Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/278

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OHG. odo, earlier ëddo, MidHG. ode, od. This abnormal r is, according to some, a compar. suffix; according to others it is simply an suffix due to the influence of OHG. wëdar, MidHG. wëder, ‘neither.’ OHG. ëddo, ëdo, correspond further to Goth. aíþþau, ‘or,’ which is a compound of Goth. iþ, ‘and’ (Lat. et), and þau, ‘or.’ E. or has no connection with this word, since it originated in AS. âhwœþer; Goth. aíþþau is AS. oþþe and ëþþa, ‘or,’ which became obsolete ar an early period.

Odermennig, m., ‘agrimony,’ a corruption of the equiv. Lat. agrimonia, which appears under various forms in MidHG. odermenie, adermonie.

Ofen, m., ‘from the equiv. MidHG. oven, OHG. ovan, m., ‘oven’; so too with the same meaning MidLG. and Du. oven, AS. ofen, E. oven, OIc. ofn, ogn (Swed. ugn), Goth. aúhns; the word is common to Teut., hence the thing signified must also be primit. The variation of guttural and labial is seen also in the forms primit. cognate with these, Sans. ukhâ, ‘pot,’ and Gr. ἱπνός, ‘oven’ (for uknos, which is indicated by Goth. aúhns). The orig. sense, ‘pot,’ seems also to follow from AS. ofnet, ‘little vessel.’

offen, adj., from the equiv. MidHG. offen, OHG. offan, adj., ‘open’; it has the same meaning in all the Teut. languages except. Goth., where *upans is wanting. Comp. OIc. openn, AS. and E. open, Du. open, OSax. opan; the adj. seems similar in form to a partic., but the primit. verb cannot be adduced. It is also doubtful whether auf, OSax. upp, Goth. iup, is allied, so that offen would mean lit. ‘drawn up.’

oft, adv., from the equiv. MidHG. oft, ofte, OHG. ofto, adv., ‘often, frequently’; corresponding. to Goth. ufta, OIc. opt, AS. oft, E. oft (extended form often), OSax. oft, ofto, ‘often.’ These adv. forms seem to be petrified cases of an obsolete subst. or adj. partic.; they have also been connected with the partic. of the Sans. root uc, ‘to be fond of doing.’

Oheim, Ohm, m., from the equiv. MidHG. ôheim, œheim (also with final n instead of m), OHG. ôheim, m., ‘uncle’; corresponding to Du. oom, AS. eám, ‘uncle’ (contracted from *eáhâm), MidE. œ̂m, ‘uncle,’ also early ModE. eme (whence, Eames as a prop. name). By inference from OFris. êm, ‘mother's brother,’ and Lat. avunculus, the lit. meaning of Oheim is

‘uncle on the mother's side’ (in contrast to Vetter, Lat. patruus). Goth. *áuháims, corresponding to the simply West Teut. cognates, is wanting. The etymology of the word is difficult to determine. The first syllable is generally regarded as cognate with Lat. avun-culus, ‘uncle,’ which is the dimin. of avus, ‘grandfather’ (so too Lith. avynas and OSlov. ujĭ, from *aujos, ‘uncle’); to Lat. avus (to which OIr. aue, ‘grandson,’ is allied), Goth. awô, f., ‘grandmother,’ OIc. áe, ‘great-grandfather,’ corresponds. With reference to the second syllable a Teut. haima-, ‘honour,’ is assumed; therefore Oheim means lit. ‘enjoying the honours of a grandfather.’ A more probable assumption is ‘possessing the grandfather's house,’ ‘grandfather's heir’ (hence Lat. avunculus, lit. ‘little grandfather’). Others join the h to the first syllable and regard it as the representative of the Lat. c in avuncu-lus, and divide the Goth. word thus, *auh-aims, so that aima is a dimin. suffix for aina. It is to be observed that after the remarks under Neffe and Vetter, MidHG. óheim may also mean ‘nephew, sister's son.’

Ohm, m. and m., ‘awm’ (liquid measure, about 40 galls.), from MidHG. âme, ôme (â before nasals is changed into ô, comp. Mohn, Mond, Ohmet, and ohne), f., m., and n., ‘awm, measure’; corresponding to Du. aam, E. awm, Scand. áma. They are based on MidLat. ama, ‘vessel, wine measure’ (Gr. ἄχη, ‘water-pail,’ Lat. ama, ‘water bucket’). See ahmen.

Ohmet, n., ‘aftermath,’ from the equiv. MidHG. âmât, OHG. âmâd, n.; also in the same sense with a different prefix MidHG. uëmet, OHG. uomât, n., ‘second mowing of the grass’; for OHG. mâd see under Mahd. The OHG. syllables â and uo are nominal prefixes; OHG. uo also signifies ‘after’ in the compounds uo-quëmo, ‘descendant,’ uo-chumft, ‘succession’; â-, which is usually a negative prefix (see Ohnmacht), means ‘remaining,’ in OHG. â-leiba, MidHG. âleibe, ‘relics.’

ohne, prep., from the equiv. MidHG. ân, âne, OH . âno, prep., ‘without’; corresponding to OSax. âno, MidDu. aen, OIc. án, earlier ón (from *ánu), ‘without’; in Goth., with a different gradation, inu. Undoubtedly the negative un- and Goth. ni, ‘not’ (see nie), are also allied to ohne, as well as Gr. ἄνευ, ‘without.’ —

ohn- in ohngeachtet, ‘notwithstanding,’ ohnlängst, ‘not long