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

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O.
ob (1.), preposition and adverb, ‘over, above,’ from Middle High German obe, ob, preposition and adverb, ‘aloft, above, across,’ so too Old High German oba; compare Anglo-Saxon ufe-weard, ‘upper.’ Modern High German ob has been retained chiefly in compounds such as Obacht and Obdach. Allied to oben.
ob (2.), conjunction, ‘whether, if,’ from Middle High German obe, ob, op, conjunction, ‘if, as if, although, whether,’ so too Old High German oba, with the earlier variant ibu, ‘if, whether’; corresponding to Old Saxon ef, of (Anglo-Saxon gif, English if). Gothic ibai, iba, ‘whether then, perhaps, probably, lest perhaps,’ with the corresponding negative nidai, niba, ‘unless.’ The Old High German form is the dative and instrumental of iba, feminine, ‘doubt, condition,’ Old Icelandic ife, efe, masculine, and if, ef, neuter, ‘doubt.’ Hence the literally meaning of the conjunction is ‘in doubt, on condition.’
oben, adverb, ‘above, aloft,’ from Middle High German obene, Old High German obana, adverb, ‘above, from above’; so too Old Saxon oƀan, oƀana, ‘down from above,’ Anglo-Saxon ufan, ‘from above,’ English preserved only in ab-ove. Allied to ober.
ober (1.), comparative, ‘upper, higher,’ from Middle High German obere, Old High German obaro, ‘the superior’; properly the comparative of ob. From this was formed, even in Old High German, a new superlative obarôst (Middle High German oberest).
ober (2.), preposition, ‘over, above, beyond,’ of Middle German and Low German origin, as is indicated by the stem vowel, for the o which prevails in Middle German and Low German obar, oƀar, Anglo-Saxon ofer, English over, and the equivalent Dutch over, is always represented in High German by u. See über and auf.
Oblate, feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German oblât, oblâte, feminine and neuter, ‘the Host, wafer’; from Latin oblâta (from offerre, which was adopted as opfern), whence also the equivalent Anglo-Saxon ofelête; Middle English oblê is formed, however, from Old French oublee, whence Modern French oublie. See Opfer.
Obst, neuter, with an excrescent dental as in Axt, Mond, niemand, Palast, Papst; from the equivalent Middle High German obeȥ, Old High German obaȥ, neuter, ‘fruit.’ It is a West Teutonic word; compare Dutch ooft, Anglo-Saxon ofet (Gothic *ubat is wanting, in Old Icelandic alden). It is uncertain whether Gothic *ubat is akin to ober, über, root up-, thus signifying ‘what is above.’
Ochse, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German ohse, Old High German ohso, masculine, ‘ox’; corresponding terms occur in all the Old Teutonic dialects; Gothic aukhsa, Old Icelandic oxe, Anglo-Saxon oxa, English ox, Dutch os, Old Saxon ohso, ‘ox.’ The common Teutonic ohsan- (from pre-Teutonic uksén-) is primitively cognate with Sanscrit ukšán, ‘bull,’ the words Kuh and Stier being also common to the Aryan group. The Sanscrit root is ukš, ‘to spurt out,’ or ukš, ‘to grow strong, grow up.’ If the latter is correct, Ochse is connected with wachsen, yet it may be a masculine form of Latin vacca, ‘cow.’
Ocker, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German ocker, ogger, neuter and masculine, ‘ochre.’ Borrowed from Latin ochra (ὥχρα), ‘ochre,’ whence also Italian ocra, French ocre.
öde, adjective, ‘deserted, waste,’ from Middle High German œde, adjective, ‘uncultivated, uninhabited, empty, foolish, poor, infirm,’ Old High German ôdi, ‘desolate, empty’; corresponding to Gothic auþs, ‘desolate, solitary, unfertile,’ Old Icelandic auðr. In some of the languages of the Teutonic group there occurs an adjective similar in sound, but apparently of a different etymology, with the meaning ‘easy.’ Compare Old Saxon oði, Old High German ôdi, Anglo-Saxon ŷþe, eáþe, Old Icelandic auð- (in compounds), ‘easy.’ The primary meanings of both classes are uncertain.
Öde, feminine, ‘waste, solitude, wilderness,’ from Middle High German œde, Old High German ôdî, feminine, ‘desert.’ Compare the Gothic derivative auþida, ‘desert.’
Odem, equivalent to Atem.
oder, conjunction, from the equivalent Middle High German oder, Old High German odar, ‘or, else’; the Old High German and Middle High German ordinary form are without r; ​Old High German odo, earlier ëddo, Middle High German ode, od. This abnormal r is, according to some, a comparative suffix; according to others it is simply an suffix due to the influence of Old High German wëdar, Middle High German wëder, ‘neither.’ Old High German ëddo, ëdo, correspond further to Gothic aíþþau, ‘or,’ which is a compound of Gothic iþ, ‘and’ (Latin et), and þau, ‘or.’ English or has no connection with this word, since it originated in Anglo-Saxon âhwœþer; Gothic aíþþau is Anglo-Saxon oþþe and ëþþa, ‘or,’ which became obsolete ar an early period.
Odermennig, masculine, ‘agrimony,’ a corruption of the equivalent Latin agrimonia, which appears under various forms in Middle High German odermenie, adermonie.
Ofen, masculine, ‘from the equivalent Middle High German oven, Old High German ovan, masculine, ‘oven’; so too with the same meaning Middle Low German and Dutch oven, Anglo-Saxon ofen, English oven, Old Icelandic ofn, ogn (Swedish ugn), Gothic aúhns; the word is common to Teutonic, hence the thing signified must also be primitively. The variation of guttural and labial is seen also in the forms primitively cognate with these, Sanscrit ukhâ, ‘pot,’ and Greek ἱπνός, ‘oven’ (for uknos, which is indicated by Gothic aúhns). The original sense, ‘pot,’ seems also to follow from Anglo-Saxon ofnet, ‘little vessel.’
offen, adjective, from the equivalent Middle High German offen, Old High German offan, adjective, ‘open’; it has the same meaning in all the Teutonic languages except. Gothic, where *upans is wanting. Compare Old Icelandic openn, Anglo-Saxon and English open, Dutch open, Old Saxon opan; the adjective seems similar in form to a participle, but the primitively verb cannot be adduced. It is also doubtful whether auf, Old Saxon upp, Gothic iup, is allied, so that offen would mean literally ‘drawn up.’
oft, adverb, from the equivalent Middle High German oft, ofte, Old High German ofto, adverb, ‘often, frequently’; corresponding. to Gothic ufta, Old Icelandic opt, Anglo-Saxon oft, English oft (extended form often), Old Saxon oft, ofto, ‘often.’ These adverb forms seem to be petrified cases of an obsolete substantive or adjective participle; they have also been connected with the participle of the Sanscrit root uc, ‘to be fond of doing.’
Oheim, Ohm, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German ôheim, œheim (also with final n instead of m), Old High German ôheim, masculine, ‘uncle’; corresponding to Dutch oom, Anglo-Saxon eám, ‘uncle’ (contracted from *eáhâm), Middle English œ̂m, ‘uncle,’ also early Modern English eme (whence, Eames as a properly name). By inference from Old Frisian êm, ‘mother's brother,’ and Latin avunculus, the literally meaning of Oheim is ‘uncle on the mother's side’ (in contrast to Vetter, Latin patruus). Gothic *áuháims, corresponding to the simply West Teutonic cognates, is wanting. The etymology of the word is difficult to determine. The first syllable is generally regarded as cognate with Latin avun-culus, ‘uncle,’ which is the diminutive of avus, ‘grandfather’ (so too Lithuanian avynas and Old Slovenian ujĭ, from *aujos, ‘uncle’); to Latin avus (to which Old Irish aue, ‘grandson,’ is allied), Gothic awô, feminine, ‘grandmother,’ Old Icelandic áe, ‘great-grandfather,’ corresponds. With reference to the second syllable a Teutonic haima-, ‘honour,’ is assumed; therefore Oheim means literally ‘enjoying the honours of a grandfather.’ A more probable assumption is ‘possessing the grandfather's house,’ ‘grandfather's heir’ (hence Latin avunculus, literally ‘little grandfather’). Others join the h to the first syllable and regard it as the representative of the Latin c in avuncu-lus, and divide the Gothic word thus, *auh-aims, so that aima is a diminutive suffix for aina. It is to be observed that after the remarks under Neffe and Vetter, Middle High German óheim may also mean ‘nephew, sister's son.’
Ohm, masculine and masculine, ‘awm’ (liquid measure, about 40 galls.), from Middle High German âme, ôme (â before nasals is changed into ô, compare Mohn, Mond, Ohmet, and ohne), feminine, masculine, and neuter, ‘awm, measure’; corresponding to Dutch aam, English awm, Scandinavian áma. They are based on Middle Latin ama, ‘vessel, wine measure’ (Greek ἄχη, ‘water-pail,’ Latin ama, ‘water bucket’). See ahmen.
Ohmet, neuter, ‘aftermath,’ from the equivalent Middle High German âmât, Old High German âmâd, neuter; also in the same sense with a different prefix Middle High German uëmet, Old High German uomât, neuter, ‘second mowing of the grass’; for Old High German mâd see under Mahd. The Old High German syllables â and uo are nominal prefixes; Old High German uo also signifies ‘after’ in the compounds uo-quëmo, ‘descendant,’ uo-chumft, ‘succession’; â-, which is usually a negative prefix (see Ohnmacht), means ‘remaining,’ in Old High German â-leiba, Middle High German âleibe, ‘relics.’
ohne, preposition, from the equivalent Middle High German ân, âne, OH . âno, preposition, ‘without’; corresponding to Old Saxon âno, Middle Dutch aen, Old Icelandic án, earlier ón (from *ánu), ‘without’; in Gothic, with a different gradation, inu. Undoubtedly the negative un- and Gothic ni, ‘not’ (see nie), are also allied to ohne, as well as Greek ἄνευ, ‘without.’ —
ohn- in ohngeachtet, ‘notwithstanding,’ ohnlängst, ‘not long ​since,’ represents un- under the influence of Dutch on, ‘un-.’ —
Ohn- in Ohnmacht is due to the attempt to assign a more intelligible meaning to Omacht, which originated in Old High German and Middle High German â-maht; the prefix ô from the old â had become obscure in the compound. With regard to Old High German â, ‘un-,’ compare â-teili, ‘having no share in,’ Middle High German â-sętze, ‘unoccupied,’ Anglo-Saxon œ̂-men, ‘devoid of men.’ —
ohngefähr, adjective, ‘casual, accidental,’ adverb, ‘about, not far from,’ from Middle High German ân gevœre, mostly ân gevœrde, ‘without evil intention, without deceit.’
Ohr, neuter, from the equivalent Middle High German ôre, ôr, neuter, Old High German ôra, neuter, ‘ear’; corresponding terms are found in all the Teutonic languages; Old Saxon ôra, Dutch oor, Anglo-Saxon eáre, neuter, English ear, Old Icelandic eyra (with mutation on account of r, equivalent to Gothic and Teutonic z), Gothic ausô, neuter, ‘ear.’ Like many other terms for parts of the body (compare Fuß, Herz, Nagel, Niere, &c.), this word occurs also in other Aryan languages, Latin auris for *ausis (to which aus-cultare is akin, see hören), Greek οὖς (from *οῦσος), genitive ὦτός from (οὐσατός, allied to an n- stem like the Teutonic cognates), Old Slovenian ucho (genitive ušese), neuter, ‘ear,’ from ausos (with the dual uši), Lithuanian ausis. Compare the following word.
Öhr, neuter, ‘eye’ (of a needle), from Middle High German œre, œr, neuter, ‘ear-like opening, eye (of a needle), hole in a handle, handle,’ so too late Old High German ôri, neuter; a derivative of Old High German ôra, ‘ear’; compare further Öse. Moreover, Greek οὖς, English ear, and Dutch oor also signify ‘handle.’
Ohrfeige, feminine, ‘box on the ear,’ first occurs in early Modern High German, similar to Dutch oorvijg; usually regarded as a facetious corruption of Dutch oorveeg, ‘box on the ear,’ in which veeg (cognate with Modern High German fegen) signifies ‘stroke, cut.’ It may, like Dachtel, Kopfnüsse, Maulschelle (properly a kind of pastry), be a euphemistic expression.
Öl, neuter, from the equivalent Middle High German öle, öl, neuter (with the variants ole, ol, and olei), Old High German olei, oli, neuter, ‘oil’; corresponding to Old Saxon olig; Dutch olie, Anglo-Saxon ele, neuter, ‘oil.’ Latin oleum, ‘oil,’ passed into High German before the 8th. century. Gothic adopted the term probably even half a century earlier from the Latin, the only assumption that can explain the remarkable Gothic form alêw. The approximate source of English oil, Middle English oile, is Old French oil, which with its Romance cognates. (Modern French huile) are also based on Latin oleum.
Oleander, masculine, ‘oleander, rose-bay,’ first occurs in early Modern High German, from the equivalent French oléandre, or rather Italian oleandro.
Olive, feminine, ‘olive,’ from Middle High German olîve, feminine and masculine, from Latin oliva.
Onkel, masculine, ‘uncle,’ Modern High German only, from French oncle.
opfern, verb, from the equivalent Middle High German opfern, Old High German opfarôn, ‘to sacrifice’; so too Old Saxon offrón, Dutch offeren, Anglo-Saxon offrian, ‘to sacrifice,’ whence English to offer, under the influence of French offrir. Introduced by the Church from Latin offerre. With regard to the change of accent in Teutonic, compare predigen, from praedicare, in which the verbal particle likewise assumed the accent. —
Opfer, neuter, ‘offering, sacrifice,’ from Middle High German opfer, Old High German opfar, neuter, is not based on a Latin word, but coined from the German verb (compare Handel); see also Oblate. Moreover, the Teutons had their own special word for ‘to sacrifice’; Gothic and Anglo-Saxon blôtan, Old Icelandic blóta, Old High German bluoȥan.
Orden, masculine, ‘order, class, badge,’ from Middle High German orden, masculine, ‘rule, regulation, series, management, decree, rank, spiritual order’; borrowed from Latin ordin-em (accusative of ordo), even in the Old High German period; compare Old High German ordina, feminine, whence ordinhaft. The oblique case of the Latin word determined the form of the Old High German term; so too in Kreuz, Abt, &c. —
ordnen, ‘to order, regulate,’ even in Middle High German ordenen, Old High German ordinôn, formed from Latin ordinare.
Orgel, feminine, ‘organ’ (musical instrument), from Middle High German organâ, orgene, Old High German organâ, feminine, of which a rare variant in l occurs, Old High German orgela, Middle High German orgel, feminine, ‘organ.’ Old High German organa is derived from Middle Latin organum (Italian organo, French orgue, English organ), or rather its plural organa, ‘organ.’ Properly, however, “organa dicuntur omnia instrumenta musicorum; non solum illud organum dicitur quod grande est et inflatur follibus, &c.” (Augustine). Organs were known to the Middle European Teutons as early as the latter half of the 8th century, especially in the reign of Charlemagne, for Charlemagne himself received a magnificent organ, which was described by a monk of St. Gall, as a present from the Byzantine emperor Michael.
Orkan, masculine, Modern High German only, from the equivalent Dutch orkaan, English hurricane; compare French ouragan, Italian uracano, ‘hurricane’; “it is a modern word introduced from America, said to be of Caribbean origin.”
​ Orlogschiff, neuter, Modern High German only, formed from the equivalent Dutch oorlogsschip, neuter, ‘man-of-war,’ which is derived from orlog, ‘war,’ corresponding to Old Saxon orlagi, ‘war,’ Anglo-Saxon orlege, Middle High German urliuge, Old High German urliugi, ‘war.’
Ort (1.), masculine, ‘awl,’ in this sense Modern High German only, and identical with Ort (2).
Ort (2.), masculine, ‘place, spot, region,’ from Middle High German ort, neuter and masculine, ‘sharp point end, beginning, corner, angle, border, place,’ Old High German ort, masculine and neuter, does not occur in the Modern High German sense of ‘place.’ The meaning ‘point, corner,’ is the orig one; compare Old Saxon ord, masculine, ‘point,’ Anglo-Saxon and Middle English ord. ‘point of a weapon’ (for a similar evolution of meaning compare Ecke. The r of the word originated in s, z; Gothic *uzda- is by chance not recorded; it is assumed by Old Icelandic oddr, ‘point,’ the dd of which points to Gothic zd. In Ort (1) the earlier meaning is still dimly seen. See also Ort (3).
Ort (3.), neuter and masculine, ‘quarter, quart,’ from Middle High German ort, masculine and neuter, ‘fourth part of a measure, weight, or coin’; corresponding to Dutch oord, ‘a fourth part of a coin, measure, &c.’ Identical with Ort (2). “This meaning is approximately derived from the square coins divided by a cross into pieces with four Orte, i.e., ‘corners,’ and afterwards transferred to measure and weight. Thus in Germany and Austria, when, in the year 1849, the florin notes were divided into four parts to serve as change, a single part was called Eckele or Örtel, ‘a little corner,’ and this expression was then generally used for a quarter of a florin.” The earlier assumption that this word was based on Middle Latin quarto, ‘fourth part,’ must be rejected.
Öse, feminine, ‘ear, hook,’ from late Middle High German and early Modern High German (Middle German and Middle Low German) œse, feminine, ‘ear, hook, handle’; the usual assumption that the word is borrowed from Latin ansa, ‘handle,’ is not to be preferred to the opinion that Öse and Öhr are identical, and that the s from which the r of Ohr and Öhr is derived is preserved in Öse; see Öhr.
Osten, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German ôsten, masculine and neuter, Old High German ôstan, masculine and neuter, ‘east’; the form Ost is wanting in Middle High German and Old High German; it has probably been recently coined; compare Nord and Norden, Süd and Suden, West and Westen. Yet even in Anglo-Saxon eást, English east, occurs, whence French est. —
osten, adverb, from Middle High German ôsten, ôstene, ‘in, to, or from the east,’ Old High German ôstana, ‘from the east,’ so too Anglo-Saxon eástene, ‘in the east,’ eástan, ‘from the east,’ Old Saxon ôstan, ôstana, ‘from the east’; Old High German and Old Saxon ôstar, ‘to the east.’ The stem austa- (in Old Icelandic austr, genitive austrs, masculine), on which these words are based, is undoubtedly connected with the Old Aryan term for ‘dawn’; primitively Aryan *ausôs, Sanscrit ušâs, Latin aurôra (for *ausôs-a), Greek ἠώς, Lithuanian auszrà, ‘dawn.’ Since, in other instances, the names for the periods of the day have been applied to the cardinal points, e.g., Mittag, Morgen, &c., the dawn might be used for the east, especially as Morgen in Upper German signifies ‘east’ (in Upper German the old terms for the cardinal points are almost obsolete). Compare also Ostern.
Osterluzei, feminine, ‘birth-wort,’ first occurs in early Modern High German; corrupted from the Latin term aristolochia, “in order to give at least a German air and some apparent meaning to the word.”
Ostern, feminine plur, from the equivalent Middle High German ôster, feminine, more usual ôsteren, plural, Old High German ôstarûn, feminine plural, ostara, feminine, ‘Easter’; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon eáster, neuter, eástro, feminine plural whence the equivalent English Easter. Probably applied at an earlier period to an old heathen festival of the West Teutons. It is based upon the name of an Old Teutonic goddess of spring, Austrô, which must be identical with Indian usrâ, ‘dawn’ (between s and r, t is inserted in Teutonic, see Schwester). The Old Aryan Aurôra had among the Teutons, to some extent at least, exchanged the character of a goddess of dawn for that of the light-bearing goddess of spring. This is indicated by the time of the Easter festival; the Christian season must have coincided with the heathen, since the name of the latter was appropriated. Bede testifies to the existence of the Old Teutonic goddess by the mention of the English dialectic form Eostra (for West Saxon Eástre). Ausôs, the Old Teutonic name of Aurôra, was the origin of the Teutonic derivatives for ‘east,’ as well as Anglo-Saxon eárendel, ‘morning star, daybreak,’ whence the Old High German proper name Ôrentil in the later Orendel legends. See Osten.
Otter, feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German otter, Old High German ottar, masculine, ‘otter’; corresponding to Dutch otter, Anglo-Saxon otor, English otter, Old Icelandic otr, ‘otter’; Gothic *utrs is by chance not recorded. Gothic tr remains unaffected by the High German permutation; see bitter, lauter, treu, zittern. The term udrá- is applied in several Aryan languages to aquatic ​animals; *udra- belongs to the same root as Greek ὕδωρ, ‘water,’ ἄνυδρος, ‘waterless, dry,’ Sanscrit udan, ‘water,’ ánudra-s, ‘waterless, dry,’ hence Modern High German Otter is etymologically connected with Wasser. Compare Greek ὕδρα, ὕδρος, ‘water-snake,’ Lithuanian údra, ‘otter,’ Old Slovenian vydra, ‘otter,’ Sanscrit udra, masculine, ‘otter.’ —
Otter, feminine (thus in Luther), for ‘adder,’ is East Middle German; compare Dutch and Low German adder, English adder (also Suabian ā̊dr).
Oxhoft, neuter, ‘hogshead,’ Middle High German only, from the equivalent Low German and Dutch okshoofd, neuter, to which Swedish oxhufoud and Danish oxehoved are allied; the origin of the word cannot be ascertained. The sounds point rather to a Scandinavian dialectic than to Low German and Dutch, because in the latter os signifies ‘ox.’ It is not certain whether the primary meaning is ‘head of an ox,’ though it was thus popularly understood in Low German, as is seen by the corrupt form hogshead, which it assumed on being adopted by English.