Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/428

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the equiv. MidHG. zëlter, OHG. zëltâri, m. Lit. ‘a horse that goes at a gentle pace’; allied to Bav. and MidHG. zëlt, m., ‘amble, gentle pace,’ Du. telganger, ‘ambler.’ To this AS. tealtrian, ‘to totter,’ is probably allied.

Zent- in Zentgericht, n., ‘criminal court or jurisdiction’; -graf, m., ‘judge of a criminal court,’ from MidHG. zënte, f., ‘district, consisting properly of 100 communities’; comp. Ital. cinta, MidLat. centa, ‘district.’

Zentner, m., ‘hundredweight,’ from the equiv. MidHG. zêntenœre, m. Formed from MidLat. centenarius (Da. centenaar); in Fr., however, quintal, Ital. quintale (and cantâro?).

Zepter, m. and n., ‘sceptre,’ from MidHG. zëpter, m. and n., which is again derived from Gr.-Lat. sceptrum.

zer-, prefix from MidHG. zer- (MidG. zur- and zu-), OHG. zir-, zar-, zur-; a common West Teut. verbal prefix, meaning ‘asunder’; comp. OSax. ti, AS. tô. In Goth. only twis- occurs as a verbal prefix in twisstandan, ‘to separate’; the nominal Goth. prefix tuz- (OHG. zûr-, OIc. tor-) corresponds to Gr. δυς-, Sans. dus, ‘bad, difficult.’

zergen, vb., ‘to torment, tease, vex’; ModHG. only. It may be identical with MidHG. zęrn (and zęrgen), OHG. zęrian (see zehren); yet Du. tergen, AS. tęrgan, ‘to tug, tease, worry’ (E. to tarry), point to a Goth. *targian, which with Russ. dergati, ‘to tear, tug,’ indicate an Aryan root dṛgh (comp. träge).

zerren, vb., ‘to tug, tease, worry,’ from MidHG. and OHG. zerren, wk. vb., ‘to tear, cleave’; from the same root as zehren.

zerrütten, see rütteln, rutschen.

zerschellen, vb., ‘to shatter, shiver,’ from MidHG. zerschëllen, str. vb., ‘to fly to pieces,’ lit. ‘to burst with a loud noise.’

zerstreut, adj., ‘scattered, dispersed’; first formed in the last cent. from Fr. distrait.

zertrümmern, vb., ‘to destroy, shatter, lay in ruins,’ formed from ModHG. Trümmer, ‘fragments, ruins’; in MidHG. zerdrumen, ‘to hew to pieces,’ from MidHG. drum, ‘piece, splinter.’

zeter, interj. (espec. in Zetergeschrei, ‘cry of murder, loud outcry,’ from MidHG. zêtergeschreie), from the equiv. MidHG. zêter (zëtter), ‘cry for help, of lamentation, or of astonishment’; not recorded elsewhere.

Zettel, m., from the equiv. late MidHG. zettel, m., ‘design or warp of a fabric’; allied to MidHG. and OHG. zetten, ‘to scatter, spread out,’ whence ModHG. verzetteln, ‘to disperse, spill.’ The early history of the root tad, seldom occurring in OTeut., is obscure. — Zettel, m., ‘note, ticket, playbill, placard,’ from MidHG. zedele (zetele, zettele), ‘sheet of paper,’ is different from the preceding word. It is formed from Ital. cedola (Fr. céndle), ‘ticket,’ MidLat. scedula (Gr. σχέδη), ‘scrap of paper.’

Zeug, n., ‘stuff, substance, material, fabric, apparatus, utensils,’ from MidHG. ziuc (g), m. and n., ‘tool, implements, equipment, weapons, baggage, stuff, testimony, proof, witness'; OHG. giziug, m. and n., ‘equipment, implements’ (hence ModHG. Zeughaus, ‘arsenal’). Allied to ModHG. Zeuge, m., ‘witness,’ from the equiv. late MidHG. (rare) ziuge. Also zeugen, vb., ‘to produce, beget, bear witness, testify,’ from MidHG. ziugen, ‘to beget, prepare, procure, acquire, bear witness, prove,’ OHG. giziugôn, ‘to attest, show.’ All the cognates are derived from the Teut. root tuh (see ziehen), which in a few derivatives appears in the sense of ‘to produce, beget’; comp. AS. teám, ‘descendants’ (to which E. to teem is allied), Du. toom, ‘brood.’ From the same root the meaning ‘to attest, show,’ (OHG. giziugôn), lit. ‘to be put on judicial record,’ must be derived.

Zicke, f., ‘kid,’ from MidHG. zickelîn, OHG. zicchî, zickîn (for the suffix -în, see Schwein), n.; corresponding to AS. tiččen. A diminutive of Teut. tigô-, ‘she-goat.’ Comp. Ziege.

Zickzack, m. and n., ‘zigzag,’ ModHG. only; a recent form from Zacke.

Zieche, f., ‘cover of a feather-bed, tick,’ from MidHG. zieche, OHG. ziahha, f., ‘coverlet, pillow-case’; corresponding to Du. tijk, E. tick. Lat.-Gr. thêca, whence also Fr. taie, ‘pillow-case,’ as well as OIr. tíach, ‘tick,’ was adopted in HG. contemporaneously with Kiffen and Pfühl, hence thêca was permutated to ziahha.

Ziege, f., ‘she-goat,’ from the equiv. MidHG. zige, OHG. ziga, f.; a Franc. word, which in the MidHG. period passed also into LG. In UpG., Geiß, with which Ziege is probably connected etymologically; for Goth. gait-, ‘goat,’ may have had a graded variant *gitô-, by metathesis *tigô-. The latter form must also have been current