Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/219

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Kuchen, m., ‘cake,’ from the equiv. MidHG. kuoche, OHG. chuohho, m.; comp. MidLG. kôke, Du. koek. Besides these forms with old ô in the stem (comp. AS. cœ́čil, MidE. kêchel, ‘little cake,’ E. dial. keech) there occurs in the Scand. and E. languages an apparently graded form with a — E. cake, and the equiv. Scand. kaka, f. This gradation seems to point to a Teut. origin of the cognates, yet their relation to the Rom. class (Catal. coca, Rheto-Rom. cocca, Picard. couque, ‘cake’), connected with Lat. coquus, coquere (AS. côc, OHG. chohhôn), is not clear. Moreover, on the assumption that the word was borrowed, ô in OHG. chuohho would correspond exactly to the ô in AS. côc, ‘cook.’

Küchenschelle, f., ‘pasque flower,’ ModHG. only, interpreted from one of the variants Kuh-, Kühschelle as Kühchenschelle; its relation to the equiv. Fr. coquelourde is obscure; the ModHG. form is certainly a corruption.

Küchlein, n., ‘chicken,’ ModHG. only; a MidG. and LG. word introduced by Luther into HG. (in UpG. dial. hüenli, West MidG. hünkel, Suab. luggele). To the MidG. and LG. küchen, küken, correspond AS. čŷčen (plur. čŷcnu), MidE. chîken, E. chick, chicken, Scand. kjúklingr, Du. kieken, keuken. The Goth. dimin. termination -îna- (*kiukein) frequently occurs in the names of animals, Goth. gait-ein, AS. tiččen (Goth. *tikkein), AS. hêčen (Goth. *hôkein), n. ‘kid’; see Füllen, Geiß, Schwein, Zicklein, and Mädchen. The substan. on which the word is based is AS. cocc, E. cock, Scand. kokkr (to which Goth. *kiukein, n., is related by gradation). There is no reason for thinking that the Teut. word was borrowed from Rom. — Fr. coq, like AS. cocc (UpG. gockel, gückel), is a recent onomatopoetic term also, for W. and Corn. cog, ‘cuckoo,’ points also to the base cucâ (so too OIr. cúach, ‘cuckoo,’ from coucâ). Comp. Kuckuck.

kucken, see gucken.

Kuckuck, m., ‘cuckoo,’ from the equiv. late MidHG. kuckuk (rare), m.; the usual term in MidHG. is gouch, which was introduced in the 15th cent. from Du. (koekoek, early MidDu. cuccûc). An onomatopoetic term widely diffused, but it is not necessary to assume that it was borrowed in most of the languages, E. cuckoo, Fr. coucou, Lat. cuculus, W. and Corn. cog, Or. cúach. See also Küchlein.

Kufe (1.), f., ‘runner of a sledge’; MidHG. *kuofe and *kuoche are wanting with this meaning, so too OHG. *chuofa; OHG. chuohha is found, however, in slito-chôha, ‘runner of a sledge’ (see examples of the interchange of k-ch and p-f under kriechen); comp. MidLG. kôke, ‘runner of a sledge.’ Perhaps Lith. żágrė, f., ‘forked piece of wood on a plough,’ is allied, and also its cognates żáginýs, m., ‘stake, post,’ żágaras, m., ‘dry twig.’ From these the evolution of meaning in Kufe may be inferred.

Kufe (2.), f., ‘coop, vat,’ from the equiv. MidHG. kuofe, OHG. chuofa, f. The prim. form of the word previous to the HG. permutation of consonants is represented by OSax. côpa, f., and the equiv. E. coop. From MidLat. côpa, a variant of cûpa, ‘cask,’ whence Du. kuip, ‘coop’; comp. also Kübel. The word must have been borrowed before the 7th cent., since it has undergone permutation in HG.; perhaps it was introduced with the culture of the vine.

Küfer, m., from the equiv. küefer, m., ‘cooper’; comp. Du. kuiper, E. cooper.

Kugel, f., ‘ball, bullet, globe,’ from the equiv. MidHG. kugel, kugele, f.; comp. MidLG. and Du. kogel. The word is not recorded in the other languages. It is allied to ModHG. Kaul-, from kûl, kugl, and also to ModHG. Keule, with which E. cudgel and AS. cyčgel is closely connected; Keule is a ‘pole with a ball-shaped end.’ Kugel and Kegel cannot possibly be related by gradation.

Kuh, f., ‘cow,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. kuo, f.; comp. MidLG. kô, Du. koe, E. cow, AS. cû, OIc. kýr, f. (Goth. *kôs); Teut. type kô-, f., ‘cow.’ This word, like the names of other domestic animals, is found in the non-Teut. languages, and in the form of gō̆w (gô) it is common to the Aryan group; comp. Ind. gâus (acc. gâm), f., Gr. βούς (stem βοϝ), Lat. bos (stem bov-). These terms are both mas. and fem., hence Sans. gâus, m., ‘bull, cattle,’ f., ‘cow’; Gr. βούς, ‘cattle, ox, cow’; Lat. bos, ‘ox, cow’; Lett. gůws, ‘cow.’ This term, like other primit. Aryan words (comp. Pferd, Schaf, Hund, Ochse, &c.), proves that the Aryans, before the division into the later tribes, were already acquainted with domestic animals.

Kühl, adj., ‘cool,’ from the equiv. MidHG. küel, küele, adj., also a regularly non--