Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/270

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(comp. Schnur). The cognates were probably borrowed in pre-historic times by one tribe from another (comp. mahlen), so that nähen may not be a genuine Teut. word.

-nahr in nahrhaft, from MidHG. nar, OHG. nara, f., ‘rescue, maintaining, sustenance,’ To this is allied the derivative Nahrung, f., ‘nourishment, food,’ from MidHG. narunge, f., maintenance, nourishment’; allied to nähren.

nähren, vb., ‘to nourish, support, foster,’ from MidHG. nęrn, nęrigen, OHG. nęren, nęrian; prop. causative of genesen, hence ‘to cause to recover, make healthy, heal, rescue, keep alive.’ The modern gene is found as early as MidHG. The word corresponds to OSax. nęrian, AS. nęrigan, Goth. nasjan, ‘to rescue.’ The change of s (for z) to West Teut. and Scand. r at the end of the stem in causative vbs. is normal (comp. lehren); allied to OIc. nœ́ra. See nahrhaft and genesen.

Naht, f., ‘seam,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. nât, f.; corresponding to Du. naad. Allied to nähen, root né (Goth. *néþs), and to OHG. nâtâri, nâteri, MidHG. nâtœre, m., ‘sewer, tailor,’ of which the fem. form is MidHG. nâtœrîn, ModHG. Nähterin. See Nadel and nähen.

naiv, adj., ‘naïve, artless,’ borrowed in the last cent. from Fr. naïf.

Name, m., ‘name,’ from the equiv. MidHG. name, OHG. namo, m. This word, to which there are corresponding terms in all the Teut. and Aryan languages, is of the greatest antiquity, and is most widely diffused. Comp. OSax. namo, Du. naam, AS. nǫma, nama, m., E. name; Goth. namô, n. OIc. nafn, n. (for namn), ‘name’; equiv. to the corresponding Sans. nãman-, Gr. ὄ-νουα, Lat. nômen, OSlov. imę, n. (from *ĭn-men, *n-men), Pruss. emmens, OIr. ainm. The Aryan primit. form may have been nō̆men-. Aryan nômen is indicated by MidHG. bennomen and Du. noemen, ‘to name,’ yet the OSlov. and OIr. words present some phonetic difficulties. Formerly Gr. ὄνομα and Lat. nômen were derived from the root γνω-, gnô-, ‘to recognise’ comp. E. to know, see kennen), so that Aryan nō̆men would represent gnômen, and have orig. signified ‘means of recognition’; this view wants phonetic confirmation. Others derive Name from the root nem in nehmen, so that the word would mean ‘that which is accepted,’ which is

likewise improbable; see further nennen and nämlich.

Napf, m., ‘bowl, basin,’ from MidHG. napf, OHG. napf, for an earlier hnapf, m., ‘goblet, dish’; corresponding to MidLG. and Du. nap, ‘bowl,’ AS. hnœp (gen. hnœppes), ‘goblet.’ Of obscure origin. The Teut. cognates passed into Rom.; comp. Ital. nappo, Fr. hanap, ‘goblet.’

Narbe, f. (apparently hardly known in UpG.), ‘scar,’ from the equiv. MidHG. narwe, late OHG. narwa, f., lit. ‘narrowness, contraction’; a fem. subst. from the adj. narwa- (OSax. naru, AS. nearu, E. narrow), ‘narrow’ (comp. Nehrung). Comp. in the non-Teut. languages, Lith. nèr-ti, ‘to thread (a needle),’ narvà, ‘cell of the queen-bee.’

Narde, f. ‘nard, spikenard,’ from the equiv. MidHG. narde, OHG. narda, f.; formed from Gr. and Lat. νάρδος, nardus, introduced also through the translation of the Bible into other languages.

Narr, m., ‘fool,’ from MidHG. and MidLG. narre, m., ‘simpleton, fool,’ OHG. narro, m. ‘madman’; a word peculiar to G., the origin of which is totally obscure. The derivation from MidLat. nârio, ‘sneerer, scoffer, subsannans,’ is not satisfactory, since the Lat. word would be represented by a different form in G.; moreover, there is no reason, as far as the meaning is concerned, to suppose that the word was borrowed (see Gaukler). Allied to OHG. snurring, MidHG. snürrine, ‘buffoon, fool’?.

Narwal, m., ‘sea-unicorn,’ ModHG. only, borrowed from Dan. and Swed. narhval (equiv. to OIc. ná-hvalr), whence also E. narwal. The origin of these cognates, introduced from the North, is obscure. See Walfisch.

naschen, vb., ‘to pilfer dainties,’ from MidHG. naschen, OHG. nascôn, ‘to partake of dainties, pilfer dainties’; for *hnaskôn, allied to Goth. hnasqus, ‘soft, tender,’ AS. hnęsče, ‘soft, tender,’ E. nesh?.

Nase, f., ‘nose,’ from the equiv. MidHG. nase, OHG. nasa, f.; corresponding terms occur in the other Teut. languages, but Goth. *nasa is by chance not recorded. OIc. nǫs, f. (for nasu, nasô); AS. (with gradation o, a) nosu, nasu, E. nose (the form with a in the stem appears in numerous AS. compounds as nœs-), Du. neus. Like other terms for parts of the body, this too is common Aryan (see Fuß, Herz, Ohr, Niere, Zahn, &c.); comp. OInd. nā̆sâ, nas, f..