Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/222

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to the HG. permutation (of t to ȥȥ) from Lat. cucúrbita, whence also AS. cyrfet. Whether the reduplicated form of the Lat. word was influenced by Teut. itself cannot be determined. From Lat. cucurbita are also derived Ital. cucuzza, Fr. gourde, whence E. gourd, Du. kauwoerde.

küren, vb., ‘to choose, select,’ ModHG. only, derived from an older kŭr, f., ‘choice,’ equiv. to Kur.

Kürschner, m., ‘furrier,’ from the equiv. MidHG. kursenœ̂re, m. (sch from s, as in Arsch, birschen, and Hirsch), a derivative of MidHG. kürsen, f., ‘fur coat,’ OHG. chursinna, chrusina, AS. crûsne, ‘fur coat’; MidLat. crusna, crusina, crusinna. Cognate terms also occur in Slav. (OSlov. krŭzno, Russ. korzno), in which, however, the word did not originate any more than it did in G., yet it may have been introduced into G. through a Slav. medium, perhaps from some Northern language. The prim. kinship of OHG. chursina with Gr. βύρσα, ‘hide, skin,’ is scarcely conceivable.

kurz, adj., ‘short,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. kurz; a very curious loanword from Lat. curtus. What may have led to its adoption is even more obscure than in the case of sicher (from Lat. securus). The assumption of its being borrowed is supported only by the form kurt (without the change of t to z), which appears also in strictly UpG. records; comp. OHG. porta, pforta, and pforza, from Lat. porta. The form curt is OSax. and OFris.; comp. also Du. kort and Ic. kortr. The Lat. loan-word passed by degrees into all the Teut. dialects except E., which preserved an OTeut. word for ‘short’ with which the Lat. word, from its close resemblance in sound, has been confused — AS. sceort, E. short (comp. OHG. skurz, ‘short’); these cannot, on account of their want of permutation, be primit. allied to Lat. curtus. For the cognates of E. short see Schürze.

Kuß, m., ‘kiss,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. kus (gen. kusses); corresponding to Du. kus, OSax. cus, cos (gen. -sses), AS. coss, OIc. koss, m.; a common Teut. word for ‘kiss,’ wanting only in Goth. (*kussus, comp. Goth. kukjan, East Fris. kükken, ‘to kiss’). A pre-Teut. root gut, gud, ‘to kiss,’ does not occur. Indubitable cognates are not found in the non-Teut.

languages unless Ir. bus, ‘lip,’ and Gael. bus, ‘mouth with thick lips,’ are allied. —

küssen, vb., ‘to kiss,’ from MidHG. and MidLG. küssen, OHG. chussen; AS. cyssan, E. to kiss, OIc. kyssa.

Küssen, see Kissen.

Küste, f., ModHG. only, from the equiv. Du. kuste, kust, ‘coast,’ which, like E. coast, MidE. coste, is of Rom. origin, OFr. coste, côte, MidLat. costa, ‘coast.’

Küster, m., ‘sacristan,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. kustor, kuster, m. Adopted on the introduction of Christianity. While Kreuz, from OHG. chrûzi, is based upon the Lat. stem cruci-, acc. sing. crucem (and not the nomin. crux), Küster, on the other hand, is not derived from Lat. custodem (stem custodi-), or even from the non. sing. custos, since in the OHG. period the change of s into r no longer occurs. We have rather to proceed from an actually recorded MidLat. custor, custorem, a rare variant of the more prevalent form custod-, which appears also in Fr. coutre, OFr. costre, ‘sacristan.’ MidLat. custos (scil. ecclesiae), ‘warden, guardian of the church jewels, holy vessels, &c., presbyter s. clericus cui ecclesiae et templi cura incumbit.’ With the same sense MidLat. costurarius, whence OSax. costarâri, as well as ModHG. dial. Gusterer.

Kutsche, f., ‘coach,’ first occurs in early ModHG. from Hungar. koszi, ‘a carriage from Koszi’ (near Raab); a characteristic modern term common to the Europ. languages; comp. Fr. and Span. coche (E. coach), Ital. coccio, Du. koets.

Kutte, f., ‘cowl,’ from MidHG. kutte, f., ‘monk's habit’; comp. MidLat. cotta, cottus, ‘tunica clericis propria,’ which, however, with the corresponding Rom. words (Fr. cotte, ‘‘petticoat,’ Ital. cotta), may be traced back to Teut. kotta-, appearing in OHG. chozzo, MidHG. kotze, ‘coarse woollen stuff, cover.’ Comp. Kotze.

Kutteln, f., ‘chitterlings, tripe,’ from MidHG. kutel, f., ‘gut, tripe’; as a genuine UpG. word it is probably not cognate with LG. küt, ‘entrails,’ but connected rather with Goth. qiþus, ‘belly.’

Kux, m., ‘share in a mine,’ earlier ModHG. and dial. Ruckus; first occurs in early ModHG., perhaps introduced from the Slav. frontier mountains.