An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/neigen
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
neigen, verb, ‘to tilt, bend, incline,’ from Middle High German nîgen, strong verb, ‘to bow,’ and neigen, weak verb, ‘to cause to bow, humiliate, lower’; Old High German nîgan, from hnîgan, strong verb, ‘to bow,’ and neigen, weak verb, ‘to incline, bend.’ It corresponds to Old Saxon hnîgan, hnêgian, Anglo-Saxon hnîgan, hnœ̂gan, Gothic hneiwan, verb, ‘to bow, sink,’ hnaiwjan, verb, ‘to humiliate, bend’ (for *hneigwan, *hnaigwjan); the weak verb is the causative of the strong verb. The Teutonic root hnîgw, from pre-Teutonic knī̆gh (or rather knī̆q?), is uncertain in the other Aryan languages. Perhaps Latin co-nîveo, nîco, nicto, ‘to wink, nod,’ are connected with the Teutonic cognates.