Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/96

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Erh
( 74 )
Erf

oder following; in MidHG. eintwëder, is mostly a pron. (sometimes with oder following, ‘one of two,’ corresponding to OHG. ein-de-wëder (*ein-dih-wëdar), ‘one of two’; see weder. The origin of the OHG. de- is obscure; see kein.

Epheu, m., ‘ivy,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ëphöu, ëbehöu, OHG. ëbahęwi, n.; even at the present day the word is pronounced Ep-heu in UpGer. dialects (Franc., Suab., and Alem.), partly corrupted to Räb-heu, while the ModHG. pronunciation has been influenced by the written language. Of course it is impossible to say positively whether Heu is to be regarded as the second component, especially as the other forms are difficult to explain. OHG. has also ëbawi, ëbah, AS. îfig, E. ivy, MidLG. îflôf, îwlôf, Du. eiloof, ‘ivy.’ The base of the cognates seems to be a common Teut. ī̆ba-; yet no definitive clue can be found.

Eppich, m., ‘celery, parsley,’ with LG. consonants, from MidHG. ępfĭch, OHG. ępfī̆h, n., which are preceded by the shorter forms, MidHG. ępfe, ęffe, OHG. ępfi, n. This word, like other names of plants connected with horticulture and cookery, was borrowed previous to the OHG. period (see Kohl) from Lat.; the original word in this instance is apium, which denotes a species of umbelliferous plants, comprising parsley, celery, &c.; only in ModHG. has Eppich been confused in meaning with Epheu.

er, pron., ‘he, it,’ from MidHG. and OHG. ër, corresponding to the equiv. Goth. is, from a pronom. stem of the third person i-; comp. Lat. i-s (Lat. id, Goth. ita, OHG. and MidHG. ëȥ, ModHG. es). Akin to the Sans. pronom. stem i-.

er-, prefix, signifying ‘transition, beginning, attaining,’ from MidHG. er-, OHG. ir, ar, ur-, the unaccented verbal prefix from the accented ur-. See the latter.

Erbe, n., ‘heritage, inheritance,’ from MidHG. ęrbe, OHG. ęrbi, arbi, n., ‘inheritance’; a word common to Teut.; comp. the equiv. Goth. arbi, AS. yrfe (obsolete in E.), Du. erf, OSax. ęrƀi. Akin to Erbe, m., ‘heir, inheritor,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ęrbe, OHG. ęrbo, arbeo (Goth. arbja), m. With the Teut. root arbh, ‘to inherit,’ some have connected the OIr. comarpi, ‘joint heirs,’ and Gr. ὀρφανός, Lat. orbus, ‘orphaned,’ Armen. orb, ‘orphan’; Erbe, lit. ‘orphan’?.

Erbse, f., ‘pea,’ from the equiv. MidHG. arcweiȥ, ęrweiȥ, ęrwiȥ, f., OHG. araweiȥ, ar-

wîȥ, f.; corresponding to OLG. ęrit, Du. erwt, ert, OIc. ertr, plur. The cognates are probably borrowed, as is indicated by the similarity in sound to Gr. ἐρέβινθος and ὄροβος, ‘chick-pea’ (see Almosen); comp. also Lat. ervum, ‘bitter vetch,’ akin to the equiv. AS. earfe. Direct adoption from Gr. or Lat. is impossible; the way it was introduced cannot be discovered. Probably Erbse is one of the words which Gr. and Teut. have obtained from the same source, as in the case of Hanf. In Eng., Lat. pisum (Fr. pois) was adopted for ‘pea’ early in the AS. period; comp. AS. peose, pise, E. pease (and pea).

Erchtag, Bav., see Dienstag.

Erde, f., ‘earth, ground, soil, world,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ërde, OHG. ërda, f.; a word common to Teut.; comp. Goth. airþa, OIc. jǫrð, AS. eorðe, E. earth, Du. aarde, OSax. ërtha, f., ‘earth,’ To the dental derivative ër-þô, OHG. ëro, ‘earth,’ also belongs; so too Gr. ἔρ-αὗε, ‘to earth,’ and perhaps Lat. arvum, ‘arable land’ (AS. eard), as well as the old Aryan root ar, ‘to plough’; see Acker, Art. —

Erdbeere, f., ‘strawberry,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ërtbęr, OHG. ërtbęri, n.; perhaps not really a compound of Erde, but of OSax. erda, ‘honey-flower, common balm’; yet Swed. jordbär, tells in favour of a compound of Erde.

erdrosseln, see Drossel (2).

Ereignis, n., ‘event, occurrence,’ for an earlier eröugnis from MidHG. eröugen, OHG. ir-ougen, ‘to show.’ OHG. ougen, Goth. augjan, ‘to show,’ are derivatives of Auge. Hence eröugnis means lit. ‘what is shown, what can be seen.’ The spelling Ereignis, found even in the 16th cent., was due to the corruption of a word no longer understood.

erfahren, vb., ‘to experience, come to know, learn, undergo,’ from MidHG. ervarn, ‘to travel, inquire, investigate, proclaim’; akin to fahren. —

ergötzen, ergetzen, vb., ‘to delight,’ from MidHG. ergętzen, ‘to cause to forget (espec. grief), compensate for’; factitive of MidHG. ergeȥȥen, ‘to forget.’ See vergessen. —

erhaben, adj., ‘sublime, exalted, superior to,’ from the equiv. MidHG. erhaben, which is properly a partic. of MidHG. erhęben, ‘to raise aloft.’ —

erinnern, vb., ‘to remind, admonish,’ (refl.) ‘to recollect, remember,’ from MidHG. innern, inren, ‘to remind, inform, instruct,’ akin to inner.