Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/412

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weis, adj., in einem, etwas weis machen, ‘to make one believe, hoax a person,’ from OHG., late MidHG. einen wîs machen, ‘to inform a person, instruct him’ (in ModHG. in an ironical sense). Comp. MidHG. and OHG. wîs tuon, ‘to inform, instruct.’ Allied to weise, adj., ‘wise, prudent, cunning,’ From MidHG. and OHG. wîs (also MidHG. wîse, OHG. wîsi), adj., ‘intelligible, experienced, acquainted with, learned, wise.’ A common Teut. adj.; comp. Goth. weis, ‘knowing,’ OSax. and AS. wîs, ‘wise, knowing,’ E. wise, Du. wijs. The primary form of the word was a verbal adj. from wissen (wîso- for wîtto-). Allied to the following word.

Weise, f., ‘manner, mode, way,’ from MidHG. wîse, OHG. wîsa, f., ‘method’; corresponding to the equiv. AS. wîse, E. wise, Du. wijze, OSax. wîsa. From this West Teut. word (in OIc. vísa) the equiv. Rom. cognates, Ital. guisa, Fr. guise, are derived. Teut. wîsô-n- seems, like weise, to be derived from the Teut. root wī̆t, ‘to know’; hence Weise, lit. ‘knowledge’?. See Art. — The suffix -weise (e.g., in teilweise) has been developed in ModHG. in connection with MidHG. phrases, such as in rëgenes wîs, ‘like rain.’

Weisel, m., ‘queen bee,’ from the equiv. MidHG. wîsel, m., lit. ‘leader, guide.’ Allied to weisen, vb., ‘to show, direct, point,’ from MidHG. wîsen wk. (str.) vb., OHG. wîsen (from *wîsjan), wk. vb., ‘to show, direct, instruct’; a derivative of weise (hence lit. ‘to make wise’).

weissagen, vb., ‘to foretell, prophesy, predict,’ from the equiv. MidHG. wîssagen, OHG. wîssagôn, wk. vb.; it is not organically connected with sagen. Based on OHG. wîȥȥago (wîȥago), ‘prophet,’ a derivative of the Teut. root wī̆t, ‘to know’ (comp. AS. wîtga, ‘prophet’). This form was corrupted to wîssagôn in the OHG. period by connecting it with wîs, ‘wise,’ and sago, ‘speaker,’ or rather with OHG. forasago (OLG. wâr-sago), ‘prophet.’ OHG. wîȥȥago is properly a subst. formed from the Teut. adj. *wîtag, ‘knowing, intelligible, wise’ AS. (wîtig).

Weistum, n., ‘legal precedent, record,’ from late MidHG. (rare) wîstuonm, m. and n., ‘sentence, instruction (to the jury),’ lit. ‘wisdom’; allied to weise (comp. E. wisdom).

weiß, adj., ‘white, blank,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. wîȥ (from hwîȥ), adj.; corresponding to Goth. hweits, OIc.

hvítr, AS. and OSax. hwít, Du. wit, E. white. This common Teut. term (hwîto-) is based on an Aryan root kwī̆d, kwī̆t, from which are derived Sans. çvit, ‘to be white, to shine’ (so too çvêtá, çvitrá, çvitna, ‘white’), Zend spaẹta, ‘white,’ OSlov. světŭ, ‘light,’ and Lith. szvaitýti, ‘to make bright.’ Goth. hwaiteis (ModHG. Weizen, ‘wheat’), is related by gradation.

weit, adj., ‘wide, broad, ample,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. wît; corresponding to OSax. and AS. wîd, E. wide, Du. wijd, OIc. víðr, ‘roomy, extended, spacious.’ Allied to Sans. vîtá, ‘straight’?. From its form Teut. vî-do- seems to be a partic. derivative of a root wī̆.

Weizen, m., ‘wheat,’ from MidHG. weitze, OHG. weizzi, m. The dial. (unknown only in Bav.?) variant Weißen (Swiss, UpSwab., Wetterau, UpHess., Hennegau, and Thuringian) is based on MidHG. weiȥe, OHG. weiȥi (tz and sz interchanged in this word on account of the older inflectional interchange of tj and ti; comp. reizen and heizen); hence Weißbrod as well as Weizen?. Corresponding to the equiv. Goth. hwaiteis (dat. hwaitja), OIc. hveite, AS. hwœ̂te, E. wheat, Du. weit, OSax. hwêti. Lith. kvëtẏs, ‘grains of wheat,’ is borrowed from Teut. Weizen is rightly regarded, on account of the white flour, as a derivative of weiß (comp. Sans. çvitnyá çvêtá, ‘white’).

welch, pron., ‘which, what,’ from MidHG. wëlch, wëlich, interr. pron., OHG. wë-, wie-lī̆h (hh and h), interr. pron., ‘who, which’; corresponding to Goth. hwileiks (hwêleiks), OSax. hwilik, Du. welk, AS. hwylč, E. which. A common Teut. derivative, from the pronominal stem hwe- (see wer) and the suffix lîko-, ‘constituted’ (see gleich and solch); hence welch, lit. ‘as constituted.’

Welf, m., ‘whelp, cub,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. wëlf (earlier hwëlf, m. and n.); corresponding to OIc. hvelpr, AS. hwëlp (E. whelp). This Teut. word hwelpo-, which was used at an early period, espec. of ‘cubs,’ has no cognates in the non-Teut. languages. Wolf is not allied.

welk, adj., ‘withered, faded,’ from MidHG. and OHG. wëlc (wëlch), ‘moist, mild, lukewarm, faded’; peculiar to HG.; connected with MidE. welken, E. to welk, and Wolke. The primary meaning of the Teut. root welk, from Aryan welg, is ‘to be moist,’ as is indicated also by OSlov. vlaga, ‘moistness,’ vlûgûkû, ‘moist,’ Lith. vìlgyti, ‘to