Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/397

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ster. For a derivative of Vater see under Vetter, Baas, and Base.

Veilchen, n., ‘violet’ (plant), dimin. of earlier ModHG. Veil, from MidHG. vîel, older viôl, n., vîole, f. Borrowed in the early MidHG. period from Lat. viola (with v equal to f, as in Vers, Käfig, Brief, and Vogt). Comp. Ital. viola, dimin. violetta, Fr. violette; also to Du. viool, E. violet.

Veitsbohne, f., ‘kidney-bean,’ ModHG. only; it is so called because it begins to bloom on St. Vitus's day (June 15). —

Veitstanz, m., ‘St. Vitus's dance’ (ModHG. only), MidLat. chorea sancti Vîti, thus named because the help of St. Vitus was implored.

ver-, pref.; in its most frequent significations it is derived from MidHG. ver-, OHG. fir- (far-), which are probably a combination of several other unaccented forms. Comp. the unaccented prefixes Goth. faír-, fra-, faúr- (see also freſſen), which appeared in OHG. as fir- (far-). Goth. faír, fra, and faur appear to correspond respectively to Gr. περί, πρό, and παρα, though their meanings do not coincide. Comp. Sans. pári, ‘round about,’ párâ, ‘away,’ purâ, ‘before,’ prá, ‘before, away.’ — Most of the compounds with ver- (E. for-) are based on Goth. fra-, which denoted ‘the opposite, deterioration, change.’

verblüffen, vb., ‘to disconcert, confuse,’ ModHG. only, from Du. verbluffen, ‘to stun, dishearten.’ Early history obscure. —

verbrämen, vb., ‘to border, fringe,’ from late MidHG. brëm, verbrëmen, n., ‘border, trimming,’ older ModHG. Brame, ‘border, skirts of a wood,’ E. brim (AS. brimme).

verdammen, vb., ‘to condemn, anathematise,’ from the equiv. MidHG. verdamnen, OHG. firdamnôn; borrowed, like other ecclesias. terms in the OHG. period, from Lat. damnâre (comp. Fr. damner, Ital. damnare), with the prefix ver- to give a bad sense to the word. —

verdauen, vb., ‘to digest,’ from the equiv. MidHG. verdöuwen (verdöun), verdouwen, with the simple forms döuwen, douwen, OHG. douwen (dęwen), firdouwen, ‘to digest’; comp. Du. verduwen. The assumed Teut. þaujan, ‘to digest,’ is probably connected with tauen (lit. ‘to dissolve’). —

verderben, str. vb., ‘to spoil, destroy, corrupt,’ from MidHG. verdërben, str. vb., ‘to come to nought, perish, die,’ with which the corresponding causative MidHG. verdęrben, ‘to ruin, kill,’ was con-

fused in ModHG. OHG. *dërban, Goth. *þaírban, str. vb., ‘to perish, die,’ is wanting. The meaning of the MidHG. words points to a connection with sterben, so that we must assume a double root, Aryan terbh, sterbh (comp. Stier and Drossel (2) ); in that case neither derb, with its divergent meaning, nor dürfen can be allied. —

Verderben, n., ‘destruction,’ from MidHG. verdërben, n., properly an infinitive used as a subst. —

verdrießen, vb., ‘to grieve, vex, trouble,’ from MidHG. verdrieȥen, str. vb., ‘to excite anger, produce weariness’; also the equiv. MidHG. be-, erdrieȥen, from OHG. bi-, irdrioȥan, str. vb. Comp. Goth. usþriutan, ‘to molest, revile,’ AS. þreátian (E. to threaten), with â-þreótan, ‘to be disgusted,’ Du. droten, ‘to threaten,’ with verdrieten, ‘to vex,’ OIc. þrjóta, ‘to want, fail’ (þrot, ‘want,’ þraut, ‘hard task, trouble.’ The great development of the str. verbal root, Teut. þrū̆t, makes it difficult to find undoubted cognates in non-Teut.; OSlov. trudŭ, ‘pain, trouble,’ truzdą, ‘to torment,’ Lat. trûdo, ‘to crowd, push,’ point to an Aryan root trū̆d. —

ModHG. Verdruß, m., ‘vexation, annoyance’; in MidHG. usually urdruȥ, urdrütze, verdrieȥ. —

verdutzt, adj., ‘disconcerted, abashed,’ from MidHG. vertutzt, a partic. of MidHG. vertutzen, vertuȥȥen, ‘to be deafened, become silent’; remoter history obscure. See vertuschen.

vergällen, vb., ‘to embitter,’ from MidHG. vergellen, wk. vb., ‘to make as bitter as gall, embitter’; allied to Galle. —

verganten, see Gant. —

vergattern, vb., ‘to enclose with trellis-work, assemble (soldiers) by beat of drum,’ from late MidHG. (LRhen.) vergatern, ‘to assemble.’ Properly a LG. word; comp. Du. vergaderen, to which the cognates of E. to gather (see Gatte) are connected. —

vergebens, adv., ‘in vain, to no purpose,’ from MidHG. vergëbene (-gëbenes), ‘gratis, in vain’; allied to vergëben (OHG. firgëban), ‘useless, to no purpose,’ lit. ‘given away,’ a partic. used as an adj. —

vergessen, vb., ‘to forget,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vergëȥȥen, OHG. firgëȥȥan, str. vb.; a West Teut. word; comp. Du. vergeten, AS. forgitan, E. to forget. Also the equiv. OHG. irgëzzan, MidHG. ergëȥȥen. The compound verb is the relic of a strong verbal root get, ‘to reach, attain,’ whence E. to get; comp. Goth. bigitan, ‘to find, OIc. ‘to reach, attain,’ In non-Teut., Lat. prae-hendere, ‘to group,’ Gr. χανδάνω (Aryan root ghed,