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Wurzel, f., ‘root,’ from the equiv. MidHG. wurzel, OHG. wurzala, f.; corresponding to Du. wortel. The final l is not, as in Eichel, a diminut. suffix; OHG. wurzala is rather, according to the evidence of the equiv. AS. wyrtwalu, a compound, properly wurz-walu. In OHG. the medial w was lost, as in Bürger (OHG. burgârâ), equiv. to AS. burgware (comp. further OHG. eihhorn with âcweorn). Thus too Morchel, OHG. morhala, represents *morh-walu, ModHG. Geisel, OHG. geisala, represents *geis-walu. The second component is Goth. walus, ‘staff,’ AS. walu, ‘weal, knot’; hence AS. wyrtwalu and OHG. wurzala meant lit. ‘herb stick’ (from Wurz). Wust, m., ‘chaos, trash, filth,’ from MidHG. (rare) wuost, m., ‘devastation, chaos, refuse.’ — wüst, adj., ‘desert, waste, confused, disorderly,’ from MidHG. wüeste, OHG. wuosti, ‘desolate, uncultivated, empty’; corresponding to OSax. wôsti, Du. woest, AS. wêste, ‘waste.’ — Wüste, f., ‘desert, wilderness,’ from the equiv. MidHG. wüeste, OHG. wuostî (wuostinna), f.; comp. OSax. |
wôstinnia, AS. wêsten, ‘wilderness.’ To these West Teut. cognates, which point to a pre-Teut. adj. wâstu, OIr. fás, and Lat. vâstus, ‘waste,’ are primit. allied. The West Teut. adj. cannot be borrowed from Lat. (only MidHG. waste, ‘desert,’ is probably thus obtained).
Wut, f., ‘rage, fury, madness,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. wuot, f.; in OHG. also wuot, AS. wôd, E. wood, adj., ‘furious, mad,’ Goth. wôds, ‘possessed, lunatic.’ There exist, besides these cognates, AS. wôð, ‘voice, song,’ OIc. óðr, ‘poetry, song.’ The connection between the meanings is found in the primit. allied Lat. vátes, ‘inspired singer’ (OIr. fáith, ‘poet’); comp. the Sans. root vat, ‘to animate spiritually.’ From the same is prob. derived the name of the OTeut. god Wôdan (AS. Wôden, *Wêden, OSax. Wôdan, OIc. Oðenn, OHG. Wuotan), whose name is preserved in Du. Woensdag, E. Wednesday. The orig. mythological idea of das wütende Heer, ‘the spectral host,’ is based on MidHG. (and OHG.) Wuotanes her, ‘Odin’s host.’ |
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Zacken, m., ‘point, peak, prong, tooth (of a comb),’ from the equiv. MidHG. (MidG.) zacke, m. and f.; properly a MidG. and LG. word. Comp. Du. tak, m., ‘twig, branch, point,’ North Fris. tâk, ‘point,’ to which OIc. tág, m., ‘willow twig,’ E. tack, are also probably allied. The latter are perhaps primit. cognate with Sans. daçâ, ‘fringe,’ or with Gr. δοκός, ‘beam’ (Teut. takko-, Aryan dokno-?). It is uncertain whether Zinke is allied. zag, adj. ‘faint-hearted, shy, irresolute,’ from MidHG. zage, OHG. zago, zag, adj., ‘faint-hearted, cowardly.’ A derivative of ModHG. zagen, ‘to lack courage, hesitate’ (comp. wach and wachen), MidHG. zagen, OHG. zagên. It is not probable that the word was borrowed, in spite of the few cognates of the Teut. stem tag. This is probably derived from a Goth. *at-agan (1st sing. *ataga, equiv. to Ir. ad-agur, ‘to be afraid’) by apocope of the initial vowel; at is probably a pref. Goth. agan, ‘I am afraid,’ is based on the widely diffused OTeut. root ag (Aryan agh), ‘to be afraid,’ with which Gr. ἄχος, ‘pain, distress,’ is also connected. |
Zäh, adj., ‘tough, viscous, obstinate,’ from the equiv. MidHG. zœhe, OHG. zâhi, adj.; corresponding to Du. taai, AS. tôh, E. tough; Goth. *tâhu (from *tanhu-) has to be assumed. With the Teut. root tanh, ‘to hold firmly together,’ are also connected AS. getęnge, ‘close to, oppressing,’ and OSax. bitęngi, ‘pressing.’ Zange appears on account of its meaning to belong to a different root. Zahl, f., ‘number, figure, cipher,’ from MidHG. zal, f., ‘number, crowd, troop, narrative, speech,’ OHG. zala, f., ‘number’; corresponding to Du. taal, ‘speech,’ AS. talu, E. tale. Allied to zahlen, vb., ‘to count out, pay,’ from MidHG. zaln, OHG. zalôn, ‘to count, reckon, compute’ (OSax. talôn), and zählen, vb., ‘to number, count,’ from MidHG. zęln, OHG. zęllen (from *zaljan), wk. vb., ‘to count, reckon, enumerate, narrate, inform, say.’ Comp. Du. tellen, ‘to count, reckon, have regard to,’ AS. tęllan, E. to tell. From the originally strong verbal root tal, Goth. talzjan, ‘to instruct,’ is also derived. In non-Teut. there is no certain trace of a root dal, ‘to enumerate.’ See Zoll. |
