An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/I (full text)
I.
ich, pronoun, ‘I,’ from the equivalent Middle High German ich, Old High German ih; corresponding to Old Saxon ik, Dutch ik, Anglo-Saxon ič, English I, Gothic ik. For the common Teutonic ik, from pre-Teutonic egom, compare Latin ego, Ger. ἐγώ, Sanscrit aham, Old Slovenian azŭ, Lithuanian aż. The oblique cases of this primitively nominative were formed in all the Aryan languages from a stem me-; compare mein. The originally meaning of ich, primitively type egom (equal to Sanscrit aham), cannot be fathomed.
Igel, masculine, ‘hedgehog,’ from the equivalent Middle High German igel, Old High German igil, masculine; corresponding to Dutch egel, Anglo-Saxon igl (îl), in English, however, hedgehog, to which Old Icelandic igull is equivalent Greek ‘ἐχῖνος, Old Slovenian ježĭ, Lithuanian eżýs, ‘hedgehog,’ are undoubtedly cognate. A West-Aryan *eghî-nos, ‘hedgehog,’ must be assumed; compare Gothic katils, from Latin catînus, Gothic asilus, from Latin asinus (so too Esel, Himmel, Kümmel, Kessel). Very different from this word is the second component of the compound Blutigel, properly Blutegel; in Middle High German simply ëgel, ëgele, Old High German ëgala, feminine, ‘leech.’ That this Old High German ëgala is connected etymologically with Old High German igil, ‘hedgehog,’ is improbable on account of the meaning only.
ihr, possessive pronoun, ‘her, their’ (general from the 14th century), Middle High German ir is rare as a possessive pronoun; it is properly the genitive plural of er, Old High German iro (Gothic izé). Further details belong to grammar.
Iltis, masculine, ‘polecat,’ from the equivalent Middle High German iltī̆s, ëltes, Old High German illitī̆so, masculine (the long î is assumed by the Modern High German and Bavarian form Elledeis); a specifically German term based upon an old compound which has not as yet been explained.
Imbiß, masculine, ‘lunch,’ from Middle High German and Old High German imbī̆ȥ, inbī̆ȥ, masculine and neuter, ‘food, meal,’ allied to Middle High German enbîȥen, Old High German inbîȥan, ‘to partake of food or drink, eat,’ allied to beißen.
Imme, feminine, ‘bee,’ from Middle High German imbe (later imme), masculine, Old High German imbi, ‘swarm of bees’ (hence a collective term; the meaning ‘bee’ first occurs in late Middle High German). In Old High German records imbi bîanô denotes ‘swarm of bees’; compare Anglo-Saxon geogoð, ‘a youthful band,’ with English 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 Greek ἐμπίς, ‘mosquito, gnat.’
immer, from the equivalent Middle High German imer, immer, earlier iemer, Old High German iomêr, ‘always’ (only of the present and future); Old High German iomêr is a compound of io (compare je) and mêr (see mehr); compare Anglo-Saxon œ̂fre (English ever), from *œ̂-mre (equivalent to Old High German io-mêr).
impfen, verb, ‘to ingraft, vaccinate,’ from the equivalent Middle High German (rare) impfen, Old High German (rare) impfôn, for which the usual forms are Middle High German imp(f)eten, Old High German impfitôn, mostly impitôn, ‘to inoculate, ingraft’; yet compare also Anglo-Saxon impian, English to imp. Impfen, just like pfropfen and pelzen, seems, on account of Old High German impfôn and Anglo-Saxon impian, to have been borrowed about the 7th or 8th century from Latin; yet only Old High German impitôn can be explained as directly borrowed from a Latin horticultural term; compare Latin-Romance putare, ‘to prune’ (compare Italian potare, Spanish podar), to which Franconian possen, Dutch and Low German poten, ‘to ingraft,’ are related. The correspondence of Old High German impitôn, with French enter, ‘to ingraft’ (from *empter), is remarkable; compare Dutch, Middle Dutch, and Middle Low German enten, ‘to inoculate’ (from empten). With the Middle Latin base imputare (tor Latin amputare?), Old High German impfôn and Anglo-Saxon impian may be connected by the intermediate link impo(d)are, unless it is based rather like French (Lorr.) opé, ‘to inoculate,’ upon a Latin *impuare. The usual derivation of all the Teutonic and Romance words from Greek ἐμφυτεύω, ἐμφύω, ‘to ingraft,’ is perhaps conceivable. Moreover, the medical term impfen has been current only since the 18th century.
in, preposition, ‘in, into, at,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German in, a common Teutonic preposition with the same form; compare Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, English, Dutch, and Old Saxon in, ‘in.’ Its primitive kinship with Latin in, Greek ἐν, ἐνί, Lithuanian i, and Lettic ë is certain. To this are allied indem, indeß, and indessen.
Infel, Inful, feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German infel, infele, feminine, ‘mitre of a bishop or abbot’; formed from Latin infula.
Ingwer, masculine, ‘ginger,’ from the equivalent Middle High German ingewër, also gingebere, masculine, derived, like Dutch gember, English ginger, French gingembre, Italian zenzovero, zenzero, ‘ginger,’ from the equivalent late Greek ἑιγγίβερις, which comes from the East; compare Arabic zendjebîl, from Prakrit singabêra (Sanscrit çṛñgavêra).
inne, adverb, ‘within,’ from Middle High German and Old High German inne, Old High German inna, ‘inwardly’; compare Gothic inna; allied to in. — So too innen, ‘within,’ Middle High German innen, Old High German innân, innana; Gothic innana, ‘within.’ —
inner, ‘within,’ from Middle High German innere, adjective and adverb, ‘internal,’ Old High German innar, adjective.
innig, adjective, ‘intimate,’ from Middle High German innec(g), adjective, ‘internal, intimate’; a recent formation from Middle High German inne; compare even in Old High German inniglîh, ‘internal.’
Innung, feminine, ‘association,’ from late Middle High German innunge, feminine, ‘connection (with a corporate body), association, guild’; allied to Old High German innôn, ‘to receive (into an alliance), combine’; connected with inne.
Inschlitt, see Unschlitt.
Insel, feminine, ‘island,’ from the equivalent Middle High German insel, insele, feminine; formed from Latin and Romance insula (French île, Italian isola); even in Old High German a divergent form of the word, îsila, was borrowed. The Old Teutonic words for ‘island’ are Aue and Wert.
Insiegel, neuter, ‘seal,’ from the equivalent Middle High German insigel, insigele, Old High German insigili, neuter; corresponding to Anglo-Saxon insegele, Old Icelandic innsigle, with the same sense. See Siegel for the curious history of the cognates.
inständig, adjective, ‘instant, urgent,’ from the equivalent Middle High German *instęndec; Old High German instęndigo is recorded once. Allied to stehen (gestanden); perhaps an imitation of Latin insistere, ‘to pursue zealously’?.
inwendig, see wenden.
Inzicht, feminine, ‘accusation,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German inziht, feminine; an abstract of ziehen; compare also bezichtigen.
irden, adjective, ‘earthen,’ from Middle High German and Old High German irdîn, adjective, ‘made of clay’ (also ‘earthly’); an adjective of material allied to Old High German ërda, ‘earth.’ Also irdisch, with a different application from the equivalent Middle High German irdesch, Old High German irdisc (properly ‘peculiar or belonging to the earth’; with regard to the suffix compare deutsch and Mensch). See Erde.
irgend, adverb, ‘ever, soever, whatever,’ with an affix d (see Mond, Habicht, and Obst), from the equivalent Middle High German (Middle German) iergen, late Old High German iergen, for which in earlier Old High German io węrgin occurs; Old High German węrgin (for *hwęrgin, *hwar-gin), corresponds to Old Saxon hwęr-gin, Anglo-Saxon hwęrgen, in which hwar significs ‘where,’ and -gin, the indefinite particle, ‘any,’ corresponding to Gothic -hun (Latin -cunque, Sanscrit -cana); Gothic *hwar-gin, *hwar-hun, ‘anywhere.’ Respecting Old High German to, compare je. Nirgend, the negative form, occurs even in Middle High German as niergen (a compound of ni, ‘not’).
irre, adjective, ‘in error, astray, insane, confused,’ from the equivalent Middle High German irre, Old High German irri, adjective (Old High German also ‘provoked’); corresponding to Anglo-Saxon yrre, ‘provoked, angry.’ Allied to Gothic airzeis, ‘astray, misled’ (High German rr equal to Gothic rz). Anger was regarded as an aberration of mind (compare also Latin delirare, allied to lira, ‘furrow,’ properly ‘rut’). The root ers appears also in Latin errare, ‘to go astray’ (for *ersare), error, ‘mistake’ (for *ersor); allied also to Sanscrit irasy, ‘to behave violently, be angry’?. —
irren, ‘to be in error, go astray, mislead, deceive,’ from the equivalent Middle High German irren, Old High German irrôn (Gothic *aírzjôn). —
Irre, feminine, ‘mistaken course,’ from Middle High German irre, feminine (compare Gothic airzei, ‘mistaken course, leading astray’).
Irrsal, neuter, ‘erring, erroneous opinion, maze,’ from Middle High German irresal, neuter and masculine (Gothic *airzisl; Old High German -isal is a suffix; see Rätsel).
Isop, masculine, ‘hyssop,’ from the equivalent early Middle High German isôpe (îsǒpe, ispe); derived like Italian isópo from Latin hysôpum, late Greek ὕτσωπος, which is of Oriental origin.
Itzig, Jewish-German from Hebrew Jizchâck, ‘Isaac.’