Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/117

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most frequently considered to be partly translated and partly borrowed from MidLat. pulletrus, poledrus, prop. ‘colt,’ which signifies ‘rack’ in Span. and Port. (potro), “like Lat. equuleus from equus, because it bore some resemblance to a horse.” MidLat. poledrum is derived again from Gr. πῶλος, ‘foal.’ “The wooden horse and the wooden ass — frames with a sharp-edged back, upon which the delinquents were compelled to ride — were favourite instruments of torture.”

foppen, vb., ‘to quiz, rally, banter,’ early ModHG. only, from slang.

fordern, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. vordern, OHG. fordarôn, ‘to demand, request, challenge, summon’; corresponding to Du. vorderen; a specifically Ger. form, orig. unknown to the other dialects, yet the word found its way from Ger. into Dan. and Swed. It is a derivative of vorder.

fördern, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. vürdern, vurdern, OHG. furdiren (also fordarôn), ‘to promote, take an active part in, help’; like fordern, from vorder.

Forelle, f., ‘trout,’ with a foreign accent, for the genuine dialectal (Franc.) fórelle, still existing; dimin. of an older Forene (whence *Forenle, Forelle); comp. MidHG. fórelle, fórle, forhen, forhe, f., ‘trout,’ OHG. forhana, f., ‘trout’; comp. also OLG. forna, furnie, AS. fôrne. Probably not from Föhre, OHG. foraha, ‘the fish living near firs, in the brooks of fir forests.’ It is probably connected with the Aryan adjs. in the cognate languages, meaning ‘spotted, speckled.’ Teut. forhana, from pre-Teut. prknâ; comp. Sans. pṛ́çni, ‘speckled,’ and Gr. περκνός, ‘livid, dusky’ (πέρκη, ‘perch’).

Forke, f., see Furke.

Form, f., ‘form, fashion, pattern, mould,’ from ModHG. (post-classical), forme, form, f., ‘form, shape,’ from Lat. and Rom. forma.

Formel, f., ‘formula, form,’ late ModHG., from Lat. formula.

forschen, vb., ‘to search, investigate,’ from MidHG. vorsken, OHG. forskôn (rarely Franc. forspôn, with assimilation), ‘to demand, ask’; a form peculiar to HG., unknown to the remaining dialects, and pointing to Goth. *faúrskôn, *faúrhskôn. The sk is a derivative like Lat. sc (comp. dreschen, wünschen, waschen). Goth. *faúrskôn would be the normal form for faúrhskôn, like Goth. waúrstw, ‘labour,’ for waúrhstw. The Teut. root forh is identical with the

root of fragen, from the pre-Teut. root pṛk (see fragen). An sc derivative is also seen in Lat. poscere (for porscere), ‘to demand,’ as well as in the Sans. root pṛch, ‘to ask.’

Forst m., ‘forest, wood,’ from MidHG. vorst, OHG. forst, m., ‘wood’; also the MidHG. variants vŏrëst, fŏrest, fŏrest, fŏreist (but probably not fôrest), n., ‘wood, forest’; these forms are certainly of Romance origin, — MidLat. and Romance foresta, whence Fr. forêt. It is questionable whether the OHG. forst, vorst, m., are also derived from Romance. Opinions are divided on this point; some etymologists connect the Rom. word with Lat. foris, ‘outside’; others more probably refer OHG. forst to OHG. foraha, ‘fir’; hence forst would be lit. ‘fir wood.’ OHG. forst might also be connected with Goth. faírguni, ‘mountain.’ Goth. *faúrst for faúrhst, ‘mountain forest,’ would have to be construed like the assumed Goth. *faúrskôn for *faúrhskôn, mentioned under forschen.

fort, adv., ‘forwards, continuously, away,’ from MidHG. vort, adv., ‘forwards, further, continuously.’ OHG. *ford is wanting; it would correspond to OSax. forth, AS. forþ, E. forth; Goth. *faúrþ, and its compar. faúrþis, adv., ‘formerly’? Fort, OTeut. forþ, from an earlier frþo, pṛto, is allied to vor. See fürder, fordern, fördern, and vorder.

Fracht, f., ‘freight, load, cargo,’ ModHG. only, from LG. fracht; comp. Du. vracht, E. fraught, freight; it signified orig. ‘reward, charge for conveyance,’ and afterwards ‘the load itself.’ Comp. OHG. frêht (probably implying Goth. *frá-aihts), ‘earnings, reward,’ gifrêhtôn, ‘to merit’; the restricted meaning of the modern dialects is seen first in MidDu. and MidE., and also passed into Romance — Fr. fret. Comp. eigen.

Frack, m., ‘dress coat,’ ModHG. only; comp. frac, ‘dress coat’; its etymology and native source obscure, hardly to be sought for in Fr. froc, ‘monk’s habit.’ Comp. E. frock.

fragen, vb., ‘to ask, inquire, interrogate,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vrâgen, OHG. frâgên (with the rare variant frâhên); corresponding to OSax. frâgôn, Du. vragen; confined to the Teuts. of MidEurope (Goth. *frêhan, *frêgan), with the meaning ‘to ask,’ from a Teut. root frē̆h, from which the Goth. pret. frah