An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Ger

by Friedrich Kluge

Ger, m., ‘spear,’ formed from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. gêr, m.; corresponding to OSax. gêr, AS. gâr, OIc. geirr. The r in the latter word must be based upon an s, otherwise the Scand. form would be *gárr. Goth. *gaiza may be inferred too from old proper names, such as Hariogaisus. The terms γαῖσος, γαῖσον, are also mentioned by Polybius, Diodorus, &c., as applied to the spear by the North Europ. barbarians. The word is genuinely Teut. (yet comp. also OIr. gai, from *gaiso, ‘spear’), and has the approximate meaning, as the allied Geisel shows, of ‘shaft, rod (as a missile),’ for which reason Gr. χαῖος, ‘shepherd's staff,’ and Sans. hêšas, n., ‘missile,’ are perhaps cognate. The root is Sans. hi, ‘to urge on,’ with which AS. gâd and E. goad (from Aryan *ghai-tã) are also connected. The OTeut. term was first used again in ModHG. as a borrowed word, though it continued to exist in the proper names Gerbert (OHG. Gêr-braht, lit. ‘glittering with spears’), Gerhard (OHG. Gérhart, ‘spear-bold’), Gertrud (OHG. Gêrtrût). Comp. Gehren and Geisel.