Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/97

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Erker, m., ‘bow, projection (of a building), balcony,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ärker, erker, m.; the latter is formed from MidLat. arcora (a late plur. of Lit. arcus, ‘bow’)?.

erlauben, earlier erleuben, vb., ‘to allow, permit, grant,’ from MidHG. erlouben (erleuben), OHG. irlouben (irlouppen), ‘to allow’; comp. Goth. uslaubjan, ‘to permit, grant,’ AS. âlŷfan. The original meaning of erlauben, like that of glauben, is ‘to approve,’ which is also inherent in the Teut. root lub, upon which the word is based (comp. Lob, lieb, Glaube, which are connected by gradation of the root lub, liub, laub). An old abstract of erlauben appears in ModHG. Urlaub.

erlaucht, adj., ‘illustrious, noble,’ from MidHG. erliuht (with a MidG. vowel erlûht), ‘illuminated, famous’; a partic. of erliuhten. See leuchten and Durchlaut.

Erle, f., ‘alder,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ęrle, OHG. ęrila, ęlira (to this is allied ModHG. Elritze, ‘minnow,’ OHG. ęrlinc, lit. ‘elder fish’?). Comp. LG. eller, Du. els (ModHG. Elsbeere, ‘wild service-berry’), AS. alor, E. alder, OIc. ǫlr, elrer, elre; Goth. *alisa (*aluza) appears in Span. alisa, ‘alder,’ Fr. alize, ‘wild service-berry.’ The change of the orig. OHG. ęlira to ęrila is analogous to Goth. waírilôs compared with AS. wëleras, ‘lips’ (see Essig). Cognates of Erle, like those of Buche, Birke, &c., are found in the non-Teut. languages. Comp. OSlov. jelĭcha, Lat. alnus (for *alsnus), ‘alder.’ Comp. Ulme.

Ermel, m., ‘sleeve,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ęrmel. OHG. ęrmilo, armilo, m.; diminutive of Arm. Comp. the diminutive form of Faust, MidHG. viustelinc, ‘mitten,’ also MidHG. vingerlîn, ‘ring (worn on the finger),’ dimin. of Finger, E. thimble, dimin. of thumb.

Ernst, m., ‘earnestness, seriousness, gravity,’ from MidHG. ërnest, m., OHG. ërnust, n., f., ‘contest, earnest, decision of character’; corresponding to Du. ernst, AS. eornost, ‘duel, earnest,’ E. earnest; the suffix -n-ust as in Dienst; see also Angst. Akin also to OIc. orrosta, ‘battle’; the stem er (erz?, ers?) is not found elsewhere with a similar meaning; the evolution in meaning resembles that of Kampf, Krieg. The cognates in other Aryan languages are uncertain. — The adj. ernst, simply ModHG., is represented by ërnesthaft in MidHG. and by ërnusthaft and ërnustlîch in OHG.

Ernte, f., ‘harvest,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ęrne, f., like ModHG. Hüfte, from the equiv. MidHG. hüffe, plur. of huf; MidHG. erne (Franc. and Alem. ärn), a plur. used as a sing., is related similarly to OHG. aran, ‘harvest,’ which, like Goth. asans, ‘harvest, autumn,’ is connected with a root as, ‘to work in the fields,’ widely diffused in OTeut. Comp. Goth. asneis (OHG. ęsni, AS. ęsne), ‘day-labourer,’ OIc. ǫnn (from *aznu), f., ‘work, season for tillage’; akin to OHG. arnôn, ‘to harvest’ (AS. earnian, equiv. to E. to earn, OIc. árna?), MidHG. asten, ‘to cultivate.’ Probably Lat. annôna (for *asnôna), ‘produce of corn,’ belongs to the Teut. root as.

erobern, vb., ‘to conquer, win,’ from MidHG. er-obern, ‘to excel, conquer,’ allied to ober, über. —

erörtern, vb., ‘to discuss, determine,’ formed from late MidHG. örtern, ortern, ‘to examine thoroughly,’ from MidHG. ort, ‘beginning, end.’ —

erquicken, vb., ‘to revive, refresh,’ from the equiv. MidHG. erquicken, ‘to reanimate, wake from the dead,’ OHG. ir-quicchan; allied to keck, Quecksilber, verquicken. —

erschüttern, see Schutt.

erst, adj., ‘first,’ from MidHG. êrst, OHG. êrist, ‘the first’; corresponding to OSax. êrist, AS. œ̂rest, ‘the first’; superlat. of the compar. form cited under eher. Goth. airis, adv., formerly,’ airiza, ‘predecessor, ancestor,’ OHG. êriro (êrro), ‘predecessor’; the positive is preserved in Goth. air. adv., ‘early,’ AS. œ̂r, adj. adv., ‘early,’ OIc. ár, adv., ‘early’ (OHG. êr-acchar, ‘‘awake early’). Probably the stem air-, on which the word was based, was used orig. like früh, only of the hours of the day. It is connected most probably with Gr. ἦρς, ‘early in the morning.’

ersticken, vb., ‘to stifle, choke,’ from MidHG. ersticken, intrans., ‘to be stifled,’ and erstecken, trans., ‘to stifle.’

erwähnen, vb., ‘to mention, call to notice,’ formed from the equiv. MidHG. gewęhenen, OHG. giwahinnen, giwahannen (pret. gi-wuog, partic. giwaht and giwahinit), allied to OHG. giwaht, ‘mention, fame.’ Goth. *wahnjan belongs to the root wok, wō̆q (Teut. wah), ‘to speak,’ which is widely diffused in the Aryan languages. Comp. Lat. vox, ‘voice,’ vocare, ‘to call,’ Gr. ὅσσα for ϝόκjα and ὁπ- (for ϝοπ), ‘voice,’ ἔπος (for ϝέπος), ‘word,’ Sans. root vac, ‘to say, speak.’ In Teut. this old root was not so widely developed.