Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/409

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from the equivalent Du. wed; allied to waten.

Weg, m., ‘way, road,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. wëc (gen. wëges), m.; corresponding to OSax., Du., and AS. weg, E. way, and the equiv. Goth. wigs. A common Teut. derivative of the Teut. root weg, ‘to march, drive, ride’; Lat. via, ‘way,’ is connected with the corresponding Lat. vehere; comp. Wagen and wegen. Allied to weg, adv., ‘away, gone,’ from MidHG. enwëc for in wëc, lit. ‘on the way’; corresponding to Du. weg, AS. onwëg, E. away. —

Wegbreite, ‘plantain,’ from the equiv. MidHG. wëgebreite, OHG. wëgabreita; comp. Du. wegbree, AS. wëgbrœ̂de, E. weybread; an OTeut. term. —

wegen, prep., ‘on account of, with regard to,’ from the equiv. MidHG. von...wëgen (with intervening genit.); see laut and kraft. —

Wegerich, m., ‘plantain,’ from the equiv. MidHG. wëgerī̆ch, OHG. wëgarī̆h, m.; lit. ‘sovereign of the road,’ formed from Teut. rîk, ‘king’ (see Reich).

wegen, vb., in bewegen, ‘to move,’ from MidHG. wëgen, OHG. wëgan, str. vb., ‘to move,’ with which the corresponding causative, OHG. węgen, węcken (from *wagjan), ‘to cause to move,’ was confused; corresponding to Goth. gawigan, ‘to move.’ The primary meaning of the widely diffused Aryan root wegh, preserved in Wagen and Weg, was ‘to move on, march, drive, ride,’ from which the signification ‘to carry, move,’ was afterwards developed in Teut. Comp. Sans. root vah ‘to proceed, drive, ride,’ and the equiv. Lat. vehere, OSlov. vesti.

weh, interj., ‘woe! alas!’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. wê; corresponding to Goth. wai, AS. wâ, E. woe. From the Teut. interj. wai is derived the equiv. Ital. and Span. guai (Fr. ouais). As in the case of Lat. vae (Gr. οἷ), weh is to be regarded as an instinctive sound. The subst. Weh, n., ‘plaint, misery, woe,’ seems to be based on the interj.; comp. OSax., OHG., and MidHG. wê (gen. wêwes), and OHG. wêwo, m., wêva, f., ‘woe, pain, sorrow,’ and the borrowed Ital. guajo, ‘sorrow.’ See weinen and wenig.

wehen, vb., ‘to blow,’ from the equiv. MidHG. wœjen (wœn), OHG. wâjan (wâen), wk. vb.; corresponding to Du. waaijen, AS. wâwan, Goth. waian, ‘to blow.’ The originally strong (as in Goth. and AS.) verbal root wê, ‘to blow,’ is found in other

Aryan languages; comp. Gr. ἄημι, ‘to blow’ (root ϝη), OSlov. vějati, ‘to blow,’ Sans. root vâ, ‘to blow.’ Allied to Wind.

Wehr, f., ‘defence, resistance, protection,’ from MidHG. węr, OHG. węrî, f., ‘defence, fortification’; allied like ModHG. Wehr, n., ‘dam, weir,’ late MidHG. węr, n., ‘weir,’ to wehren, ‘to protect, defend; hinder, prevent, oppose, forbid.’ This verb is from MidHG. węrn, węrgen, OHG. węrian, węren, wk. vb., ‘to hinder, protect, defend’; comp. Goth. warjan, ‘to forbid, hinder,’ OSax. werian, ‘to hinder.’ On account of the meaning, its connection with wahren (root wor, ‘to look on,’ in Gr. όράω) is not so apparent as its primit. kinship with the Sans. root vṛ, ‘to check, restrain, hinder.’

Weib, n., ‘woman, wife,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. wîp (b), n.; corresponding to OSax. wîf, Du. wijf, AS. wîf, E. wife. If is wanting in Goth., certainly not by accident (the word used is qinô, qêns). The term wîbo- is specifically Teut., while Goth. qinô is prehistorically connected with Gr. γυνή, Sans. gnâ, ‘woman.’ Its kinship with Gr. οἴφειν is dubious; it is more probably related to Sans. vip, ‘inspirited, inwardly excited’ (of priests), to which OHG. weibôn, ‘to stagger, be unstable,’ is allied. Hence the Teutons must have coined the term Weib (wîbo- from wîpó-), because in woman they venerated sanctum aliquid et providum. In that case the remarkable gender might perhaps be explained as ‘inspiration, something inspired.’

Weibel, m., ‘sergeant, apparitor,’ from the equiv. MidHG. weibel, OHG. weibil, m.; allied to MidHG. weiben, ‘to move to and fro.’ The variant Webel (in Feldwebel) is derived from LG. or East MidG.

weich, adj., ‘soft, tender, impressible,’ from the equiv. MidHG. weich, OHG. weih (hh); corresponding to OSax. wêk, Du. week, AS. wâc, OIc. veikr, veykr (whence E. weak), ‘soft, tender.’ A derivative of the root of weichen (hence weich, lit. ‘yielding, giving way’).

Weichbild, n., ‘outskirts of a town, precincts,’ from MidHG. wîchbilde, n., ‘outskirts of a town, jurisdiction over a town and its precincts.’ The origin of this compound, first occurring in the 13th cent., is disputed. The assumption that it signifies lit. ‘image of a saint’ (comp. weihen for MidHG. wîch, ‘holy’), does not suffice to explain the actual meaning. The suggested