Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/30

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bôȥ, OHG. anabôȥ, m., ‘anvil'; a specifically G. word allied to OHG. bôȥân, MidHG. bôȥen, ‘to beat, strike.’ Comp. AS. beátan, E. to beat (see Beifuß, Beutel, bosseln). Whether OHG. ana-bôȥ is formed by the imitation of Lat. incus (allied to cudere) is uncertain, for the smith's art was early developed among the Teutons without any Southern influence. The corresponding terms AS. anfilt, E. anvil (also OHG. ana-falz), Du. aanbeeld, MidLG. anebelte, Dan. ambolt, are similarly formed.

Ameise, f., from the equiv. MidHG. ā̆meiȥe (emeze, whence ModHG. Emse), OHG. ā̆meiȥȥa, f., ‘ant'; note ModHG. dial. ametze, OHG. ā̆meitza. It corresponds to AS. œmette, E. emmet, ant. The derivation can scarcely be ascertained with certainty, as the relations of the vowels of the accented syllable are not clear; the OHG. form ămeiȥȥa evidently indicates a connection with emsig; Ameise, lit. ‘the diligent (insect).’ On the other hand, OHG. â-meizza and AS. œ-mette point to a root mait, ‘to cut, gnaw' (see under Meißel), so that it would signify ‘gnawing insect’ (MidHG. and OHG. â- means ‘off, to pieces'). Du. and LG. mier, ‘ant,’ is more widely diffused than Ameise, CrimGoth. miera (Goth. *miuzjô), AS. mŷra, E. mire, Sw. mŷra, ‘ant’; orig. ‘that which lives in the moss, the moss insect,’ allied to Teut. meuso- (see Mees). A word formed from the Lat. formica is probably at the base of Swiss wurmeisle.

Amelmehl, n., ‘starch-flour,’ from MidHG. amel, amer, OHG. amar,’ summer-spelt'; the ModHG. signification seems to be influenced by Gr.-MidLat. amylon, ‘finest meal’ (E. amel-corn).

Ammann, m. (Alem.; the Franc. term is Heimbürge), ‘chief magistrate, bailiff,’ from MidHG. amman, a shortened collateral form of ambetman, ‘magistrate, bailiff'; orig. sense, ‘servant, official,’ afterwards also ‘magistrate.’ See also Amt.

Amme, f., ‘(wet-)nurse, foster-mother,’ from MidHG. amme, f., ‘mother, in so far as the child is fed by her; (wet-)nurse,’ OHG. amma, f.; allied to OIc. amma, ‘grandmother' (Suab. and Bav. even yet ‘mother’). Probably an instinctive sound, since, undoubtedly independent of the Teut. group, Rom. also and other languages have similar words for Amme; comp. Span. and Port. ama.

Ammeister, m., ‘chief magistrate,’ from MidHG. ammeister, from ambetmeister, like

Ammann, from Ambetmann; MidHG. ammanmeister and ammeister, ‘president of the guilds (of Strasburg).’

Ammer, f., from the equiv. MidHG. amer, OHG. amero (*amaro), m.,’ yellow-hammer,’ with the deriv. OHG. and MidHG. amerinc, ‘yellow-hammer,’ MidLat. amarellus, which may have been formed from the G. word; E. yellow - hammer (Goldammer) is a corrupt form. Whether OHG. *amaro was derived from OHG. amar, ‘summer-spelt,’ is as doubtful as its relation to Amsel.

Ampel, f., ‘lamp,’ from MidHG. ampel (also ampulle), OHG. ampulla, f., ‘lamp,’ also ‘vessel.’ Borrowed in OHG. from Lat. ampulla, ‘flask, vessel,’ whence also AS. ampelle, OIc. ample, ‘vessel’ (LG. pulle, ‘bottle’).

Ampfer, m., ‘sorrel,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ampfer, OHG. ampfaro, m.; allied to the equiv. AS. ompre; an adj. used as a substantive. Comp. Du. amper, ‘sharp, bitter, unripe,’ OSw. amper, ‘sour, bitter,’ OIc. apr (for *ampr), ‘sharp' (chiefly of cold); also LG. ampern, ‘to prove bitter to the taste.’ Sauerampfer (also corrupted to Sauer-ramf) is a tautological compound like Windhund. In case Teut. ampra-, from *ambro-, represents the prop. Aryan *amró-, Sans. amlá, ‘sour' (also ‘wood-sorrel'), and Lat. amârus, ‘bitter,’ are primit. cognate with this word.

Amsel, f., ‘blackbird,’ from the equiv. MidHG. amsel, OHG. amsala, f. It corresponds to AS. ôsle (ôs- from ams-), E. ousel; the equiv. Lat. mĕrula (Fr. merle), whence Du. meerle and E. merl are borrowed, may represent *mĕsula, and have been orig. cognate with Amsel. Its relation to Ammer and to Goth. ams, ‘shoulder,’ is uncertain.

Amt, n., ‘office, council, jurisdiction,’ from MidHG. ammet, older ambet, OHG. ambaht, ambahti, n., ‘service, office, occupation, divine service, mass’; a word common to the Teut. group. Comp. Goth. andbahti, ‘office, service' (from andbahts, ‘servant,’ OHG. ambaht, ‘servant'), AS. anbiht, ambiht, n., ‘office, service,’ ambiht, m., ‘servant' (obsolete at the beginning of the MidE. period), Du. ambt, OSax. ambaht-skepi, ‘service,’ ambaht-man, ‘servant.’ The relation of the common Teut. word to the Gall.-Lat. ambactus (mentioned in Caesar's Bell. Gall.), ‘vassal,’ is much disputed. The West Teut. words may be best explained from Goth. and OTeut. ándbahta-,