Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/98

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Erz, n., ‘ore, metal, brass, bronze,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ęrze, arze, OHG. ęrizzi, aruzzi, aruz, n.; an obscure word, which is unknown to the other Teut. dialects; probably borrowed under the form azuti, arwuti?. In Goth. ais, AS. âr, E. ore, OHG. and MidHG. êr, ‘bronze,’ whence the OHG. and MidHG. adj. êrîn, ModHG. ehern; these are primitively cognate with Lat. aes, ‘bronze,’ and Sans. ayas, ‘metal, iron.’

Erz-, prefix, ‘arch-, chief,’ from MidHG. ęrz-; comp. MidHG. ęrz-ęngel, -bischof, -priester; OHG. only in ęrzi-bischof; corresponding to Du. aarts in aarts-engel, aartsbisschop, AS. arcebiscop, E. archbishop, AS. arcęngel, E. archangel; from the Lat.-Gr. prefix archi- (ἀρχι-), much affected in ecclesiastical words. HG. and Du. exhibit the late Lat. pronunciation, arci (see Kreuz); Goth. ark-aggilus, ‘archangel,’ from archangelus, like AS. arce-, retain the older sound of the c. Comp. also Arzt.

es, pron., ‘it,’ from MidHG. ëȥ, n. sing., and its gen. ës, OHG. ëȥ (gen. ës); formed from the Aryan pronom. stem of the 3rd pers. (i-) mentioned under er. See ihn.

Esche, f., ‘ash, ash-tree,’ from the equiv. MidHG. asch, OHG. asc, m.; corresponding to Du. esch, AS. œsc, E. ash, OIc. askr, ‘ash.’ The remoter cognates, Slav. jasika, Lith. ůsís, with the same meaning; Gr. ὀξύη, ‘a kind of beech,’ and Lat. aesculus, ‘winter oak,’ are not allied.

Esel, m., ‘ass,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ęsel, OHG. ęsil, m.; corresponds to OSax. ęsil, Du. ezel, AS. ęsol, eosol, Goth. asilus (whence OSlov. osĭlŭ), ‘ass.’ It is self-evident that these cognates are related to Lat. asinus. Yet it is remarkable that the Romance languages have not an l, but an n in the suffix; Span. asno, OFr. asne (whence OIc. asne), ModFr. âne, Ital. asino (the Lat. diminutive asellus does not come under consideration, since it is not found in any Romance language; comp. further Assel). For the change of n to l in derivatives, see Himmel, Kümmel, Orgel. The abnormal AS. assa (equiv. to E. ass) may be traced back to OIr. assan, borrowed, with the usual change of sound, from the Lat. Consequently all the cognates come from Italy; no primit. word for ‘ass’ can be sound in any language of the Aryan group. — The term Kelleresel is a late imitation of Ital. asello; the equiv. Assel appears, however, to be unconnected with it.

Espe, f., ‘aspen-tree,’ from the equiv.

MidHG. aspe, OHG. aspa (hence UpG. ašpe). Comp. the exactly equiv. AS. œsp, E. asp, OIc. ǫsp; scarcely allied to Esche; more probably connected with Lat. arbor, ‘tree,’ if the latter represents an orig. *asbos.

Esse, f. (the word seems to be unknown to the UpG. dialects), ‘forge,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ęsse, OHG. ęssa, f., ‘chimney, hearth of a worker in metals.’ Like OSwed. œsja, they indicate a Goth. *asjô, which is also assumed by the borrowed term, Finn. ahjo. Whether Esse is allied to OIc. esja, ‘clay,’ and hence means lit. ‘what is made of clay,’ remains doubtful. Its assumed connection with OHG. eit, ‘funeral pile,’ Gr. αἶθος, ‘glow,’ Sans. root idh, ‘to burn,’ is untenable.

essen, vb., ‘to eat, dine, feed on,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ëȥȥen, OHG. ëȥȥan; common to Teut., and orig. an OAryan str. vb.; comp. Goth. itan, OIc. eta, AS. ëtan, E. to eat, Du. eten, OSax. ëtan; see fressen. The verbal root ët, ‘to eat,’ common to Teut., to which OHG. and MidHG. âs, ModHG. Aas (comp. Lat. êsus for *êd-to-, the partic. of edere), also belong, is based upon an Aryan root ē̆d; comp. the Sans. root ad, Gr. ἔδομαι, Lat. ĕdo, Lith. ědmi, ěmi, OSlov. jamĭ (from *ědmĭ), ‘I eat.’ —

Essen, n., ‘food, meal, dinner,’ even in MidHG. ëȥȥen, OHG. ëȥȥan, n., as an equiv. subst.; it is scarcely an infinitive used as a subst., but rather an independent subst. form like Gr. ἐδανόν, ‘food,’ Sans. ádana, n., ‘provender.’

Essig, m. (with the normal unaccented g for ch), ‘vinegar,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ęȥȥī̆ch (that the i is long is proved by its change into the diphthong ei in late MidHG. ezseich), OHG. ęȥȥîh (hh), m. A remarkable loan-word, corresponding to MidLG. ętik, OSwed. œtikia, Swed. ättika; also OLG. ęcid, AS. ęced, which with Goth. akeit(s), ‘vinegar,’ are based upon Lat. acêtum. For the HG., LG., and Swed. words we must assume a form *atêcum, produced by metathesis of the consonants — OHG. ęȥȥîh from atîk for atêko, which, however, is not attested by any Romance form; for such transpositions comp. Romance alenâre from Lat. anhelare, MidHG. biever from vieber (see further citations under einzeln, Fieber, Erle, Kabeljau, kitzeln, Ziege). There is a remarkable form in Swiss dialects, achiss, echiss, which is based upon an untransposed form corresponding to Goth. akeit(s). The Lat.-Rom. acêtum (Ital. aceto; but Fr. vinaigre and E. vinegar from