleiben, ‘to fix firmly, fasten,’ properly ‘to cause to adhere or hold on'; a causative of the verb klîben, obsolete in Modern High German and rarely found even in Middle High German Old High German chlîban, Old Saxon biklîƀan, ‘to cleave, adhere.’ Old Icelandic klífa, ‘to climb,’ proves the connection of Modern High German klimmen (which see) with the root klī̆b, klī̆f, ‘to cleave (to),’ from pre-Teutonic glī̆p (Teutonic f in Swiss χlefe, ‘box on the ear.’
Kleid, neuter, ‘dress,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kleit (genitive kleides), neuter; wanting in Old High German till the middle of the 12th century; hence the word is supposed to be borrowed from Dutch kleed. Unknown originally to Old Saxon also, as well as to Gothic and several Anglo-Saxon records (Anglo-Saxon clâþ, neuter, ‘cloth, dress,’ English cloth; Old Icelandic klœ́þi, masculine, ‘stuff, cloth, dress’). The history of the word, which is more widely diffused in the modern Teutonic languages, is obscure on account of the want of early references and the divergence of the earliest recorded forms, AS clûþ, neuter, and Old Icelandic klœ́ði, neuter (the latter too has an abnormal â instead of ei for the Teutonic oi). If the dental of Anglo-Saxon clâþ be regarded as derivative (Gothic *klai-þa), we may infer from the Anglo-Saxon and Old Icelandic meaning ‘stuff, cloth’ (Anglo-Saxon cildclâþ, properly ‘child's clothes,’ with the special sense ‘swaddling cloth’), a root klai signifying perhaps ‘to weave.’
Kleie, feminine, ‘bran,’ from the equivalent Middle High German klîe, usually plural klîen, with the earlier variant klîwen, Old High German chlîa, chlîwa, ​plural chlîwûn, feminine; wanting in Gothic, English, and Scandinavian; compare further Middle Low German clîge, Modern Dutch wanting; Swedish kli, ‘bran.’
klein, adjective, ‘little,’ from Middle High German klein, kleine, adjective, ‘clean, pretty, fine, prudent, slender, lean, little, insignificant'; Old High German chleini, ‘pretty, shining, neat, careful, slight’ (Alemannian dialects point to an Old High German variant *chlîni). Anglo-Saxon clœ̂ne, adjective, ‘clean, neat,’ English clean, proves that ‘pretty, clean,’ is the primary idea of the various senses of the Middle High German word (compare Schmach). Scandinavian klénn was borrowed at a late period from English, Low German, or Frisian Gothic *klai-ni- is wanting; the nasal belongs, as in several other adjectives. (see rein and schön), to the suffix. It is uncertain whether the root is to be connected with Greek γλαι-όι ‘greasy, sticky oil,’ and its cognates, discussed under Klei (the meanings ‘to shine, cleave (to)' interchange, e.g., in the root λιπ, Greek λιπα, λίπαρέω, λιπος, λιπαρός). Greek γλήμη, neuter, ‘wonders, ornaments,’ and γλήη, ‘pupil (of the eye),’ are, however, both on account of their forms and meanings, still less allied. —
Kleinod, neuter, ‘jewel,’ from Middle High German kleinôt, neuter, with the variants kleinœte, kleinœde, neuter, literally ‘fine, pretty thing,’ then ‘costliness, ornament,’ not recorded in Old High German; ôt is a suffix (see Heimat, Armut, and Einöde). Hence the derivative has retained another feature of the earlier varied senses.
Kleister, masculine and feminine, ‘paste,’ from the equivalent Middle High German klîster, masculine, with the equivalent variant klënster based on the verb klënen; Old High German chlîstar and Gothic *kleistra- are wanting; stra is a suffix, as in Laster; the stem klî is the root klî, by gradation klai, ‘to cleave (to)’ (discussed under Klei and klein), which forms a verb only in Old High German, but it passes at the same time into the e-class, chlënan, ‘to cleave (to), smear,’ for kli-na-n, with na as a suffix of the present, as in Latin and Greek (sper-ne-re, li-ne-re, δάκνειν, &c.); compare Middle High German klënen, verb, Icelandic klína, ‘to smear,’ klíningr, ‘bread and butter,’ klístra, ‘to paste.’
klempern, verb, ‘to tinkle,’ Modern High German simply, allied to Middle High German klamben, klampfern, ‘to clamp’; Klempner, ‘tinker,’ also Modern High German simply, allied to the equivalent Middle High German klampfer.
klenken, verb, ‘to force the seeds from cones by heat,’ from Middle High German klęngen, klęnken, ‘to cause to ring’; factit. of klingen, which see; compare henken, allied to hangen.
Klepper, masculine, ‘nag,’ early Modern High German, originally not in a contemptuous sense; a Low German form; it is connected with Low German kleppen, ‘to strike rapidly’ (especially also ‘to ring with a sharp sound’), Middle High German klepfen. Perhaps the term Klepper is derived from the bells on the harness of the horse.
Klette, feminine, ‘bur,’ from the equivalent Middle High German klëtte, feminine, with the variant klëte; Old High German chlëtto, masculine, chlëtta, feminine (also Old High German chlëta). Anglo-Saxon cliþe, clâte, feminine, English clotbur, ‘large bur’; further from the root klī̆b, ‘to cleave (to), adhere’ (compare kleben), the equivalent Old High German chlîba, Anglo-Saxon clîfe, Middle English clîve, as well as Middle Dutch klijve, Middle Low German klîve; finally also Modern Dutch klis, feminine, ‘bur.’ Old High German chlëtta is the most closely connected with Anglo-Saxon cliþe. It has been compared with Latin glis (ss) as a cognate. From the German word, Old French gleton, gletteron, and Modern French glouteron are derived. Compare also the next word.
klettern, verb, ‘to climb,’ early ModHG only, probably allied to Kette, and derived like the latter from a root meaning ‘to cleave (to)’; compare kleben and klimmen. Akin to Dutch klauteren, Low German klâtern, klattern, South Franconian klôteren, ‘to mount, climb’ (with an abnormal vowel and dental); root klêt?.
klieben, verb, ‘to split,’ from Middle High German klieben, Old High German chlioban, verb, ‘to split, cleave’; corresponding to Old Saxon clioƀan, Anglo-Saxon cleófan, English to cleave. From the correspondence of the other Teutonic dialects we may assume Gothic *klûban, *kliuban, ‘to split.’ Under klauben a verb from the same root klū̆b, by gradation kleub, ‘to work with a sharp instrument,’ has been discussed, to which is allied Greek γλυφ (γλύφω, ‘to hollow out, carve,’ γλύανος, ‘chisel,’ γλύπτης, ‘carver’), perhaps also Latin glûbo, ‘to peel.’ With the Aryan root glū̆bh, by gradation gleubh, Kloben, Kluft, and Kluppe are also connected.
klimmen, verb, ‘to climb,’ from a Middle High German klimmen, klimben, Old High German climbun, strong verb, ‘to climb, mount’; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon climban, English to climb. The nasal was originally a part of the present stem; it did not belong to the root, as is proved by Old Icelandic klífa, verb, ‘to climb.’ As to the identity of klimban with Old Teutonic klîban, ‘to cleave (to), hold firm,’ compare kleiben; hence klimmen is properly ‘to adhere.’
klimpern, verb,‘to clink,’ Modern High German only, a new onomatopoetic term.
Klinge (1.), feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German klinge, feminine, ‘sword-blade’; the word, which is not recorded in Old High German, is ​bably a derivative of klingen (from the ringing sound made by the sword on the helmet).
Klinge (2.), feminine, ‘ravine,’ from Middle High German klinge, feminine, ‘mountain stream,’ Old High German chlinga, chlingo, masculine, ‘torrent’; like Klinge (1), a derivative of klingen.
klingeln, verb, ‘to ring,’ from Middle High German klingelen, Old High German chlingilôn, verb, ‘to sound, roar, splash,’ diminutive and frequentative of klingen.
klingen, verb, ‘to sound,’ from Middle High German klingen, Old High German chlingan, strong verb, ‘to sound, resound’; corresponding to Icelandic klingja, ‘to ring.’ English to clink has adopted the same final stem sound (k for g), which the substantive clank, connected with it by gradation (compare Klang and klenken), has always had. The stem, like the derivative Klang (compare also Klinge, Klinke, and klenken), is common to Teutonic, but on account of the non-permutation it cannot be cognate with Greek κλαγγή, Latin clangor. Both roots are independent onomatopoetic forms in each separate language.
Klinke, feminine, ‘latch,’ from Middle High German klinke, feminine, ‘bolt of a door’; allied to klingen.
Klinse, Klinze, feminine, ‘cleft,’ from Middle High German klinse, klimse, and with a different stage of gradation klunse, klumse, klumze, feminine, ‘slit’; Old High German *chlumuȥa, chlimuȥa, is wanting. Origin obscure.
Klippe, feminine, ‘cliff,’ from the equivalent Middle High German (Lower Rhenish) klippe, feminine, borrowed from Middle Dutch klippe; compare Dutch klip; allied to a Teutonic root klib, as is shown by Old Icelandic kleif, neuter, ‘cliffs’; compare also Anglo-Saxon clif, neuter, English cliff, Old Icelandic klif, neuter, Old Saxon klif, Old High German klëb, neuter, all pointing to a Gothic *klif, klibis, neuter, ‘rock, hill’ They have been connected with Icelandic klífa, verb, ‘to climb’ (see under kleiben), but on account of the primary meaning ‘to cleave (to),’ this is scarcely satisfactory.
klippern, verb, ‘to click,’ Modern High German only, a recent onomatopoetic term.
klirren, verb, ‘to clash,’ Modern High German only, a recent onomatopoetic term.
Kloben, masculine, ‘log of wood, block, pulley,’ from Middle High German klobe, masculine, ‘log of wood with a slit to act as a vice, fetter, stick with a slit for catching birds, bolt, slit,’ &c.; Old High German chlobo, masculine, ‘stick for catching birds’; allied to klieben, Middle High German klieben, verb, ‘to split, cleave’ (compare Bogen, allied to biegen). Old Low German kloðo, masculine, ‘fetter’; Old Icelandic klofe, masculine, ‘crevice in a rock, door joint’; Dutch kloof, feminine, ‘slit, rift, cleft.’ Compare Knoblauch.
klopfen, verb, ‘to knock,’ from Middle High German klopfen, Old High German chlopfôn, weak verb, ‘to knock, rap’; Gothic *kluppôn is not warranted by corresponding forms in the other Old Teutonic dialects; compare also Dutch kloppen. Further, Old High German chlocchôn, Middle High German klocken, ‘to knock,’ which are not indubitably allied to klopfen. With the latter the cognates discussed under Klaff are connected by gradation, and these point to a Gothic *klappôn, ‘to strike.’
Kloster, masculine, ‘monastery,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German klôster, neuter, borrowed on the introduction of Christianity from Middle Latin and Romance claustrum (Italian chiostro, French cloître), ‘monastery’; compare Klause.
Kloß, masculine, ‘clod, dumpling,’ from Middle High German klôȥ, masculine and neuter, ‘lump, bulb, clew, bullet, pommel of a sword, wedge,’ Old High German chlôȥ, masculine, ‘ball, round mass, bowl (at play)’; corresponding to Middle Low German klûte, Dutch kloot, masculine, ‘bullet, ball.’ Anglo-Saxon *cleát, English cleat, ‘wedge’ (Icelandic klót, ‘pommel of a sword,’ has an abnormal ô for au, which indicates that the word has been borrowed, unless it is cognate with Latin glâdius). Gothic *klauta- is wanting; the Teutonic root klut appears also in the following word.
Klotz, masculine and neuter, ‘block, log, stump,’ from Middle High German kloz (genitive klotzes), masculine and neuter, ‘lump, bullet,’ hence equivalent to Middle High German klôȥ; Anglo-Saxon *clott, English clot; we may therefore assume Gothic *klutta-, the relation of which to klauta-, mentioned under Kloß, is evident. In the non-Teutonic languages the Teutonic root klut (‘bale’?), adduced under Kloß, has not been definitely authenticated; a root glud appears in Lithuanian gludus, ‘clinging to,’ glausti, ‘to cling to.’
Klucke, Glucke, feminine, ‘clucking hen,’ from Middle High German klucke. feminine, ‘brood hen,’ allied to Middle High German and Modern High German klucken (glucken). Compare Anglo-Saxon cloccian, English to cluck, Dutch klokken. The Teutonic cognate, klukk, is of onomatopoetic origin; compare the phonetic cognates, Latin glôcîre, Greek γλώζειν, ‘to cluck.’
Kluft, feminine, ‘chasm,’ from Middle High German kluft, feminine, ‘cleft, chasm, cave, vault, tongs,’ Old High German chluft, feminine, ‘tongs, shears,’ properly ‘splitting’ (as a verbal abstract of the Old Teutonic kliuban, ‘to split,’ discussed under klieben). The tongs, as an instrument with a slit, is called dialectic Kluft; compare Kluppe. The Middle High German meaning ‘vault’ (crypta) seems to be due to a confusion of Kluft with the foreign word crypta (see Gruft). Gothic *klufti-, feminine; ​Anglo-Saxon *clyft, English cleft, clift, Dutch kluft, feminine, ‘cleft, notch, chasm.’
klug, adjective, ‘knowing, prudent, shrewd,’ from Middle High German kluoc (g), ‘fine, pretty, tender, superb, brave, polite, prudent, sly’; in Old High German not recorded, whether by chance or no is not known. It is thought to have been borrowed from Low German, although the word in the non-High German languages has a final k, Low German klôk, Dutch klock, ‘prudent, brave, great, corpulent’ (not found in English; Scandinavian klókr, ‘prudent, cunning,’ is supposed to be a German loan-word). No clue to an etymological explanation of the adjective can be discovered.
Klumpe, Klumpen, masculine, ‘slump, lump,’ Modern High German only; from the equivalent Low German klamp, Dutch klomp, masculine; compare English clump. Scandinavian klumba, feminine, ‘club,’ with a different labial, also a variant klubba; klubbu-fótr, whence the equivalent English ‘club-foot.’ Further references have not been discovered. Compare Kolben.
Klüngel, neuter, ‘clew,’ from Middle High German *klüngel, klüngelîn, Old High German chlungilîn, neuter, ‘clew,’ diminutive of Old High German chlunga, feminine, ‘clew’; if ng be a suffix, as in jung, the word may be allied to Knäuel, Old High German chliuwa (root klu, Aryan glu), in which case it would be brought into connection with other terms; it is, however, more probably allied to English to cling, from Anglo-Saxon clingan, ‘to cling to, hold fast, adhere.’
Klunker, feminine, ‘clot, tassel,’ Modern High German only; allied to Middle High German klungeler, ‘tassel,’ glunke, feminine, ‘dangling curl,’ glunkern, ‘to swing, dangle.’
Kluppe, feminine, ‘pincers,’ from Middle High German kluppe, feminine, ‘tongs, barnacles, splinter,’ Old High German kluppa, feminine, ‘tongs.’ Kluppe, like Modern High German Kluft (dialectic) ‘tongs,’ is also derived from Old Teutonic kliuban, ‘to split, cleave’; unfortunately correspondences in other dialects are wanting (Gothic *klubjô?). Compare klieben, klauben, and Kluft.
Knabe, masculine, ‘boy, lad, youth,’ from Middle High German, late Old High German chnabo, masculine, ‘boy’; also ‘youth, fellow, servant,’ with the originally equivalent variants, Modern High German Knappe, Middle High German knappe, Old High German chnappo (Old High German chnabo and chnappo are related like Nabe and Nappe). Anglo-Saxon cnapa, Old Saxon knapo, and Old Icelandic knape, ‘attendant, squire,’ present some difficulties compared with Anglo-Saxon cnafa, English knave. Equally obscure is the relation of the entire class to the root ken, Aryan gen (Latin genus, gi-gn-o, Greek γένος, γι-γν-ομαι, &c.), with which some etymologists would like to connect it; if it were allied, Old High German chnëht (kn-ëht) also might perhaps be compared.
knacken, verb, ‘to crack,’ from Middle High German knacken, gnacken, ‘to split, crack,’ wanting in Old High German; English knack, Middle English cnak, ‘crack,’ Icelandic knakkr; Modern High German Knack, ‘crack,’ Middle High German not yet found. To the same root Old Icelandic knoka, Anglo-Saxon cnocian, English to knock, formed by gradation, seem to belong. The words are based on an imitative root which is peculiar to Teutonic.
Knall, masculine, ‘sharp report, explosion,’ Modern High German only; allied to Middle High German er-knëllen, ‘to resound.’ Compare Anglo-Saxon cnyll, cnell, masculine, ‘signal given by a bell,’ English knell.
Knan, Knän, masculine, ‘father,’ from Middle High German genanne, gnanne, from genamne, properly, ‘of the same name’ (for Middle High German ge- compare gleich and Geselle), ‘namesake.’ Used even in Middle High German by sons addressing their father or grandfather.
knapp, adjective, ‘scanty,’ Modern High German only; wanting in Middle High German and Old High German; probably from Low German, for gehnapp. Compare Old Icelandic hneppr, ‘narrow.’
Knappe, masculine, ‘squire, attendant,’ from Middle High German knappe, masculine, ‘youth, bachelor, servant, squire,’ Old High German chnappo, masculine; in the rest of the Old Teutonic languages there are no cognates pointing to Gothic *knabba; two variants of the assumed *knabba are mentioned under Knabe, where the further etymological question is discussed. Compare also Nabe with Nappe, Gothic laigân, ‘to lick,’ with Anglo-Saxon liccian.
knappen, verb, ‘to make scarce, hobble, nibble,’ Modern High German only, from Dutch knappen, ‘to eat, lay hold of quickly.’ —
Knappsack, ‘knapsack,’ from Dutch knap-zack, ‘saddlebag,’ whence probably also English knapsack.
knarren, verb, ‘to creak,’ from Middle High German knarren, gnarren, ‘to creak, snarl’; a recent onomatopoetic term like knirren and knurren.
Knaster, masculine, ‘best tobacco,’ borrowed at the beginning of the 18th century from Dutch knaster, kanaster, masculine, ‘canister tobacco,’ which comes from Spanish canastro, ‘basket’ (compare Latin and Greek canistrum, κάναστρον).
Knäuel, masculine and neuter, ‘clew,’ from Middle High German kniuwel, kniulîn, kniul, neuter, ‘small clew or ball’; the n by differentiation represents l on account of the final l (see Knoblauch); Middle High German kliuwel, kliuwelîn, dimins. of Middle High German kliuwe, neuter, ‘clew, ball’; ​Old High German chliuwelîn, diminutive of chliuwa, chliwa, feminine, ‘ball, clew’; Anglo-Saxon cleówe, clŷwe, neuter, Middle English cleewe, English clew; also Anglo-Saxon cleówen, clŷwen, masculine like Middle German klûwen, Dutch kluwen, ‘skein.’ Old High German also kliwi, kliuwi, neuter, Middle High German kliuwe, neuter, ‘clew.’ A richly developed nominal stem peculiar to West Teutonic; the Gothic form is probably *kliwi (kliujis), neuter or *kliujô, neuter; the root klū̆, by gradation klē̆u, appears also perhaps in Klaue (Gothic *klêwa), which in that case was so called from its contracting; compare Latin gluere, ‘to contract,’ glûma, ‘husk,’ also Sanscrit glâus, ‘bale,’ hence Aryan root glu. Latin glŏbus and glŏmus are not connected with this word.
Knauf, masculine, ‘button, pommel,’ from Middle High German knouf, masculine, ‘pommel (of a sword), pinnacle,’ also a diminutive knoufel, knöufel, masculine, Old High German *chnouf not recorded; Gothic *knaups is also indicated by Dutch knoop, masculine, ‘button, knob.’ A Gothic graded form *knupps may likewise be inferred from the cognates discussed under Knopf, which see.
Knauser, masculine, ‘niggard,’ Modern High German only, probably from Middle High German knûȥ, ‘impudent, daring, haughty (towards the poor).’
Knebel, masculine, ‘branch, peg, moustache, knuckle,’ from Middle High German knębel, masculine, Old High German knębil, ‘crossbeam, girder, crossbar, cord, fetter, knuckle’; Dutch knevel, masculine, ‘packing stick’; Scandinavian knefill, masculine, ‘stake, stick’; Gothic *knabils is wanting. Considering the relation of Gothic *nabala, masculine, ‘navel,’ to Greek ὀμφαλός, we may assume for Gothic *knabils, a root gombh (gonbh) in the non-Teutonic languages (compare γόμφος, ‘plug, nail, wedge’; this word, however, is usually connected with the cognates of Modern High German Kamm). — It is still doubtful whether Knebel in Knebelbart ‘(twisted) moustache,’ first recorded in Modern High German and borrowed from Low German and Dutch, is of a different origin, i.e. connected with Anglo-Saxon cęnep, Old Frisian kenep, Old Icelandic kanpr (Gothic *kanipa-), ‘moustache,’ Middle Dutch canefbeen, ‘cheek-bone.’
Knecht, masculine, ‘servant,’ from Middle High German knëht, Old High German chnëht, masculine, ‘boy, youth, fellow, man, squire,’ often also ‘hero’; compare Anglo-Saxon cniht, masculine, ‘boy, youth, man capable of bearing arms, hero,’ English knight; probably a West Teutonic word, unknown to Gothic and Scandinavian (Danish knegt and Swedish knekt are borrowed). The same variety of meanings in West Teutonic words is found in Knabe and Knappe (compare also Anglo-Saxon mago, ‘son, boy, man, champion,’ see too Kerl). However probable its close connection with Knabe and Knappe may be, yet it is not possible to define it strictly. Kneckt is more probably allied to the root ken, from Aryan gen (Latin genus, γένος, Latin gi-gn-o, γίγνομας), than Knabe, because a suffix -ëht exists in Teutonic.
kneifen, verb, ‘to nip,’ Modern High German only, a Phonetic rendering of Low German knîpen, adopted by the written language. Compare kneipen.
Kneipe, feminine, ‘pincers, gripes,’ Modern High German only, of obscure origin; its cognate relation to kneipen can only be assumed, since an older connecting link between it and Kneipe, ‘tavern,’ is wanting; originally Kneipe was a low tavern. Is it related to Dutch knijp, feminine, ‘narrowness, embarrassment’? or rather Dutch knijp, masculine, ‘bird-snare, brothel’?
kneipen, verb ‘to pinch,’ early Modern High German, originally Low German knîpen (see also kneifen); Dutch knijpen, ‘to nip, twitch’; probably not allied to Anglo-Saxon hnîpan, hnipian, ‘to bow,’ but to a root hnîp, ‘to nip,’ not recorded in Old Teutonic, from which also Middle English nipen, English to nip, are derived; kn initially may be explained from *gahnîpan. The pre-Teutonic root knîb appears in Lithuanian knìbti, ‘to pick, pluck,’ knèbti, ‘to nip.’ If the English word is unconnected with Dutch knijpen on account of the initial sound, we might assume a root knîb, gnîb (Lithuanian gnýbti, ‘to nip,’ gnýbis, ‘nip’), though this too is not recorded in Old Teutonic.
kneten, verb, ‘to knead,’ from the equivalent Middle High German knëten, Old High German chnëtan; compare Middle Low German and Dutch kneden, ‘to knead,’ Anglo-Saxon cnëdan, Middle English cneden, English to knead; a Gothic *knidan, or rather *knudan (compare treten), ‘to knead,’ may be assumed; Scandinavian has only a weak knoða, pointing to Gothic *knudan. Since High German t, Low German, English, and Gothic d may have originated in t owing to earlier positions of the accents (compare Vater, Anglo-Saxon fœder, with Latin pater, Greek πατήρ), gnet may be regarded as the pre-Teutonic root. Compare Old Slovenian gnetą, gmesti, ‘to crush, knead.’
knicken, verb, ‘to crack,’ Modern High German only; from Low German knikken, ‘to burst, split, crack’; English (dialectic) to knick, ‘to crack.’
Knie, neuter, ‘knee,’ from Middle High German knie, kniu (genitive knies, kniewes), Old High German chniu, chneo (genitive chnëwes, chniwes), neuter, ‘knee’; compare Dutch knie, feminine, Anglo-Saxon cneó (genitive cneowes), neuter, Middle English cnee, English knee; Gothic kniu (genitive kniwis), neuter, ‘knee’; a common O. and Modern Teutonic word with the primary meaning ‘knee,’ which also belongs to the allied Aryan words; genu-, gonu-, gnu- are the Aryan ​stems of the word; compare Latin genu, Greek γόνυ (compare γνυ-πετεῖν, γνύξ, ἰγνύαλ), Sanscrit iŭnu, neuter, ‘knee’ (abhijñu, ‘down to the knee,’ jñu-bãdh, ‘kneeling’). This Aryan stem gnu had when declined the variant gnew-, which appears extended in Teutonic by the a of the a-declension, Gothic kniwa-. The shorter Teutonic form knu-, Aryan gnu-, has been retained in Gothic *knu-ssus (inferred from knussjan, ‘to kneel’), ‘kneeling’ (the suffix -ssus is current in Gothic), and probably also in Old Icelandic knúe, masculine, ‘knuckle’ (presupposing Gothic *knuwa, masculine); there are also some abnormal l-derivatives, Middle English cnélien, English to kneel, Dutch knielen, and Swiss chnüle, ‘to kneel.’
Kniff, masculine, ‘pinch,’ Modern High German only, allied to kneifen; Dutch kneep, feminine, ‘pinch, pinching.’
Knirps, masculine, ‘pigmy,’ Modern High German only, a Middle German word, by syncope from *knürbes, knirbes (compare Low German knirfix, Lower Rhenish knirwes), Middle English närvel, nirvel (Anglo-Saxon *cnyrfel?), ‘pigmy,’ are formed with a different diminutive termination. Allied to Suabian knorp, ‘pigmy’; and to Dutch knorf, ‘knot’?.
knirren, verb, ‘to creak,’ from Middle High German knirren, ‘to jar.’ A recent imitative word.
knirschen, verb, ‘to gnash,’ Middle High German *knirsen, may be inferred from knirsunge, feminine, ‘gnashing,’ and zerknürsen, ‘to crush, squash’; for sch from s after r compare Hirsch and Arsch; compare Modern Dutch knarsen, knersen, ‘to gnash, crash,’ knarsetanden, ‘to gnash with the teeth.’
knistern, verb, ‘to crackle,’ from Middle High German *knisten, on which the noun knistunge, feminine, ‘gnashing,’ is based; an onomnatopoetic formation.
Knittelvers, masculine, ‘doggerel,’ Modern High German only; Knittel for Knüttel, ‘cudgel.’ English staff, in the sense of ‘stick,’ and also ‘verse, strophe, stanza,’ may be adduced as an approximate parallel. The Dutchman Junius says of the refrain in Dutch popular songs, ‘In vulgaribus rhythmis versum identidem repetitum scipionem ant baculm appellant’; the Romans had versus rhopalici, the Scandinavians the stef.
knittern, verb, ‘to rumple,’ Modern High German only; an imitative word.
knobeln, verb, ‘to fillip,’ Modern High German only, allied to a widely diffused dialectic form knöbel (Upper German), knöwel (Middle German and Low German), ‘joint,’ especially of the fingers.
Knoblauch, masculine, ‘garlic,’ from Middle High German knobelouch, masculine, with the original variant klobelouch, masculine, Old High German chlobolouh, chlofolouh, chlo volouh, masculine; with regard to b for f, compare Schwefel; the kn of the Middle High German and Modern High German words may be explained as in Knäuel by a process of differentiation, i.e. the l of the next syllable produced the change of the first l into n, compare Modern Dutch knoflook and Middle Low German kloflôk. In the ordinary explanation of ‘cleft leek’ no regard is paid to the fact that the first part of the compound, which is identical with Modern High German Kloben, appears elsewhere in the Teutonic group, Anglo-Saxon clufe, English clove (of garlic), Anglo-Saxon clufþung, ‘crowfoot,’ clufwyrt, ‘buttercup.’
Knöchel, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German knöchel, knüchel,. masculine, ‘knuckle’; diminutive of Knochen, Middle High German knoche; Anglo-Saxon cnucel, Middle English knokil, English knuckle, and the equivalent Dutch knokkel.
Knochen, masculine, ‘bone,’ from Middle High German knoche, masculine ‘bone, knot of a branch, fruit capsule,’ The Modern High German word, almost unknown to Luther, rarely occurs in Middle High German, and is entirely wanting in Old High German (Bein is the genuine Upper German and High German word for Knochen, which again is originally native to the Middle German and Low German dialects.) Knochen is, however, proved by the corresponding diminutive Knöchel to be a good Old Teutonic word; Gothic *knuqa, masculine, may be assumed. It is still uncertain whether it is connected with English to knock, Anglo-Saxon cnucian, Old Icelandic knoka, Middle High German knochen, ‘to cuff,’ or is related to Old Icelandic knúe, ‘knuckle,’ which would favour its further kinship with Knie. From *knuqa, Upper German Knocke, ‘snag, knot,’ Middle High German knock, ‘nape,’ may be derived; their ck correctly represents the old q. Allied words with final g in the stem are, however, obscure, Middle High German knögerlin, ‘little knot, and Middle High German knügel, ‘knuckle.’
Knocke, feminine, ‘bundle, bunch,’ Modern High German only, from Low German knocke; proved to be a genuine Old Teutonic word by Anglo-Saxon *cnyčče, Middle English knucche, ‘bundle’ (e.g. ‘bundle of hay’), English knitch, ‘faggot’; Gothic *knuka, or rather *knukja, masculine, are wanting.
Knödel, masculine, ‘dumpling,’ from Middle High German knödel, masculine, ‘seed-bud, dumpling’; diminutive of Middle High German knode, ‘knot,’ discussed under Knoten.
Knollen, masculine, ‘clod, bulb,’ from Middle High German knolle, masculine, ‘clod, lump’; Old High German *chnollo, masculine, is wanting. With the Middle High German meaning are connected Anglo-Saxon cnoll, masculine, English knoll; Dutch knol, ‘turnip.’
Knopf, masculine, ‘button, knob, pommel,’ from Middle High German and Old High German knopf, masculine, ‘ ​protuberance on plants, bud, pommel of a sword, knot, loop’; compare Anglo-Saxon *cnopp, masculine, English knop, ‘button, bud’; Dutch knop, ‘bud, button, knot on plants.’ Gothic *knuppa- is wanting; under Knauf its graded form Gothic *knaupa- was assumed, which would represent *knauppa-, for the stem loses its final b, as is shown in Middle High German knübel, masculine, ‘knuckle,’ as well as Anglo-Saxon *cnobba, Middle English knobbe, English knob; compare also Modern Dutch knobbel, masculine, ‘knot, bulb, weal,’ and High German Knubbe. Besides the words hitherto adduced, from which we may infer an old u root (compare especially Knauf), there are some abnormal forms, Old Icelandic knappr, ‘button, pommel,’ Anglo-Saxon cnœp, Middle English knap. Compare Knospe, Knubbe, knüpfen, and Knüppel.
Knorpel, masculine, ‘gristle,’ from Middle High German knorpel-, knorbel-, bein knospel, ‘cartilage.’ It cannot be certainly decided whether the word is based on a Gothic knuzba- or *knaúrba-; the former is the more probable for grammatical reasons; Modern Dutch knobbel, Modern Low German knusperknaken, ‘cartilaginous bone.’
Knorre, masculine, ‘knotty excrescence,’ from Middle High German knorre, masculine, with the equivalent variant knûre, masculine, ‘knot, protuberance’ (on trees, the body, &c.); knûre also signifies ‘rock, cliff, summit’; in the sense of ‘cuff, push,’ it is connected with Middle High German knüsen (from *knusjan), ‘to push, strike.’ For the other meanings too we must probably proceed from a Gothic word with s (z), as the dialectic forms indicate, Suabian Knaus, ‘knob on a loaf,’ Swiss knus, ‘knot, excrescence.’ English knar, ‘knot in wood,’ Middle English knarre, with the variant knorre, ‘knot, excrescence.’ — Old High German has only the adjective chniurig, ‘knotty, stout, firm,’ derived from *knûr. — Compare Knospe and Knust.
Knortz, masculine, ‘snag,’ from Middle High German and Old High German knorz, ‘excrescence, knot’; Danish knort, Swedish knórt. Allied to the preceding word?.
Knospe, feminine, ‘bud,’ from Middle High German knospe, masculine, ‘protuberance’; the modern meaning is one of the varied senses in earlier Modern High German; ‘protuberance’ is the primary signification, hence it is natural to connect Knospe etymologically with Knopf; the latter is to be represented in Gothic by *knuppa-, the former by *knuspan- for *knufspan-; in that case -span would be a suffix; *knaspan- may, however, stand for *knusspan-, and be connected with the root knus appearing in Knorre.
Knoten, masculine, ‘knot,’ from Middle High German knote, knode, masculine, ‘natural knot (on the body and plants), artificial knot in a thread, noose’; Old High German chnodo, chnoto, masculine (the Old High German and Middle High German doublets with t and d appear in Knote and Knödel even as late as Modern High German). Allied to Anglo-Saxon cnotta, masculine, English knot, with differently related dentals; compare Old Icelandic ú-knytter, ‘dirty tricks, and Middle High German knotze, feminine, ‘protuberance’; English to knit, Anglo-Saxon cnyttan, Low German (Voss) knütte, feminine, ‘knitting-needles,’ &c. Old Icelandic knútr, masculine, ‘knot,’ knúta, feminine, ‘dice’; they are related to Anglo-Saxon knotta, like Gothic *knaupa- to *knuppa- (compare Knauf and Knopf), and just as a form with a in the stem (Anglo-Saxon cnœpp) is connected with these words, so is Old Icelandic knǫttr (Gothic *knattus), masculine, ‘ball,’ related to the cognates of Knoten. No indubitably allied term can be adduced from the other Aryan languages. Compare also Knüttel.
Knöterich, masculine, ‘knot-grass’; found only in Modern High German.
Knubbe, Knuppe, masculine, ‘knot in wood,’ Modern High German only, from Low German knubbe, the cognates of which see under Knopf. We may also mention Middle High German knübel, to which Knuppe is related, as klauben to Kluppe.
knuffen, verb, ‘to cull,’ wanting in the earlier periods; of obscure origin.
knüpfen, verb, from the equivalent Middle High German knüpfen, Old High German knupfen, ‘to unite, tie, fasten together’ (Gothic *knuppjan is wanting); a nominal verb from Knopf, which see; Middle High German knopf, ‘knot.’
Knüppel, masculine, ‘wooden bar, stick, cudgel,’ from Low German; in Middle High German knüpfel, masculine, ‘cudgel,’ was used. It is connected with Middle High German knopf, ‘knot on plants.’ See Knopf.
Knust, Knaust, masculine, ‘crusty piece of bread,’ properly ‘protuberance,’ especially ‘corner of a loaf,’ from Low German; t is a suffix; for knûs- in the sense of ‘knot,’ see under Knorre.
Knute, feminine, ‘knout,’ Modern High German only; borrowed from Russian knut; compare Peitsche.
Knüttel, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German knütel, knüttel, Old High German chnutil, masculine, ‘cudgel,’ properly ‘stick or string with knots’; allied to Knoten.
Kobalt, masculine, ‘cobalt,’ Modern High German only; of uncertain origin, probably equivalent to Kobold.
Koben, masculine, ‘hovel,’ from Middle High German kobe, masculine, ‘stable, pigsty, cage’; the Modern High German variant Kofen is derived, as the f indicates, ​from Low German. The word had originally a more general sense, and was not restricted merely to a shed for animals and pigs. Even in Modern High German the earlier meaning ‘hut’ is found; compare Middle High German kobel, ‘narrow house'; Icelandic kofi, masculine, ‘hut, penthouse, partition.’ In Anglo-Saxon the corresponding cofa is specially used as a choice poetic term for ‘apartment, bed-chamber’; hence English cove and pigeon-cove. Gothic *kuba, on which these words are based, is wanting. The word is genuinely Teutonic, as is proved by Old High German chubisi (Gothic *kubisi), ‘hut,’ which, from its form, is a derivative of a far earlier period; compare also Middle High German kober, ‘basket, pocket,³ Anglo-Saxon cofl, ‘basket.’ See Kobold and Kübel.
Kobold, masculine, ‘goblin,’ from Middle High German kóbolt, with the variant kobólt, masculine, ‘fantastic familiar spirit, goblin.’ As the genuinely Teutonic household deities, the Kobolde may be regarded as equivalent to the Anglo-Saxon cofgodu, cofgodas, ‘penates, lares’ (unfortunately Anglo-Saxon *cofold or *cofweald, ‘household deity,’ literally ‘protector of the bedchamber,’ is not recorded); in Gothic probably *kubawalda-. The first component is Old Icelandic kofe, Anglo-Saxon cofa, ‘apartment, chamber’ (see Koben). The Middle High German and Modern High German variants Oppold and Opolt may have been *ôtwalt, Gothic *audawald, ‘Lord of wealth’; the old ôt, ‘wealth,’ has been retained only in proper names like Ottofar, Otfried (Eduard, English Edward). For the ending -old see under Herold and walten.
Koch, masculine, ‘cook,’ from the equivalent Middle High German koch, Old High German choh(hh); compare Dutch and Old Saxon kok, ‘cook’; adopted before the High German permutation of consonants, at latest in the 6th century (contemporaneously with Küche), when the art of cookery and horticulture were introduced from Italy; the word is based on Latin coquus, or more accurately on the form koko- (compare Italian cuoco). The word passed into English in a different form — Anglo-Saxon côc, English cook, where the ô, compared with High German and Latin ŏ, is due to a change of quantity in an open syllable (compare Schule and Kuchen); on the other hand, the ŏ of the High German word is probably derived from the verb kochen. The earlier Teutonic word for kochen is sieden; an Old Teutonic word for ‘cook’ is wanting. —
kochen, ‘to cook,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kochen, Old High German chohhôn, from Latin coquere (more accurately *coquâre?). The High German word could not remain a strong verb, because the vowel of the stem differed from the analogy of verbs of that class. In Romance note French cuire, Italian cuocere. Compare also Kuchen.
Köcher, masculine, ‘quiver,’ from Middle High German kocher, Old High German chohhar, masculine, ‘quiver,’ yet also generally ‘receptacle’ with the variants, Middle High German kochœre, Old High German chohhâri, Middle High German koger, keger, with an abnormal g apparently in harmony with the obscure Old Icelandic kǫgurr ‘quiver’?), preserved only in kǫgursweinn, kǫgurbarn; Old Icelandic kǫgurr, ‘quilted counterpane, coverlet,’ is an entirely different word, and is connected with a remarkable German form Köcher, ‘cover.’ Anglo-Saxon cocur, Middle English coker, ‘quiver’; also in Middle English and English quiver, from Old French cuivre, which is again derived from the Teutonic word (Teutonic kokro-, whence Middle Latin cucurum, ‘quiver’).
Köder, masculine, ‘bait.’ The word, on account of its very varied forms and senses, is difficult to explain etymologically, perhaps several words, originally different, have been combined with it; Middle High German köder, koder, këder, korder, körder, kërder, quërder, masculine, ‘lure, bait, patch of cloth or leather,’ Old High German quërdar also means ‘wick of a lamp’; in Modern High German it signifies, in the various dialects and at different periods, ‘double chin, slime, rag, leather strap, bait.’ With Köder, ‘double chin,’ we may perhaps compare English cud, Anglo-Saxon cudu, cweodu (Gothic qiþus, ‘belly’?). With the meaning ‘bait,’ Gothic qairrus and High German kirre may be most closely connected, because quërdar, as the oldest High German form, points to a Gothic *qaírþra-; with this the Greek compound δέλεαρ (δελ- for δερ- may be due to a process of differentiation, since a German form kerdel occurs; and ð, according to Æolic βλῆρ, is perhaps an old guttural, root ger) may be certainly associated, and its variant δέλετρον, which more early corresponds with the German word; the latter form is usually approved, since it combines the meanings of ‘bait’ and ‘torch’ (corresponding to Old High German quërdar, ‘wick’); in either case English cud is abnormal. For the other meanings of the German word no satisfactory etymologies can be found.
Koffer, masculine, ‘trunk,’ Modern High German only, from French coffre.
Kohl, masculine. ‘cabbage,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German kôl, masculine, with the variants Old High German chôli, Middle High German kœle, kœl, masculine (compare Alemannian chœl, kêl), as well as Old High German chôlo, chŏlo, masculine, Middle High German kôle, kŏle, kŏl, and ​Old High German chôla, feminine. Adopted with the South European culinary art and horticulture from Latin caulis, masculine, ‘cabbage’; English cole; Middle English caul, coul, Anglo-Saxon câwl, as well as Old Icelandic kál, neuter, point to Latin caulis, whence also Italian cavolo, French chou, ‘cabbage,’ and Welsh cawl. The ‘apparently vernacular’ Latin côlis would have left no trace in the history of language if the Middle High German forms kŏle, kŏl, with a short accented syllable, were not derived from it. Most of the German varieties of fruits and vegetables may have been introduced into Germany with the art of cookery in the 6th or 7th century; compare Eppich, kochen, Pfeffer, Minze, Pflaume, and Kirsche.
Kohle, feminine, ‘coal, charcoal,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kole, feminine, mostly kole, kol, masculine, and kol, neuter, Old High German cholo, masculine, chol, neuter; compare Anglo-Saxon col, neuter, English coal (English colemouse, see under Kohlmeise), Old Icelandic kol, neuter plural, ‘coals.’ Akin to the derivs, Old Icelandic kylna, feminine, ‘kiln,’ Anglo-Saxon cylne, English kiln, as well as Swedish kylla, ‘to heat.’
Kohlmeise, feminine, ‘coalmouse,’ from Middle High German kŏlemeise, feminine, allied to Kohle, not to Kohl; literally ‘titmouse with a black head’; Anglo-Saxon cŏlmâse, English colemouse (a corruption of coalmouse, just as the Germans instinctively connect Kohlmeise with Kohl).
Kohlrabi, masculine, ‘turnip-cabbage,’ from Italian cavoli rape (plural); compare French chourave, Germanised Kohlrübe. For further references see Rübe.
Kolben, masculine, ‘club,’ from Middle High German kolbe, ‘mace, club, cudgel,’ Old High German cholbo, masculine; Icelandic kólfr, masculine, ‘javelin, arrow, bulb,’ with the derivative kylfi, neuter, kylfa, feminine, ‘club, cudgel.’ Gothic *kulba-n-, ‘stick with a thick knob at the end.’ From its meaning the word seems to be related to the cognates with the nasal form klumb, discussed under Klumpen; in that case the Aryan root may be gl-bh, and the word compared with Latin globus, ‘round mass’ (also ‘clique,’ compare English club).
Kolk, masculine, ‘deep pool,’ Low German; Dutch kolk, masculine, ‘eddy, abyss, hole.’ Compare Sanscrit gárgara, masculine; yet according to Latin gurges, ‘eddy, whirlpool, abyss,’ Teutonic r and not l ought to correspond to Indian r.
Koller (1.), neuter and masculine, ‘lady's ruff,’ from Middle High German koller, kollier, gollier, goller, masculine, ‘neckcloth,’ derived from French collier (Latin collarium).
Koller, (2.), masculine, ‘staggers,’ from Middle High German kolre, masculine, ‘staggers, frenzy, silent rage,’ Old High German cholero, masculine; derived, like a number of medical terms, mediately from Greek χολέρα, Latin cholera; the ch has also in Romance the value of a k; compare Italian collera, French colère.
Kolter, masculine, ‘coverlet,’ from Middle High German kolter, kulter, masculine, feminine, and neuter, ‘quilted counterpane,’ from Old French coultre (compare Italian coltra); for further references see Kissen.
kommen, verb, from the equivalent Middle High German komen, Old High German chuëman, ‘to come,’ a common Teutonic verb. The proper form of the initial k is qu, as is proved by Modern High German bequem, and hence Old High German quëman is the base; the w of an initial hw is frequently suppressed in High German (compare keck and kirr) before e and o (not before a). Gothic qiman, Anglo-Saxon cuman, English to come, Old Saxon cuman, Old Icelandic koma. The primary Teutonic verb qeman, ‘to come,’ thus deduced has a remoter history; it is identical with the Indian and Zend root gam, ‘to come,’ and allied to Latin vĕnio for *gvĕmio, Greek βαίνω for *βανjω (for *gvĕmiô); compare bequem and Kunst. The assumed Aryan root is gem. The evolution of a v after the g is normal; compare Gothic qinô with Greek γυνή and Indian gnã (*gánâ), ‘woman’; Gothic qiwa-, Latin vivus (Greek βίος, substantive), Indian jîvá (see keck; compare the similar evolution of a kv akin to Teutonic hw from Aryan k under wer and welcher).
Komtur, masculine, ‘commander of an order of knighthood,’ from Middle High German kommentiur, komedûr, masculine, from Old French commendeor (Latin commendator), ‘commander, holder of an estate belonging to a priestly order.’
König, masculine, ‘king,’ from the equivalent Middle High German künic, künc (g), Old High German chunig, chuning; corresponding to Old Saxon cuning, Anglo-Saxon cyning (cyng,) English king, Dutch koning, Old Icelandic konungr; a common Teutonic term, wanting only in Gothic. The high antiquity of the term is attested by its being borrowed at an early period by Finnish and Esthonian as kuningas, ‘king,’ by Old Slovenian as kŭnęgŭ, kŭnęzĭ, ‘prince,’ Lithuanian as kùningas, ‘lord, pastor’ (Lettic kungs, ‘lord’). The word may be most probably explained by connecting it with Gothic kuni (genitive kunjis), Old High German chunni, Middle High German künne, Anglo-Saxon cynn, ‘family.’ Regarding -ing as a patronymic (Anglo-Saxon Wôdening, ‘son of Woden’), the meaning would be ‘a man of family,’ i.e, of a distinguished family, ‘ex nobilitate ortus’ (Tacitus, Germ. vii.). This simple and satisfactory explanation is opposed by the fact that in Old Teutonic kuni- alone means ‘king,’ which has been preserved especially in compounds such as Anglo-Saxon cyne-helm, ‘king's helmet,’ i.e. ‘crown,’ ​cynestôl, ‘king's seat,’ i.e. ‘throne,’ cynerice, equivalent to Old High German chunirîhhi, ‘kingdom,’ &c.; the simple form is perhaps found only in Old Icelandic poetry as konr (i-stem), ‘man of noble birth, relative of the king.’ In tracing the evolution in meaning, this fact can no more be rejected than the former; in this case too König would contain the essential idea of distinguished birth, but perhaps more accurately ‘the son of a man of distinguished birth’; compare French and English prince, signifying both Prinz (male member of the royal family) and Fürst (a sovereign ruler, and also a title next above Count). The etymological connection between English king and queen must be discarded, since the latter signified ‘woman’ generally; yet it is of some value in illustrating the development of meaning in the word König; Anglo-Saxon cwên is especially ‘the noble lady.’
können, preterite present, ‘to be able,’ from Middle High German kunnen, Old High German chunnan, preterite present (singular kan, plural kunnum, preterite konsta), properly ‘to be capable intellectually, know, be acquainted with, understand,’ then also ‘to be able, be in a position (to).’ Anglo-Saxon cunnan (singular can), preterite present, ‘to be acquainted with, know, be able,’ English can; Gothic kunnan (singular kann, plural kunnum), preterite present, ‘to be acquainted with, know.’ In the earlier periods the verbal stem können had exclusively an intellectual sense in contrast to that of mögen, vermögen. Besides the stem kann- preserved in the verb kunnan (compare also Gothic kunnan, ‘to recognise,’ Anglo-Saxon cunnian, ‘to explore, attempt,’ see also Kunst, kund, and kennen), there exists in the Old Teutonic languages a verbal stem which may be represented in Gothic as *knê, *knô; Anglo-Saxon cnâwan, ‘to recognise, know,’ English to know; Old High German irchnâan, bichnâan, ‘to recognise’; Old High German úrchnât, feminine, ‘perception’ (Gothic *knêþs, feminine, is wanting); the Old High German nominal verb irchnuodilen, ‘to become perceptible,’ points to a Gothic *knôþla-, ‘knowledge.’ The three Teutonic stems kann, knê, knô occur in the non-Teutonic languages, Greek and Latin gnô in γιγνώσκω (ἔ-γνω-ν), ‘to recognize,’ γνῶσις, ‘knowledge,’ Latin gno-sco, nô-tus, nô-tio; Old Slovenian znają, znati, ‘to recognise’; Old Irish gnáth, ‘acquainted.’ Indian forms a present from a root *jan, the preterite from a root jnâ, jânãmi, jajnáu (compare participle jnâtá), ‘to know’; the Teutonic root kann from gen-n appears in Lithuanian żinaú, ‘to know, recognise, perceive,’ pa-żintis, ‘knowledge,’ Zend â-zaiñti, feminine, ‘information,’ Old Irish ad-géin, perfect, ‘cognovit.’ This wide ramification of the closely allied Aryan root gen, gnô, ‘to recognise, know,’ is generally recognised, but its connection with the root gen, ‘to beget, bring forth,’ and the variants gnâ-, gnô-, discussed under Kind, König, and kennen, is problematical. Both seem to be united in Anglo-Saxon cennan, ‘to bring forth,’ and ‘to generate,’ Greek γνωτός, ‘related by blood,’ and ‘discernible, known.’ The distinction, however, between the physical and intellectual senses of the word must have been made previous to the division of languages, since it exists in all the Aryan groups. Compare kühn.
Kopf, masculine, ‘head,’ from Middle High German kopf, masculine, ‘drinking vessel, cup, pint measure, skull, head’; Old High German choph, chuph, masculine, ‘goblet’; Anglo-Saxon cuppa, English cup; Scandinavian koppr, masculine, ‘crockery in the form of cups.’ This class is one of the most difficult to explain. Haupt, English head, is certainly the real Teutonic and earlier term for Kopf, and only in Modern High German has the latter finally supplanted the former. The numerous senses of the cognates further involves us in doubt, although analogies may be adduced in favour of the evolution of the notion ‘head’ from an earlier meaning ‘cup’; compare Old Icelandic kolla, feminine, ‘pot,’ kollr, masculine, ‘head’; Modern High German Hirnschale; Italian coppa, ‘cup,’ and Provençal cobs, ‘skull’; French tête, from Latin testa; Gothic hwaírni, ‘skull,’ allied to Anglo-Saxon hwër, ‘kettle,’ Dutch hersen-pan, ‘skull,’ Middle English herne-, brainpanne, ‘skull,’ allied to Pfanne, ‘pan’; Dutch hersen-becken, ‘skull,’ allied to Becken, ‘basin.’ Thus in fact he ordinary assumption might be allowed to stand, according to which the entire class is based on Middle Latin cuppa (Italian coppa), ‘cup,’ Latin cûpa, ‘cask.’ There are, however, cognate terms in Teutonic which induce us to proceed, not from Latin cûpa, ‘cask,’ but from a primary Teutonic word meaning ‘point, summit,’ Anglo-Saxon and Middle English copp, ‘summit, point,’ Middle English also ‘head,’ English cop (for the evolution in meaning compare Giebel, allied to Greek κεφαλή, dialectic Dach, ‘roof,’ for Kopf); Old Saxon coppod, ‘cristatus’ of serpents, is also worthy of note. The Teutonic origin of the word Kopf in its Modern High German sense is also supported by the fact that Old High German chuppha, Middle High German kupfe, feminine, ‘head-dress,’ evidently connected with Kopf, is necessary to explain some Romance cognates — Italian cuffia, French coiffe, and Middle Latin cofea, are derived from Old High German chuppha. Besides, Latin cûpa, cuppa, as a feminine is not well adapted in form to explain the Teutonic masculine, especially since ​koppa- (Gothic *kuppa- is certainly wanting) had already too wide a ramification in the Old Teutonic languages. But in any case, it is conceivable that the assumed genuine Teutonic word was confused at an early period with a Middle Latin and Romance term, and thus incorporated a number of foreign meanings. Compare Kuppe.
Koppe, see Kuppe.
Koppel, feminine and neuter, ‘leash,’ from Middle High German koppel, kopel, kuppel, feminine (masculine and neuter), ‘tie, connection,’ especially ‘leash,’ then collective ‘pack of hounds,’ also ‘band’ generally; from Latin copula, Middle Latin also cupla (the latter also ‘couple of hounds in a leash’), whence also French couple, English couple, Dutch koppel, ‘couple, multitude, troop.’
Koralle, feminine, ‘coral,’ from Middle High German koralle, masculine, formed from Middle Latin corallus, Latin corallium.
Korb, masculine, ‘basket,’ from the equivalent Middle High German korp (b), Old High German chorp, korb (genitive korbes), masculine; compare Dutch korf, masculine, ‘dosser.’ The usual derivation from Latin corbis is opposed by phonetic considerations, and also by the fact that nouns equivalent in meaning but with differently graded forms also occur; according to Modern High German Brett and its gradation Bord (which see), Middle High German krëbe, masculine, ‘basket,’ and hence further Modern High German Krippe may also be connected with Korb (compare too Modern Icelandic karfa, feminine, and körf, feminine, ‘basket’?). It is not impossible that, in addition to an inherited Old Teutonic word, the Latin term was borrowed at a later period; Old High German churib, plural churbî, points perhaps to Latin corbis (English corb); further Modern High German Reff (1) seems to be an old cognate of Latin corbis.
Korde, Kordel, feminine, ‘cord, tow-line,’ Modern High German only, from French corde, cordelle; compare Dutch koord, feminine, and the equivalent English cord, from the same Romance source, ultimately derived from Latin and Greek chorda.
Koriander, masculine, ‘coriander,’ Modern High German only, from Latin coriandrum; in Middle High German koliander, kullander, kollinder, from Middle Latin coliandrum. Compare Dutch koriander and English coriander.
Korinthe, feminine, ‘currant,’ early Modern High German only, from French corinthe.
Kork, masculine, ‘cork,’ early Modern High German only, through the medium of Dutch (kork, kurk, neuter, ‘corkwood, cork, stopper’) and Low German commerce, from Spanish corcho, ‘corkwood, stopper,’ whence also English cork at an early period. The ultimate source is Latin cortex, ‘bark.’
Korn, neuter, ‘grain, corn,’ from Middle High German korn, Old High German chorn (genitive chornes), neuter, ‘corn’ (in Middle High German also ‘grape-stone, corn-field, corn-stalk’). Gothic kaúrn, neuter, with the variant kaúrnô, neuter; Old Icelandic korn, Anglo-Saxon and English corn, Dutch koren; common Teutonic stem korna-, meaning ‘single grain,’ then also ‘stone' and ‘fruit.’ For the meaning ‘stone’ compare Old High German bęrikorn, Middle High German wîn-, trûben-korn, ‘stone of a berry'; Old High German korn- and kërnapful (Anglo-Saxon cornœppel), ‘malum punicum, calville,’ are interchangeable; for the derivative Anglo-Saxon cyrnel, English kernel, see under Kern. Thus it is probable that there exists a close connection between Kern and Korn, their phonetic relation being similar to that between Brett and Bord; for further examples of gradation in nouns, see under Korb. Another graded form of Korn, from pre-Teutonic gṛnó-m, is furnished by Latin grânum, ‘grain, core’; see Hürde, equivalent to Latin crates; voll, equivalent to Latin plênus, Old Irish lán. Gṛnó is exactly the same as Old Slovenian zrŭno, neuter, ‘grain.’
Kornelle, feminine, ‘cornel-cherry,’ even in Old High German cornul, cornul-baum, from Middle Latin cornolium (French cornouille, Italian corniolo); a derivative of Latin cornus, feminine, ‘cornel-cherry’; compare Anglo-Saxon corntreô, English cornelian-tree.
Körper, masculine, ‘body, substance, carcass,’ in the Middle High German period (13th century) korper, körpel, körper, masculine; borrowed from Latin corpus, or more accurately from the stem corpor-, a primary cognate of which exists in Old Teutonic from the same source (Aryan kṛp), Old High German hrëf, Anglo-Saxon hrif, ‘womb.’ Leich (see Leichnam) is the Old Teutonic word for Modern High German Leib and Körper. “The sacrament of the Church and the elevation of the Host, and perhaps medical art, led to the naturalisation of the Latin word.”
koscher, kauscher, adjective, ‘pure,’ Modern High German only, from Jewish Chaldean kâschêr, ‘pure, according to prescription.’
kosen, verb, ‘to chat, caress,’ from Middle High German kôsen, Old High German chôsôn, ‘to converse, talk.’ The meaning of the verb is opposed to any connection with Old High German chôsa, ‘lawsuit,’ and Latin causa, causari, for it nowhere shows an indication of a legal origin; Modern French causer, ‘to chat,’ is also derived from German, since in Latin causa, French chose originated. As a native word kosen (Gothic *kausôn) is of uncertain origin; it is certainly connected, however, with Anglo-Saxon ceást, Middle English cheeste, ‘argument, dispute,’ Dutch keuzelen, ‘to caress.’
Kossat, see Kot (1).
​ Kost (1.), feminine, ‘cost,’ from Middle High German koste kost, feminine and masculine, ‘value, price, expense,’ even in Old High German kosta, feminine; borrowed in the Old High German period from Middle Latin costus, masculine, costa, feminine (compare Italian costo, masculine, French coût, masculine, Spanish costa, feminine; ultimate source Latin constare, ‘to come to, cost’). From Romance are derived Middle English costen, English to cost, whence Scandinavian kosta, ‘to cost.’
Kost (2.), feminine (in the 16th century also masculine), ‘board,’ from Middle High German koste, kost, feminine, ‘living, food, victuals’; compare Scandinavian kostr, masculine, ‘victuals, provisions.’ In Scandinavian as in the German word, the meanings of (1) and (2) overlap; at all events (2) is a later development of (1). We must certainly assume that the Scandinavian loan-word kostr, ‘expense, victuals,’ was confused with an Old Teutonic word which would be most closely connected with Gothic kustus, masculine, ‘trial, proof,’ and gakusts, ‘test’; Old Icelandic kostr, masculine, ‘choice, condition, circumstances.’ With regard to these nouns see kiesen.
kosten (1.), verb, ‘to cost,’ from Middle High German kosten, ‘to come to, cost’; from Middle Latin and Romance costare (Latin constare); French coûter; see Kost (1) and (2); English to cost.
kosten (2.), verb, ‘to taste,’ from Middle High German ‘to scrutinise, test by tasting’; Old High German and Old Saxon costôn, Anglo-Saxon costian (wanting in English); a common Teutonic verb meaning ‘to put to the test, scrutinise, try.’ Kosten, like the Teutonic words mentioned under Kost (2), is connected with kiesen, and is identical in form with Latin gustâre, ‘to taste.’ Teutonic kus, pre-Teutonic gus, is the root. Compare kiesen.
kostspielig, adjective, ‘expensive,’ first used towards the end of the 18th century; it contains, however, an old word which has elsewhere disappeared, and even in this compound has been corrupted; Middle High German spildec, ‘extravagant’; Old High German spilden, ‘to squander, dissipate’ (from Old High German gaspilden, French gaspiller is derived). Hence *kostspildig is probably ‘squandering money’; spildig, which was etymologically obscure, was corrupted into -spielig.
Kot (1.), Kote, feminine, ‘cot’; properly a Low German word; Low German kote, kot, Dutch kot, ‘hut’; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon cot, neuter, and cote, feminine, ‘hut’; from the former English cot is derived (English cottage is the same word with a Romance suffix; compare Middle Latin cotagium, Old French cotage), from the latter came cote in dove-cote and sheep-cote, compare Scandinavian kot, neuter, ‘small farm.’ Gothic *kut, neuter, or *kutô, feminine, is wanting. The widely ramified class is genuinely Teutonic, and passed into Slovenian (Old Slovenian kotĭcĭ, ‘cella’) and Keltic (Gaelic cot). Romance words have also been derived from it — Modern French cotte, cotillon, Italian cotta, all of which denote some article of dress, though this sense does not belong to the Teutonic word (English coat, at all events, is probably derived from Romance). The Teutonic word means only ‘apartment, hut, room of a house’; gudo- is perhaps the pre-historic form. — Kotsasse, also by assimilation Kossasse, Kossat, Kotse, ‘person settled in a small farm’; also spelt Kötter.
Kot (2.) masculine, ‘dirt, mire, dung,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kôt, quât, kât, neuter, Old High German quât; Gothic *qêda-, ‘dirt,’ is wanting. Prop. neuter adjective; Middle German quât, Modern Dutch kwaad, ‘wicked, ugly, rotten’ (Middle English cwêd, ‘bad’). Unflat and Unrat are in the same way veiled terms for stercus. In its pre-Teutonic form guêtho, Kot might be related by gradation to Indian gûtha, Zend gûtha, ‘dirt, excrementa,’ so that the Teutonic substantive may have been formed from the adjective even in prehistoric times; the Sanscrit and Zend word seems, however, to be connected with the Indian root gu, ‘caccare’ (Old Slovenian govĭno, neuter, ‘dirt’).
Kote, Köte, feminine, ‘pastern joint,’ Modern High German only, from Low German kote; compare Modern Dutch koot, Frisian kate, feminine, ‘knuckle-bone.’ No other cognates are found.
Köter, masculine, ‘cur,’ properly ‘farmer's dog,’ allied. to Low German kote, ‘small farm.’ See Kot (1).
Kotze, feminine, ‘coarse cloth,’ from Middle High German kotze, masculine, ‘coarse, shaggy woollen stuff, cover or garment made of it,’ Old High German chozzo, masculine, chozza, feminine; compare Old Saxon cot (tt) ‘woollen cloak, coat’; a specifically German word, wanting in Gothic, Scandinavian, and English. The Romance words mentioned under Kot (1) — French cotte, ‘petticoat,’ Italian cotta — seem to have been borrowed from German, since in Old High German other words belong to the same class, Old High German umbîchuzzi, ‘upper garment,’ umbichuzzen, verb, ‘amicire.’ On the assumption that Kotze is a genuine Teutonic word, some have connected it with Greek βεῦδος (from the root gud), ‘woman's dress.’ Middle English cote, English coat are certainly of Romance origin, Old French cote, Middle Latin cotta. Compare Kutte.
Kötze, feminine, ‘basket,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kœtze, of obscure origin; compare Kieze.
​ kotzen, verb, ‘to vomit,’ first occurs in early Modern High German; of uncertain derivation.
Krabbe, feminine, ‘crab,’ borrowed, like most words with medial bb, from Low German; compare Middle Low German krabbe, Dutch krab, Anglo-Saxon crabba, English crab, Scandinavian krabbi; the strictly High German, i.e. permutated, form Krappe, appears in the 16th century, yet the word was native only to the maritime Teutons. Krebs is from a cognate stem, but Greek κάραβος, Latin carabus, ‘sea-crab,’ are neither primary allied, nor are they the forms from which the Teutonic words were borrowed. French crabe, ‘crabfish,’ is most closely connected with the Teutonic and with the Latin word.
krabbeln, verb, ‘to crawl,’ with Low German permutation, in contrast to Middle High German krappeln, of which the variant krabelen occurs, whence also earlier Modern High German krabeln. The form with a double labial may be due to its being popularly connected with Krabbe (Krappe), for in Scandinavian also a simple form is found without this double labial, Scandinavian krafla, ‘to scratch with the nails,’ and krafsa, ‘to shuffle with the feet.’ English grabble, grapple, grab are connected with Low German and Dutch grabbeln.
krachen, verb, ‘to crack, crash, break,’ from the equivalent Middle High German krachen, Old High German chrahhôn; compare Dutch kraken, ‘to crack (nuts, &c.), burst, crack, crackle,’ Anglo-Saxon cracian, English to crack; Gothic *krakôn is wanting. Anglo-Saxon cearcian, ‘to crack’ (Gothic *karkôn), is worthy of note; compare respecting the apparent transposition of the r, Brett and Bord, fragen and forschen. Teutonic root krk from grg; compare Sanscrit gṛg, garj, ‘to rustle, crackle.’ —
Krach, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German krach, Old High German chrah, ‘crack, crash.’
krächzen, verb, ‘to croak,’ Modern High German only, a derivative of krachen; in Middle High German krochzen, Old High German chrocchezan, ‘to croak,’ which is related by gradation to the stem of krachen. From Anglo-Saxon cracian, cracettan was formed, like Modern High German krächzen, from krachen.
Kracke, feminine, ‘sorry nag,’ Modern High German only, of obscure origin. Perhaps akin to Dutch kraak, French caraque, ‘clumsily built merchant ship’?.
Kraft, feminine, ‘strength,’ from Middle High German kraft, Old High German chraft, feminine, ‘strength, power, force of an army, multitude, abundance’; compare Old Saxon craft, masculine and feminine, Dutch kracht; Anglo-Saxon crœft, masculine, with the High German meanings, also ‘mental capacity, art, science,’ hence English craft (the corresponding crafty shows prominently the last specialisation of meaning within the mental sphere); Old Icelandic kraptr, masculine, ‘strength,’ Modern Icelandic krœfr, ‘strong,’ exhibits the stem without the dental suffix; yet Old Icelandic krefja, ‘to beg, demand, challenge,’ as well as Anglo-Saxon crafian, English to crave, seems, on account of its meaning, not to be connected with the substantive. No certain cognates are found in the non-Teutonic languages.
kraft, preposition ‘in virtue of,’ properly dative singular of the preceding word, originally combined with the preps. aus or in. Middle High German kraft, with the genitive of a noun, is often simply a pleonasm for the noun itself — hôher wunne kraft for hôhiu wunne, ‘great bliss’; ûȥ zornes kraft, ‘in anger.’
Kragen, masculine, ‘collar,’ from Middle High German krage, masculine, ‘neck’ (of men and animals), also ‘nape,’ then further, ‘article worn round the neck, collar’; wanting in Old High German, Old Saxon, Anglo-Saxon, and Old Icelandic Middle English crawe, English craw, ‘crop’ (of birds), point to Anglo-Saxon *craga; English variant crag, ‘neck, nape,’ dialectic also ‘crop’; Modern Icelandic kragi, masculine, ‘collar,’ is of German origin. Gothic kraga, masculine, ‘neck, throat,’ is wanting. Further references are uncertain; Greek βρόγχος, ‘windpipe,’ may be allied, since its initial β may represent g (grogho-, grongho-); compare also βρόχθος, ‘gullet, throat.’ Middle High German krage is also used personally as an abusive term, ‘fool’; hence Modern High German Geizkragen, ‘niggard.’
Krähe, feminine, ‘crow,’ from the equivalent Middle High German krœ̂e (rare), feminine (usually krâ and krâwe, feminine), Old High German chrâia, chrâwa, and chrâ, feminine; compare Dutch kraai, Old Saxon krâia, feminine, Anglo-Saxon crâwe, feminine, English crow; a West Teutonic word allied to krähen, which was originally a strong verb. The Scandinavian term kráka, feminine, ‘crow,’ cannot be immediately connected with the cognates adduced; it is only very remotely allied.
krähen, verb, ‘to crow,’ from the equivalent Middle High German krœ̂n, krœ̂jen (preterite krâte), Old High German chrâen, verb; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon crâwan (preterite creów), English to crow, and the equivalent Dutch kraaijen; a specifically West Teutonic verb, in Gothic hrûkjan. That it was not originally used of the cock alone is attested by the etymology of Krähe, and also by the compounds, Old High German hanachrât, Old Saxon hanocrâd, Anglo-Saxon hancrêd, ‘cock-crow, crowing.’ The Teutonic stem. krê-, krêw may be connected with Old Slovenian grąja, grajati, ‘to croak,’ and Lithuanian gróju, gróti, ‘to croak.’
Krahn, masculine, ‘crane’ (machine), Modern High German only, formed from Low German and Dutch; properly identical with Kranich, of which it is a shorter form; see Kranich. Greek γέρανος ​also means ‘crane’; compare too Latin aries, High German Bock, as well as Latin grus, as terms for machines.
Krakeel, masculine, ‘uproar,’ Modern High German only; compare Dutch krakeel; of obscure origin.
Kralle, feminine, ‘claw, talon, clutch,’ Modern High German only; wanting in the earlier periods. Allied to Greek γράω, ‘to gnaw,’ Sanscrit root gras, ‘to devour’?. Middle High German krellen, ‘to scratch’ (Gothic *krazljan?), is more closely connected.
Kram, masculine, ‘retail trade,’ from Middle High German krâm, masculine, properly ‘stretched cloth, marquee,’ especially ‘covering of a stall,’ then the ‘stall’ itself (also called krâme, feminine), ‘trade wares’; corresponding to Dutch kraam, feminine, ‘retail shop, wares,’ then, strangely enough, ‘child-bed,’ which must have originated in the meaning ‘stretched cloth,’ as the covering for the bed. A specifically German word introduced into the North by commerce (Icelandic kram, neuter, ‘wares,’ Lithuanian krómas). ‘Tent-cloth’ may have been the primary meaning of Gothic *krêma-.
Krammetsvogel, masculine, ‘fieldfare,’ from Middle High German kramat(s)vogel, krambitvogel, kranewitvogel, masculine, ‘fieldfare,’ properly ‘juniper bird.’ The juniper in Middle High German is kranewite, kranwit (kramwit, kramat), Old High German chranawitu (properly ‘crane-wood’), from krana-, ‘crane,’ mentioned under Krahn and Kranich, and Old High German witu, ‘wood’ (note the similarity in the English word); compare English craneberry, cranberry, from crane.
Krampe, feminine, ‘staple, cramp,’ from Low German, since we should have expected pf in High German; compare Dutch kram for kramp, ‘hook, clamp,’ English cramp, also cramp-irons; Old High German chrampf, ‘hook.’ From the Teutonic cognates, which are based on the adjective *krampa-, discussed under Krampf, French crampon, ‘cramp,’ is derived; see the next word.
Krämpe, feminine, ‘brim of a hat,’ Modern High German only, from Low German krempe, allied to the Old High German adjective chrampf, ‘curved’ (Old Icelandic krappr, ‘close, narrow’); Old High German chrampf, quoted under Krampe, combines the meanings ‘hook’ and ‘border, brim.’
Krämpel, feminine, ‘carling-comb,’ borrowed from Low German, but it occurs even in the Middle High German period; diminutive of Krampe, ‘hook.’
Krampf, masculine, ‘cramp, spasm, convulsion,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German krampf (Old High German also chrampfo); compare Old Saxon cramp, Dutch kramp, feminine, English cramp; the common West Teutonic term for ‘cramp’; originally an adjectival substantive from Old High German chrampf, ‘curved,’ Old Icelandic krappr (normal for *krampr), ‘narrow, pressed close.’ The Teutonic stem krampa- has numerous cognates in German; besides the Low German loan-words krampe, krämpe, krämpel, we may mention Old High German chrampf, ‘hook, border,’ chrimpfan, Middle High German krimpfen, ‘to contract in a crooked or spasmodic fashion,’ Middle High German krimpf, adjective, ‘crooked’ masculine substantive ‘cramp’; Modern High German krumm is also allied, as is indicated by its Old High German and Middle High German variant krumpf, ‘bent, twisted.’ Compare krumm, and Old High German chrimpfan, Middle High German krimpfen, ‘to be convulsed,’ Modern Dutch krimpen, ‘to draw in, shrivel,’ Middle English crimpil, ‘wrinkle,’ crumbe, ‘hook,’ crumpe, ‘crump,’ English to crimple, ‘to contract,’ &c.; Old Icelandic krappr, ‘narrow,’ and its nominal verb kreppa, ‘to compress.’ Compare Krüppel and Krapfen.
Kranich, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German kranech (kręnich), masculine, Old High German chranuh, chranih (hh), masculine, ‘crane’ (bird); also without the guttural suffix, Middle High German krane, which agrees with the Middle German, Low German, and English forms (Dutch kraan, feminine, ‘crane’ — bird, and then machine; Anglo-Saxon cran and cornuc, English crane in both senses). In the Scandinavian languages, Old Icelandic trane, masculine, ‘crane,’ seems to be connected with these. The suffix ch in Modern High German is Gothic k in ahaks, ‘pigeon,’ Anglo-Saxon hafoc, ‘Habich-t’ (hawk). The corresponding words for ‘crane’ in the other West Aryan languages (primary form ger-w) are the most closely allied — Greek γέρανος, Keltic and Welsh garan; also Old Slovenian žeravĭ, Lithuanian gérwê, feminine, Latin grus (genitive gru-is), corresponds to Old High German chreia, ‘crane.’ The derivation of Greek γέρανος, from γεράσκω, root ger, ‘to grow old,’ as if the crane were remarkable for its great age, is open to objection. Further, the crane is one of the few names of birds (see Drossel) in which several Aryan stems coincide. Compare also Krahn and Krammetsvogel.
krank, adjective, ‘sick, ill,’ from Middle High German kranc (k), adjective, ‘narrow, slender, slight, powerless, weak, null’ (in Old High German not yet found). The earliest references are in the first half of the 12th century, therefore krank is most frequently regarded as a Low German loan-word; but the late appearance of the word cannot be accepted as a proof of its having been borrowed, since this is not supported by its form, which may be derived from an Old Teutonic source; compare Old High German chrancholôn, ‘to grow weak, stumble’; Anglo-Saxon cranc, ‘feeble, infirm,’ also occurs rarely. For ​the further history of the word we must at all events proceed from the latter meaning (siech is the Old Teutonic adjective for ‘sick’); Scandinavian krankr, ‘sick,’ is borrowed from German (*krakkr must have been the native form); a genuine Scandinavian krangr, ‘feeble,’ also occurs. The common West Teutonic adjective kranka- is connected with Anglo-Saxon cringan, literally ‘to writhe like one mortally wounded, salt in fight, fall with a crash’ (thus closely allied in meaning to Anglo-Saxon cranc, ‘infirm, tottering’). With the same root kring, krink, are connected Modern High German Kring, ‘circular pad for the head,’ English crank, to crankle, crinkle. —
kränken, ‘to make ill,’ from Middle High German krenken, ‘to torment, grieve,’ properly ‘to lessen, humiliate.’
Kranz, masculine, ‘wreath,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and late Old High German kranz, masculine; a specifically High German word, which in this form has passed within historic times into other Teutonic languages (Icelandic krans, Dutch krans). Perhaps allied to Sanscrit granth, ‘to tie (a knot), bind,’ granthi-s, masculine, ‘knot,’ or even with Lithuanian grandis, masculine, ‘bracelet, tyre of a wheel’ (Lettic grůdi, ‘wood for framing,’ from the base *grandai).
Kräppel, Kräpfel, diminutive of Krapfen.
Krapfen (1.), Krappe, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German krâpfe (Middle German krâpe), masculine, ‘a kind of pastry, fritter'; Old High German chrâpfo, masculine, originally identical with the following word; so called from the hooked form of the pastry.
Krapfen (2.), masculine, ‘cramp, hook, dung-fork,’ from Middle High German krâpfe, krâpe, masculine, ‘hook, cramp,’ Old High German chrâpfo, ‘hook,’ also ‘claw, talon’; the Gothic form. *knêppa is wanting, nor is the word found in the other Teutonic languages; before the High German permutation of consonants it passed in the form grappo, grapo into Romance (Italian grappa, ‘cramp, talon,’ French grappin, ‘grapnel’). Compare further English craple, ‘claw, talon.’ It is doubtful whether Old High German chrâcho (Gothic krêkka), masculine, ‘hooked instrument,’ and Scandinavian kraki, masculine, ‘stake,’ are allied. The stem of Krapfen appears in a nasal form in Old High German chrampf, ‘curved,’ and Old High German chrampfa, chrampho, masculine, ‘iron hook’ (compare French crampon, ‘cramp, borrowed from Old High German). Consequently Krapfen is connected with Krampf.
Krätze (1.), feminine, ‘dosser,’ from Middle High German kręzze, also kratte, masculine, ‘basket’; Old High German chręzzo and chratto, masculine, ‘basket.’ Perhaps the word is allied, on account of the MidHigh German variant krenze, with Kranz. On the other hand, Old High German chratto and Middle High German kratte suggest Anglo-Saxon cradol, English cradle, and also Dutch krat, Anglo-Saxon crœt, English cart (originally ‘cart-basket’?), English crate. With Greek κάρταλλος, ‘basket,’ these cognates cannot be connected.
Krätze (2.), feminine, ‘itch,’ from Middle High German kretz, kratz, allied to kratzen.
kratzen, verb, from the equivalent Middle High German kratzen, kretzen, Old High German chrazzôn, ‘to scratch’ (allied to Scandinavian krota, ‘to dig in,’ Gothic gakrutôn, ‘to grind’); previous to the High German permutation of consonants *kratton, whence Italian grattare, French gratter, ‘to scratch.’ Compare kritzeln.
krauen, verb, ‘to tickle,’ from the equivalent Middle High German krouwen, Old High German chrouwôn, krouwen; Gothic *kraujôn, or rather *kraggwôn, and other correspondences are wanting. With this verb is connected Old High German chrouwil, Middle High German kröuwel, masculine, ‘three-pronged fork, talon, claw,’ to which Swiss and Modern High German Kräuel, ‘fork with hooked prongs’; compare Dutch kraauwel, masculine, ‘pitchfork, fork, claw, finger-nail,’ allied to kraauwen, ‘to scratch.’ Connected with Krume.
kraus, adjective, ‘frizzled,’ from Middle High German krûs, ‘curled, frizzled’; unknown to all the Old Teutonic languages; retained in Middle Dutch kruis, Modern Dutch kroes, ‘dishevelled, entangled, frizzled, stubborn’; Middle English crûs, ‘frizzled, angry.’ The genuine Teutonic origin and great antiquity of kraus are certified by the equivalent parallel cognates, Middle High German krol (ll), ‘curly, lock of hair,’ Dutch krul, ‘lock,’ krullig, ‘frizzled, curly,’ Middle English crul, ‘curly.’ Compare Krolle.
Krause, feminine, ‘pitcher with a lid,’ from Middle High German krûse, feminine, ‘pitcher, earthenware drinking vessel’; Old High German *chrûsa, feminine; Middle Dutch kruise, Anglo-Saxon *crûse, Middle English crûse, English cruse; Scandinavian krús, ‘pitcher with a lid.’ It is not immediately connected with High German Krug. That the word is of foreign origin seems certain, yet the ultimate source cannot be Greek κρωσσός, ‘pitcher.’ See the following word.
Kräusel, masculine, ‘top,’ with the more frequent variant Kreisel, a corrupt form which arose from connecting Kräusel with the circular (kreisförmig) movement of a top; Middle High German *kriusel, Middle German krûsel, masculine, ‘top,’ a diminutive of Krause, hence literally ‘small pitcher.’ Compare the Upper German term Topf for ‘top.’
Kraut, neuter, ‘herb, vegetable, weed,’ from ​Middle High German krût, neuter, ‘small foliated plant, herb, vegetable,’ especially ‘cabbage,’ Old High German krût, Old Saxon crûd; Dutch kruid, neuter, ‘herb, spice, gunpowder’ (the last meaning is also found in Middle High German from the 14th century); Middle English crûdewain (Dutch kruidwagen), ‘ammunition waggon,’ seems to have been borrowed. Gothic *krûþ (genitive *krûdis), neuter, might be taken for krû-da-, with the suffix da- from tó (Aryan grû-tó-). Greek γρύτη, ‘lumber, trash,’ does not agree in meaning. Perhaps the word should be connected rather with the Greek root βρυ- for gru; compare βρύω, ‘to swell,’ ἔμβρυον, ‘embryo,’ βρύον, ‘moss.’ From German is derived French choucroute, masculine, ‘pickled cabbage.’
Krebs, masculine, ‘crayfish,’ from the equivalent Middle High German krëbeȥe, krëbeȥ, Old High German chrëbiȥ, chrëbaȥo, masculine; compare Dutch kreeft, masculine, ‘crayfish’; allied to Low German Krabbe. The German word passed at an early period into Romance (compare French écrevisse, ‘cray fish,’ and crevette, ‘shrimp’). It is not connected with Greek κάραβος, but rather with Old High German chrâpfo, ‘hook’; Krebs, literally ‘hooked or claw fish’?. See Krapfen (2).
Kreide, feminine, ‘chalk,’ from the equivalent Middle High German krîde, late Old High German krîda, feminine; ultimate source Latin crêta, feminine, ‘Cretan earth’ The change from Latin ê to High German î cannot be explained by the Modern Greek pronunciation of Crete (compare Middle High German Krîde, Scandinavian Krít, ‘Crete’), since there are other instances in which Latin ê appears in High German loan-words,, as î; compare Feier, and especially Seide. Besides, the word crêta, ‘Cretan earth,’ is unknown to. Greek. The more precise history of the adoption of High German krîda is obscure (the corresponding words in Romance are Italian creta and French craie).
Kreis, masculine, ‘circle, orbit, sphere,’ from Middle High German kreiȥ, masculine, ‘circumference, circuit, division of a country district’; Old High German chreiȥ, pointing to Gothic *kraits, and D, krijt to. Gothic *kreits, Compare Middle High German krîȥen (Middle German), ‘to make a circle.’ The word cannot be traced beyond German; it is not allied to Kranz and Kring. Compare kritzeln.
kreischen, verb, ‘to shriek,’ from Middle High German krîschen, ‘to screech, shriek’; Old High German *chrîskan and Gothic *kreiskan are wanting. Middle High German krîȥen, ‘to shriek’ (Gothic *kreitan), points to the fact that a dental (Gothic t) has been lost before the suffix sk of kreischen, just as a guttural has been dropped in forschen, Old High German forskôn. Compare Dutch krijschen, ‘to shriek, yell’ Compare kreisen.
Kreisel, see Kräusel.
kreisen, kreißen, verb, ‘to be in labour,’ from Middle High German krîȥen, ‘to screech, shriek, groan’; compare Dutch krijten, ‘to shriek, shout.’ For further cognates see kreischen; akin also to Middle High German krîsten, earlier Modern High German kreisten, ‘to groan.’
Kreppel, see Kräppel.
Kresse (1.), feminine, ‘cress, from the equivalent Middle High German kręsse, Old High German chręsso, masculine, chressa, feminine; corresponding to Dutch kers, kors, feminine, Anglo-Saxon cœrse, feminine, English cress. This word, which is probably peculiar to West Teutonic, found its way to the North—Dan. karse, Swedish krasse, Lettic kresse; it was also adopted by the Romance languages — French cresson, Italian crescione. The assumption that the Romance words contain the original form is opposed by the early appearance of the term in the old West Teutonic languages. It is true that no plausible explanation of Old High German chręsso (Gothic *krasja?) has been put forward; Old High German chrësan, Middle High German krësen, krîsen, ‘to crawl,’ seems unrelated.
Kresse (2.), feminine, ‘gudgeon,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kresse, Old High German chresso, masculine. Different from Kresse (1). The fish is thus named only in German, and hence the term is not diffused in West Teutonic like the preceding word.
Kretschem, Kretscham, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German kretschem, kretscheme, masculine, ‘village tavern,’ a Slavonic loan-word; Bohemian krčma, Wend. korčma, Polish karczma, ‘tavern.’
Kreuz, neuter, ‘cross,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kriuz, kriuze, neuter, Old High German chrûzi, neuter; from Latin crŭci- (dative cruci, accusative crucem), with change of vowel quantity in the stem as in Leier, Lilie, and Litze, and also of gender (compare Abt, Orden, and Pech). The change of medial c in the Latin word to High German tz, though in another group of (older) loan-words Latin c, even before open vowels, appears as k in High German and Teutonic, is due to the fact that words like Keller and Kaiser were introduced into Germany at a far earlier period than Kreuz, which was adopted with Christianity in the 8th and 9th centuries. The Goths used Teutonic Galgen (Gothic galga), the English of the earliest period, rood (compare Rute). The loanword is now found in all the Modern Teutonic languages — Icelandic kross, Swedish and Danish kors, Dutch kruis, English cross.
Kreuzer, masculine, ‘kreutzer’ (about $\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{3}}$d.), from Middle High German kriuzer, kriuzœre, masculine, a small coin, originally marked with a cross (Middle High German kriuze), ‘kreutzer.’
​ kribbeln, verb, ‘to crawl, tickle,’ Modern High German only, kribeln (Middle German), ‘to tickle’; a recent formation; compare Modern Dutch kribeln, ‘to itch, prick,’ kribbelen, ‘to grumble, wrangle.’
Kribskrabs, Kribbelkrabbel, masculine, Modern High German, an onomatopoetic term for ‘utter confusion’; compare Modern Dutch kribbelen, ‘to scrawl’?.
Krieche, feminine, ‘early sloe,’ from the equivalent Middle High German, feminine, ‘early sloe-tree,’ Old High German chriehboum; compare Dutch kriek, feminine, ‘wild cherry.’ Phonetically it might be derived from Old High German Chriah, Middle High German Kriech, ‘a Greek,’ if *grœca could be found in Middle Latin denoting the tree and the fruit. The word must hare been introduced from Italy, on account of the Latin term (compare Kirsche), for it is inconceivable that the Germans, of their own accord, and without foreign precedent, should lave termed the fruit ‘Greek’ because it was imported, as we assume for the moment, from Greece. At all events, the name has not yet been explained (compare further the French loan-word crèque).
kriechen, verb, ‘to crawl,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kriechen, Old High German chriohhan, strong verb; corresponding to Old Saxon kriupan, Dutch kruipen, Anglo-Saxon creópan, English to creep, Old Icelandic krjúpa. The relation of the High German form with ch from k to the remaining Teutonic languages with p has well-authenticated analogies; see Rufe (1), werfen, and Strunk. The guttural appears again in Middle English crûchen, English to crouch. Kraufen, ‘to crawl,’ is the Middle High German (Middle German) krûfen.
Kriechente, see Kriekente.
Krieg, masculine, ‘war,’ from Middle High German kriec(g), masculine, ‘exertion, endeavour to obtain something,’ then also ‘opposition, resistance, argument, discord, combat.’ The predominant meaning in Modern High German is the latest and ‘counter-effort' the earliest; compare Middle High German einkriege, adjective, ‘self-willed.’ For a similar evolution of meaning compare Old High German flîȥ, ‘exertion, zeal, quarrel'; see Fleiß. The word is almost entirely unknown to Old High German; it occurs once as chrêg, ‘pertinacia,’ with which widarkrêgi, ‘controversia', widarkriegelîn, ‘obstinatus’ (with obscure ê, ia, ie), are connected. This word, obscure in origin, is shared only by Dutch (krijg) with German; in all the other Teutonic languages it is wanting, Danish and Swedish krig being borrowed from German. Compare the following word.
kriegen, verb, ‘to get,’ from Middle High German kriegen (in Middle German krîgen is strong, so too the corresponding verb in Low German and Dutch), ‘to exert oneself, strive, aim at, oppose, struggle,’ then also ‘to defend, maintain an opinion,’ Middle German also ‘to obtain, receive’; the latter meaning is Low German and Dutch (krijgen, ‘to obtain, receive’). With regard to the numerous meanings compare Old High German winnan, ‘to exert oneself, struggle,’ giwinnan, ‘to win.’ Hence the various senses of the verb are the outcome of a primary meaning ‘to make an effort against,’ just as in the case of the noun Krieg, on which it is based.
Kriekente, feminine, ‘teal,’ a Low German form for High German Kriech-Ente; wanting in Middle High German and Old High German; it is based on Latin anas crecca, hence also Swedish kräcka. French sarcelle, ‘teal,’ like Italian cerceta, is traced to Latin anas querquedula; thus it has no etymological connection with Kriechente; the same may be said of English crake, corncrake.
Kring, masculine, ‘circular pad for the head,’ from Middle High German krinc(g), masculine, ‘circle, ring, district,’ with the Middle German variant kranc(g); Low German has a variant krink with final k, since in the whole of the corresponding class k and g at the end of the stem interchange (compare frank). Scandinavian kring, kringum, adverb, ‘round about,’ kringja, ‘to encircle,’ kringlóttr, adjective, ‘round.’ — English crank, Middle English cranke; English to crankle, ‘to run in a winding course,’ crinkle, ‘wrinkle, bend.’ Modern High German Ring and its cognates differ etymologically from Kring. In the allied Aryan languages some connect Lithuanian gręziù, grężti, ‘to twist, turn,’ with the Aryan root grengh, authenticated by Kring. Greek βρόχος, ‘noose, cord,’ is scarcely akin.
Kringel, Krengel, masculine, ‘cracknel,’ diminutive of Kring, or rather Krang; used even in Middle High German as a term in pastry.
Krippe, feminine, ‘crib,’ from the equivalent Middle High German krippe, Old High German chrippa, feminine, for chrippja (Gothic *kribjô; for High German pp. from Gothic bj, compare further Rippe, Suppe, and üppig); corresponding to Old Saxon kribbia, kribba, Anglo-Saxon cribb, English crib. In High German occurs a variant with pf, which is phonetically obscure, Old High German chripfa, Middle High German and Modern High German kripfe; there are also dialectic forms with u in the stem, Swiss krüpfli, Low German krübbe, Anglo-Saxon crybb, Scandinavian krubba, ‘crib.’ This word, in Gothic uzêta, ‘the thing from which one feeds,’ is connected with Middle High German krëbe, ‘basket’; hence ‘resembling a basket, woven,’ was perhaps the primary meaning of Krippe. The West Teutonic word passed into ​Romance — Italian greppia, Provençal crupia (the latter connected with the Teutonic forms in u mentioned above), Modern French crèche (whence English cratch, ‘a grated crib,’ Middle English crache).
kritteln, verb, ‘to find fault, carp,’ Modern High German simply from a popular term, gritteln, ‘to wrangle’ (wanting in Middle High German and Old High German), with an allusion to Kritik, &c.
kritzeln, verb, ‘to scribble,’ diminutive of Middle High German kritzen, ‘to scrawl,’ Old High German chrizzôn, ‘to scratch or cut into.’ It is probably connected with kratzen, Old High German chrazzôn, as well as with Old Icelandic krota, ‘to engrave, stamp.’ If this is not approved, it may be allied to Kreis (root krī̆t); kritjôn (whence chrizzôn) would then mean ‘to draw lines.’
Krolle, feminine, ‘curl’ (Rhenish), from the equivalent Middle High German krolle, krol(-les), masculine; compare Dutch krul, feminine, ‘curl.’ Middle High German krol, adjective, Dutch krullig, Middle English crul, adjective, ‘curly’; Dutch krullen, Middle English crullen, ‘to frizzle.’ For the connection between Middle High German krolle, feminine (Gothic *krŭzlô), and Modern High German kraus, Middle High German krûs, see under kraus.
Krone, feminine, ‘crown,’ from the equivalent Middle High German krône, krôn; in Old High German corôna (with the foreign accent preserved), from Latin cŏrôna (the unaccented ŏ disappeared in Middle High German); compare Middle English corûne, croune, English crown; in Middle Dutch the double form crône, krûne, existed, Dutch kroon, kruin. Scandinavian krúna, feminine. In Anglo-Saxon the term cyne-helm, literally ‘king's helmet,’ was substituted for Latin corona of the Biblical texts (just as sceptrum was rendered by cynegerd, literally ‘king's staff’); in Old Saxon and Old High German hôƀidband, houbitbant, ‘crown.’ These words show that the Teutons had their own distinctive terms for the royal insignia. With the Latin name they also borrowed a new idea —
krönen, ‘to crown,’ from Middle High German krœnen and a denominative from Krone; thus it is not Latin coronare, to which Old High German chrônôn more accurately corresponds.
Kropf, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German kropf, masculine, ‘goitre, crop, craw’; corresponding to Dutch krop, masculine, ‘crop, bosom, bow of a ship,’ English crop (of birds, top, harvest), Anglo-Saxon cropp, which has the special meanings ‘crop, summit, top (of trees), ear (of corn, cluster of grapes’; Old Icelandic kroppr, ‘trunk, body’ (also ‘hump’), is still more remarkable. To these numerous senses, a primary meaning, ‘a round mass in the shape of a ball, a projecting spherical body,’ has been assigned; with this the Romance loan-words such as French groupe, ‘group, cluster, knot,’ coincide. Gothic *kruppa- might be related to Greek γρῦπός, ‘curved,’ if ‘crop, excrescence,’ represented the primary meaning of the group.
Kropzeug, neuter, ‘rogues,’ a Low German word, formed from Low German krôp (compare kriechen), ‘crawling creature, small cattle,’ but this is not quite certain. Others connect it with the preceding word Kropf, which also signifies in Suabian and Bavarian ‘small, crippled creature, little man.’
Kröte, feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German krote, kröte, krëte, feminine (even now dialectic Krote, Krotte), Old High German chrota, chrëta, feminine, ‘toad.’ The forms with ë and o are related by gradation; compare Brett and Bord. The word is peculiar to German; in Old Icelandic padda, Dutch padde, Anglo-Saxon tâdie, English toad. Etymologically all three are equally obscure.
Krücke, feminine, ‘crutch,’ from the equivalent Middle High German krücke, krucke, Old High German chruccha (for *krukjô), feminine; compare Dutch kruk, Anglo-Saxon cryčč, feminine English crutch. Certainly a genuine Teutonic word (‘staff with a curved handle’); it is most closely connected with Scandinavian krókr, ‘hook, curve’; it may also be related to kriechen. In the Middle High German period it was confused with a Romance term based upon Latin crucea, and meaning ‘crosier.’ On the other hand, the Teutonic word was submerged in many of the Romance languages in the old inherited term; Italian croccia, ‘crutch,’ crocco, ‘hook,’ French crosse, ‘crook,’ croc, ‘hook’; Middle Latin croca, ‘baculus episcopalis,’ crocea, ‘baculus pastoralis’ and ‘baculus incurvus,’ croceus, croccia, crucia, crucca, ‘crutch,’ Krücke can scarcely be explained from Middle Latin crucea, ‘cross-bar’ (of a window), because this must have become chruzza (ce changed to tz); compare Kreuz.
Krug (1.), masculine, ‘jug, pitcher,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kruoc (g), Old High German chruog, m,; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon crôg, crôh, ‘pitcher,’ also ‘bottle.’ Besides these terms, based upon a common form krôga-, there are several words allied in sound and meaning; compare Old Saxon krûka, Dutch kruik, feminine, Anglo-Saxon crûce, Middle English crouke; Middle High German krûche, feminine, Modern High German (dialectic) Krauche. Anglo-Saxon crocca (and crohh), Middle English crokke, ‘pitcher,’ Icelandic krukka, ‘pot.’ Since it is not improbable that all these terms were borrowed, we may perhaps connect them further with Krause. Their source, however, cannot be assigned, since the corresponding words in the allied languages may also have been borrowed, and are insufficient phonetically to account ​for the numerous Teutonic terms. Some etymologists derive then from Keltic words such as Welsh crwc, ‘pail,’ from which French cruche, ‘pitcher,’ may be derived, if it is not of German origin. The Gothic term for ‘pitcher’ is aúrkeis (borrowed from Latin urceus). Compare Krug (2).
Krug (2.), masculine, ‘alehouse,’ compare Dutch kroeg; it passed into High German and Dutch from Low German, where it is recorded since the 13th century. The quondam assumption that the word is identical with Krug (1), “because formerly an actual or a carved pitcher was hung in front of a tavern,” is demolished by the fact that Krug, ‘urceus,’ is entirely unknown to Low German (and Dutch); the Old Saxon term krûka was used. On the other hand, Krug, ‘alehouse,’ was originally wanting in High German, in which Krug, ‘pitcher,’ was current at the earliest period.
Kruke, see Krug (1).
Krume, feminine, ‘crumb,’ a Low German loan-word, wanting in Middle High German; compare Low German krûme, Dutch kruim, Anglo-Saxon crûme, English crumb, crum. The root krū̆ appears also in krauen, Old High German chrouwôn, ‘to scratch, operate with the nails.’ Allied to Greek γρῦμέα, ‘rubbish’ (Aryan root grū̆)?.
krumm, adjective, ‘crooked,’ from Middle High German krump(b), Old High German chrumb, ‘crooked, curved, twisted, perverted’ (compare kraus); rare variants Old High German and Middle High German krumpf, Old High German chrampf, as well as Middle High German krimpf, in the same sense. Compare Old Saxon crumb, Anglo-Saxon crumb; English crump, ‘crooked,’ is abnormal (with this English to crumple, Middle English crumpeln, and also English crimple, ‘wrinkle, fold,’ are connected). Under Krampf it is shown how the graded and permutated forms are widely ramified; the Teutonic root signified ‘spasmodically contracted, curved.’ Besides the cognates of West Teutonic krumba-, from pre-Teutonic grumpó-, quoted under Krampf, compare the unnasalised Greek γρῦπός, ‘curved, bent’?. Old Irish cromm, Welsh crwm, seem to have been borrowed from Anglo-Saxon.
Kruppe, feminine, ‘crupper,’ Modern High German only, borrowed from French croupe, whence English croup. The French word has been derived from Scandinavian kryppa, feminine, ‘hump, excrescence’ (allied to kroppr, ‘hump’). See the following word.
Krüppel, masculine, ‘cripple,’ from the equivalent Middle High German krüppel, krüpel, masculine; it passed in the Middle High German period from Low German into High German; Dutch kreupel, English cripple, Middle English and Anglo-Saxon cryppel, Scandinavian kryppell, kryplingr. The p of these forms is High German pf (Alsatian Krüpfel), hence we must assume that High German Krüppel was borrowed from Low German and Middle German. Allied in the Upper German dialects to Swiss chrüft, chrüpfe, Suabian kropf, kruft, krüftle, Bavarian krapf, kropf, ‘deformed person,’ and the cognate Bavarian krüpfen, ‘to become crooked,’ akin to Old Icelandic kroppr, kryppa, ‘hump,’ and the cognates discussed under Kropf. Besides Greek γρυπός, ‘curved,’ we may also refer to Old Slovenian grŭbŭ, ‘back,’ ModSlov. grbanec, ‘wrinkle,’ Servian grba, ‘hump’ (grbati se, ‘to stoop’).
Kruste, feminine, ‘crust,’ from the rare Middle High German kruste, Old High German crusta, feminine, ‘crust’; a learned term which has been first naturalised in Modern High German. Derived from Latin crusta, whence also Dutch korst, English crust, as well as Romance words like French croûte.
Krystall, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German kristál, kristálle, masculine Old High German krystálla, feminine, ‘crystal.’ The retention of the Latin accent (crystállus, masculine and feminine) preserved the foreign aspect of this merely learned term, which was borrowed at a very early period.
Kübel, masculine, ‘tub, bucket,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kübel, Old High German *chubil, masculine; compare Old High German miluh-chubilî, -chubilîn, neuter, ‘milk-pail’; allied to Anglo-Saxon cŷf (from kûbi-), Middle English kîve, ‘cask.’ The stem is genuinely Teutonic; it is doubtful whether it is connected with the cognates (‘narrow space’) discussed under Koben. Its Romance origin at all events must be rejected. — ModLat. cupella, cupellus, ‘mensura frumentaria’ and ‘vas potorium,’ do not coincide in meaning; Dutch kuip, ‘vat, cask,’ is alone connected with Latin cûpa, ‘cask.’ Some Romance words, such as Provençal cubel, ‘tub,’ are derived from the Teutonic cognates, from which Slavonic and Lettic words are borrowed; Lithuanian kùbilas, ‘tub,’ Old Slovenian kŭbĭlŭ, ‘vessel,’ as a corn measure. Compare Koben, Kopf, and Kufe.
Küche, feminine, ‘kitchen,’ from the equivalent Middle High German küche, küchen, kuchîn (Upper German without mutation kuche, kuchi), Old High German chúhhī̆na, feminine; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon cyčene, feminine, English kitchen, Dutch keuken. An old West Teutonic word, probably not derived immediately from late Latin coquîna, ‘kitchen,’ but rather from a common Romance and Middle Latin cûcina (kukī̆na; compare Italian cucina, French cuisine). The High German ch (Old High German hh) for c, k, in consequence of the High German permutation points to the adoption of the term about the 6th century, at which period the South European arts of cookery and horticulture were introduced into Germany; compare Koch, Kuchen, Kohl, Kümmel, and Pfeffer.
​ Kuchen, masculine, ‘cake,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kuoche, Old High German chuohho, masculine; compare Middle Low German kôke, Dutch koek. Besides these forms with old ô in the stem (compare Anglo-Saxon cœ́čil, Middle English kêchel, ‘little cake,’ English dialectic keech) there occurs in the Scandinavian and English languages an apparently graded form with a — English cake, and the equivalent Scandinavian kaka, feminine. This gradation seems to point to a Teutonic origin of the cognates, yet their relation to the Romance class (Catal. coca, Rheto-Romance cocca, Picard. couque, ‘cake’), connected with Latin coquus, coquere (Anglo-Saxon côc, Old High German chohhôn), is not clear. Moreover, on the assumption that the word was borrowed, ô in Old High German chuohho would correspond exactly to the ô in Anglo-Saxon côc, ‘cook.’
Küchenschelle, feminine, ‘pasque flower,’ Modern High German only, interpreted from one of the variants Kuh-, Kühschelle as Kühchenschelle; its relation to the equivalent French coquelourde is obscure; the Modern High German form is certainly a corruption.
Küchlein, neuter, ‘chicken,’ Modern High German only; a Middle German and Low German word introduced by Luther into High German (in Upper German dialectic hüenli, West Middle German hünkel, Suabian luggele). To the Middle German and Low German küchen, küken, correspond Anglo-Saxon čŷčen (plural čŷcnu), Middle English chîken, English chick, chicken, Scandinavian kjúklingr, Dutch kieken, keuken. The Gothic diminutive termination -îna- (*kiukein) frequently occurs in the names of animals, Gothic gait-ein, Anglo-Saxon tiččen (Gothic *tikkein), Anglo-Saxon hêčen (Gothic *hôkein), neuter ‘kid’; see Füllen, Geiß, Schwein, Zicklein, and Mädchen. The substantive on which the word is based is Anglo-Saxon cocc, English cock, Scandinavian kokkr (to which Gothic *kiukein, neuter, is related by gradation). There is no reason for thinking that the Teutonic word was borrowed from Romance — French coq, like Anglo-Saxon cocc (Upper German gockel, gückel), is a recent onomatopoetic term also, for Welsh and Cornish cog, ‘cuckoo,’ points also to the base cucâ (so too Old Irish cúach, ‘cuckoo,’ from coucâ). Compare Kuckuck.
kucken, see gucken.
Kuckuck, masculine, ‘cuckoo,’ from the equivalent late Middle High German kuckuk (rare), masculine; the usual term in Middle High German is gouch, which was introduced in the 15th century from Dutch (koekoek, early Middle Dutch cuccûc). An onomatopoetic term widely diffused, but it is not necessary to assume that it was borrowed in most of the languages, English cuckoo, French coucou, Latin cuculus, Welsh and Cornish cog, Or. cúach. See also Küchlein.
Kufe (1.), feminine, ‘runner of a sledge’; Middle High German *kuofe and *kuoche are wanting with this meaning, so too Old High German *chuofa; Old High German chuohha is found, however, in slito-chôha, ‘runner of a sledge’ (see examples of the interchange of k-ch and p-f under kriechen); compare Middle Low German kôke, ‘runner of a sledge.’ Perhaps Lithuanian żágrė, feminine, ‘forked piece of wood on a plough,’ is allied, and also its cognates żáginýs, masculine, ‘stake, post,’ żágaras, masculine, ‘dry twig.’ From these the evolution of meaning in Kufe may be inferred.
Kufe (2.), feminine, ‘coop, vat,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kuofe, Old High German chuofa, feminine. The primary form of the word previous to the High German permutation of consonants is represented by Old Saxon côpa, feminine, and the equivalent English coop. From Middle Latin côpa, a variant of cûpa, ‘cask,’ whence Dutch kuip, ‘coop’; compare also Kübel. The word must have been borrowed before the 7th century, since it has undergone permutation in High German; perhaps it was introduced with the culture of the vine.
Küfer, masculine, from the equivalent küefer, masculine, ‘cooper’; compare Dutch kuiper, English cooper.
Kugel, feminine, ‘ball, bullet, globe,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kugel, kugele, feminine; compare Middle Low German and Dutch kogel. The word is not recorded in the other languages. It is allied to Modern High German Kaul-, from kûl, kugl, and also to Modern High German Keule, with which English cudgel and Anglo-Saxon cyčgel is closely connected; Keule is a ‘pole with a ball-shaped end.’ Kugel and Kegel cannot possibly be related by gradation.
Kuh, feminine, ‘cow,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German kuo, feminine; compare Middle Low German kô, Dutch koe, English cow, Anglo-Saxon cû, Old Icelandic kýr, feminine (Gothic *kôs); Teutonic type kô-, feminine, ‘cow.’ This word, like the names of other domestic animals, is found in the non-Teutonic languages, and in the form of gō̆w (gô) it is common to the Aryan group; compare Indian gâus (accusative gâm), feminine, Greek βούς (stem βοϝ), Latin bos (stem bov-). These terms are both masculine and feminine, hence Sanscrit gâus, masculine, ‘bull, cattle,’ feminine, ‘cow’; Greek βούς, ‘cattle, ox, cow’; Latin bos, ‘ox, cow’; Lettic gůws, ‘cow.’ This term, like other primitively Aryan words (compare Pferd, Schaf, Hund, Ochse, &c.), proves that the Aryans, before the division into the later tribes, were already acquainted with domestic animals.
Kühl, adjective, ‘cool,’ from the equivalent Middle High German küel, küele, adjective, also a regularly ​non-mutated form kuol- in compounds such as kuolhûs, neuter, ‘cooling-house,’ and in the adverb kuole (compare schon, spät, fast); Old High German chuoli, adjective, ‘cool’ (*chuolo, adverb). It corresponds to Middle Low German kôl, Dutch koel, Anglo-Saxon côl, English cool. In the form of kôli- (originally kôlu-) the adjective is common to West Teutonic; the adjective kalt is the old participle form from the stem of kühl, from which in Scandinavian (kala) and Anglo-Saxon (calan) strong verbs are formed; the further cognates English chill, Anglo-Saxon čęle, čyle, ‘cold,’ are based on a Gothic *kali- (neuter singular *kals). Compare kalt.
kühn, adjective, ‘bold, daring,’ from Middle High German küen, küene, Old High German chuoni, ‘bold, eager for combat, strong’; compare the non-mutated variant in the Middle High German and Old High German derivative kuonheit, ‘boldness,’ and in the Old High German adverb chuono. It corresponds to Middle Low German koene, Dutch koen, Anglo-Saxon cêne, ‘bold,’ English keen (the adjective is obsolete in Suabian and Bavarian); Scandinavian kœ́nn, ‘wise, experienced.’ The latter must at one time have been the prevalent sense in West Teutonic also, as is proved by the Modern High German proper name Konrad; Old High German and Middle High German Kuonrât (without mutation, like Old High German and Middle High German kuonheit), Anglo-Saxon Cênrêd (Gothic *Kônirêþs), may have meant ‘giving wise advice.’ Teutonic kôn-i- (literally ‘one that can understand, sensible’) is originally a verbal adjective from the verb kennen, können, hence the West Teutonic sense ‘bold,’ compared with the Old Icelandic meaning, must be regarded as derivative. All intellectual and moral conceptions of the Old Teutonic period are related more or less to war and conflict (compare bald, schnell, and Krieg).
Küken, Low German, see Küchlein.
Kümmel, masculine, ‘cummin, caraway seeds,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kümel, Old High German chumil, masculine, with the variants Middle High German kümin, Old High German chumī̆n; compare Anglo-Saxon cymen, Dutch komijn, Middle Low German kömen; from Latin and Romance cŭmînum. The change of n into l is the same as in Igel (in Upper German still kümi, kümich). With regard to the period of the adoption of Latin words relating to horticulture and the art of cookery, compare Käse, Küche, Minze, Pfeffer, &c.
Kummer, masculine, ‘grief, sorrow, distress,’ from Middle High German kumber, masculine, ‘rubbish, refuse (thus still dialectic), encumbering, oppression, distress, grief’; Modern High German mm, from Middle High German mb, as in Zimmer, Lamm, and Kamm. The word is wanting in all the Old Teutonic dialects; compare Modern Dutch kommer, masculine, ‘grief, affliction; hare's dung’; Middle English combren, ‘to encumber, molest,’ English to cumber. The cognates are very similar in sound to a Romance class — French décombres, ‘rubbish,’ Portuguese comoro, combro, ‘mound of earth, hillock,’ Italian ingombro, ‘hindrance,’ French encombrer, ‘to obstruct (with rubbish), block up’; Middle Latin combrus, ‘mound of earth, barrier of felled trees, obstructing pile.’ The Teutonic cognates seem to have passed into Romance; for, besides the more recent form with r, we find in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian a variant with l, Old Icelandic kumbl, ‘tumulus, barrow.’
Kummet, neuter, ‘horse-collar,’ from the equivalent Middle High German komat, neuter; borrowed in the Middle High German period from Slavonic (compare Old Slovenian chomątŭ, Polish chomąt); hence not diffused beyond the High German group. The Slavonic cognates of Old Slovenian chomątu are derived from Old Teutonic; compare Middle English and Modern English hame, Dutch haam, Westphalian ham, Rhine Provençal hamen, hammen, ‘horse-collar.’
Kumpan, masculine, ‘companion, mate,’ from Middle High German kumpân, kompân, masculine, ‘comrade, associate’; the latter is derived from Old French Provençal compaing, ‘companion, partner.’ Middle Latin companio, literally ‘one who shares the same food,’ is based on Old Teutonic expressions such as Gothic gahlaiba, Old High German gileibo, masculine, ‘associate, comrade,’ and the equivalent Old High German gimaȥȥo, from maȥ, neuter, ‘food’; see Laib.
Kumpest, Kompóst, masculine, ‘preserves, heap of rubbish or dung,’ from Middle High German kumpost, also kumpóst, masculine, ‘preserves,’ especially ‘pickled cabbage,’ from Romance (Italian compósto).
Kumpf, masculine, ‘basin, bowl,’ from Middle High German kumpf, masculine, ‘vessel’; compare Low German kump. A Middle Latin cumpus as the source of the German word does not exist; Middle Latin cumba, cumbus, have too no such meaning as Kumpf, hence they cannot be adduced to explain the dialectic Modern High German Kumme, ‘deep bowl.’ Kumme and Kumpf are more probably genuine Teutonic words, and allied to Anglo-Saxon cumb and the equivalent English coomb.
Künchel, see Kaninchen.
kund, adjective, ‘known, manifest,’ from Middle High German kunt(d), Old High German chund, adjective, ‘become acquainted, noted, known.’ It corresponds to Gothic kunþs, ‘noted,’ Old Saxon cûth, Anglo-Saxon cûþ, ‘noted,’ English couth (now only in the compound uncouth). A common Teutonic adjective in the form kunþa-, from the non-permutated gń-to-, which is properly a participle in to- from the verbal stem of the root gō̆n, gnô, discussed under können, kennen, ​and kühn. For other participles formed into adjectives see under laut.
Kunft, feminine, ‘arrival,’ from Middle High German and Old High German kunft, kumft, feminine, ‘coming, arrival’; compare Gothic gaqumþs, feminine, ‘meeting, assembly,’ the corresponding verbal abstract to Gothic qiman, High German kommen, with the suffix þi-, from -ti- (compare Schuld, Durst, and Gift). The insertion of an f in the combination mþ (mfþ becoming mft; compare further Vernunft, Zunft, Ramft) corresponds to the addition of an s to nþ (nsþ becoming nst), mentioned under Kunst. —
künftig, adjective, ‘to come, future,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kümftec, Old High German kumftîg.
Kunkel, feminine, ‘distaff,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kunkel, feminine, Old High German chunchala, feminine; a Suabian, Alemannian, and Rhenish word, for which Rocken occurs in other dialects (Bavarian and also Middle German). It is wanting in the remaining Old Teutonic dialects, and its diffusion supports the assumption that it has been borrowed from Romance, especially since the earlier Old High German form chonachla closely resembles the equivalent Romance words in sound; Middle Latin conucla (for colucula?, diminutive of colus, ‘distaff’?), equivalent to Italian conocchia, French quenouille, ‘distaff,’ whence also the equivalent Old Irish cuicel. Others refer the word to the cognates discussed under Kaufer, with the primary meaning ‘to spin.’
Kunst, feminine, ‘skill, art, address,’ from Middle High German and Old High German kunst, feminine, ‘knowledge, wisdom, skill, art’; compare Old Saxon cunsti, plural, ‘knowledge, wisdom,’ Dutch kunst; wanting in English and Gothic. A verbal abstract from können, like Kunft from kommen; s is a euphonic insertion before the dental; compare Brunst from brennen, Gunst from gönnen.
kunterbunt, adjective, ‘higgledy-piggledy,’ Modern High German only; in Middle High German, however, kuntervêch, adjective, which means ‘variegated, strange as a Kunter,’ i.e. ‘monster’. But while Middle High German kunter, ‘monster,’ and Old High German chuntar, ‘herd, drove of cattle’ (cognate with Old Slovenian ženą, Lithuanian genù, ‘I drive cattle’?), are Upper German, kunterbunt is properly Low German. Both Middle High German kuntervêch and Modern High German kunterbunt are imitations of Middle High German kunterfeit, literally ‘contrafactus, not genuine’; from this in Middle High German (Middle German) a word kunter, ‘what is false, deceptive,’ was deduced.
Kupfer, neuter, ‘copper,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kupfer, Old High German chupfar, neuter; an old loan-word from which *kuppor must have been the earliest form; the word was borrowed before the 7th century; compare Dutch and Middle Low German koper, Anglo-Saxon copor, English copper, Scandinavian kopar. These are probably based on Middle Latin cuper (genitive -eris). Late Latin cuprum, or rather œs cyprium, or simply cyprium (whence French cuivre), is an Italian (not a Greek) term; the Teutons probably owe to the Italians their earliest knowledge of copper. The island of Cyprus was called Kipper by the Germans of the Middle Ages, following the Byzant. and Modern Greek pronunciation of Κύπρος; hence Middle High German kippor or kipperwîn, ‘Cyprian wine.’
Kuppe, feminine, ‘peak, summit,’ adopted by the written language in the last century from Middle High German; in High German the form would have pf. Koppe and Kuppe, as well as Kaupe (‘crest of birds,’ also termed Koppe, compare Old Saxon coppod, ‘cristatus’ of snakes, under Kopf), are allied words, with the primary meaning ‘point, extreme end,’ which belonged originally to the strictly High German permutated form Kopf. The further history of all these terms is obscure; under Kopf it is assumed that they are of genuine Teutonic origin, though the possibility of their being blended with Middle Latin and Romance cupa, ‘beaker,’ is granted. In Middle High German kuppe, feminine Old High German chuppa, feminine, means ‘covering for the head’ (especially under the helmet); see Kopf.
Kuppel, feminine, ‘cupola, dome,’ Modern High German only, from Italian cupola (French coupole).
Kuppeln, verb, ‘to couple, fence (a field),’ from Middle High German kuppeln, koppeln, ‘to leash, bind, fetter, unite’; Middle High German kuppelspil, ‘coupling,’ kuppelœre, ‘match-maker, procurer,’ and kuppelœrinne, the feminine form; a derivative of Koppel, Latin copulare.
Kur, Chur, feminine, ‘election,’ in Kurfürst connected with erkoren, erkiesen; Middle High German kür, küre, feminine (Middle German kur, kure, without modification), ‘consideration, selection,’ especially ‘election of a king’ (Middle High German kür-, kurvürste, Middle German korvürste, ‘Elector’); Old High German churi, feminine, is preserved in High German Willfür in the regularly mutated form. Anglo-Saxon cyre, masculine, ‘choice’; Scandinavian kør, keyr, neuter, ‘choice.’ See kiesen.
Kurbe, Kurbel, feminine, ‘crank, winch,’ from Middle High German kurbe, Old High German churba, feminine, ‘windlass over a well’; generally traced to French courbe, and further to Latin *curva, ‘bent piece of wood,’ from curvus.
Kürbis, masculine, ‘gourd, pumpkin,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kürbeȥ, kürbiȥ, Old High German churbiȥ, masculine (rarely feminine); borrowed previous ​to the High German permutation (of t to ȥȥ) from Latin cucúrbita, whence also Anglo-Saxon cyrfet. Whether the reduplicated form of the Latin word was influenced by Teutonic itself cannot be determined. From Latin cucurbita are also derived Italian cucuzza, French gourde, whence English gourd, Dutch kauwoerde.
küren, verb, ‘to choose, select,’ Modern High German only, derived from an older kŭr, feminine, ‘choice,’ equivalent to Kur.
Kürschner, masculine, ‘furrier,’ from the equivalent Middle High German kursenœ̂re, masculine (sch from s, as in Arsch, birschen, and Hirsch), a derivative of Middle High German kürsen, feminine, ‘fur coat,’ Old High German chursinna, chrusina, Anglo-Saxon crûsne, ‘fur coat’; Middle Latin crusna, crusina, crusinna. Cognate terms also occur in Slavonic (Old Slovenian krŭzno, Russian korzno), in which, however, the word did not originate any more than it did in German, yet it may have been introduced into German through a Slavonic medium, perhaps from some Northern language. The primary kinship of Old High German chursina with Greek βύρσα, ‘hide, skin,’ is scarcely conceivable.
kurz, adjective, ‘short,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German kurz; a very curious loanword from Latin curtus. What may have led to its adoption is even more obscure than in the case of sicher (from Latin securus). The assumption of its being borrowed is supported only by the form kurt (without the change of t to z), which appears also in strictly Upper German records; compare Old High German porta, pforta, and pforza, from Latin porta. The form curt is Old Saxon and Old Frisian; compare also Dutch kort and Icelandic kortr. The Latin loan-word passed by degrees into all the Teutonic dialects except English, which preserved an Old Teutonic word for ‘short’ with which the Latin word, from its close resemblance in sound, has been confused — Anglo-Saxon sceort, English short (compare Old High German skurz, ‘short’); these cannot, on account of their want of permutation, be primitively allied to Latin curtus. For the cognates of English short see Schürze.
Kuß, masculine, ‘kiss,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German kus (genitive kusses); corresponding to Dutch kus, Old Saxon cus, cos (genitive -sses), Anglo-Saxon coss, Old Icelandic koss, masculine; a common Teutonic word for ‘kiss,’ wanting only in Gothic (*kussus, compare Gothic kukjan, East Frisian kükken, ‘to kiss’). A pre-Teutonic root gut, gud, ‘to kiss,’ does not occur. Indubitable cognates are not found in the non-Teutonic languages unless Irish bus, ‘lip,’ and Gaelic bus, ‘mouth with thick lips,’ are allied. —
küssen, verb, ‘to kiss,’ from Middle High German and Middle Low German küssen, Old High German chussen; Anglo-Saxon cyssan, English to kiss, Old Icelandic kyssa.
Küssen, see Kissen.
Küste, feminine, Modern High German only, from the equivalent Dutch kuste, kust, ‘coast,’ which, like English coast, Middle English coste, is of Romance origin, Old French coste, côte, Middle Latin costa, ‘coast.’
Küster, masculine, ‘sacristan,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German kustor, kuster, masculine. Adopted on the introduction of Christianity. While Kreuz, from Old High German chrûzi, is based upon the Latin stem cruci-, accusative singular crucem (and not the nominative crux), Küster, on the other hand, is not derived from Latin custodem (stem custodi-), or even from the non. singular custos, since in the Old High German period the change of s into r no longer occurs. We have rather to proceed from an actually recorded Middle Latin custor, custorem, a rare variant of the more prevalent form custod-, which appears also in French coutre, Old French costre, ‘sacristan.’ Middle Latin custos (scil. ecclesiae), ‘warden, guardian of the church jewels, holy vessels, &c., presbyter singular clericus cui ecclesiae et templi cura incumbit.’ With the same sense Middle Latin costurarius, whence Old Saxon costarâri, as well as Modern High German dialectic Gusterer.
Kutsche, feminine, ‘coach,’ first occurs in early Modern High German from Hungar. koszi, ‘a carriage from Koszi’ (near Raab); a characteristic modern term common to the European languages; compare French and Spanish coche (English coach), Italian coccio, Dutch koets.
Kutte, feminine, ‘cowl,’ from Middle High German kutte, feminine, ‘monk's habit’; compare Middle Latin cotta, cottus, ‘tunica clericis propria,’ which, however, with the corresponding Romance words (French cotte, ‘‘petticoat,’ Italian cotta), may be traced back to Teutonic kotta-, appearing in Old High German chozzo, Middle High German kotze, ‘coarse woollen stuff, cover.’ Compare Kotze.
Kutteln, feminine, ‘chitterlings, tripe,’ from Middle High German kutel, feminine, ‘gut, tripe’; as a genuine Upper German word it is probably not cognate with Low German küt, ‘entrails,’ but connected rather with Gothic qiþus, ‘belly.’
Kux, masculine, ‘share in a mine,’ earlier Modern High German and dialectic Ruckus; first occurs in early Modern High German, perhaps introduced from the Slavonic frontier mountains.