Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland Part I.pdf/459

tər”, occas. “hå‘ltər” (thus: Sa., Wests.). From U. (U^wg.) is reported “hɔ‘ltər” and “ho‘ltər” in special sense: firmly embedded rock; a great h. 4) more rarely: a) a heap of boulders which have fallen down from high rocks, a h. o’ stens (St.: hɔ‘ltər), occas. also b) an opening between fallen rocks or in a heap of stones; a otter’s h., an otter’s hole (St.: hɔ‘ltər), in this sense otherwise more comm.: had [had]. 5) a big, bulky person or object, a great h. o’ a man, a great h. o’ a ting. N.I. Y. and Fe.: ho‘ltər (hɔ‘ltər, hȯ‘ltər); U.: hȯ‘ᶅtər (hɔ̇‘ᶅtər; ho‘ltər, hɔ‘ltər). 6) a) a very big wave, a h. [hɔ‘ltər (hå‘ltər), ho‘ltər, hȯ‘ltər] o’ a sea (sea = wave); b) (very) agitated sea, a h. o’ a sea; c) commotion (agitated state) in the sea, a h. i’ de sea. Fairly comm. in the senses given under 6; the pronunc. “hå‘ltər” is peculiar to Wests. (Sa.; P.); Uⁿ.: a hɔ‘ltər (ho‘ltər) or hȯ‘ᶅtər i’ de sea. — O.N. holt, n., dry, barren, stony ground rising to a higher level than the surrounding surface, and usually covered with trees (Fr.); No. holt and Sw. dial. hult, n., a) a holt, grove; b) a rough, stony hill, a slope; Icel. holt, n., a stony slope. The Shetl. forms, ending in -er, prob. spring from an original *holtr- or *hultr-; cf. No. holtra and hultra, vb., to walk unsteadily, in a stumbling manner, hultren and hultrutt, adj., uneven; lumpy. Meaning 6 of the Shetl. word is preferably explained from the latter given Norwegian words. For the change of meaning (stony) slope > fragment of rock, boulder > big, bulky person or object, cf. hordin, sb., and røni, sb., where similar changes of meaning have taken place.

holterhol, hulterhol [ho‘l··tərhɔl· (hɔ‘l··tərhɔl·)], sb., a large fissure in the soil; a wide-mouthed cleft.

Fo. A compd. of holter, hulter (see holter, sb. 2 and 4 b) and hol, sb.

holtri [hɔ‘ltri, hɔ‘l··təri·, hȯ‘ltri] and hultri [ho‘ltri, ho‘l··təri·], adj., very rough; a) of soil: hilly, with clefts, rifts and holes; h. grund; more commonly b) of sea: agitated, very rough; a h. sea. See holter, hulter, sb. 1, 2 and 6, and cf. No. hultren, hultrutt, adj., uneven; lumpy.

hom [hȯm], sb., an inkling; uncertain rumour regarding something; a suspicion. Cf. Sw. hum, m. and (dial.) n., suspicion; an uncertain idea of anything; No. hymt, m., a hinted supposition.

homek [hōmək (hō^əmək), hɔmək], sb., 1) a big, heavy cloud; a istek-h., a heavy, lowering cloud in cold weather, snow-laden cloud (U^wg.), see istek, sb. U^{n., w}. 2) a shower, a) a snow-shower, passing or gathering in the distance, a h. o’ snaw; he’s cornin’ or settin’ op a h., a snow-shower is gathering; U^{m., n}.; Yⁿ.; b) a (heavy) passing shower; he is settin op a h. o’ a shooer [‘shower’], a shower is coming on. Uⁿ. — The pronunc. “hōmək (hō^əmək)” is peculiar to U^wg., “hɔmək” to Uⁿ. and Yⁿ. — The word may be a contracted form from an old *húmbakki; cf. No. humbakke (hombakkje), m., a bank of clouds. hom-, in any case, is O.N. húm, n., darkness (twilight), gloomy sky. See hums², humsk, humska¹, sbs.

homer [hōmər], sb., a species of large shark, prop. female shark. O.N. hámerr, f. No. and Da. “haamær” esp.: Lamna cornubica (in No. appl. to the female of “haabrand”). — a) homer and esp. b) “ho-midder [hō··mɩd·ər]” are used indifferently, denoting an unusually large shark (midder = L.Sc. mither = Eng. mother). N.I. Acc. to Edm. Orkney “hoe-mother”, and acc. to Balfour