German words first recorded in the 11th century

It is inherited from Middle High German deshalp, a fusion of des, the genitive of the pronoun das, with halp, shortened from halbe (“side, direction”). The Middle High German accusative adverb…

It is formed from German früh + -er, as the comparative of the adjective and adverb. Before the 18th century it was rare; then the senses “former” and “formerly” became fixed and lost their…

It is inherited from Middle High German anegrif, inherited from Old High German anagrif (“touch, embrace”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *anagripi (“seizure”), formed from an and the noun…

It is inherited from Middle High German enzwischen, from the Old High German phrase in zwiskēn (“in the middle of two”), formed from German in + zwischen. The Old High German phrase was built on the…

It is inherited from Middle High German prüeven, also spelled brüeven and pruoven, borrowed from Old French prover (“to prove, test”), which continues Latin probō (“to test, examine; to approve”)…

It is inherited from Middle High German aberelle, inherited from Old High German abrello, borrowed from Latin Aprīlis (“April”). The borrowing replaced the native Old High German ōstarmānōd (“Easter…

It is inherited from Middle High German ban(e) (“path, way”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *banu, inherited from Proto-Germanic *banō. The same word is Middle Low German bāne and Middle Dutch…

It is inherited from Middle High German bīspel (“instructive story, parable, proverb”), inherited from Old High German bīspel, a compound from Old High German bī + spel (“story, speech”). The same…

It is inherited from Middle High German bereite, inherited from Old High German bireiti (“equipped, ready”), a formation with the prefix be- found only in German and Dutch. Beside it stand the…

It is inherited from Middle High German bewegunge, inherited from Old High German biwegunga (“motion”), formed from German bewegen + -ung. The verb bewegen mixes a strong and a weak prefixed verb…

It is inherited from Middle High German biz, from Middle High German bī (“by”) + ze (“to”), grown together into one word. The DWB revision traces it to late Old High German, where bi and zi first…

It is inherited from Middle High German bunt (“black and white, spotted”), probably borrowed from Latin pūnctus (“pricked, stitched”), the past participle of pungō (“to prick”). It would first have…

It is inherited from Middle High German dāvon, formed from Middle High German dā (“there”) + von (“from”). The same compound is Middle Low German dārvan, Middle Dutch daervan, Dutch daarvan and Old…

It is inherited from Middle High German eigenlich, a derivative with the suffix -lich of the adjective eigen “own” or of the noun eigen (“property”). The /t/ is a glide consonant between /n/ and…

It is inherited from Middle High German einzec, also einzic, formed in the 12th century from Middle High German einez (“single”) + -ec. It is built like einzeln, on the same base. That base goes…

It is inherited from Middle High German entsprechen (“to answer, retort; to defend oneself”), from German ent- + sprechen. The Middle High German verb meant “to answer, reply”, also “to talk someone…

It is inherited from Middle High German ervarunge, inherited from Old High German irfarunga (“trial, experiment”), formed from Old High German irfaran + -unga, the source of erfahren. The noun has a…

It is inherited from Middle High German valsch (also vals), borrowed from Old French fals, from Latin falsus (“false, deceptive”), the past participle of fallō (“to deceive”). The ending ⟨sch⟩ comes…

It is inherited from Middle High German gebūwede, inherited from Old High German gibūidi (“dwelling place, settlement”) (also gibūwida), a collective noun formed from bauen, properly “that which is…

It is inherited from Middle High German geschefte, also gescheft and gescheffede, an abstract noun formed from the weak verb schaffen “to work, do”. Kluge sees two formations behind it, which…

It is inherited from Middle High German gruoz (“greeting; challenge, attack”), a back-formation from grüßen. The verb is Middle High German grüezen, Old High German gruozen (“to address; to…

It is inherited from Middle High German hoffen, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *hopōn, recorded from the 12th century. The verb belonged at first to the northern West Germanic dialects: Middle…

It is inherited from Middle High German klār, borrowed from Middle Dutch claer, under the influence of Old French cler, from Latin clārus (“loud, clear-sounding; bright, clear; famous”). It spread…

It is inherited from Middle High German kreiz, inherited from Old High German kreiz (“circle, circuit, district”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *krait, inherited from Proto-Germanic *kraitaz…

It is inherited from Middle High German meie, inherited from Old High German meio, borrowed from Latin Māius (“May”), short for mēnsis Māius (“the month of May”). Kluge and the EWA explain the Latin…

It is inherited from Middle High German mittel (“middle; means, mediation”), the adjective mittel used as a noun. That adjective is Old High German mittil (“middle”), a derivative of the Germanic…

It is inherited from Middle High German persōne, borrowed from Latin persōna (“mask of an actor; role, character; person”). Kluge dates the loan to the 12th century, the Duden to the 13th. The same…

It is inherited from Middle High German pharrære, inherited from Old High German pharrāri, an agent noun from Old High German pharra (“parish”) + -āri, from Pfarre “parish”; Kluge glosses it as “the…

It is inherited from Middle High German punct, inherited from Old High German puncto, borrowed from Late Latin pūnctus, which stands for classical Latin pūnctum (“point; prick”), the neuter past…

It is inherited from Middle High German understützen, inherited from Old High German untarstuzzen, formed with untar (“under”) on a verb -stuzzen that occurs only with prefixes. The compound is…

It is inherited from Middle High German versuoch, inherited from Old High German firsuoh (“test, proof”), a noun belonging to versuchen, Middle High German versuochen, formed with ver- from suchen…

It is inherited from Middle High German vil līhte (“very easily”), a phrase of vil (“much, very”) and līhte (“easily”), later written as one word. The same compound is found in Low German villicht…