Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/88

---

eben, adj., ‘even, level, plain, smooth,’ from MidHG. ëben, OHG. ëban, adj., ‘level, flat, straight’; common to Teut. under these meanings, but it is not found in any other Aryan group; comp. OSax. eƀan, Du. even, AS. ëfn, E. even, OIc. jafn, Goth. ibns, ‘level.’ Akin perhaps to Goth. ibuks, adj., ‘backward’ (see Ebbe). Apart from Teut. the stem ib in the form ep or ebh has not yet been authenticated; Lat. œ̂quus (Sans. êka), cannot, on account of phonetic differences, be regarded as a cognate. —

eben, adv., ‘even, just,’ from MidHG. ëbene, OHG. ëbano; comp. OSax. ëfno, AS. ëfne (whence E. even); the old adv. form of the adj. (Comp. neben.)

Ebenbaum, m., ‘ebony-tree,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and late OHG. ebênus, adopted as a foreign word (still declined after the Lat. method in OHG.) from Lat. ebenus (Gr. ἔβενος).

Eber, m., from the equiv. MidHG. ëber, OHG. ëbar, m., ‘wild boar’; corresponds to AS. eofor, m., ‘wild boar’ (E. York from AS. Eoforwic, lit. ‘boar-town’), OIc. jǫfurr, ‘wild boar,’ figuratively ‘prince’ (also jórbjúga, ‘a kind of sausage’); Goth. *ibrus, *ibarus. With the pre-Teut. base eprús some have connected OBulg. veprĭ, m., Lat. aper, m., ‘wild boar.’ Similarly in the terms for Ferkel and Schwein, the West Aryan languages only partially agree.

Ebritz, m., ‘southern-wood,’ from the equiv. late MidHG. eberitz (ebereize), f., from Lat. abrotanum (whence also Aberraute, see aber), but corrupted by connection with Eber.

echt, adj., ‘genuine, real, legitimate,’ simply ModHG. adopted from MidG. and LG., where echt is the normal corresponding of MidHG. and OHG. êhaft, ‘lawful’; comp. Du. echt; akin to OFris. âft, ‘lawful’; from Ehe, compared with which the adj. has retained the old meaning of Ehe, ‘law.’ By means of the law-books based on the Saxon Code the LG. adj. found its way into HG. but not until after Luther; yet the word does not occur in the UpG. dialects.

Eck, n., Ecke, f., ‘edge, corner,’ from MidHG. ęcke, f. (seldom neu.), ‘edge of weapons, point, corner, brim,’ OHG. ękka, f., ‘point, edge of a sword.’ Corresponds to OSax. ęggia, f., ‘edge, sharpness, sword,’ AS. ęcg, ‘corner, point, edge (of a sword, &c.), sword,’ E. edg,, OIc. egg, f., ‘point’: Goth. *agja, f., is not recorded. The meaning ‘point, sharp edge,’ which origi-

nally was the most prominent in the cognates (see also Egge), recalls the development in ModHG. Ort. The Teut. root ag(ah), pre-Teut. ak (Goth. agjô-, from Aryan akyã-), with the primary meaning ‘pointed,’ is found in very many non-Teut. languages, since ModHG. Ähre and the non-Teut. words cited under that word are primit. allied to it, as are also Lat. acies, Gr. ἀκίς, ‘point,’ both in form and meaning.

Ecker, f., ‘acorn,’ simply ModHG., from MidG. and LG. ecker, ‘acorn, beech nut’; there is also in UpG. a word *acheren primit. allied and equiv. to Swiss ackeram (Bav. akram). Comp. the corresponding Goth. akran, n., ‘produce, fruit (generally),’ OIc. akarn, n., AS. œcern, E. acorn, Du. aker, ‘acorn.’ Since the meaning ‘acorn, beechnut,’ is a recent specialisation in comparison with Goth. akran, ‘produce, fruit,’ the cognates nay be connected with Goth. akrs, HG. Acker, and perhaps also with Lith. ŭga, ‘berry,’ unless the later is more closely allied to Lat. uva. In any case its kinship with Eiche must be denied, since the latter would be *aiks in Goth. The mutation of the stem in ModHG. and LG. Ecker must be explained by a Goth. *akrin.

edel, adj., ‘of noble birth or qualities, excellent, generous,’ from MidHG. ędel, ędele, OHG. ędili (adal-), adj., ‘of a good family, noble, high-minded’; a deriv. of Adel, OHG. adal. Comp. OSax. ęðili (aðal-), ‘of a good family, noble,’ from aðali, ‘noble family,’ AS. œðele, ‘noble, distinguished.’ For details see Adel.

Egel, see Igel.

Egge, f., ‘harrow,’ simply ModHG., from LG. egge; likewise eggen from LG., because a corresponding HG. word would be ecken or egen. The MidHG. word is ęgede, OHG. ęgida, f., ‘harrow,’ OHG. ęcken (partic. gi-ęgit), ‘to harrow,’ MidHG. ęgen. Comp. Du. egge, AS. ęgeðe; Goth. *agjan, ‘to harrow,’ *agiþa, ‘harrow,’ are not recorded. The Teut. root ag (ah), ‘to harrow,’ from pre-Teut. ak, ok, is most closely connected with Lat. occa, ‘harrow,’ Lith. akėiti, ‘to harrow,’ akėczos, ‘harrow,’ OCorn. ocet, W. oged, ‘harrow.’ The West Eur. cognates may also be further connected with Ecke (Lat. acies).

ehe, adv., ‘before,’ from MidHG. ê, a parallel form to ModHG. ehr, MidHG. êr, like ModHG. da from dar, wo from war. See eher.

Ehe, f., ‘marriage, wedlock, matrimony,’