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

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I.
ich, pron., ‘I,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ich, OHG. ih; corresponding to OSax. ik, Du. ik, AS. ič, E. I, Goth. ik. For the common Teut. ik, from pre-Teut. egom, comp. Lat. ego, Ger. ἐγώ, Sans. aham, OSlov. azŭ, Lith. aż. The oblique cases of this primit. nom. were formed in all the Aryan languages from a stem me-; comp. mein. The orig. meaning of ich, primit. type egom (equal to Sans. aham), cannot be fathomed.
Igel, m., ‘hedgehog,’ from the equiv. MidHG. igel, OHG. igil, m.; corresponding to Du. egel, AS. igl (îl), in E., however, hedgehog, to which OIc. igull is equiv. Gr. ‘ἐχῖνος, OSlov. ježĭ, Lith. eżýs, ‘hedgehog,’ are undoubtedly cognate. A West-Aryan *eghî-nos, ‘hedgehog,’ must be assumed; comp. Goth. katils, from Lat. catînus, Goth. asilus, from Lat. asinus (so too Esel, Himmel, Kümmel, Kessel). Very different from this word is the second component of the compound Blutigel, prop. Blutegel; in MidHG. simply ëgel, ëgele, OHG. ëgala, f., ‘leech.’ That this OHG. ëgala is connected etymologically with OHG. igil, ‘hedgehog,’ is improbable on account of the meaning only.
ihr, poss. pron., ‘her, their’ (general from the 14th cent.), MidHG. ir is rare as a poss. pron.; it is prop. the gen. plur. of er, OHG. iro (Goth. izé). Further details belong to grammar.
Iltis, m., ‘polecat,’ from the equiv. MidHG. iltī̆s, ëltes, OHG. illitī̆so, m. (the long î is assumed by the ModHG. and Bav. form Elledeis); a specifically G. term based upon an old compound which has not as yet been explained.
Imbiß, m., ‘lunch,’ from MidHG. and OHG. imbī̆ȥ, inbī̆ȥ, m. and n., ‘food, meal,’ allied to MidHG. enbîȥen, OHG. inbîȥan, ‘to partake of food or drink, eat,’ allied to beißen.
Imme, f., ‘bee,’ from MidHG. imbe (later imme), m., OHG. imbi, ‘swarm of bees’ (hence a collective term; the meaning ‘bee’ first occurs in late MidHG.). In OHG. records imbi bîanô denotes ‘swarm of bees’; comp. AS. geogoð, ‘a youthful band,’ with E. youth (see Bursche, Frauenzimmer, Stute), Yet it is questionable whether imbi has ever signified ‘swarm, herd’ (generally). Its direct connection with Biene (root bī̆) is certainly dubious; it is more probably related to Gr. ἐμπίς, ‘mosquito, gnat.’
immer, from the equiv. MidHG. imer, immer, earlier iemer, OHG. iomêr, ‘always’ (only of the present and future); OHG. iomêr is a compound of io (comp. je) and mêr (see mehr); comp. AS. œ̂fre (E. ever), from *œ̂-mre (equiv. to OHG. io-mêr).
impfen, vb., ‘to ingraft, vaccinate,’ from the equiv. MidHG. (rare) impfen, OHG. (rare) impfôn, for which the usual forms are MidHG. imp(f)eten, OHG. impfitôn, mostly impitôn, ‘to inoculate, ingraft’; yet comp. also AS. impian, E. to imp. Impfen, just like pfropfen and pelzen, seems, on account of OHG. impfôn and AS. impian, to have been borrowed about the ​7th or 8th cent. from Lat.; yet only OHG. impitôn can be explained as directly borrowed from a Lat. horticultural term; comp. Lat.-Rom. putare, ‘to prune’ (comp. Ital. potare, Span. podar), to which Franc. possen, Du. and LG. poten, ‘to ingraft,’ are related. The correspondence of OHG. impitôn, with Fr. enter, ‘to ingraft’ (from *empter), is remarkable; comp. Du., MidDu., and MidLG. enten, ‘to inoculate’ (from empten). With the MidLat. base imputare (tor Lat. amputare?), OHG. impfôn and AS. impian may be connected by the intermediate link impo(d)are, unless it is based rather like Fr. (Lorr.) opé, ‘to inoculate,’ upon a Lat. *impuare. The usual derivation of all the Teut. and Rom. words from Gr. ἐμφυτεύω, ἐμφύω, ‘to ingraft,’ is perhaps conceivable. Moreover, the medical term impfen has been current only since the 18th cent.
in, prep., ‘in, into, at,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. in, a common Teut. prep. with the same form; comp. Goth., AS., E., Du., and OSax. in, ‘in.’ Its primit. kinship with Lat. in, Gr. ἐν, ἐνί, Lith. i, and Lett. ë is certain. To this are allied indem, indeß, and indessen.
Infel, Inful, f., from the equiv. MidHG. infel, infele, f., ‘mitre of a bishop or abbot’; formed from Lat. infula.
Ingwer, m., ‘ginger,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ingewër, also gingebere, m., derived, like Du. gember, E. ginger, Fr. gingembre, Ital. zenzovero, zenzero, ‘ginger,’ from the equiv. late Gr. ἑιγγίβερις, which comes from the East; comp. Arab. zendjebîl, from Prak. singabêra (Sans. çṛñgavêra).
inne, adv., ‘within,’ from MidHG. and OHG. inne, OHG. inna, ‘inwardly’; comp. Goth. inna; allied to in. — So too innen, ‘within,’ MidHG. innen, OHG. innân, innana; Goth. innana, ‘within.’ —
inner, ‘within,’ from MidHG. innere, adj. and adv., ‘internal,’ OHG. innar, adj.
innig, adj., ‘intimate,’ from MidHG. innec(g), adj., ‘internal, intimate’; a recent formation from MidHG. inne; comp. even in OHG. inniglîh, ‘internal.’
Innung, f., ‘association,’ from late MidHG. innunge, f., ‘connection (with a corporate body), association, guild’; allied to OHG. innôn, ‘to receive (into an alliance), combine’; connected with inne.
Inschlitt, see Unschlitt.
Insel, f., ‘island,’ from the equiv. MidHG. insel, insele, f.; formed from Lat. and Rom. insula (Fr. île, Ital. isola); even in OHG. a divergent form of the word, îsila, was borrowed. The OTeut. words for ‘island’ are Aue and Wert.
Insiegel, n., ‘seal,’ from the equiv. MidHG. insigel, insigele, OHG. insigili, n.; corresponding to AS. insegele, OIc. innsigle, with the same sense. See Siegel for the curious history of the cognates.
inständig, adj., ‘instant, urgent,’ from the equiv. MidHG. *instęndec; OHG. instęndigo is recorded once. Allied to stehen (gestanden); perhaps an imitation of Lat. insistere, ‘to pursue zealously’?.
inwendig, see wenden.
Inzicht, f., ‘accusation,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. inziht, f.; an abstract of ziehen; comp. also bezichtigen.
irden, adj., ‘earthen,’ from MidHG. and OHG. irdîn, adj., ‘made of clay’ (also ‘earthly’); an adj. of material allied to OHG. ërda, ‘earth.’ Also irdisch, with a different application from the equiv. MidHG. irdesch, OHG. irdisc (prop. ‘peculiar or belonging to the earth’; with regard to the suffix comp. deutsch and Mensch). See Erde.
irgend, adv., ‘ever, soever, whatever,’ with an affix d (see Mond, Habicht, and Obst), from the equiv. MidHG. (MidG.) iergen, late OHG. iergen, for which in earlier OHG. io węrgin occurs; OHG. węrgin (for *hwęrgin, *hwar-gin), corresponds to OSax. hwęr-gin, AS. hwęrgen, in which hwar significs ‘where,’ and -gin, the indef. particle, ‘any,’ corresponding to Goth. -hun (Lat. -cunque, Sans. -cana); Goth. *hwar-gin, *hwar-hun, ‘anywhere.’ Respecting OHG. to, comp. je. Nirgend, the negative form, occurs even in MidHG. as niergen (a compound of ni, ‘not’).
irre, adj., ‘in error, astray, insane, confused,’ from the equiv. MidHG. irre, OHG. irri, adj. (OHG. also ‘provoked’); corresponding to AS. yrre, ‘provoked, angry.’ Allied to Goth. airzeis, ‘astray, misled’ (HG. rr equal to Goth. rz). Anger was regarded as an aberration of mind (comp. also Lat. delirare, allied to lira, ‘furrow,’ prop. ‘rut’). The root ers appears also in Lat. errare, ‘to go astray’ (for *ersare), error, ‘mistake’ (for *ersor); allied also to Sans. irasy, ‘to behave violently, be angry’?. —
irren, ‘to be in error, go astray, mislead, deceive,’ from the equiv. MidHG. irren, OHG. irrôn (Goth. *aírzjôn). —
Irre, f., ‘mistaken course,’ from MidHG. irre, f. (comp. Goth. airzei, ‘mistaken course, ​leading astray’).
Irrsal, n., ‘erring, erroneous opinion, maze,’ from MidHG. irresal, n. and m. (Goth. *airzisl; OHG. -isal is a suffix; see Rätsel).
Isop, m., ‘hyssop,’ from the equiv. early MidHG. isôpe (îsǒpe, ispe); derived like Ital. isópo from Lat. hysôpum, late Gr. ὕτσωπος, which is of Oriental origin.
Itzig, Jew.-G. from Hebr. Jizchâck, ‘Isaac.’