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An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Humpe

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An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, H (1891)
by Friedrich Kluge, translated by John Francis Davis
Humpe
Friedrich Kluge2511527An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, H — Humpe1891John Francis Davis

Humpe, f., Humpen, m., ‘drinking-cup, bumper, bowl,’ ModHG. only (from the 17th cent.); it seems, however, to be primitive, since correspondences are found in the Aryan languages, Sans. kumbha, m., ‘pot, urn,’ Zend χumba (the initial h of the ModHG. word probably originated like the h in haben, root khabh; yet comp. also Gr. κύμβος, m., ‘vessel, cup’). However remarkable it may seem that a primit. word like Humpen should have been unrecorded in the entire Teut. group until the 17th cent., yet similar examples of such a phenomenon may be adduced; comp. Schwire, ‘stake,’ in ModHG. dial. only, which, like AS. swër, ‘pillar,’ corresponds to Sans. sváru-s, ‘sacrificial stake.’ In this case, however, the supposition that the word has been borrowed is more probable, because Teut. has for the most part adopted foreign terms for drinking vessels (comp. Krug, Krause, Kruke, Kelch); the assumption, on account of Zend χumba, that the word was borrowed at an early period from a Pers. dial. is alluring (as in the case of Pfad).