An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Spiegel

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, S (1891)
by Friedrich Kluge, translated by John Francis Davis
Spiegel
Friedrich Kluge2510101An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, S — Spiegel1891John Francis Davis

Spiegel, m., ‘mirror, looking-glass, reflector,’ from the equiv. MidHG. spiegel, OHG. spiagal, m. (comp. Du. spiegel). The OHG. term is derived, with a change of gender, from MidLat. spêgulum (equiv. to Lat. spĕculum), to which Ital. speglio (also specchio), ‘mirror,’ points. The word must have been borrowed, on account of the change of vowels, prior to the OHG. period. OTeut. has a peculiar word for ‘mirror’; comp. OHG. scûchar, lit. ‘shadow container,’ from OHG. scûwo, AS. sčûa, ‘shadow,’ in Goth. skuggwa, ‘mirror.’