Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/135

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Gem

( 113 )

Gen

MidHG. gęlze (galze), OHG. gęlza (galza). See gelt.

Gemach, n., ‘chamber, apartment; comfort, rest,’ from MidHG. gemach, m., n., ‘rest, comfort, case, nursing, place where one is nursed, room,’ OHG. gimah(hh), ‘ease, advantage’; the ModHG. meaning is not found until the classical period of MidHG.; the ModHG. adj. gemach, ‘comfortable,’ preserves the earlier meaning, MidHG. gemach, OHG. gimah(hh), ‘comfortable, suitable’; prop., ‘suitable to one another’ (comp. OIc. makr, ‘suitable’; see machen). Akin to gemächlich, MidHG. gemechlîch, OHG. gimahlîhho, adv.

Gemächt, n., ‘genitals; handiwork,’ from MidHG. gemaht (plur., gemęhte), OHG. gimaht, f., ‘testicles’; akin to ModHG. Macht (comp. Du. gemacht).

Gemahl, m. and n., ‘consort, spouse,’ from MidHG. gemahele, m., ‘betrothed, husband,’ and gemahele, f. (very rarely n., which is first found in Luther specially), ‘betrothed, wife’ (the fem. form Gemahlin is wanting in MidHG.); OHG. gimahalo, m., ‘betrothed, husband,’ gimahala (gimâla), ‘betrothed, wife.’ Simply a G. form from a common Teut. subst. maþla- (whence mahla-), ‘public assembly, negotiation’; comp. Goth. maþl, ‘assembly, market’ (akin to maþljan, ‘to make a speech’), OIc., mál, ‘speech’ (mœ̂la, ‘to make a speech), AS. meðel, ‘assembly’ (maðolian, mœ̂lan, ‘to make a speech’), OHG. mahal, ‘assembly, contract, marriage contract.’ Hence the subst. upon which the word is based has assumed in G. only, the special reference to the act of betrothal in the public assembly before the community.

gemäß, adv., ‘conformably, proportionally, suitably,’ from MidHG. gemœȥe, OHG. gimâȥȥi, adj., ‘adapted’; akin to messen.

gemein, adj., ‘common, public; mean, vulgar,’ from MidHG. gemeine, OHG. gimeini, ‘belonging to one another, in common, universal, belonging to the great body’; an adj. common to Teut.; comp. Goth. gamains, ‘in common, joint, general, unholy,’ AS. gemœ̂ne, E. mean, Du. gemeen. The common Teut. ga-maini-s is primit. allied to the equiv. Lat. com-mûnis (for com-moini-s); comp. Lat. ûnus with Goth. ains, Aryan oino-s. Since ‘in common’ is the primary meaning of the class, Meineid (which see) cannot be very closely allied to its OTeut. cognates.

Gemse, f., ‘chamois,’ from the equiv.

MidHG. gęmeȥe, gamȥ, OHG. *gamuȥ (gamȥ), m.; although a corresponding word is wanting in the other Teut. languages, there is no sufficient reason for regarding OHG. *gamiȥa, f., as borrowed (formed like OHG. hiruȥ, see Hirsch; AS. ganot, ‘waterfowl’; MidHG. krebeȥ, see Krebs). The Romance cognates (Ital. camozza, Fr. chamois) which are equiv. in sound tell rather in favour of their own foreign origin than that of the G. word (in Lat. the term was rupicapra). Perhaps Span. and Port. gamo, ‘stag,’ is based upon a Goth. *gama, allied to Gemse (E. game has probably no connection with the word?).

Gemüll, see malmen; Gemüse, see Mus; gemut and Gemüt, see Mut.

gen, prep., ‘against, towards,’ from the equiv. MidHG. gên, a variant of gein, gęgen. See gegen.

genau, ‘accurate, precise, strict, parsimonious,’ from late MidHG. (MidG.) nouwe, ‘careful, exact,’ akin to nouwe, genouwe, adv., ‘scarcely’; comp. Du. naauw, ‘narrow, exact, punctual.’ Probably these cognates, in their Goth. form *ga-nêws, are to be connected with Goth. nêhws, HG. nahe. Others refer them to a root nau, ‘to narrow,’ in Not and its cognates.

genehm, see angenehm.

genesen, vb., ‘to get well, recover,’ from MidHG. genësen, OHG. ginësan, str. vb., ‘to be left alive, be healed, escape alive,’ also ‘to be delivered of a child’; corresponding to Goth. ganisan, ‘to recover health, be rescued, saved,’ AS. genësan, OSax. ginësan, ‘to be rescued, be left alive’; also Du. genezen, ‘to heal, cure.’ The Teut. root nes, with which nähren and its cognates are connected as factitives, corresponds to the Sans. root nas, ‘to approach in an affectionate manner, join,’ and especially to Gr. νέομαι (root νεσ-), ‘to come back,’ and νόσ-τος, ‘return home.’ From Teut. are derived OSlov. gonĭząti (goneznąti), ‘to be redeemed,’ and gonoziti, ‘to redeem,’ allied to gonoziteljĭ, ‘Saviour.’ See nähren.

Genick, m., ‘back of the neck, nape,’ from the equiv. MidHG. genic, genicke, n.; akin to Nacken, AS. hnëcca.

genießen, vb., ‘to enjoy, partake of,’ from the equiv. MidHG. genieȥen, OHG. ginioȥan, str. vb., with the variants MidHG. nieȥen, OHG. nioȥan; corresponding to Goth. niutan, ‘to take part in something,’ ganiutan, ‘to catch’ (nuta, ‘captor,