Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/398

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ghend), are connected with the root get. Hence vergessen means lit. ‘to get beyond one's reach, lose possession of.’ —

vergeuden, vb., ‘to squander, dissipate,’ from MidHG. giuden (übergiuden), wk. vb., ‘to boast, make a parade, squander with ostentation’; unknown to OHG. Goth. *giwiþa might refer to OHG. gëwôn, ‘to open one's mouth wide’ (see gähnen).

Vergnügen, n ‘pleasure, enjoyment, amusement,’ ModHG. only, from late MidHG. vernüegen and genüegen, ‘to content, satisfy.’

verheeren, vb., ‘to ravage, devastate,’ from the equiv. MidHG. verhęrn (verhęrgen), OHG. firhęrjôn; lit. ‘to destroy by war.’ See Heer.

verlangen, vb., ‘to claim, demand,’ from MidHG. (rare) verlangen, ‘to desire ardently,’ usually MidHG. belangen, ‘to desire, long for.’ OSax. langôn, Du. verlangen, AS. lǫngian, E. to long, show the correspondence of the Teut. languages. The word is usually regarded as an old derivative of lang, but this is opposed by the meaning; it might be rather compared with the cognates of gelingen, the primary meaning of which is ‘to aim, strive.’ —

verletzen, vb., ‘to hurt, injure,’ from MidHG. verlętzten, ‘to check, injure, wound’; allied to letzen. —

verläumden, vb., ‘to calumniate, slander,’ from MidHG. verliumden; see Leumund. —

verlieren, vb., ‘to lose,’ from the equiv. MidHG. verliesen, OHG. virliosan; a common Teut. str. vb., to which the equiv. Goth. fraliusan, AS. forleósan, Du. verliezen correspond. Gr. λύω, ‘to loosen’ (ἀλεύω, ‘to avoid, keep far away’?), Lat. solvo (partic. so-lû-tus), ‘to loosen’ (Sans. lû, ‘to tear to pieces’), and Goth. luns, ‘ransom,’ which point to an Aryan lū̆, are closely connected with the Teut. root lus, to which los and lösen are also related. —

Verlies, n., ‘subterranean cave, dungeon, ModHG. only, lit. ‘place where one is lost’ (comp. MidHG. verliesen, ‘to kill’?). —

verloben, vb. ‘to engage, affiance, betroth,’ from the equiv. MidHG. verloben; lit. ‘to promise,’ in which sense MidHG. geloben also occurs; see geloben and Lob. —

Verlust, m., ‘loss, damage, injury,’ from the equiv. MidHG. verlust, OHG. virlust, f.; a verbal abstract of verlieren (comp. Frost with frieren).

vermählen, vb., ‘to marry, unite,’ from late MidHG. vermęhelen, usually męhelen, mahelen, lit. ‘to give in marriage to a man,’ also ‘to take to wife,’ whence generally ‘to affiance, betroth.’ The word

is usually based on OHG. mahal, ‘hall of justice’ (see Mahl and Gemahl); it is better to proceed from the equiv. MidHG. gemahelen, OHG. gimahalen, which are derivatives of OHG. gimahala, ‘spouse.’ For other details concerning its early history see Gemahl. —

vermessen, adj., ‘daring, presumptuous,’ from MidHG. vermëȥȥen, OHG. firmëȥȥan, ‘daring, bold’; a partic. of MidHG. veṛmëȥȥąn, OHG. firmëȥȥan, refl. ‘to estimate one's strength too high, have an overweening opinion of oneself.’ —

Vermögen, n., ‘ability, power, wealth,’ from MidHG. vermügen, n., ‘power, might, capability,’ An infinit. used as a subst., MidHG. vermägen, vermugen, ‘to be in a position, have power,’ OHG. furimugan; allied to mögen, Macht. The prep. vermöge, ‘in virtue of’ (ModHG. only), is based on MidHG. vermüge, f., ‘might, power,’ and is developed like kraft.

vernichten, vb. ‘to annihilate, annul,’ from MidHG. vernihten, ‘to annihilate, think lightly of’; allied to nicht. —

Vernunft, f., ‘reason, understanding,’ from MidHG. vernunft, OHG. firnunft, f., ‘activity of perception, sensual perception, comprehension, insight, understanding’; abstract of vernehmen, ‘to hear, perceive, understand,’ MidHG. vernëmen, OHG. firnëman, ‘to perceive, hear, experience, grasp, seize, understand.’ These figurative meanings are based on some such meaning as in Goth. franiman, ‘to take possession of, seize.’ For a similar evolution see vergessen (with different senses attached to the prefix); begreifen has been similarly developed in its figurative senses.

verplämpern, vb., ‘to spill, waste foolishly,’ ModHG. only, properly a LG. word, of onomatopoetic origin. —

verpönen, vb., ‘to forbid (under penalties), proscribe,’ ModHG. only, from Lat. poena (whence also Pein).

verquicken, vb., ‘to amalgamate (with),’ ModHG. only, lit. perhaps ‘to combine with quicksilver’; allied to Quecksilber (see also erquicken). —

verquisten, vb., ‘to spend foolishly,’ ModHG. only, from Du. kwisten, verkwisten, ‘to squander, lavish’; comp. Goth. fraqistjan, ‘to destroy, annihilate’ (usqistjan, ‘to kill’). Early history obscure.

verraten, vb., ‘to. betray, reveal,’ from the equiv. MidHG. verrâten, OHG. firrâtan; lit. ‘to lead astray by wrong advice.’ —

verrecken, vb., ‘to die’ (of cattle), from