Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/116

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'corn field,’ was unknown to the older language; MidHG. vluor, m., f., ‘cornfield, floor, ground.’ The meanings ‘entrance to a house, vestibule, paved floor,’ belong to MidHG. and LG.; comp. Du. vloer, ‘vestibule, barn-floor,’ AS. flôr, m., f., ‘vestibule, barn-floor,’ also ‘storey,’ E. floor; Scand. flór, ‘floor’ of a cow-house (Goth. flôrus is wanting). The resulting prim. meaning, ‘floor,’ has been extended only in HG. to ‘corn-field.’ Teut. flóru-s, from pre-Teut. plôrus, plârus, is most closely related to OIr. lár for *plár, ‘floor, paved floor.’ OPruss. plonis, ‘barn-floor,’ has a different suffix; it is allied to Lith. plónas, ‘flat’; hence perhaps it may be connected with Lat. plânus.

flüstern, vb., ‘to whisper,’ earlier ModHG. flistern, from OHG. flistran, ‘to caress,’ to which the old (also Swiss) forms flismen, flispern, ‘to whisper,’ are allied; comp. also Du. fluisteren.

Fluß, m., ‘river, stream, flow,’ from MidHG. vluȥ, OHG. fluȥ, m., ‘river, stream, cast, bronze cast, rheumatism’; in these senses simply a ModHG. derivative of fließen, pointing to Goth *fluti-. E. flyte signifies a peculiar kind of ‘vessel, pontoon.’ For the genuinely Teut. word for ‘river, flowing water,’ see under Au; comp. also Strom.

flüssig, adj., ‘fluid, liquid,’ from MidHG. vlüȥȥec, ‘liquid, flowing,’ OHG. fluȥȥig; like Fluß, a specifically HG. form.

Flut, f., ‘flood, inundation, billow,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vluot, m., f., OHG. fluot, m.; a word common to Teut.; comp. Goth. flôdus, f., OIc. flôþ, AS. flôd, m., n., E. flood, OSax. flôd, Du. vloed. Goth. flôdus, from pre-Teut. plôtú-s, is based upon a Teut. root flô (from pre-Teut. plô); comp. AS. flôwan, equiv. to E. to flow, OIc. flóa, ‘to flow.’ Akin to the Gr. root πλω in πλώ-ω, ‘to float, sail, πλωτός, ‘floating, sailing, navigable.’ Perhaps this Aryan root plô is related to the Aryan root plu mentioned under fließen and Fluder; yet there is no direct connection between Flut and fließen and Gr. πλύνω.

Focke, f., ‘sail on the foremast,’ simply ModHG., borrowed from LG.; comp. Du. fok, ‘foremast,’ Dan. fok, Swed. fock, ‘foresail.’

Fohlen, n., ‘foal,’ from MidHG. vol, vole, OHG. folo, m., ‘colt, foal’; comp. Goth. fula, m., ‘foal (of an ass),’ OIc. fole, ‘foal’ (of a horse, rarely of an ass), AS.

fola, m., E. foal; a term common to Teut. for the young of a horse or an ass, derived from pre-Teut. pelón-, Related by gradation to Gr. πῶλος, ‘colt,’ as a general term ‘young animal,’ and Lat. pullus, ‘the young,’ especially of fowls. See Füllen.

Föhn, m., a Swiss word, ‘humid and tempestuous south wind’; the corresponding term in MidHG. is wanting, though OHG. fônna, f. (fônno, m.), ‘rainy wind, whirlwind,’ is recorded; from Lat. favonius (the intermediate form is faunio-), whence also Ital. favonio, Rhæto-Rom. favuogn.

Föhre, f., ‘fir,’ from MidHG. vorhe, OHG. forha, f., ‘pine-tree’; corresponding to AS. furh, f., E. fir (MidE. firre, formed from Dan. fyr), OIc. fura, f., ‘fir’; Goth. *faúrhus, f., is wanting. If the initial f is to be regarded as in vier related to Lat. quattuor, Föhre may be connected with Lat. quercus, ‘oak’; for the change of meaning Eiche and Tanne might be compared. In earlier ModHG. Ferch, ‘oak,’ is also recorded once, and is akin to OHG. vereh-eih, Lomb. fereha, ‘æsculus.’ Thus the connection between Föhre and quercus (pre-Teut. qṛku-) is certain. In any case, Feuer is not a cognate. Fichte, Birke, Buche, Föhre are the few names of trees whose existence can be traced beyond Teut. Comp. also Kiefer.

folgen, vb., ‘to follow, succeed, result, obey,’ from the equiv. MidHG. volgen, OHG. folgên; comp. Du. volgen, AS. fylgan, folgian, E. to follow, OIc. fylgja; the verb common to West Teut. and Scand. for ‘follow,’ which has supplanted the common Aryan verbal root seg (see sehen), Lat. sequi. The origin of the cognates is uncertain. There are indications that the verbal stem is a compound; the first component may be voll; comp. AS. ful-eóde, ‘he followed,’ AS. and OLG. fulgangan, OHG. fola gân, ‘to follow.’ Consequently gehen (OHG. gên, gân) is the second part of the word. The composite nature of the word is supported by the fact that there are no old and widely diffused derivatives of the verb. It is true that the connection between the sense ‘to follow’ and the prefix voll has not yet been explained. —

Folge, f., ‘sequel, result,’ from MidHG. volge, f., ‘retinue, succession, forced service, pursuit,’ &c. OHG. sëlbfolga, ‘faction.’

foltern, vb., ‘to put to the rack, torture,’ from late MidHG. vultern, ‘to put on the rack.’ Akin to Folter, ‘rack,’ early ModHG only. of obscure origin. It is