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

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