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

| This annotated version expands the abbreviations in the original entry D (full text). | Random word Special:RandomInCategory/Annotated entries in Kluge's Etymological Dictionary of the German Language |
* A - B - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S-Sch - Se-Su - T - U - V - W - Z
D.
da, adverb, ‘there, then, since,’ from the equivalent Middle High German dâr, dâ, Old High German dâr; the loss of the final r (dar still remained in Modern High German; see dar) is seen also in other adverbs: Middle High German sâ, from Old High German sâ, sâr, ‘soon, at once’ (cognate with English soon), compare wo. Anglo-Saxon þœ̂r, English there, corresponds to Old High German dâr; Gothic þar (instead of the expected form *þêr). The adverb is formed from the Old Teutonic demonstrative pronoun þa-, Greek το-, described under der; the r of Old High German dâr and Gothic þar appears in Old Indian tárhi, ‘at that time’ (hi is an enclitic particle like Greek γέ); compare also Sanscrit kárhi, ‘when,’ under wo. As to the variation of demonstrative and relative meanings in da, see der.
Dach, neuter, ‘roof, cover, shelter,’ from Middle High German dach, neuter, ‘roof, covering, ceiling, awning,’ Old High German dah; it corresponds to Anglo-Saxon þœc, ‘roof,’ English thatch, Old Icelandic þak; Gothic *Þak, ‘roof,’ is wanting, the term used being hrôt, the primitively Teutonic term for ‘roof,’ allied to Decken. The art of constructing houses (see under Giebel, First, Haus, Thür, Schwelle, Tenne, Zimmer, &c.) was not yet developed when the Teutons were migrating from East to West; hence most of the technical terms are peculiar to Teutonic. The primary meaning of the word Dach is apparent, since it is formed by gradation from a Teutonic root Þek, Aryan teg, ‘to cover’; Latin tego, tegere; Greek τέγος, neuter, ‘roof’; the same stage of gradation as in High German Dach is seen in Latin toga (‘the covering garment’), Latin tugurium, ‘hut.’ The same root appears in Greek with a prefix s, στέγω, ‘I cover,’ στέγη, ‘roof,’ as well as in Lithuanian stógas, ‘roof,’ Indian sthágâmi, ‘I cover.’ Hence the High German Dach, like the equivalent Greek τέγος, στέγη, Lithuanian stógas (akin to stěgti, ‘to cover’), signifies properly ‘the covering part.’
Dachs, masculine, ‘badger,’ from the equivalent Middle High German dahs, Old High German dahs, masculine; undoubtedly a genuine Teutonic word, like Fuchs, Bachs, though it cannot be authenticated in the non-German languages (Dutch and Low German das). It was adopted by Romance (Middle Latin taxus, Italian tasso, French taisson). It is probable that the animal, specially characterised by its winter burrow, received its name from the Aryan root teks, ‘to construct.’ In Old Indian the root takš properly signifies ‘to construct skilfully, make, build’ (a carriage, pillars of an altar, a settle), while the name of the agent formed from it — takšan — denotes ‘carpenter, worker in wood.’ To the same root belong Greek τόξον, ‘bow,’ τέκτων, ‘carpenter’; in Teutonic also Old High German dëhsala, Middle High German dëhsel, ‘hatchet, axe.’
Dachtel, feminine, ‘box on the ear’; like Ohrfeige, properly a euphemism used in jest for a blow. Dachtel is an older (Middle High German) form for Dattel. Compare further the term Kopfnüsse, ‘blows on the head,’ the original sense of which expresses, of course, something different from what is usually understood by the word. See Nuß.
dahlen, verb, ‘to talk nonsense,’ from the Low German; compare English to dally (the initial d indicates that the word was borrowed), which is traced back to Old Icelandic þylja, ‘to chatter.’
Dalles, masculine, ‘destruction, ruin,’ Jewish; ​properly the Jewish winding-sheet worn on the great ‘day of atonement’ (hence originally ‘to wear the Dalles’); from Hebrew talîth. According to others, the word is based on Hebrew dallût, ‘poverty.’
damals, adverb, ‘at that time, then,’ Modern High German only. In Middle High German the expression is des mâles, ‘at that time.’ See Mal.
Damast, neuter, ‘damask,’ early Modern High German, derived, like Dutch damast, English damask, from Romance (compare French damas, Italian damasto); based on the name of the city Damaskus.
Dambock, Damhirsch, masculine, ‘buck’; in Modern High German often written Damm- in the attempt to find some cognate for this unintelligible word. Middle High German tâme, from Old High German tâmo, dâmo, masculine; the word is of Latin origin, dâma (French daim, masculine, daine, feminine). It is remarkable that in Anglo-Saxon the labial nasal is lost — Anglo-Saxon dâ, English doe; perhaps the latter is of genuine Teutonic origin. The initial d of the Modern High German word is due to the Latin original, or to Low German influence.
Dambrett, neuter, ‘draught-board,’ for Damenbrett, from Dame, which was first borrowed by Modern High German from French dame (Latin domina).
dämisch, dämlich, adjective, ‘dull, drowsy, crazy,’ Modern High German only; a Middle German and Low German word (Bavarian damiš, taumiš); from a Teutonic root þêm, equivalent to Sanscrit tam (tâmyati), ‘to get tired, out of breath,’ whence Latin têmulentus, ‘drunk.’ Probably allied to the cognates of dämmern.
Damm, masculine, ‘dam, dike, mole,’ Middle High German tam(mm); the d of the Modern High German word compared with the t of Middle High German points to a recent borrowing from Low German; compare Dutch and English dam (a bank), Old Icelandic dammr. Gothic has only the derivative faurdammjan, ‘to embank, hinder’; akin to Anglo-Saxon demman, English to dam, Modern High German dämmen.
dämmern, verb, ‘to grow dusk, dawn,’ from Middle High German dëmere, feminine (also even Middle High German dëmerunge, feminine), Old High German dëmar, neuter, ‘crepusculum,’ a derivative of a Teutonic root þem, Aryan tem, ‘to be dusk’ (see also dämisch). Old Saxon preserves in the Heliand the cognate adjective thimm, ‘gloomy’; allied to Middle Dutch and Middle Low German deemster, ‘dark.’ A part from Teutonic the assumed root tem, meaning ‘to grow dusk,’ is widely diffused; Sanscrit tamas, ‘darkness’ (exactly corresponding to Old High German dëmar), tamrá-s, ‘obscuring, stifling’; támisrâ, feminine, ‘dark night’; Irish temel, ‘darkness,’ temen, ‘dark grey.’ With the latter words Latin tenebrœ, ‘darkness,’ is connected (br in Latin from sr; n for m on account of the following labial, a process of differentiation); Old Slovenian tĭma, ‘darkness,’ Lithuanian tamsùs, ‘dark,’ tamsà, feminine, ‘dusk,’ témti, ‘to grow dusk.’ In the earlier German periods we have further Middle High German dinster, Old High German dinstar, which are so related to Sanscrit támisrâ, ‘night,’ and Latin tenebrœ, as to imply a Gothic þinstra- as an adjective stem; in that case t has intruded between s and r, as in Schwester. With regard to Middle High German dinster compare also Modern High German düster and finster.
Dampf, masculine, ‘vapour, steam,’ from Middle High German dampf, tampf, masculine, ‘vapour, smoke’; tampf seems to have been the strictly High German form; allied to the equivalent Old Icelandic dampe, English and Dutch damp, ‘moisture’; not recorded in the earlier, periods. Formed by gradation from a strong verb — Middle High German dimpfen, ‘to fume, smoke,’ which has disappeared in Modern High German; its factitive, however, still exists — dämpfen, Middle High German dempfen, original sense, ‘to cause to smoke,’ i.e, ‘to stifle (a fire).’ See also dumpf; dunkel may also be allied to it.
Dank, masculine, ‘thanks, acknowledgment, recompense,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German danc, masculine; corresponds to Gothic þagks (þanks), Anglo-Saxon þanc, English thanks. Etymologically Dank is simply ‘thinking,’ hence ‘the sentiment merely, not expressed in deeds.’ See denken; dünken.
dann, adverb, from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German danne, ‘then, at that time, in such a case, thereupon’; properly identical with denn; in Middle High German and Old High German danne is used indifferently for denn and dann. Anglo-Saxon þonne, þœnne, English then. The Old Teutonic adverb is based on the pronominal stem þa- (compare der); yet the mode of its formation is nor quite clear. Compare da, der, and the following word.
dannen, adverb, only preserved in the phrase von dannen, ‘thence, from thence’; Middle High German dannen, Old High German dannana, dannân, and danân, ‘inde, illinc’; Anglo-Saxon þanon, English thence. For Gothic *þanana the word þaþrô, formed from the same root, was used.
dar, adverb, ‘there,’ etymologically identical with da (whence the compounds daran, darin, darum, &c.), and with Old High German dara, ‘thither.’
darben, verb, ‘to suffix want, famish,’ from Middle High German darben, Old High German darbên, ‘to dispense with, be deficient’; corresponds to Gothic gaþarban, ‘to abstain from’; Anglo-Saxon þearfan, ‘to be in need of.’ The verb is derived from the same root (þerf) as dürfen ​which see; its primary meaning is ‘to be in need of.’
Darm, masculine, ‘gut, intestine,’ from the equivalent Middle High German darm, Old High German daram, masculine; compare Anglo-Saxon þearm, Old Frisian therm, Dutch darm, Old Icelandic þarmr, masculine, Swedish and Danish tarm. Corresponds in the non-Teutonic languages to Latin trâmes, ‘way,’ Greek τρῆμα, ‘hole, eye,’ τράμις, ‘perineum,’ from root tar, ‘to traverse.’ Hence the original sense of Darm was probably ‘passage.’ — Allied to the collective Gedärm (Modern High German), neuter, ‘entrails,’ from the equivalent Middle High German gederme, Old High German gidermi, neuter.
Darre, feminine, ‘kiln for drying fruit, malt, &c.,’ from the equivalent Middle High German darre, Old High German darra, feminine; akin to Middle Low German darre, Swedish (dialectic) tarre: like dörren, dürr, from an Old Teutonic root þers, pre-Teutonic ters, upon which are based Modern High German Durst, dürsten, with a specialised meaning. The root ters appears in Greek τέρσομαι, ‘to become dry,’ τερσαίνω, ‘to dry’; in relation to Modern High German Darre the equivalent ταρσός and ταρσία, ‘hurdle for drying fruit,’ deserve special notice. The words connected with the root ters are cited under Durst, since they, like Durst, have been similarly restricted in meaning, Latin torreo, for *torseo, corresponds in form and idea to Modern High German dörren; compare further Latin torris, ‘firebrand,’ torridus, ‘parched.’ From Teutonic þarrian, French tarir, ‘to dry up,’ is derived. See dörren, dürr, Durst.
daß, conjunction, ‘that,’ from Middle High German and Old High German daȥ; corresponds to Old Low German and English that, Gothic þata; etymologically identical with das, the neuter article. See der.
Dattel, feminine, ‘date’ (fruit), from Middle High German datel, tatel, tatele, feminine; from Romance, — French datte, Italian dattilo; the primary source of which is Greek δάκτυλος, ‘date’ (compare Attich).; hence too Dutch dadel, English date.
Daube, feminine, akin to the equivalent Middle High German dûge, feminine, ‘stave’; the Modern High German b compared with Middle High German g shows that the modern word cannot be a continuation of the Middle High German form. Upper German has preserved the word dauge, corresponding to Middle High German dûge; compare Dutch duig, ‘stave.’ Old Icelandic þûfa, feminine, ‘entrenchment, rampart,’ does not appear to be related. In Romance is found a word phonetically allied and equivalent in meaning — French douve, ‘stave’ (but also ‘moat’; hence this is connected with the Old Icelandic word quoted); it was most likely borrowed from Dutch or Low German. The Scandinavian þùfa and the Middle High German dûge look very much like Teutonic words whether they are allied or not. We cannot possibly derive Middle High German dûge from Greek δοχή, ‘receptacle.’ Respecting the permutation of b (f) and g, see Traube.
dauern (1.), verb, ‘to last, endure,’ from the equivalent Middle High German dûren, tûren, from Latin dûrare (French durer). Dauer, feminine, is simply a Modern High German form from dauern. English to dure (endure) comes from French durer.
dauern (2.), bedauern, verb, ‘to cause pity, sorrow, regret’; the initial d indicates that the verb was borrowed from Middle German and Low German, for the Middle High German form was tûren; mich tûret ein ding or eines dinges, ‘that appears to me to be (too) expensive, dear’; tûren is related by gradation to teuer, Middle High German tiure; for the change from û to iu compare traurig with Anglo-Saxon dreórig, English dreary. It is remarkable that the verb, which, judging by its gradation, must be very old, is utterly wanting in the older dialects.
Daumen, masculine, ‘thumb,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Middle Low German dûme, Old High German dûmo, masculine; compare Dutch duim, Anglo-Saxon þûma, English thumb; Old Icelandic þumall, þumalfingr. The same derivative with the suffix l is seen, but with a change of meaning, however, in Anglo-Saxon þŷmel, English thimble (Gothic *þûma). This word ‘thumb’ is consequently common to the Teutonic group; even the other fingers had each its special name in the Old Teutonic period. The Anglo-Saxon terms middefinger, midlesta finger, se goldfinger, se lîtla finger, are in complete accord with Modern High German Mittelfinger (middle-finger), Goldfinger (ring-finger), and der kleine Finger (the little-finger), respectively. These terms are not formed, therefore, like Daumen from an old independent stem; in this way Daumen is proved to be primitively, though etymologically it is not quite clear; the pre-Teutonic form may have been *tûmon, perhaps akin to tŭmeo, ‘to swell’?. In that case Daumen would be equivalent to ‘swollen finger’; compare also Sanscrit tumrá-s, as ‘greasy, fat, vigorous,’ and tûtuma-s, ‘strong,’ Zend tûma, ‘strong,’ with Latin tum-eo. Greek τυΐλος, τύλη(ū̆), ‘callosity, swelling, knob, hump,’ are based upon a root tū̆, while the Latin cognates point to tū̆m. The original sense of both may have been ‘to swell, be thick.’
Daune, Dune, feminine, ‘down,’ Modern High German only, from the equivalent Low German dûne, feminine; compare Old Icelandic dúnn, masculine, English down. Hence the initial dental proves that the Modern High German word is of Low German origin, for since the Scandinavian and English words begin with d, a genuine High German word would necessarily have an initial t. The ​origin of Scandinavian dúnn is obscure. See Eider, Flaum.
Daus, neuter, ‘deuce (of dice), ace (of cards),’ from Middle High German dûs, tûs, with the same meanings; late Old High German dûs. From a Romance word originating in the Latin duo; Old French dous (Modern French deux, Provençal duas, from Latin *duos for duo), whence English deuce. Dice-playiug was a favourite amusement even among the Teutons described by Tacitus (Germ. 24); unfortunately, however, we can gather nothing from his brief remarks as to the details and technical terms (but see gefallen, Hund, Sau) of the Old Teutonic game; this words died out at an early period, and with the new games from the South new Romance words have been introduced. See Aß, Treff, doppeln.
Dechant, masculine, ‘dean,’ from Middle High German dëchent, tëchant(d), Middle High German and Old High German tëchân from Latin dĕcânus, whence also Italian decano, French doyen (English dean).
Decher, masculine, ‘a tale of ten hides,’ from the equivalent Middle High German tëcker, dëcher, masculine neuter; borrowed by Middle High German from Latin decuria.
Decke, feminine, ‘cover, ceiling, disguise,’ from Middle High German dęcke, feminine, ‘cover, covering, covering up’; Old High German dęchî, related to the following word.
decken, verb, ‘to cover, screen,’ from the equivalent Modern High German dęcken, Old High German dęcchan; the latter (with cch- from kj) from *þakjan, which was most likely the Gothic form; compare Anglo-Saxon þęccan (obsolete in English); Old Icelandic þekja, ‘to cover.’ þakjan is a derivative of the Aryan root teg (discussed under Dach), which appears with the same meaning in Latin tegere, Greek σ-τέγεω, Sanscrit sthagâmi. A strong verb þekan corresponding to tego, στέγω, is is nowhere recorded within the Teutonic group; the weak verb has assumed its function.
deftig, adjective, Modern High German only, from Low German destig; the latter, with English daft, Anglo-Saxon gedœft, ‘mild, meek, gentle’ (Gothic gadaban, ‘to be fitting’), and perhaps with High German tapfer, is derived from a Teutonic root dab, dap. See tapfer.
Degen (1.), masculine, ‘valiant warrior’; it is not etymologically a sort of figurative sense of Degen (2.), though the tendency of Modern High German is to regard it thus, in such expressions as alter Haudegen, ‘a practised swordsman,’ &c. While Degen, ‘sword,’ first appears in the 15th century, Degen, ‘hero,’ is an Old Teutonic word, which is wanting in Gothic (*þigns) only. Compare Old High German dëgan, Anglo-Saxon þëgn, ‘retainer, attendant,’ English thane (from þegn); Middle High German dëgen, ‘hero.’ There is to phonetic difficulty in connecting these cognates (Gothic þigna-, from teknó-), as is usually done, with Greek τέκνον, ‘child’; the difference in sense may be paralleled by Anglo-Saxon magu, ‘boy, son, servant, man.’ But since þëgn was already an established technical term in the Old Teutonic system, we must in preference regard ‘vassal’ as the primary sense of the word. We have too in Gothic þius (stem þiwa-) for þigwá-, ‘servant, attendant’ (Anglo-Saxon þeó, þeów, Old High German diu; see Dirne and dienen), a more suitable connecting link. Moreover, þëgn, Degen, would, if cognate with τέκνον, be related to τίκτω, ‘to give birth to,’ τοκεύς, ‘begetter,’ τόκος, ‘birth,’ and Sanscrit takman, ‘child.’
Degen (2.), masculine, ‘sword,’ first occurs in late Middle High German see Degen (1.); from French dague, ‘dirk.’
dehnen, verb, ‘to stretch, extend, lengthen,’ from Middle High German and Old High German denen, dennen, weak verb, ‘to stretch, draw, strain’; compare Gothic ufþanjan, ‘to extend’; Anglo-Saxon þenian, þennan, ‘to stretch.’ The Gothic þanjan is a derivative of a strong verb *þënan, like þakjan, ‘to cover,’ from a strong verb *þëkan (Latin tego); þanja and þëna are primitively cognate with Greek τείνω. The root ten is widely diffused in the Aryan group. Sanscrit root tan, ‘to strain, widen, extend (of time), endure’; tántu-s, masculine, ‘thread,’ tánti-s, feminine, ‘line, rope’; Greek τείνω, τάνυμαι, τάσις, τένων, ‘sinew,’ ταινία, ‘strip’; Old Slovenian teneto, tonoto, ‘cord,’ Latin tenus, ‘cord,’ Lithuanian tìnklas, ‘net.’ The idea of extension is shown also by the root ten (Latin teneo, tendo) in an old Aryan adjective; see dünn and Dohne. A figurative sense of the same root is seen in donnern; the evolution of meaning may be ‘extension—sound—noise.’
Deich, masculine, ‘dike’; Middle High German tîch, masculine; since the High German word would, according to phonetic laws, begin with t, we must suppose that it has been influenced, like Dampf perhaps, by Low German; compare Low German dîk, Dutch dijk, Anglo-Saxon dîc, English dike. Respecting their identity with High German Teich and English dike (‘a ditch’), see Teich.
Deichsel (1.), feminine ‘pole, thill, shaft,’ from the equivalent Middle High German dîhsel, Old High German dîhsala, feminine; compare Old Icelandic þísl, Anglo-Saxon þîxl, þîsl, Dutch dissel, Old Low German thîsla, feminine. It has no connection with English thill, which is related rather to Modern High German Diele. A word peculiar to the Teutonic dialects, and of obscure origin; perhaps Latin témo, ‘pole, shaft,’ is primitively allied (if it represents ​teixmo; compare âla from *axla, under Achsel). The Aryans had learnt the way to build waggons in their Asiatic home ere the separated into different tribes: this is proved by the words Joch, Nabe, Rad, Wagen.
Deichsel (2.), feminine, ‘adze’; compare Middle High German dëhsel, Old High German dëhsala, ‘axe, hatchet’; from a Teutonic root þehs, equivalent to Aryan teks. Compare Old Slovenian tesati, ‘to hew,’ Lithuanian taszýti, ‘to hew, fashion with an axe,’ Sanscrit takšan, ‘carpenter’ (see under Dachs). The ei of the Modern High German word is based upon a variant þîhs, which is Middle German and Low German; numerous High German dialects preserve the old e.
dein, pronominal adjective, ‘thy,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German dîn, corresponds to Gothic þeins, Anglo-Saxon þîn, English thy, thine; related to du.
Demant, Diamant, masculine, ‘diamond, adamant,’ from the equivalent Middle High German diamant, dîemant, from French diamant, Italian diamante (Latin adamantem).
Demut, feminine, ‘submissiveness, humility,’ from the equivalent Middle High German dêmuot, diemuot, diemüete, Old High German deomuoti, ‘condescension, gentleness, modesty.’ The correctly developed form from the Old High German deomuoti would be Modern High German Diemüte; the present form is due partly to Low German influence, partly to its having been connected with Armut; but while in the latter -ut is properly a suffix, Old High German deomuoti, feminine, is a compound. The second component is a derivative of Old High German muot (see Mut); Old High German dio, however, is Gothic þius (stem þiwa-; compare dienen, Dirne, and also Degen), ‘hind, servant’; Demut is ‘the befitting quality of a servant, the disposition of the attendant.’ Neither the word nor the idea is Old Teutonic (the Gothic said hauneins, ‘abasement, baseness,’ for Demut); both were introduced by Christianity.
dengeln, verb, from the equivalent Middle High German tęngeln, ‘to sharpen by hammering, beat, hammer’; the Modern High German d points, as in the case of Deich, to a Low German influence; compare Anglo-Saxon dęncgan, ‘to knock, ding,’ English to ding. Akin to Old High German tangol, ‘hammer’; Gothic *diggwan, ‘to strike,’ indicated also by Old Swedish diunga, Modern Swedish dänga, is not recorded.
denken, verb, ‘to think, call to mind, conceive, believe,’ from Middle High German dęnken, Old High German dęnchen, ‘to think, bear in mind, devise, excogitate’; corresponds to Gothic þagkjan (þankjan), ‘to consider, ponder, reflect,’ Anglo-Saxon þęncan. English to think, is an intermediate form between Anglo-Saxon þęncan, ‘to think,’ and þyncan, ‘to seem.’ Denken is in form a factitive of dünken, which was originally a strong verb, meaning ‘to seem’; ‘to make a thing seem’ is ‘to consider, ponder.’ See dünken.
denn, conjunction, ‘for,’ from Middle High German danne, dęnne, Old High German danne, danna; identical with dann.
der, article, ‘the,’ formed from the Old High German and Middle High German demonstrative and relative stem dë-; compare Gothic þa-, Greek το-, Old Indian ta-. The details belong to grammar.
derb, adjective, ‘compact, stout, blunt, uncouth,’ derived in form from Middle High German dërp (b), ‘unleavened,’ but blended in meaning with a word derbe, derb, ‘worthy, honest’ (see bieder), deduced from Old High German and Middle High German bidérbe. Middle High German dërp, Old High German dërb, ‘unleavened,’ are equiv to Old Icelandic þjarfr, Anglo-Saxon þeorf, English therf. Bieder is related to bedürfen, but derb, ‘unleavened,’ on account of its meaning, cannot belong to the same stem; it is connected rather with the root verderben.
desto, adverb, ‘so much the,’ from the equivalent Middle High German dëste, dëst, late Old High German dësde; in an earlier form two words, dës diu (dës, genitive, diu, instrumental of the article); the Gothic word was simply þê (instrumental of the article); thus, too, Anglo-Saxon þŷ before comparatives, English the (the more, desto mehr).
Deube, see Dieb.
Deut, feminine, ‘doit, trifle,’ simply Modern High German, from Dutch duit, ‘smallest coin’ (whence also English doit); the latter is of Scandinavian origin; Old Icelandic þveit, ‘a small coin’ (from þvíta, ‘to cut’).
deuten, verb, ‘to point, beckon, interpret, explain,’ from Middle High German diuken, tiuten, Old High German diuten, verb, ‘to show, point, signify, notify, explain, translate’; Gothic *þiudjan; compare Old Icelandic þýða. In place of þiudjan, Gothic has a form þiuþjan, ‘to praise, laud,’ which, however, is scarcely identical with deuten. Probably the latter signifies rather ‘to make popular’; þiuda is the Gothic word for ‘nation’ (see deutsch. Compare Middle High German ze diute, ‘distinct, evident,’ and ‘in German’ (diute, dative singular of diuti, tiute, feminine, ‘exposition, explanation’); note too Anglo-Saxon geþeóde, ‘language’ (as the main characteristic of the nation).
deutsch, adjective, ‘German,’ from the equivalent Middle High German diutsch, tiutsch; the initial d of the Modern High German and Middle High German words is Middle German, the earlier form, teutsch (Middle High German tiutsch), is Upper German, and was, especially by the ​UpGer. writers, constantly used till the end of the last century. Old High German diutisk (for Middle Latin theodiscus, the earliest records of the word are in the years 813, 842, 860), ‘German,’ properly only ‘pertaining to the people’ (Old Saxon thiudisca liudi, ‘Teutons’); Gothic preserves the corresponding þiudiskô, adverb, in the sense of ‘like a heathen’ (in close connection with Greek ξθγικώς). The suffix isk denotes ‘pertaining to.’ The substantive Middle High German diet, Old High German diot, diota, ‘people,’ upon which this word is based, is preserved in such compound proper names as Dietrich, Detlef, Detmold, Detmar; as an independent word it is also obsolete in English; Anglo-Saxon þeód; Gothic þiuda, feminine. The Old Teutonic substantive is based upon a word — pre-Teutonic teutâ, ‘people’ — found in many West Aryan languages; compare Lithuanian tautà, feminine, ‘country,’ Lettic tauta, ‘people, nation’; Old Irish túath, ‘people’; Oscan touto, ‘people’ (Livy calls the chief magistrate of the Campanian towns ‘medix tuticus’). Thus the word deutsch has a singular and comprehensive history; it was used in the earliest Old High German and Middle Latin writings only of the language (since 845 A.D. Theodisci occurs also as the name of a people, and first of all in Italy); deutsch, ‘popular,’ was the term applied to the native language in contrast to the Latin ecclesiastical speech and the Latin official phraseology. We may note English Dutch, because it is restricted to the language of Holland; till about 1600 A.D. the people of Holland were convinced that their language was German.
dibbern, verb, Jewish, ‘to talk’ (especially in a low voice), from Hebrew dibbèr, ‘to talk’.
dicht, adjective, ‘close, dense,’ dialectic deicht (Liv. and Esthonian), from Middle High German dîhte, ‘dense.’ The absence of the diphthong is probably due to Low German, since the word does not occur in Upper German (Suabian and Bavarian). Corresponds to Old Icelandic þéttr, ‘dense’ (related to Gothic *þeihts, as léttr, ‘light,’ to Gothic leihts); allied to the Teutonic root þinh (see gedeihen), just as Gothic leihts to the root ling (see gelingen). English tight, from Middle English tîht, has an abnormal t for th initially, probably due to the influence of Swedish and Danish tœt; in Middle English the normal thîht is also found. For another derivation see dick.
dichten, verb, ‘to invent, imagine, write, fabricate,’ from Middle High German tihten, ‘to write, draw up (in writing), compose, invent, excogitate’; the Modern High German meaning is very much restricted compared with the fulness of Middle High German. Even in the 16th and 17th centuries Dichter (Middle High German tihtœre) meant generally ‘writer, author,’ and was applied to the prose writer as well as the poet. The origin of dichten (Old High German tihtôn, ‘to write, compose’), from Latin dictare, ‘to dictate,’ late Latin also ‘to compose,’ may have favoured the change from tichten to dichten; Anglo-Saxon dihtan, which is of the same origin, has the further signification ‘to arrange, array.’
dick, adjective, ‘thick, stout, corpulent,’ from Middle High German dic, dicke, adjective, ‘thick, dense, frequent,’ Old High German dicchi, ‘thick, dense’; in English too the double meaning of the adjective obtains; compare Old Icelandic þykkr, þjǫkkr, Anglo-Saxon þicce, English thick. Corresponds to Old Irish tiug (from *tigu), ‘thick,’ so that we must presuppose a Gothic *þiqus. Beside which the double sense, ‘thick, dense,’ makes the kinship with dicht probable. In Old High German the meaning ‘dense’ has been preserved in Dickicht, literally ‘a place densely overgrown’ (originally used by sportsmen); in Middle High German dicke is the equivalent term.
Dieb, masculine, ‘thief,’ from the equivalent Middle High German diep(b), Old High German diob, masculine; common to the Teutonic group; compare Gothic þiufs(b), Dutch dief, Anglo-Saxon þeóf, English thief. The word cannot be traced beyond Teutonic. In the sense of ‘Diebstahl,’ English has a form with a dental suffix — Anglo-Saxon þŷfþ, feminine (Old Icelandic þýfð, singular, Gothic *þiubiþa), English theft. The form in High German is a j- stem — Old High German diuba (diuva), Middle High German diube (diuve), earlier Modern High German Deube (as late as Logau, 1604-1655), which is now met with only in Wilddeube, ‘petty poaching.’ The latter forms the base of Modern High German Diebstahl, in Middle High German diepstâle and diupstâle (Old Swedish þiufstolet), literally ‘theft-stealing.’ The second part of the compound expresses the same idea as the first; Dieb is simply the concrete which has replaced the abstract; compare Gothic þiubi, neuter, and its adverb form þiubjô, ‘secretly.’ Besides the masculine Dieb, there existed in Old High German and Middle High German a feminine form, which in Gothic would have been *þiubi; compare Old High German diupa, Middle High German diupe, ‘female thief.’ We must seek for the primitively word in a pre-Teutonic root with a final p; this is proved by Old High German diuva, Middle High German diuve, feminine, ‘theft’; compare the Aryan root tup, ‘to duck,’ under Ducht.
Diele, feminine, ‘plank, board,’ from Middle High German dil, dille, feminine, masculine, ‘board, partition of boards, boarded floor’ (in Low German ‘vestibule’), Old High German ​dili, masculine (neuter?), dilla, feminine, with the same meaning. Originally Teutonic þeloz, þiliz, neuter, ‘board,’ was þiljôn, ‘made of boards’; compare Anglo-Saxon þël, ‘board,’ Old Icelandic þilja, ‘rowing seat’ (Finnish teljo ‘ship's beam, oar-bench,’ comes from Teutonic). Compare further Dutch deel, ‘board, floor,’ Middle Low German dêle, ‘board.’ Lithuanian tile, ‘plank of a boat,’ Old Slovenian tĭlo, ‘ground,’ Sanscrit tala-m, ‘surface,’ seem to be primitively allied; also Latin tellus, ‘earth’?.
dienen, verb, ‘to serve, attend upon, be of use to,’ from the equivalent Middle High German dienen, Old High German dionôn (Old Saxon thionôn); compare Dutch dienen, Gothic *þiunôn. The latter is formed in the same way as reikinôn, ‘to rule,’ from reiks, ‘ruler,’ fraujinôn, ‘to be master of,’ from frauja, ‘master’; that is to say, dienen is based upon Gothic þius (stem þiwa-), ‘servant, menial.’ Compare Anglo-Saxon þeów, ‘servant,’ Old High German deo, ‘menial’ (compare Demut); also a feminine form, Gothic þiwi, Old High German and Middle High German diu, ‘maid-servant'; another similar old feminine form is Modern High German Dirne. The corresponding abstract — Dienst, Middle High German dienest, masculine, neuter, Old High German dionôst, neuter (compare Old Saxon thionost, neuter), is worth noting from the grammatical point of view on account of the suffix st (compare Angst, also Anglo-Saxon ofost, ‘haste,’ with the same suffix). From Gothic fraujinassus, ‘rule,’ þiudinassus, ‘reign,’ we should have expected Gothic þiunassus, ‘the state of a servant, service,’ that is to say, the German suffix -niss for nest. Moreover, before the w of Gothic þiwa- a g may have disappeared (compare Aue, Niere), so that the Teutonic root was possibly þegw; in that case the Old Teutonic þegnoz, ‘sword’ (Gothic *þigns), would belong to the same stem as dienen and Degen.
Dienstag, masculine, ‘Tuesday,’ a West Teutonic word, which has quite as important a bearing upon the religious views of the Teutons as Ostern. Originally there were three names for the day. One contains in the first component of the compound the name of the Old Teutonic god Tiu, to whom the day was sacred; Old Icelandic Týsdagr, Anglo-Saxon Tîwesdœg, English Tuesday, preserve this name in the genitive (compare Gothic baurgswaddjus, just as if Burgsmauer were used for Burgmauer; see Nachtigall). Old High German Zio (Old Icelandic Týr) is a primitive deity whose worship the Teutons brought with them from their Asiatic home; it is identical with Greek Ζεύς (for δjεύς), genitive Διός (for διϝός, hence corresponding to Gothic *Tius-dags); Latin Jupiter, Jovis (for *djovis); Sanscrit Djâus, genitive Divás; originally the word meant simply ‘sky,’ then the sky personified as a god. Among the Teutons Tiu appears as a god of war; this change of meaning is explained by the supposition that Tiu, corresponding to the Greek Zeus, was at first regarded simply as the chief god, but was afterwards connected with the main occupation of our ancestors, i.e. war (see kühn). From Tiu, Old High German Zio, ‘Tuesday’ in OAlem. is termed (Old High German) Ziostac, (Middle High German) Ziestac (Ziestag in Hebel). Another appellation is the Old Bavarian Ertac (Erchtag), instead of which, on the adoption of Christianity in the east of Suabia, the word aftermœntig, ‘after Monday,’ was introduced. In the Franconian and Saxon dialects the term dingestag has existed from time immemorial, and was at one time incorrectly thought to mean ‘court-day’ (see Ding). The latter word, however, is based rather on an attribute of the Old Teutonic Tiu, who in a Teutonic-Latin inscription is designated Mars Thingsus. Thinx is the Lombardic term for Ding, ‘assembly of the people,’ hence Thinxus, the god of the assemblies. Among the Saxon, Frisian, and Franconian tribes Tuesday was sacred to this god; compare Middle Dutch dinxendach, Middle Low German dingsedach, earlier Modern High German dingsdag.
dieser, pronoun, ‘this, the latter,’ from the equivalent Middle High German diser, Old High German disêr, earlier dësêr; corresponds to Anglo-Saxon þes, English this. See the grammars for further details.
Dietrich, masculine, ‘false key’ (in Upper German Nachschlüssel), occurs late in Middle High German; the age of the word and of its meaning is attested by the loan-word Swedish dyrk (Danish dirk), which has the same signification, and is, like the Modern High German proper name Dierk, ‘Derry,’ a pet name from Dietrich, ‘Derrick.’ Similarly, instead of ‘Dietrich,’ Peterchen (Peterken), ‘Peterkin,’ and Klaus (Klöschen), ‘Nick,’ are used, probably because Peter, ‘Peter,’ like Dietrich, ‘Derrick,’ and Nikolaus, ‘Nicholas,’ are favourite Christian names, which might serve to veil (in thieves' slang?) the term ‘false key’ (compare Italian grimaldello) The word in Middle High German is miteslüȥȥel, Old High German aftersluȥȥil.
Dill, masculine, ‘dill.’ In Modern High German the Low German form is current, just as in the case of Hafer. Middle High German tille, feminine, masculine, is used of the same umbelliferous plant (anethum), Old High German tilli, neuter; compare Anglo-Saxon dile, English dill; of obscure origin.
Ding, neuter, ‘thing, matter, transaction,’ from Middle High German and Old High German dinc(g), neuter, ‘thing, matter,’ properly ‘judicial proceeding, ​court-day’ (for a similar change of meaning compare Sache); the corresponding Scandinavian þing (thing), meaning ‘judicial transaction, court-day, court of justice,’ is well known. The Old Teutonic þing (Lombardic thinx) is therefore connected with the old mahal, maþl, as ‘assembly of the people’ (see Gemahl). In English the substantive (Anglo-Saxon þing, neuter, English thing) has essentially the Modern High German meaning; but the derivative þingan, ‘to make a treaty,’ þingian, ‘to settle, adjust,’ and þingung, ‘mediation,’ imply also ‘treaty, discussion.’ In Modern High German a remnant of the earlier meaning remained in dingen, from Middle High German ‘to hold a court, negotiate, make a treaty’ (whence Modern High German Bedingung, ‘stipulation’), and specially ‘to conclude a bargain, buy, hire’ (also generally ‘to talk,’ like Anglo-Saxon þingian, ‘to talk’); so, too, in vertheidigen, Dienstag. Hence the primary meaning of the substantive is ‘public transaction in the folk-moot,’ literally ‘term’; this is supported by Gothic þeihs, ‘time,’ from pre-Teutonic ténkos (equal to Latin tempus). The Aryan base of Lombardic thinx, Old High German ding, is tenkos. The Old Bulgarian tęza, feminine, ‘judicial transaction,’ is of Teutonic origin.
Dinkel, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German dinkel, Old High German dinchil, masculine, ‘bearded wheat, spelt’; of obscure origin.
Dinte, see Tinte.
Diptam, masculine, ‘dittany,’ from the equivalent Middle High German dictam, diptam; borrowed from Greek δίπταμνος.
Dirne, feminine, ‘lass, hussy, wench’ (not found in Upper German), from Middle High German dirne, dierne, Old High German diorna, ‘maid-servant, girl, wench,’ Compare Dutch deern, Old Saxon thiorna, Old Icelandic þerna, feminine; in Gothic probably *þiwaírnô; compare widuwaírna, ‘orphan,’ original sense perhaps ‘widow's son.’ Thus, too, *þiwaírnô, ‘menial's, thrall's daughter, who is therefore herself a slave, i.e, a servant.’ The derivative syllable is a diminutive suffix (compare Eichhorn); the stem is indisputably þiwa-, ‘menial.’ For further cognates, see dienen, Degen.
Distel, feminine, ‘thistle,’ from the equivalent Middle High German distel, masculine and feminine, Old High German distila, feminine, distil, masculine; corresponds to Dutch and Low German distel, Anglo-Saxon þistel, English thistle, Old Icelandic þistell. Modern Low German and English dialects have î in the accented syllable; hence the root is þī̆st? Akin to Gothic wiga-deinô, ‘milk-thistle’?.
Döbel, masculine, ‘peg, wedge,’ from Middle High German tübel. masculine, ‘pin, plug, nail’; Old High German tubilî, neuter, ‘plug’ Compare English dowel, Dutch deuvik, ‘plug.’ The Teutonic root dub, upon which it is based, appears in Swedish dubba; so, too, perbups in Lithuanian dùbti, ‘to get hollow,’ daubà, důbě, ‘pit.’ The d of the Modern High German word is due to Middle German influence.
doch, conjunction, ‘yet, however,’ from Middle High German doch, Old High German dŏh, ‘yet,’ also ‘although’; ŏ, on account of the toneless nature of the conjunction, is shortened from ô; Gothic þáuh, corresponding to Anglo-Saxon þeáh, English though. Scarcely from þa (variant of þata, High German daȥ) and uh, ‘and.’ Gothic þauh is literally ‘and that’?.
Docht, masculine, ‘wick.’ The strictly Modern High German form should be dacht, which is still dialectal, as well as the variant tacht, with the t from þ, as in tausend, Middle High German and Old High German tâkt, masculine, neuter; compare Old Icelandic þáttr, ‘thread, wick.’ A Teutonic root, þêh, þêg, still appears in Swiss dœgel, ‘wick,’ Bavarian dâhen, Alsatian dôche, ‘wick.’ In the non-Teutonic languages no primitively root têk has as yet been found. For another Old Teutonic term for Docht, see under Wieche.
Dock, neuter, ‘dock,’ simply ModHG; from the equivalent English dock, the origin of which is very obscure. From English and Dutch (dok) the word was adopted by Swedish, Danish, Modern High German, and Modern French.
Docke, singular, ‘doll,’ from Middle High German tocke, feminine, ‘doll,’ also ‘young girl,’ Old High German toccha, ‘doll.’ The word is not sound in the oldest periods of the other dialects, nor can the Modern High German meanings, ‘skein, yarn,’ be authenticated from Middle High German, Old High German, and the early stages of cognate languages; yet there is no reason to doubt the real Teutonic origin of the word.
Dogge, feminine, ‘bulldog, mastiff’ simply Modern High German, from the equivalent Dutch and English dog (from about 1050 A.D. the word occurs in Anglo-Saxon as docga), whence also French dogue. With regard to High German gg, as a proof of a word being borrowed from Low German, compare Flagge.
Dohle, feminine, ‘jackdaw,’ from the equivalent Middle High German tâhele, tâle, tâhe, Old High German tâha, feminine; primary form *dêhwô, dêwô, according to Anglo-Saxon *dâwe, English daw, whence also English caddow, ‘daw’ (the first part of the compound is Anglo-Saxon câ, Dutch kâ, Old High German châha, ‘daw’; so, too, English chough). From Teutonic þâhwalô is derived Italian taccola, ‘magpie.’
Dohne, feminine, ‘gin, noose, springe,’ from Middle High German don, done, feminine, ‘stretching,’ Old High German dona, ‘branch twig.’ Dohne is the ‘branch bent or stretched for catching birds.’ The Aryan root ten, ‘to stretch, extend,’ is discussed under dehnen, dünn. Old Bulgarian tonoto, ​‘cord, noose,’ Latin tenus, n, ‘cord,’ Sanscrit tantu-s, tantrî, ‘wire, cord, Greek τένων, ‘sinew,’ are closely allied in meaning to Dohne. So too Old High German donên (Gothic *þunan), ‘to exert oneself.’
Dokes, Douches, masculine, ‘fundament,’ a Jewish word, but of doubtful etymology; hardly from Hebrew táchath, ‘underneath.’
Dolch, masculine, ‘dagger, dirk,’ simply Modern High German (from the beginning of the 16th century), derived like the equivalent Dutch, Danish, and Swedish dolk, from Slavonic (Bohemian and Polish tulich?).
Dolde, feminine, ‘umbel,’ from Middle High German tolde, feminine, ‘top or crown of a plant or tree,’ Old High German toldo, masculine; the Modern High German word has apparently a Low German initial sound. The root is dul (pre-Teutonic dhel), as is indicated by Old High German tola, ‘grape-stalk.’ From Aryan dhel, Greek θόλος, ‘dome’ (allied in meaning to Modern High German Dolde, ‘umbel’), is formed by gradation. Yet θάλλω, ‘to sprout, bloom,’ θάλος, neuter, ‘young shoot, twig, may also be cognates.
Dole, feminine, ‘canal,’ from Middle High German *dol, Old High German dola, feminine, ‘pipe’; akin to Low German and Frisian dole, ‘pit, ditch.’
Dolmetsch, masculine, ‘interpreter,’ from the equivalent Middle High German tolmetsche, tolmetze, tulmetsche; a Turk. word (North Turk. tilmač) which found its way into Middle High German through Magyar (tolmács) or Slavonic (Old Slovenian tlǔmačĭ, Polish tlumacz, Bohemian tlumač); also in Middle High German tolc, tolke (compare further Dutch tolk), ‘interpreter,’ from Old Slovenian tlŭkŭ (whence also Lithuanian tulkas, Lettic tulks, ‘interpreter’).
Dom, masculine, ‘cathedral, dome, cupola,’ Modern High German only, borrowed from Latin domus (for domus dei; compare the Gothic word gudhûs, ‘the house of God, church’). An earlier loan-word is Old High German tuom (also dôm), Middle High German tuom, ‘a bishop's collegiate church, cathedral,’ which was naturalised in Germany about the 9th century; compare Old High German scuola from Latin scŏla, as if it were scôla; so tuom for tôm from dŏmus; see Schule. The form Tum, developed from Middle High German tuom, kept its ground till the beginning of the last century.
Donner, masculine, ‘thunder,’ from the equivalent Middle High German doner, Old High German donar, masculine, corresponding to Anglo-Saxon þunor, English thunder; Gothic *þunara-, masculine. It is the Old Teutonic name for thunder, under which also the weather-god was worshipped (see Donnerstag). The name comes from the Aryan root ten, discussed under dehnen, Dohne, and dünn. In its application to sound we meet with this root in Greek τόνος, ‘string, rope, stretching, tone, accent,’ Sanscrit root tan, ‘to resound, roar, tanayitnú-s, ‘roaring, thundering,’ Latin tonare (Anglo-Saxon þunian, Gothic *þunôn, ‘to thunder’), Latin tonitrus; the latter correspondences are, on account of their meaning, the most closely allied to the Teutonic words.
Donnerstag, ‘Thursday,’ from Middle High German donerstac, dunrestac, Old High German donarestag; compare Dutch donderdag, Anglo-Saxon þunresdœg, English Thursday, Old Icelandic þórsdagr; the day sacred to the Old Teutonic god þunar (Old High German Donar, Old Low German Thunar, Old Icelandic þórr for þōnruz); see Dienstag and Woche. A remarkable form occurs in Middle High German (Bavarian), pfinz-tac, ‘Thursday,’ from the equivalent Greek πέμπτη.
doppeln, verb, ‘to play at dice,’ from the equivalent Middle High German doppeln, from Middle High German toppel, ‘dice-playing,’ which corresponds to French doublet, ‘doublet’ (at dice). See Daus.
doppelt, adjective (a parallel form, Doppel, occurs in the compounds Doppeladler, Doppelgänger), ‘double, duplicate, twofold,’ Modern High German only, from French double; Middle High German dublin, ‘double,’ is a derivative from the same source. The final t of the Modern High German word is a secondary suffix, as in Art, Obst.
Dorf, neuter, ‘village, hamlet,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German dorf, neuter; an Old Teutonic word; compare Old Saxon thorp, Dutch dorp, Anglo-Saxon þorp, English thorp, throp (existing now only in proper names); Old Icelandic þorp, ‘hamlet’; Gothic þaúrp signifies ‘fields, land,’ while in the other dialects the Modern High German meaning of the word is current (in Gothic haims, ‘village’; see Heim). The meaning of Modern High German (Swiss) dorf, ‘visit, meeting,’ connected perhaps with Old Slovenian trŭgŭ, ‘market,’ deserves special notice. If the history of the word is rendered difficult by such variations of meaning, it is made still more so by the Keltic *tṛbo, ‘village’; Welsh tref, ‘village’ (to which the name of the Old Gallic tribe Atrebates is allied), also connected with Latin tribus, ‘tribe.’ Moreover, Old Icelandic þyrpa, ‘to crowd,’ is closely akin to Greek τύρβη, Latin turba, ‘band.’ Note too Anglo-Saxon þrĕp, þrôp, ‘village,’ Lithuanian trobà, feminine, ‘building.’
Dorn, masculine, ‘thorn, prickle,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German dorn, masculine; corresponds to Gothic þaurnus, Old Icelandic þorn, Anglo-Saxon þorn, English thorn, Dutch doorn, Old Saxon thorn, ‘thorn’; from pre-Teutonic trnu-. Compare Old Slavonic trŭnŭ, ‘thorn,’ Sanscrit tṛna, ‘blade of grass.’
​ dorren, verb, from the equivalent Middle High German dorren, Old High German dorrên, ‘to get dry, dry up’; compare Old Saxon thorrôn, Gothic *þaurzan. A derivative of þorz-, which appears in dürr; compare Latin torrere, ‘to dry’ (torret is exactly equivalent to Old High German dorrêt, Gothic *þaurzaiþ). Instead of the form *þaurzan, Gothic has gaþaursnan (Old Icelandic þorna), ‘to get dry, dry up,’ which is differently derived (compare Darre, dürr).
Dorsch, masculine, ‘torsk,’ simply Modern High German, formed from Low German dorsch; corresponds to Old Icelandic þorskr, English torsk, tusk, from the equivalent Danish torsk.
Dorsche, feminine, ‘cabbage-stump, cole-rape,’ with Low German initial d, from Middle High German torse, ‘cabbage-stump,’ Old High German tursö, torso, ‘stalk’; for the change of s to sch compare birschen. There is a parallel Romance class (Italian torso, Old French tros, ‘stump, morsel’) which is undoubtedly of Teutonic origin. The High German word is probably primitively allied to the Greek θύρσος, ‘wand.’
dort, adverb, ‘there, in that place,’ from the equivalent Middle High German dort, Old High German dorot, probably from darot; Gothic *þaraþa (formed like dalaþa), would be the corresponding adverb in answer to the question where? The Old High German has darôt, ‘thither’; derived from dar, da.
Dose, feminine, ‘box,’ first occurs in Modern High German, from Low German dose, Dutch doos (Danish daase).
Dost, Dosten, masculine, ‘marjoram,’ from Middle High German doste, toste, Old High German tosto, dosto, masculine, ‘wild thyme.’ It may be really identical with Middle High German doste, toste, masculine, ‘bunch, nosegay,’ so that ‘thyme’ would be a specialised meaning. The Gothic word was probably *þusta, ‘shrub.’ Further cognates to help in determining the root are wanting. Compare Tost.
Dotter (1.), masculine and neuter, ‘yolk,’ from the equivalent Middle High German toter, Old High German totoro, tutar-ei; the Modern High German word seems to have a Low German initial sound. Corresponds to Old Saxon dŏdro, Dutch dojer, Anglo-Saxon dydring, ‘yolk’; a pre-Teutonic term for the ‘yolk of an egg’ (see also Ei). Anglo-Saxon dott, masculine, ‘point, spot,’ English dot are, on account of Low German dott, dötte, ‘yellow part of the egg,’ to be derived from the same Aryan stem dhut; the original sense of Dotter may lave been, therefore, ‘point in the egg.’ The English term yolk, Anglo-Saxon geolca, is literally ‘yellow part,’ from Anglo-Saxon geolo, equivalent to English yellow. In Old Icelandic blóme, ‘yolk.’
Dotter (2.), masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German toter, masculine, ‘gold-pleasure’; compare Middle English doder, English dodder (‘toad-flax’); Danish dǫdder, Swedish dǫdra. Perhaps allied to Dotter (1.), so that the plant was named from its colour (or from the similarity of its seeds to the yolk of an egg?).
Douches, see Dokes.
Doufes, masculine, ‘prison,’ Jewish, from Hebrew tafàs, ‘to seize, take prisoner.’
Drache, masculine (with a Middle German d), ‘dragon, kite, termagant,’ from Middle High German trache, (Upper German tracke). Old High German trahho (Upper German traccho), masculine; the Modern High German initial sound is to be regarded in the same way as in dichten (compare Middle Low German and Middle Dutch drâke). The word was naturalised in Germany before the 8th century; as in the case of the bird Greif, ‘griffin,’ the dragon as a fabulous beast furnished material for the imaginative faculty of the Germans, and supplanted the native mythological creations. The English loan-word is equally old — Anglo-Saxon draca, English drake (in drake-fly or dragon-fly). The word is based on Latin (Romance) draco (dracco), which again is derived from Greek δράκων, ‘dragon,’ literally ‘the sharp-sighted animal’ (from δέρκομαϊ). English dragon, is of recent Romance origin (French dragon).
Draht, masculine, ‘wire, file,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German drât, masculine; compare Dutch draad, Anglo-Saxon þrœ̂d, equivalent to English thread, Old Icelandic þráðr, Gothic *þrêþs; a dental derivative of the Teutonic root þrê, ‘to turn, twist,’ which appears in Modern High German drehen. The pre-Teutonic trê lies at the base of Greek τρῆσις, ‘hole,’ which is identical in form with Modern High German Draht; for the meaning compare drehen, Darm.
Drake, Low German, see Enterich.
drall, adjective, ‘tight, twisted, stalwart, active,’ simply Modern High German, akin to Middle High German drël, Old Icelandic þearle, adverb, ‘firmly, strongly, very’; from drillen?.
Drang, masculine, ‘crowd, throng, pressure,’ from Middle High German dranc(g), masculine, ‘throng, oppression.’ Compare Dutch drang, ‘pressure, throng, desire,’ Anglo-Saxon geþrang, equivalent to English throng; from dringen.
drängen, verb, ‘to press, pinch, dun,’ from Middle High German dręngen, factitive of dringen. Drangsal is early Modern High German; -sal is the frequentative Modern High German, suffix, the older form of which is as isal, Gothic isl, Anglo-Saxon and English -ls. Gothic formed from the same stem, but by a different gradation, an abstract þreihsl, ‘hardship, oppression.’
draus, draußen, ‘outside, abroad,’ from daraus, daraußen; compare Middle High German drabe, from dar abe; Modern High German dran, from daran, drin, from darin.
​ drechseln, verb, ‘to turn (on a lathe),’ derivative of Middle High German drëhsel, drœhsel, ‘turner,’ in Gothic *þrêhsils; drehen (root þré, tré) cannot be closely allied to drechseln; it must rather be connected with a root containing a guttural, þrêhs- or þrêh. Greek τρέπομαι (with π for k), and Latin torqueo (Greek ἄπρακτος, ‘spindle,’ Latin torcular, ‘oil-press’), point to a root trek, ‘to turn.’ The Old High German drâhsil, ‘turner,’ is probably the only remains of this root in Teutonic; in Middle High German and also in Upper German and Low German dialects drehen (Middle High German drœjen, drœn) signifies ‘to turn (on a lathe).’ See drehen.
Dreck, masculine, ‘dirt, mire, filth, dung,’ from the equivalent Middle High German drëc (genitive -ckes), masculine, ‘dirt’; Old High German *drëcch, Gothic *þrikk, masculine, are supported by Old Icelandic þrekkr, masculine, ‘dirt’ (Danish dräck). Perhaps derived from the meaning ‘sediment, lees,’ so that Greek τρύξ, τρυγός, ‘lees, sediment, fresh must’ (with υ for o?), may perhaps be compared.
drehen, verb, ‘to turn, whirl, wind,’ from Middle High German drœjen, drœn, ‘to turn, turn round,’ Old High German drâjan. The Gothic form may have been þ aian (compare wehen, Gothic waian; säen, Gothic saian); compare Dutch draaijen, ‘to turn (on a lathe)’; Anglo-Saxon þrâwan (compare sâwan, wâwan), and Middle English þrâwen, ‘to turn,’ are strong verbs, while the Modern High German verb is weak even in Old High German. The assumed Gothic form *þraian, ‘to turn,’ was undoubtedly conjugated strong (preterite *þaíþrô). þrê is the verbal stem common to Teutonic, from which a substantive, Draht, meaning ‘twisted thread,’ was formed by adding a dental suffix. This substantive proves most clearly that the root of drehen did not end in a guttural, and that therefore Modern High German Drechsler, from Old High German drâhsil, cannot be allied to drehen. In Modern English, to throw (‘to turn’), is obsolete. The root þrê is from pre-Teutonic trê, ter; this appears in Greek, with the meaning ‘to bore,’ in numerous derivatives. ‘To bore’ is a specialisation of the meaning ‘to turn,’ πολύτρητος, ‘porous,’ τρῆμα, ‘hole,’ συντρῆσαι, τετραίνω, ‘to bore through,’ τερέω, ‘to bore, turn on a lathe’ (compare Middle High German drœjen, ‘to turn on a lathe’), τόρνος, ‘turner's chisel,’ τέρετρον, Latin terebra, ‘borer.’ Compare also Darm.
drei, numeral, ‘three,’ from Middle High German and Old High German drî, which is properly simply the nominative masculine; the rest of the old cases are obsolete in Modern High German; Anglo-Saxon þrî, þreó, English three, Gothic þreis, from *þrijis. It corresponds to Aryan trejes, equivalent to Sanscrit tráyas, Greek τρεῖς, from τρέγες, Latin três, Old Slovenian trĭje. Drei, like the other units, is a primitively word. See Drillich, Dritte.
dreist, adjective, ‘bold, audacious, self-confident,’ simply Modern High German, from the equivalent Low German drîste (hence dreist is not found in the Upper German dialects); compare Old Saxon thrîsti, Dutch driest, Anglo-Saxon þrîste, ‘bold, daring.’ The similarity in the initial sound with Latin tristis, ‘sad,’ is perhaps of no etymological value; as, however, a similar change of meaning is met with in the cognates of Modern High German tapfer, Latin tristis and Old Saxon thrîsti may perhaps be derived from a common root. Otherwise it might well be connected with dringen, Old Saxon thrîsti, for thrîhsti, from þrinh-sti?.
dreißig, see zig.
dreschen, verb, ‘to thresh,’ from the equivalent Middle High German drëschen, Old High German drëskan; corresponds to Dutch dorschen, Anglo-Saxon þërscan (for þrescan), English to thrash, thresh (compare Middle High German dreschen, which also means ‘to torment’); Gothic þriskan. Threshing was practised in primitively Teutonic times, as this common term testifies. The Teutons, even before they became settlers, and hence while they were still migrating, were acquainted with the most elementary methods of agriculture; compare the various kinds of corn, and also Pflug, Egge, Brot, &c. The Teutonic cognates found their way into Romance , — Italian trescare, ‘to trample, move the feet about, dance,’ Old French tresche, ‘chain-dance’ From these the Old Teutonic method of threshing may be easily inferred. The flail (Dreschflegel) came from Italy through the medium of Romance (see Flegel); for this a simpler term is found in Old High German driscil, Middle High German and Modern High German drischel. The meaning of the Teutonic base tresk is probably ‘to stamp noisily, tread’; compare Lithuanian trasketi, ‘to rattle, clatter,’ Old Slovenian trěskŭ, ‘crack,’ troska, ‘thunderclap.’ English threshold is mostly connected with dreschen, Old Teutonic þrëskan, regarding it as the threshing-staff, or as the place at the entrance to the house where corn was threshed.
drillen, verb, ‘to revolve, bore, drill,’ from Middle High German drillen, ‘to turn, make round’ (with the participle gedrollen, ‘round’). The meaning ‘to bore’ comes from Low German drillen (see drehen, drechseln, for the connecting link between the meanings), akin to Dutch drillen, English to thrill, and also Low German drall (Middle Dutch drel), ‘round, turning,’ which is formed by gradation. The ​nates point to a Teutonic root þrel, ‘to turn on a lathe). — drillen, ‘to plague’ or ‘to drill (recruits),’ may be derived from the first or the second meaning.
Drillich, masculine, ‘ticking,’ from Middle High German drilich, drilch, masculine, ‘a stuff woven with three threads’; an adjective signifying ‘threefold’ formed into a substantive; see Zwillich. Dri- is the older form for drei in compounds (see dritte, Zwil-, and Drilling); Old High German drĭfalt, ‘threefold.’ Old High German drilîch, ‘threefold, consisting of three threads,’ is the convenient German rendering of the Latin trĭlîx (trîlîcem), ‘triple-twilled, from lîcium, ‘thread.’ Similar formations may be seen in Zwillich and Sammet.
Drilling, masculine, ‘triplet, one of three born at the same time,’ simply Modern High German, formed like Zwilling.
dringen, verb, ‘to press, crowd, pierce,’ from Middle High German dringen, Old High German dringan, ‘to compress, throng, press on,’ then also ‘to plait, weave’ (Middle High German drîhe, ‘embroidering needle’); compare Gothic þreihan (eih from inh), ‘to throng, oppress, cram; afflict.’ The Teutonic root is þrinhw, þrung; compare also with Old High German dringan, Old Saxon thringan, Anglo-Saxon þringan, ‘to press,’ Old Icelandic Þryngva. The h was retained by Middle High German drîhe, feminine, ‘embroidering needle,’ whence Middle High German drîhen, ‘to embroider.’ — With the general meaning ‘to press’ are connected Modern High German Drang, drängen, Gedränge (Old High German gidręngi), Gothic þraihns, ‘crowd’ (in faihuþraihns, ‘wealth’); English throng. With the Teutonic cognates Lithuanian trėnkti, ‘to shake, push,’ trànksmas, ‘din, tumult,’ Lettic treckt, ‘to shatter,’ are primitively allied.
dritte, ordinal of drei, ‘third,’ Middle High German dritte, Old High German dritto; corresponds to Gothic þridja; Anglo-Saxon þridda, English third. þri- is the stem (see Drillich), dja the suffix, which forms the ordinal from the cardinal; it is -lio- in Latin tertius Sanscrit tṛtîya-s. —
Drittel, neuter ‘third part, third,’ from Middle High German dritteil.
Droge, feminine, ‘drug,’ Modern High German only, from French drogue, which with its Romance cognate droga (Italian, Spanish) is usually derived from Dutch droog (see trocken); yet there are essential reasons for ascribing the word to an Eastern origin.
drohen, verb, ‘threaten,’ from the equivalent Middle High German drôu, weak verb, which is the denominative of an earlier dro, feminine, ‘threat.’ The more ancient verb is Modern High German dräuen, from Middle High German dröuwen, drouwen, Old High German dręwen, drouwen; Gothic *þraujan, Anglo-Saxon þreán þreáde) (equivalent to English to threaten). Old High German drô, drôa (genitive drawa), corresponds to Anglo-Saxon þreá; Gothic þrawa is wanting, genitive þrawôs, feminine, ‘threat.’ In English the word is obsolete. Beyond Teutonic there are no cognates.
Drohne, feminine, ‘drone.’ The strict High German form is Trehne, Trene (so still in Saxony and Austria), according to Middle High German trëne, trën, Old High German trëno, masculine Drohne is a Low German form derived from Saxon drân, plural drâni, to which Anglo-Saxon drân, plural drœ̂n, English drone, correspond; both point to Gothic *drainus, *drênus, while Old High German trëno assumes perhaps Gothic *drina; the relation between the theoretical Gothic forms has not yet been definitely fixed. The base drē̆n seems to appear in dröhnen (Gothic drunjus, ‘loud sound’). From the same root probably a Greek term for ‘bee’ is formed — τεμθρήνη, ‘a sort of wasp or humble-bee' (also ἀνθρήνη, ‘wild bee’? — compare too τενθρηδών, ανθρηδών), also Lacon. θρώναξ, ‘drone.’ Biene, like Drohne, is a primitively Teutonic term. See the following word.
dröhnen, verb, ‘to roar, mumble, creak, drone,’ simply Modern High German, borrowed from Low German drönen; compare Dutch dreunen, Old Icelandic drynja, verb, ‘to drone, roar,’ Old Icelandic drynr, masculine, ‘droning,’ Gothic drunjus, masculine, ‘loud sound.’ See derivatives of the same root drē̆n, dhrē̆n, under Drohne; compare besides Greek θρῆνος, ‘lamentation.’
drollig, adjective, ‘droll, ludicrous, queer,’ simply Modern High German from Low German drullig, Dutch drollig; English droll (substantive and adjective), also adjective drollish; French drôle, ‘droll, merry.’ None of these are recorded in the older periods of the several languages, hence their origin (Romance? Teutonic?). is obscure. The derivation from the Scandinavian name trǫll applied to ghostly monsters is improbable, for in the Scandinavian dialects the word has an initial t while the. Modern High German drollig and its cognates have d.
Drossel (1.), feminine, ‘thrush,’ a Low German form from Middle Low German drosle, Old Saxon throssela, throsla; the strictly Upper German term for Drossel is Bavarian Drôschel, from Middle High German drôschel, feminine; compare Old High German drôscela, feminine, also without the derivative l, drôsca, drôscea, feminine; the latter form corresponds to Anglo-Saxon þrŷsce (from *þrauskiô), English thrush. English throstle, from Anglo-Saxon þrostle, ‘merula,’ corresponds to Middle High German drostel; in Gothic the latter would be *þrustla and the former þrauska (or rather *þrauskjô); akin to Greek τρυγών, ‘turtle-dove,’ from *τρυσγών?. ​Compare on the other hand Old Icelandic þrǫstr, masculine, ‘thrush,’ Gothic *þrastus. This abundance of words which are undoubtedly closely allied renders any sure comparison with cognate words beyond Teutonic a difficult task. The Latin turdêla, ‘thrush,’ may be for *tṛzdêla; in that case the st of Middle High German drostel, English throstle, is shifted from sd (see Ast, Gerste, Mast, Nest); turdêla is a derivative of turdus, ‘thrush,’ closely connected with Old Icelandic þrǫstr, masculine (Gothic *þrastus, masculine). Lithuanian has a longer form for Drossel, with an initial s — strázdas, which makes the origin of st of Middle High German drostel from zd, sd, a certainty. Russian drozdŭ, Old Slovenian drozgŭ, are abnormal. The words of the Teutonic group found their way into Romance: Modern French trâle (from *þrasla, *þrastla). — Drossel is one of the few names of birds found in several Aryan languages at the same time, and entirely free from the assumption that they were borrowed.
Drossel (2.), feminine, ‘throat, throttle, Adam's apple,’ preserved only in the derivative erdrosseln, ‘to throttle, strangle’; not allied to Drossel (1.), as is shown by Middle High German droȥȥe, feminine, ‘gullet, throat.’ Compare Old High German droȥȥa, Anglo-Saxon þrotu, feminine, English throat, and likewise English throttle (substantive and verb), an l derivative. There is a parallel group with an initial s added (see Drossel (1.), Dach); Middle High German stroȥȥe, Old Low German strota, ‘throat, windpipe,’ Dutch stroot; see strotzen. From High German the word found its way into Romance, — Italian strozza, ‘throat,’ strozzare, ‘to strangle.’
Drost, masculine, ‘chief magistrate’ (a Low German word), from Middle Low German droste, drossête; the latter is identical with Middle High German truhtsœȥe, Modern High German Truchseß; for Drostei see under Truchseß.
Druck, masculine, ‘pressure, oppression, printing, proof,’ from Middle High German druc (-ckes), masculine, ‘pressure, violent impact, rebound, hostile encounter,’ Old High German druck; corresponds to Anglo-Saxon þryc (cc supported by ofþrycc), ‘pressure.’
drücken, drucken, ‘to press, oppress, hug, print,’ from Middle High German drücken, drucken, Old High German drucchen (compare Anglo-Saxon þryccan, ‘to press’), Middle High German drucken, an unmodified Upper German variant, has a specialised meaning in Modern High German. In Gothic the substantive would be *þrukks, the verb þrukkjan. Since the Middle High German verb drücken is equivalent to ‘to press, throng, oppress, thrust oneself,’ the meanings harmonise well with dringen, which is based upon an Aryan root trenk, while drücken would be derived from a root trek without the nasal; the kk of the theoretical Gothic form originated probably in kn. —
Drucksen, Modern High German a frequentative form of drücken.
Drude, feminine, ‘sorceress,’ Low German; Middle High German trute, feminine. ‘demoness, nightmare’; Drudenfuß, Middle High German trutenvuoȥ. In spite of its wide diffusion (Danish drude, Gothland. druda), the form of the word is obscure, for it is impossible to see to what the Middle High German initial t and Modern High German d are related. Perhaps Middle High German trute is to be connected with the adjective traut; in that case Drude would be a euphemism similar perhaps to Greek Eumenides.
Druse (1.), feminine, ‘ore with a drossy or crystal surface,’ simply Modern High German; of obscure origin.
Druse (2.), ‘glanders,’ Modern High German; identical with Drüse.
Drüse, feminine, ‘gland, kernel, swelling of the glands,’ from Middle High German drüese, druose (whence the Modern High German variant druse, but only in a special sense); Old High German druos, druosi, feminine, ‘glanders,’ Gothic *þros or þrôhsi?, is wanting; so too in English there is no cognate term.
Drusen, plural, an Upper German word for ‘dregs, lees,’ from Middle High German druosene, Old High German truosana (Upper German dialects have ue in the accented syllable); corresponds to Dutch droesem, Middle Dutch droesene, Anglo-Saxon drôsn, ‘dregs.’ The base is perhaps Gothic drôhsnô, to which English dregs, Modern High German Treber, Trecher are also allied.
du, 2nd personal pronoun, ‘thou’; from Middle High German and Old High German du, and the collateral Middle High German and Old High German dû; compare Anglo-Saxon þû, English thou; Latin tu, Greek τύ, σύ, and Sanscrit tvam, are primary cognates. The details respecting the Aryan pronominal stem belong to grammar.
Ducaten, masculine (ducat, masculine, rarely feminine in earlier Modern High German), ‘ducat,’ from late Middle High German ducâte, masculine (Middle Latin ducâtus).
Ducht, feminine, Duchtbank, and Duft, ‘rowing seat, thwart;’ the form with f is High German, that with ch Low German; Old High German dofta, feminine, Old Icelandic þopta, feminine, ‘thwart’; Old High German gidofto, properly ‘comrade on the thwart,’ Anglo-Saxon geþofta, ‘comrade.’ One of the prim-Teutonic naval terms developed during the migrations of the Teutons; see Ruder, Segel, Mast, Schiff, &c. That the Low German form found its way into High German is not remarkable after what has been said under Bord, Büse, and Boot. The Old Teutonic word for ‘thwart’ (Gothic *þuftó, feminine), belongs probably to a root tup, ‘to squat ​down'; compare Lithuanian tupeti, ‘to squat,’ tupti, ‘to squat down.’
ducken, verb, ‘to bow, duck, stoop, dive,’ with Low German initial d, from Middle High German tucken, tücken, ‘to incline the body quickly, bend, bow'; probably a frequentative of Middle High German tûchen, ‘to dive,’ which see.
Duckmäuser, ‘sly, stealthy person,’ appears in Middle High German as tockelmûser, ‘sneak, hypocrite’; the Modern High German form is based anew on ducken, Middle High German tucken. A parallel form Tückmäuser is based on Tücke, ‘malice,’ the second part of the compound being connected with Middle High German mûsen, properly ‘to catch mice,’ then (with thievish intent), ‘to sneak.’
dudeln, verb, simply Modern High German formed from the equivalent Polish dudlić, ‘to play the bagpipes,’ from dudy, ‘bagpipe.’
Duft (1.), feminine, see Ducht.
Duft (2.), masculine, ‘exhalation, odour,’ with Low German initial d, from Middle High German tuft, masculine, ‘vapour, fog, dew, rime,’ Old High German tuft, ‘frost’; of obscure origin.
dulden, verb (unknown to the Suabian, and perhaps also to the other Upper German dialects), ‘to bear, tolerate, suffer,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German dulten; a denominative of Old High German dult, Middle High German dult, feminine, Modern High German Geduld. The Goth used þulan for dulden without the dental derivative (Old High German dolên, Middle High German doln, both far more general in meaning than the Modern High German dulden, ‘to suffer’; Anglo-Saxon þolian, ‘to suffer’). The pre-Teutonic root is tel, tol, tlê, which appears, exactly corresponding to the meaning of the Teutonic cognates, in Greek τλή-μων ‘to suffer,’ τλή-μων, ‘miserable,’ πολύτλας, ‘much enduring,’ &c. Latin tolerâre and ertragen (Latin perferre), show that Latin tollo (participle latus tor *tlâ-tus; preterite tuli, from offero), and Greek τολμᾶν, ‘to venture, endure,’ may be cognates. Hence the primary sense of the root appearing in the graded forms tel, tol, tlê, tlâ, is ‘to bear, tolerate.’ See Geduld.
Dult, feminine, Bavarian ‘fair,’ with Middle German initial d, from Middle High German tult, feminine, ‘fair, church festival, dedication festival,’ Old High German tuld. The word is the Old Teutonic term for ‘festival’; Gothic dulþs, feminine, ‘festival, holiday.’
dumm, adjective, ‘stupid, silly,’ from Middle High German tum (genitive, -mmes), tump (genitive -bes), ‘stupid, foolish, weak in understanding, dumb,’ Old High German tumb. In Gothic dumbs, Old Icelandic dumbr the adjective is equivalent to Anglo-Saxon and English dumb; the Old High German word, in addition to the meanings of Middle High German, has likewise the signification ‘deaf,’ which also belongs to dumm in early Modern High German. ‘Dull in sense and intellect’ may be the primary sense of the adjective, which has not yet been found in the non-Teutonic languages; stumm too has a peculiar history; see schmecken, hell. Words expressing the perceptions of one sense are often transferred to those of another. Hence Gothic dumbs, ‘dumb,’ Old High German tumb, ‘deaf, dumb,’ may possibly be allied to Greek τυφλός, ‘blind’ (root dhubh; τυφ by the well-known rule for θυφ). This conjectural etymology is quite as uncertain as that offered under Dieb.
dumpf, adjective, ‘damp, dull, heavy,’ Modern High German only; formed by the weakest stage of gradation from Middle High German dimpfen, strong verb, ‘to fume, smoke’; compare also Middle High German dumpfen, dümpfen, ‘to fume, damp.’ The original sense of the adjective is probably ‘smoky,’ i.e. ‘damp,’ or ‘dimming the sight and dulling the hearing’; dumpf appears in Dutch dompig, with the meaning ‘damp, gloomy.’ Perhaps the word is connected with dunkel; compare English dank.
Düne, feminine, ‘down, dune,’ simply Modern High German from the equivalent Low German düne (Old Saxon *dûna), Dutch duin (whence French dune); respecting Modern High German ü from Dutch ui, compare Büse, Süden. Akin to Anglo-Saxon dûn, ‘hill,’ English down (‘plateau’), So too English down, adverb; for Anglo-Saxon adûne, ofdûne, ‘from the mountain, towards the valley,’ corresponds exactly to Middle High German ze tal (compare French à mont, ‘up the stream’). Likewise Greek θύραζε, ‘before the door,’ has the general meaning ‘outside’; Middle High German ze bërge is ‘aloft, upwards’; compare Modern High German die, Haare stehen einem zu Berge, ‘one's hair stands on end.’ The düne group (English down) seems to have spread from English into Dutch and Low German (compare besides Bake, Boot, Prahm). Hence the assumption that Anglo-Saxon dûn is of Keltic origin is not to be discarded — Old Irish dûn, ‘hill’ (compare the Old Keltic names of towns ending in dûnum, Augustodiunum, Lugdunum); though the attempt to show that it is primitively allied to Greek θῖν (nominative θίς), ‘sea-beach,’ and Sanscrit dhánu-s, ‘dry land, continent, inhospitable land,’ cannot be recommended; Anglo-Saxon dûn would be pre-Teutonic dhûnâ (the indubitable form of the cognate word in Indian).
Dung, masculine, with Low German initial d; ‘dung, manure,’ from Middle High German tunge, feminine, ‘dung, manuring’; Middle High German tunc, masculine, feminine, signifies ​‘an underground — properly dung-covered — chamber occupied in winter,’ and especially ‘the underground weaver's room’; Old High German tunga, ‘manuring,’ English dung (substantive and verb); Old High German tunc, ‘weaver's room underground’ (Dünger from late Middle High German tunger). This double meaning of the cognates is explained by the remarks of Tacitus (Germanía, § 16) and Pliny (Hist. Nat., 19, 1). ‘Dung’ is the primary sense of the cognates of Dung and düngen; in the other Aryan languages, however, no primitively cognates can be adduced.
dunkel, adjective, ‘dark, gloomy, obscure,’ with Middle German initial d; from Middle High German tunkel, ‘dark, dull, damp,’ Old High German tunchal (with the parallel form tunchar, Middle Low German dunker). By another stage of gradation Old Icelandic døkkr, Old Frisian djunk are formed from the same root; they presuppose a Gothic *diggs (pre-Teutonic dhengwos). The primitively allied English dank points to a connection with dumpf (Teutonic root dinq, dump).
Dünkel, masculine, ‘fancy, imagination, arrogance, prejudice,’ simply Modern High German. Related to the verb dünken, from Middle High German dunken (preterite dûhte), ‘to seem, appear to,’ Old High German dunchan (chiefly impersonal with dative), ‘to seem’ (preterite dûhta); Gothic þugkjan, þûhta, mostly impersonal with dative ‘to seem’; Anglo-Saxon þyncan, English to think, which, however, really represents the meanings of Anglo-Saxon þencan, Old High German, Middle High German and Modern High German denken. Dünken appears to have been originally a strong verb, of which denken was perhaps the factitive form. The Teutonic þunk, þank, is based upon an old Aryan root tng, teng, and this, again, appears in Old Latin tongêre, ‘to know’ (compare Prænestine tongitio, ‘notion’). Compare denken, Dank.
dünn, adjective, ‘thin, slender, attenuated,’ from the equivalent Middle High German dünne, Old High German dunni; compare Anglo-Saxon þynne, English thin, Old Icelandic þunnr, Dutch dun, Gothic *þunnus. The adjective retained the primitive meaning ‘thin’ in all the periods and dialects of Teutonic. The stem þunnu is preserved in Old High German dunwęngi, Anglo-Saxon þunwenge, Old Icelandic þunnvange, ‘temples,’ properly ‘thin cheek’ (compare Modern High German dialectic Duninge, Dünege, ‘temples’). The adjective is primitively Aryan, in the form tanú-s (respecting Teutonic nn compare Kinn, Mann); compare Old Indian tanú-s, ‘long, drawn out, narrow, thin’; Latin tenuis, ‘thin, narrow’; Greek τανυ-, existing only in compounds, denotes ‘drawn or stretched out, long’; compare ταναός, which has the same meaning; Old Slovenian tĭnŭkŭ, ‘thin,’ has a suffix. The idea of attenuation comes from ‘extension in one direction, drawn out lengthwise,’ still retained by the Indian and the Greek adjectives Latin, Teutonic, and Slavonic deprived the originally meaning of one of its characteristics. In Old Indian and Greek there occurs a verbal stem, tanu (τανυ), with the primary sense ‘to stretch out, extend.’ Compare dehnen, Dohne, Donner, and the following word.
Dunst, masculine, ‘vapour, fume, mist,’ from Middle High German dunst, tunst, masculine, feminine, ‘steam, vapour,’ Old High German tunist, dunist, dunst, ‘storm, breath’; respecting the Middle German initial d. compare Dust, dunkel. Corresponds to Anglo-Saxon dûst (for *dunst), English dust. Teutonic duns-, for dwuns-, is based upon an Aryan root dhwens, which still appears in Sanscrit dhvans, ‘to fall to dust’ (dhvasti, ‘falling to dust’).
durch, preposition, ‘through, owing to, by,’ from Middle High German durch. dur, ‘through,’ also ‘for the sake of,’ Old High German duruh, durh; compare Old Saxon thurh, Anglo-Saxon þurh, English through and thorough. Gothic þaírh, ‘through,’ with an abnormal vowel, is related to the Old High German dërh, ‘perforated,’ with which are connected Old High German durhil, durihil, Middle High German dürhel, dürkel, ‘pierced, porous,’ Anglo-Saxon þŷrel (for þyrhil), ‘hole’ (compare Nüster), as well as Gothic þaírkô, feminine, ‘hole’ (k, from kk, for kn?). The preposition might easily be a case of an older adjective, perhaps the accusative neuter. Besides the passive meaning of Old High German dërh, ‘pierced,’ an active sense, ‘piercing,’ may also be added. The base þerh would be best defined by ‘to pierce, penetrate,’ which recalls the High German dringen; the former is based upon a pre-Teutonic root terk, the latter upon a root trenk. The connection with Latin trans is exceedingly problematical.
Durchlaucht, ‘Serene Highness,’ simply Modern High German with Middle German vowel au; Middle High German and Middle German durchlûht, participle for Middle High German durchliuhtet, ‘illustrious,’ from durhliuhten, ‘to shine, light through, illuminate.’ See Erlaucht, leuchten.
dürfen, anom. verb, ‘to be allowed, venture, need,’ from Middle High German dürfen, durfen, a preterite present, ‘to have reason, cause, be permitted, need, require’; Old High German durfan, preterite present, ‘to lack, be destitute of, require, be in need of’; compare Gothic þaúrban, Dutch durven, Anglo-Saxon þurfan, ‘to be in need of.’ In addition to the Teutonic root þurf, þurb, Swiss points to an old parallel form þurp. In the Modern High German derivative darben, ​Bedürfnis, Notdurft, bieder, &c., the primary sense of the root þrf, from tṛp, ‘to be destitute of, lack,’ still appears.
dürr, adjective, ‘dry, meagre, barren,’ from Middle High German dürre, Old High German durri, ‘withered, dry, lean’; corresponds to Dutch dor, Old Low German thurri, Anglo-Saxon þyrre, Gothic þaúrsus, ‘dry’ (with regard to High German rr, from Gothic rs, compare irre, Farre). From a pre-Teutonic adjective þurzu-, ‘dry, withered,’ which belongs to a root þurs, from pre-Teutonic tṛs. As a result of the restriction of the word — probably in primitively times — to denote the dryness of the throat, we have the Old Indian tṛšús, ‘greedy, panting,’ and Modern High German dürsten; as applied to the voice, or rather speech, tṛs appears in Greek τραυλός, ‘lisping,’ for *τρασυλός (compare δαυλός, ‘dense,’ for *δασυλός, Latin densus), and Old Indian tṛšṭá-s, ‘hoarse, rough (of the voice).’ With the general meaning ‘dry,’ Modern High German Darre, dörren, and their cognates are connected.
Durst, masculine, ‘thirst,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German durst, masculine; compare Middle Low German and Dutch dorst, Anglo-Saxon þyrst, English thirst; Gothic þaurstei, feminine, ‘thirst.’ The final t of the Old High German and English words is a derivative, as may be inferred from Gothic þaúrseiþ mik, ‘I am thirsty.’ The further comparisons made under Darre, dörren, dürr, amply prove that the short form þors, from pre-Teutonic tṛš, signifies ‘to be thirsty’; compare especially Old Indian tṛšṇaj, ‘thirsty,’ tṛšnâ, feminine, ‘thirst,’ tṛš, strong verb (3rd personal singular tṛšyati, Goth þaurseiþ), ‘to pant, be thirsty'; tṛšú-s, ‘panting.’
Dusel, masculine, ‘dizziness,’ simply Modern High German, from Low German dusel, ‘giddiness’; a genuine High German word would have had an initial t, as Old High German tusig, ‘foolish,’ shows; the latter corresponds to Anglo-Saxon dysig, ‘foolish,’ English dizzy. To the root dus (dhus) contained in this class, belong Thor, thöricht, with the genuine High German t initially. A different gradation of the same root dus, from Aryan dhus, appears in Anglo-Saxon dwœ̂s, Dutch dwaas, ‘foolish.’
Dust, masculine, ‘dust, powder,’ simply Modern High German, from Low German dust; corresponds to English dust (but see further Dunst). The final t is probably a derivative; dus, the root, may be the weakest form of an Aryan dhwes; Old Indian dhvas, dhvaṅs, seems to have been always nasalised; it signifies ‘fly about like dust, scatter dust when running swiftly,’ which is in harmony with the meaning of Dust, ‘dust.’
düster, adjective (unknown to Upper German?), ‘gloomy, dismal, sad,’ from the equivalent Low German düster, dûster; compare Old Saxon thiustri, Anglo-Saxon þeóstre, þŷstre, ‘dark,’ Middle High German dinster, Old High German dinstar, Old High German finstar, Old Saxon finistar are remarkable parallel forms expressing the same idea; so too Anglo-Saxon þeóstru, ‘darkness.’ The primary form may be seen in the stem of dämmern, Gothic *þimis, ‘twilight,’ Old Indian támas, ‘darkness’; Latin tenebrae (for *temebrae) comes nearest perhaps to Middle High German dinster. f is interchanged with þ in Fackel, Anglo-Saxon þœcele; in the same way finster might be related to dinstar (from þinstar). These guesses are, however, too uncertain.
Düfte, Deute, Tüte, feminine, ‘paper bag, screw’; merely Modern High German from Low German tüte (akin to Dutch tuit, ‘pipe’?); respecting the Low German and Dutch ü sound, see under Büse. In Swabian and Bavarian the terms are gugge, gucken.
Dutzend, neuter, ‘dozen,’ from the equivalent late Middle High German totzen, with an excrescent final d (see Jemand, Mond); from French douzaine (compare Italian dozzina), whence also English dozen, Dutch dozijn; ultimately derived from Latin duodecim.