Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/407

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MidHG. and OHG. warm; corresponding to OSax., Du. and E. warm, Goth. *warms (comp. warmjan, ‘to warm’). A common Teut. adj. based on the Aryan root war, ‘to be hot.’ Comp. OSlov. varŭ, ‘heat,’ with vrěti, ‘to boil, be hot,’ vrŭlŭ, ‘passionate’; Lith. vìrti, ‘to boil.’ The Teut. cognates have, with less reason, been compared with Sans. gharmá, ‘heat of fire, glare of the sun,’ and Gr. θερμός, Lat. formus, ‘warm.’

warnen, vb., ‘to warn, admonish,’ from MidHG. warnen, ‘to watch over, protect,’ OHG. warnen (węrnen), ‘to deny, refuse, decline.’ Corresponding to OSax. węrnian, ‘to decline, withhold.’ AS. wyrnan, E. warn, OIc. varna, ‘to refuse.’ On account of the meaning the connection with OHG. warnôn (see wahren) is dubious; undoubted cognates have not yet been found.

Wart, m., ‘warder,’ from MidHG. and OHG. wart, ‘warder, keeper,’ which appears only as the second component of compounds. —

Warte, f., ‘watch-tower, belfry,’ from MidHG. warte, OHG. warta, f., ‘reconnoitring, ambush.’ —

warten, vb., ‘to wait, await, stay,’ from MidHG. warten, OHG. wartên, ‘to spy, lurk, expect.’ Comp. OSax. wardôn,‘to be on one’s guard, look after,’ AS. weardian, ‘to guard, keep,’ E. to ward, OIc. varða, ‘to watch over, protect’ (also Goth. -wards, ‘keeper,’ in compounds). From OTeut. are borrowed Ital. guardare and Fr. garder, ‘to guard.’ Hence the primary meaning of the cognates is ‘to look after or take charge of some one,’ and so they are undoubtedly connected with the root of wahren.

-wärts, suffix in compounds, e.g., aufwärts, from MidHG. and OHG. -wërtes (ûfwërtes, ‘upwards’); properly an adverb. genit. of MidHG. and OHG. -wërt (MidHG. and OHG. ûfwërt, adv., ‘upwards’). The latter word is used as an adj. in OHG., but is now represented by -wärtig (MidHG. and OHG. -wërtic); comp. OHG. inwërt, adj. ‘internal,’ Goth. andwairþs, adj., ‘present.’ The word is never used independently; since it forms local adjs. in the sense of ‘existing,’ some are inclined to connect it with werden, ‘to arise.’

warum, adv., ‘why, for what reason,’ from MidHG. and late OHG. warumbe (in earlier OHG. hwanta). The first part of the word seems to be the adv. wara, ‘whither,’ which is derived from hwa- (see wer).

Wärwolf, see Werwolf.

Warze, f., ‘wart, teat,’ from the equiv. MidHG. warze, OHG. warza, f.; corresponding to Goth. *wartô, OIc. varta, AS. wearte, E. wart, and the equiv. Du. wrat. The early history of Teut. wartô- (from Aryan wardô-) is uncertain; some connect it with the Aryan root wrd, ‘to grow,’ from which Wurzel is derived, and regard Warze as ‘excrescence’ (comp. OSlov. vrědŭ, ‘eruption’). Others prefer to compare it with AS. wearre, ‘weal,’ Lat. verrûca, ‘wart,’ the rr of which may have arisen by the loss of an intermediate dental.

was, neu. of wer, ‘what’; comp. MidHG. and OHG. waȥ (from hwaȥ); comp. E. what. Corresponding to Lat. quod, Sans. kad.

waschen, vb., ‘to wash,’ from the equiv. MidHG. waschen (węschen), OHG. wascan, str. vb.; comp. Du. wasschen, AS. wasčan, E. to wash, OIc. vaska (Goth. *waskan), ‘to wash.’ The sk of the old forms was orig. only a part of the present stem, but was afterwards joined to the base; it may have been preceded by a dental. Teut. *watska- probably based on the Teut. nominal stem wat, ‘water’ (see Wasser); comp. OIr. usce, ‘water’ Ir. faiscim, W. gwasgu, ‘I press,’ may, however, with equal reason, be connected with waschen.

Wase, f., see Base.

Wasen, m., ‘sod, turf, grass,’ from MidHG. wase, OHG. waso, m., ‘sward, damp soil or mound’; also OHG. wasal, n., ‘damp mound.’ The word is identical with Rasen, just as sprechen with E. to speak; comp. AS. węččęan, wręččęan, ‘to awake,’ and AS. wrîxl with Wechsel. Hence there existed Aryan roots with and without r; we must therefore regard wraso, waso, as the Teut. base; for the area of diffusion see Rasen. From OHG. is derived Fr. gazon, ‘sward.’

Wasser, n., ‘water,’ from the equiv. MidHG. waȥȥer, OHG. waȥȥar; comp. OSax. watar, Du. water, AS. wœter, E. water; beside these West Teut. forms in r (watar-o-) are found the forms in n, Goth. watô, OIc. vatn, n., ‘water.’ The root wat is related by gradation to ut in Otter, and to wêt in AS. wœ̂t, E. wet, North Fris. wiat, ‘damp, wet.’ The other Aryan languages have also corresponding graded forms with the same signification; Aryan ud in Gr. ὕδωρ (Lat. unda?), OSlov. voda, Sans. udán, ‘water, billow,’ udrín, ‘abounding in water,