Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/357

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Goth. the only allied term is sauþs, m., ‘offering’ (OIc. sauðr, ‘sheep,’ prop. ‘sacrificial animal’). An Aryan root sut seems to be wanting in the cognate languages.

Siedler, m., ‘settler’; comp. Einsiedel.

Sieg, m., ‘victory, triumph, conquest,’ from the equiv. MidHG. sige, also sic (g), OHG. sigi, sigu, m.; a common Teut. word; comp. Goth. sigis, OIc. sigr, AS. segor and sige, Du. zege. The great antiquity of the Teut. stem segoz, sigiz, is attested both by the proper names Segi-mêrus, Segi-mundus, and Segestes, mentioned by Tacitus, and by the terms in the cognate languages; Aryan séghos, n., ‘prevailing might,’ is implied also by Ind. sáhas and Zend hazaṅh, ‘power, might, victory.’ Comp. Sans. sah, ‘to overpower, vanquish, conquer,’ to which Gr. ἔχω (aor. ἔ-σχ-ον) and OIr. segaim, ‘I attain,’ are closely allied.

Siegel, n., ‘seal, signet,’ from the equiv. late MidHG. sigel, m. (wanting in OHG.); in the classical period MidHG. insigel, insigele, OHG. insigili, n. It cannot be determined whether MidHG. sigel, which was substituted for the latter term, was borrowed at a later period from Lat. sigillum, or whether it was formed again from MidHG. besigelen (OHG. bisigelen), ‘to seal,’ and entsigelen (OHG. intsigilen), ‘to unseal’; nor is it known how OHG. insigili is related to Lat. sigillum. In Goth. a term sigljô, n., occurs.

Siele, f., ‘brace, strap,’ from the equiv. MidHG. sile, OHG. silo; the latter is allied to the root sī̆, ‘to bind,’ in Seil; on the MidHG. variant sil are based ModHG. Sill, n., and Sille, f.

Sigrist, m., ‘sexton, sacristan,’ from the equiv. MidHG. sigriste, OHG. (also OLG.) sigristo; borrowed during the OHG. period contemporaneously with Priester, predigen, and especially with Küster and Meßner, from Lat. sacrista, whose MidLat. variant segrista(nus) leads to OFr. segretain (in ModFr. sacristain, Ital. sagrestano, E. sexton).

Silbe, f., ‘syllable,’ from the equiv. MidHG. silbe, earlier sillabe, OHG. sillaba, f.; borrowed from Lat. and Gr. syllaba, probably at the same period as Schule, and the words relating to writing, such as Brief and schreiben.

Silber, n., ‘silver,’ from the equiv. MidHG. silber, OHG. silbar, earlier silabar, n.; a common Teut. word with corresponding forms; comp. Goth. silubr, AS. seolofer,

seolfor, E. silver, Du. zilver, OSax. silaƀar. Tins primit. Teut. term is pre-historically connected (comp. Gold) with the equiv. Slav. cognates, OSlov. sĭrebro, Lith. sidabras. The implied *siloƀro- is certainly not an Aryan word; perhaps the Teutons adopted it in their migration from a non-Aryan tribe and transmitted it to the Slavs. The Lat.-Gr. term argentum, ἄργυρος, seems, like the equiv. Sans. rajatá (in the Vedas silver is unknown), to point to a primit. Aryan term of which Teut. has retained no trace. Another non-Aryan word of prehistoric Teut. is Hanf.

Sill, n., ‘tether, string’; see Siele, so too Sille.

Simmer, n. ‘half a bushel,’ for earlier ModHG. and MidHG. sümmer, whose variants sümber, sumber (sümbrîn), lead to OHG. sumbir (sumbrîn). ‘basket.’ The suffix în occurs in several terms denoting vessels (see Kessel); the syllable ber in MidHG. sümber recalls Eimer and Zuber.

Simpel, m., ‘simpleton,’ ModHG. only, from the adj. simpel, which comes from Fr. simple.

Sims, m. and n., ‘cornice, shelf, mantelpiece,’ from the equiv. MidHG. simȥ, simeȥ, OHG. simiȥ (OHG. simiȥstein, ‘capitellum’); a corresponding *simito- is wanting in the other Teut. languages; its pre-historic existence is proved by its kinship with Lat. sîma, ‘ogee, moulding.’ To MidHG. simeȥ belongs the prop. collective gesimeȥe, ModHG. Gesims. The derivation from Fr. cymaise (Gr. κυμάτιον) is inconceivable.

Sinau, m., ‘lady's mantle’; the earlier ModHG. variants Sindau and Sindawe point to MidHG. and OHG. *sintou, whose lit. sense, ‘ever-dew’ (see Singrün), characterises the plant more simply than the terms Taubehalt, lit. ‘dew-holder,’ and Tanschlüssel, lit. ‘dew-key,’ which are applied to it.

Sindflut, see Sündflut.

singen, vb., ‘to sing, chant,’ from the equiv. MidHG. singen, OHG. and OSax. singan; a common Teut. vb. occurring in the same sense in all the dials.; comp. Goth. seggwan, OIc. syngva, AS. singan, E. to sing, Du. zingen (yet Goth. also ‘to read,’ OHG. also ‘to crow’). The Teut. root singw, which appears also in Sang, &c., is only doubtfully related to some terms in the non-Teut. languages; it is said to be primit. allied to sagen (Teut. root sag, from Aryan seq), and to this there is no phonetic