| mals; *udra- belongs to the same root as Gr. ὕδωρ, ‘water,’ ἄνυδρος, ‘waterless, dry,’ Sans. udan, ‘water,’ ánudra-s, ‘waterless, dry,’ hence ModHG. Otter is etymologically connected with Wasser. Comp. Gr. ὕδρα, ὕδρος, ‘water-snake,’ Lith. údra, ‘otter,’ OSlov. vydra, ‘otter,’ Sans. udra, m., ‘otter.’ —
Otter, f. (thus in Luther), for ‘adder,’ is East MidG.; comp. Du. and LG. adder, E. adder (also Suab. ā̊dr). Oxhoft, n., ‘hogshead,’ MidHG. only, |
from the equiv. LG. and Du. okshoofd, n., to which Swed. oxhufoud and Dan. oxehoved are allied; the origin of the word cannot be ascertained. The sounds point rather to a Scand. dial. than to LG. and Du., because in the latter os signifies ‘ox.’ It is not certain whether the prim. meaning is ‘head of an ox,’ though it was thus popularly understood in LG., as is seen by the corrupt form hogshead, which it assumed on being adopted by Eng. |
P.
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Paar, n., from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. pā̆r, ‘pair, two of the same sort’; formed from Lat. par, ‘pair,’ whence also ModFr. paire, and from this comes E. pair. Pacht, f., ‘compact, lease, tenure,’ from MidHG. (MidG.) paht, with the strictly permutated and more usual forms phaht, phahte (MidHG.), f. and m., ‘rent, lease, justice, law’; so too Du. pacht. The ModHG. form is due to LG. influence, as is indicated by the initial sound compared with MidHG. phahte. It is based on MidLat. pactum, pactus, ‘compact, a sum stipulated by the compact.’ OHG. *pfahta is not recorded, probably only by chance, though OHG. (also MidHG.) pfât occurs a few times. Pack, m. and n., ‘pack, bundle,’ to which late MidHG. backen, packen, ‘to pack up, load,’ is allied; it is connected with a ModTeut. and Rom. class. the source of which has not yet been discovered; comp. Du. pak, Scand. pakke, MidE. packe, E. pack; Ital. pacco, Fr. paquet, &c.; also Ir. and Gael. pac, Bret. pak, which some regarded as the origin of the cognates, though others refer them, with greater probability, to OIc. bagge, ‘burden.’ — Pack, n., ‘rabble,’ is LG., and is historically identical with Pack, ‘bundle.’ paff, interj., ‘puff! bang!’ ModHG. only, agreeing with LG. and Du. paf, ‘puff!’; scarcely allied to late MidHG. baffen, ‘to bark’; it is rather a recent onomatopoetic form. pah! interj., ‘pooh!’ ModHG. only, of a similar origin to paff. Palast, m., ‘palace,’ from MidHG. palast (comp. Axt, Obst, Papst), more usual palas, n. and m. (with a varying accent), ‘large building with one main room, used |
for the reception of guests, for festivities, and espec. for meals,’ and then ‘palace.’ It was adopted in late OHG. (the end of the 11th cent.) from Fr. palais, MidLat. palatium. See Pfalz.
Pallasch, m., ‘sword, falchion,’ ModHG. only, from Russ. palásch, Pol. palasz. Pallisade, f., ‘palisade,’ ModHG. only, from Fr. pallisade, which comes from Ital. palizzata. Palme, f., from the equiv. MidHG. palme, balme, f. and m., OHG. palma, f., ‘palm-tree, palm.’ Borrowed in OHG. from Lat. palma through an ecclesiastical medium. Very many names of plants and trees had been previously introduced from the South of Europe. Pamphlet, n., ModHG. only, from Fr. pamphlet, which was again derived from the equiv. E. pamphlet. The E. word is not a native term, though its origin is not yet determined. Panier, n., from the equiv. MidHG. panier, usually banier, f. and n., ‘banner, standard.’ From Fr. bannière, hence of the same origin as ModHG. Banner. Panther, m., from the equiv. MidHG. panter, pantel, n., ‘panther,’ late OHG. panthera, f., formed from Lat. panther, panthera. Pantoffel, m., ‘slipper,’ first occurs in early ModHG., from Ital. pantofola (Fr. pantoufle), the origin of which has not yet been explained. Panzer, m., from the equiv. MidHG. panzer, panzier, m., ‘coat of mail,’ from Ital. panciera, MidLat. pancerea, ‘coat of mail,’ which is connected with Ital. pancia, ‘belly, body’ (Fr. panse, whence also MidHG. and ModHG. dial. Panse, ‘belly’), and signifies lit. ‘the part of the armour covering the abdomen.’ |
