Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/29

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with its Rom. cognates is said to have come from Arab. through Span., like other words beginning with Al- (see Alchimie, Alkoven). But as the Arab. word for calendar is certainly not Almanach, but taquîm (Milan. taccuino), the derivation from Gr.-Egyp. ἀλμενιχιακά, ‘calendar’ (found in the Eccl. Hist. of Eusebius), is much more likely to be correct.

Almosen, n., ‘alms, charity,’ from the equiv. MidHG. almuosan, OHG. alamuosan alamôsan, n.; corresponds to Du. aalmoes, AS. œlmesse, E. alms, OIc. ǫlmusa, f.,’ alms.’ The derivation from Lat.-Gr. ἐλεημοσύνη, ‘sympathy, compassion, alms,’ is incontestable; as the OHG. collateral form elemosyna, elimosina indicates, the Lat.-Gr. origin was as firmly accepted in the OHG. period as the derivation of OHG. chirihha, ‘church,’ from κυριακόν. Yet the question remains how the ecclesiastical word found its way so early into the Teut. languages, so as to become a common possession of the MidEurop. and Northern Teutons. The absence of a corresponding Goth. word is explained by the fact that we obtained the word from the Rom. nations, as the congruent phonetic form proves: common Rom. alimǫsna, in accordance with Fr. aumône, OFr. almosne, Prov. almosna, Ital. limosina; allied also to OIr. almsan, OSlov. almušino, Lith. jalmūšnas.

Alp, m., ‘nightmare, incubus,’ from MidHG. alp(b), m., ‘spectre, incubus, nightmare, oppression caused by nightmare’; prop. a term applied to mythical beings, AS. œlf, OIc. álfr, ‘elf, goblin’ (the Scandinavians distinguished between fairies of light and darkness); these appear to be identical with the OInd. ṛbhú, (lit. ‘ingenious, sculptor, artist’), the name of three clever genii (the king of the fairies was ṛbhukšán). By the ASaxons, nightmare was called œlfâdl, œlfsogoða, ‘elf-malady, elf-sickness (hiccough),’ (lumbago in the Eng. dialects is termed awfshots, AS. ylfa gesceot). Comp. further Elf (proper names like Alboin, Alfred, have Alb as their first component).

Alpe, f., from the equiv. MidHG. albe, f., ‘mountain pasture,’ allied to Lat. alpes, so too OHG. Alpun and Alpi, ‘mountain pastures.’

Alraune, f. ‘mandrake,’ from MidHG. alrûne, OHG. alrûna, f., ‘mandrake, sorceress’; this, as the component -rûne indicates, is a primit. term, which has been sup-

posed to be connected with old Teut. mythical beings who do their work secretly (comp. Goth. rûna, ‘secret’; see raunen).

als, conj., ‘as,’ from MidHG. als, álse, álsô, ‘likewise, thus, as, as if, because,’ hence prop. identical with also; OHG. alsô, ‘likewise, like,’ is a compound of al, ‘entirely,’ and sô, ‘thus,’ like the exactly corresponding AS. ealswâ, whence E. as, from eal, ‘entirely,’ and swâ, ‘so.’

also, adv., related to als, like ModE. also to as, identical in every respect with the preceding.

alt, adj., from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. alt, adj. ‘old’; the corresponding OSax. ald, AS. eald, E. old, have the same meaning; Goth. alþeis (instead of the expected form *alda-), ‘old.’ The West Teut. form al-da- is an old tó- participle (Lat. al-tus, ‘high’), like other ModHG. adjs. (see under falt), and belongs to Goth. alan, ‘to grow up,’ OIc. ala, ‘to bring forth’ (primit. related to Lat. alo. OIr. alim, ‘I nourish’), therefore lit. ‘grown up.’ Hence perhaps it was used orig. and chiefly in reckoning age, &c. (comp. Lat. X annos natus), but afterwards it was also used at an early period in an absolute sense, ‘vetus.’ See Alter, Eltern.

Altar, m., ‘altar,’ from MidHG. álter, altâre, altœre, under the constant influence of Lat. altâre, which forms the base. Comp. altâri, álteri, found even in OHG.; the word was introduced by Christianity. Goth. uses hunsla-staþs, lit. ‘temple-table’; AS. wîhbed for *wîhbeód sacred table’ (see weihen and Beute).

Alter, n., ‘age, antiquity,’ from MidHG. alter, OHG. altar, n., ‘age, old age’ (opposed to youth); comp. the corresponding OSax. aldar, ‘life, time of life,’ AS. ealdor, ‘life,’ OIc. aldr, ‘age, hoary age,’ Goth. *aldra-, in framaldrs, ‘of advanced age, in years.’ An abstract term formed from the root al, ‘to grow up, bring forth,’ mentioned under alt, and the suffix -tro- frequent in Gr. and Lat. See further cognates under Welt.

Altreise, see Riester.

Altvordern, plur., from the equiv. MidHG. altvordern, OHG. alt-fordoron, m. plur., ‘forefathers,’ lit. ‘the old former ones,’ from OHG. fordoro, ‘farmer.’ With regard to the signification of alt- in this compound, comp. OHG. and MidHG. alt-vater ‘grandfather,’ OHG. alt-hêrro, ‘ancestor,’ OHG. alt-mâg,’ forefather.’

Amboss, m. ‘anvil,’ from MidHG. ane-