Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/399

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MidHG. (rare) verrecken, ‘to stretch out the limbs rigidly in death’; allied to recken. —

verrucht, adj., ‘infamous, atrocious,’ from MidHG. verruochet, ‘heedless, careless,’ allied to MidHG. verruochen, ‘to pay no heed, forget.’ The meaning of the ModHG. adj., like that of the cognate ruchlos, is under the influence of anrüchig, berüchtigt, Gerücht, ruchbar. —

verrückt, adj., ‘mad, crazy,’ ModHG. only; allied to MidHG. verrücken, ‘to move from the spot, confuse, disconcert.’

Vers, m., ‘verse, couplet,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. vërs, fërs, m. and n., which was adopted in the OHG. period (as early as the 9th cent.) from Lat. versus, perhaps contemporaneously with Schule and Meister. Comp. Käfig, Brief, and Vesper for the representation of Lat. v by HG. f (comp. AS. fers, and Du. vers).

verschieden, adj., ‘different, distinct, various,’ ModHG. only; not from verscheiden, which even in MidHG. (verscheiden) signifies specially ‘to die,’ but from a LG. word; comp. Du. verscheiden (for which underscheiden is found in MidHG.). —

verschlagen, adj., ‘cunning, crafty, sly,’ properly a partic. of MidHG. verslahen, which also means ‘to cheat.’ —

verschmitzt, adj., see schmitzen. —

verschroben, adj., ‘distorted, perverse, intricate,’ lit. ‘screwed the wrong way’; an inorganic partic. of schrauben; see Schraube. —

verschwenden, vb., ‘to squander, waste,’ from MidHG. verswęnden, ‘to break to pieces, annihilate, consume,’ which as a factitive of MidHG. verswinden, ModHG. verschwinden, ‘to disappear,’ signifies lit. ‘to cause something to disappear.’

versehren, vb., ‘to wound, injure, damage,’ from the equiv. MidHG. sêren, lit. ‘to cause pain’; allied to MidHG. and OHG. sêr, ‘pain’; see sehr. —

versiegen, vb., ‘to dry up,’ ModHG. only; allied to MidHG. sîgen, OHG. sîgan, str. vb., ‘to fall, sink, flow, trickle’ (see seihen, sickern); versiegen, lit. ‘to flow out or away.’ —

versöhnen (same as versühnen), vb., ‘to reconcile, atone for,’ from the equiv. MidHG. versüenen; allied to Sühne. The accented vowel is derived either from LG. or probably from OBav. and OSwab., in which, late in the Middle Ages, œ appears before n., instead of üe (grön for grün; tön for tün).

Verstand, m., ‘understanding, intelligence, sense,’ from MidHG. verstant (d), which is used only rarely (in the sense of

‘explanation, information’); comp. MidHG. verstantnisse, ‘intelligence, insight, understanding,’ to which MidHG. verstęndic, ‘intelligent,’ is allied. In OHG. too firstantnissi is most frequently used. To this word is allied ModHG. verstehen, vb., ‘to understand, comprehend,’ from MidHG. verstân, OHG. firstân (firstantan), ‘to perceive, see into, notice, understand’; comp. Du. verstaan, AS. forstǫndan (in E. to understand). How the meaning can be derived from the root of stehen is not clear; it is usually referred to Gr. ἐπίσταμαι, ‘to understand,’ compared with the root στα, ‘to stand.’ —

verstümmeln, vb., ‘to mutilate,’ from late MidHG. verstümbelen; see Stummel.

verteidigen, vb., ‘to defend, maintain, justify,’ from the equiv. MidHG. verteidingen, vertagedingen (usually tagedingen), wk. vb., of which the most frequent meaning is ‘to plead before a tribunal, settle and adjust by agreement.’ Allied to MidHG. tagedinc, teidinc (g), ‘a lawsuit fixed for a certain date, court-day, negotiation, assembly’ (with the meaning ‘gossip, talk,’ comp. Teiding). OHG. tagading, ‘legal summons, negotiations,’ is based on tag in the sense of ‘fixed period,’ and ding, ‘judicial proceedings,’ Comp. Du. verdedigen.

vertrackt, adj., ‘distorted, twisted, odd, strange,’ properly a partic. of vertrecken, ‘to confuse.’ —

vertragen, vb., ‘to carry away, wear out, tolerate,’ from MidHG. vertregen, str. vb., ‘to tolerate, endure, be indulgent’; hence late MidHG. vertrac, ModHG. Vertrag, m., ‘agreement, treaty.’ —

vertuschen, vb., ‘to hush up,’ from MidHG. vertuschen, ‘to cover, conceal, keep secret, reduce to silence’ (to which verdutzt, lit. ‘stunned,’ is allied’); an onomatopoetic term.

verwahrlost, adj., ‘neglected, spoilt,’ properly a partic. of MidHG. verwárlôsen, ‘to treat negligently,’ based on OHG. waralôs, ‘careless, negligent’ (MidHG. warlœse, ‘carelessness, negligence’). For the first part of the compound comp. wahrnehmen. —

verwandt, adj., ‘related, allied, cognate,’ from the equiv. late MidHG. (rare) verwant, which is a partic. of MidHG. verwęnden (with the rare signification ‘to marry’); the usual term in MidHG. was sippe (OHG. sippi), adj. Comp. also MidHG. and OHG. mâc, m., ‘relative, kinsman.’ —

verwegen, adj., ‘bold, daring, rash,’ from MidHG. verwëgen, ‘quick and decided,’ a partic. of verwëgen, ‘to decide quickly.’