German words from Middle High German
799 German words with Middle High German in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages (page 9).
neun
It is inherited from Middle High German niun, inherited from Old High German niun, inherited from Proto-Germanic *newun (“nine”). The same word is Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌿𐌽 (niun), which had two syllables, Old…
nicht
It is inherited from Middle High German niht, inherited from Old High German niowiht, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *naiwwiht. It was fused from a phrase that Kluge reconstructs as…
nichts
It is inherited from Middle High German nihtes, the genitive of niht (“nothing; not”), the ancestor of nicht. Paul and the Duden derive it from the reinforced Middle High German phrase nihtes niht…
nie
It is inherited from Middle High German nie, inherited from Old High German nio, a fusion of the negative particle and the adverb now je: from Old High German ni (“not”) + io (“ever”). The same…
Niederlage
It is inherited from Middle High German niderlāge (“a lying down; a stopping place; a defeat”), a noun to niederlegen, originally “the act of laying or lying down”. Its parts are nieder and lāge (“a…
niemand
It is inherited from Middle High German nieman, inherited from Old High German nioman (“nobody”), the negative of jemand. The Old High German word is compounded of the negative particle Old High…
noch
1. The adverb “still, yet” is inherited from Middle High German noch, inherited from Old High German noh, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *noh, inherited from Proto-Germanic *nuh. The same word…
nötig
It is inherited from Middle High German nœtic, inherited from Old High German nōtag (“forced, urgent, needy”), an adjective formed from the noun Not “need, compulsion” with the suffix -ig. The same…
November
It is inherited from Middle High German november, borrowed from Latin November, the Roman name of the month, a derivative of novem (“nine”). It was so called as the ninth month of the old Roman…
nun
It is inherited from Middle High German nū, nu, inherited from Old High German nu, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *nū, inherited from Proto-Germanic *nu (“now”). The same word is Gothic 𐌽𐌿 (nu)…
nur
It is inherited from Middle High German nūr, a Central German form, contracted from older newære, inherited from Old High German niwāri, literally “it were not”. The Old High German phrase joins the…
nutzen
It is inherited from Middle High German nutzen (also nützen), inherited from Old High German nuzzōn (“to enjoy, spend”), inherited from Proto-Germanic *nutōną (“to make use of”). Pfeifer derives the…
ob
1. The conjunction is inherited from Middle High German obe, inherited from Old High German ibu, with the later Old High German variants ubi and oba, which arose by a shift of the vowels. The same…
oben
It is inherited from Middle High German oben, inherited from Old High German obana (“from above; above”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *obanā, inherited from Proto-Germanic *ubanē (“from…
oberer
It is inherited from Middle High German obere, inherited from Old High German obaro (“upper, higher”), a comparative formed with an r-suffix from the adverb and preposition ob. The same formation is…
oder
It is inherited from Middle High German oder, inherited from Old High German odar, an altered form of the older odo, which took its final /r/ on the model of aber and weder. Pfeifer and the Duden…
offen
It is inherited from Middle High German offen, inherited from Old High German offan, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *opan, inherited from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”). The same adjective is…
offenbar
It is inherited from Middle High German offenbære, inherited from Old High German offanbāri (“evident, manifest”), a derivative of offen in the sense “standing before one's eyes”, in which -bāri…
öffentlich
It is inherited from Middle High German offenlich, inherited from Old High German offanlīh, formed from Old High German offan + -līh; the base is the adjective now offen. The same formation is Old…
Öffentlichkeit
It is formed from German öffentlich + -keit in the 18th century, as a German replacement for Publizität. The adjective öffentlich is inherited from Middle High German offenlich, inherited from Old…
öffnen
It is inherited from Middle High German offenen, inherited from Old High German offanōn, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *opanōn, inherited from Proto-Germanic *upanōną (“to open”), a verb formed…
oft
It is inherited from Middle High German ofte, inherited from Old High German ofto, inherited from Proto-Germanic *uftō (“often”). The same adverb is Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐍄𐌰 (ufta), Old Norse opt, Old English…
ohne
It is inherited from Middle High German āne, inherited from Old High German ānu, inherited from Proto-Germanic *ēnu (“without”). Old High German also had āno and āna. The same word is Old Saxon āno…
Oktober
It is inherited from Middle High German octōber, borrowed from Latin Octōber, from octō (“eight”): it was the eighth month of the old Roman year, which began in March, and kept its name after the…
Opfer
It is inherited from Middle High German opfer, inherited from Old High German opfar, formed in Old High German from the verb opfern. The same formation is Old Saxon opper and Middle Low German opper…
Ort
It is inherited from Middle High German ort, inherited from Old High German ort (“point, tip”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *oʀd, inherited from Proto-Germanic *uzdaz (“point”). The same word…
Osten
It is inherited from Middle High German ōsten, inherited from Old High German ōstan, a noun made from the adverb of direction ōstana (“from the east”). The adverb is matched by Old Saxon ōstana…
Parlament
It is inherited from Middle High German parlament, borrowed from Old French parlement (“speech, discussion”), borrowed in the second half of the 13th century, probably under the influence of…
Partei
It is inherited from Middle High German partīe, borrowed from Old French partie (“part, side, party”), the noun use of the feminine past participle of partir (“to divide”), from Latin partior (“to…
passen
It is inherited from Middle High German passen (“to reach one's goal”), borrowed from Middle Dutch passen, borrowed from Old French passer (“to go from one place to another, cross, pass”): the verb…
Pause
It is inherited from Middle High German pūse, borrowed from Old French pause, from Latin pausa (“halt, stop, end”), from Ancient Greek παῦσις (paûsis, “rest, ceasing”), from παύω (paúō, “to make…
per
It is late inherited from Middle High German per, borrowed from Latin per (“through, by means of”). It came in through the language of merchants in the 15th century, under the influence of the same…
Person
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…
persönlich
It is inherited from Middle High German persōnlich, a derivative of persōn (“person”) (modern Person) with the suffix -lich. The noun was borrowed in the 12th century from Latin persōna (“mask…
Pfarrer
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…
Platz
It is inherited from Middle High German plaz, borrowed from Old French place (“open space, square”), from Latin platea (“broad street”), from Ancient Greek πλατεῖα (plateîa, “street”), short for…
präsentieren
It is inherited from Middle High German prēsentieren, borrowed from Old French presenter (“to offer, put at someone's disposal, introduce”), borrowed in the Middle High German period. The French…
Preis
It is inherited from Middle High German prīs, borrowed from Old French pris (“praise, glory, reward, value, price”), from Latin pretium (“value, money, price, reward”). Kluge names French prix as…
Prozess
It is inherited from Middle High German process (“decree, judicial decision”), borrowed from Medieval Latin processus (“lawsuit”), from Latin prōcessus (“advance, progress”), the noun of prōcēdō…
prüfen
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”)…
Punkt
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…
Quelle
It is inherited from Middle High German quelle, inherited from Old High German quella (“spring”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *kwalljā (“spring, well”). The same word is Old Saxon quella…
Rahmen
It is inherited from Middle High German rame (“support, frame”), inherited from Old High German rama (“support, column”). Related forms are Old Saxon hrama (“rack for torture”), Middle Low German…
Rat
It is inherited from Middle High German rāt, inherited from Old High German rāt (“advice; supplies”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *rād, inherited from Proto-Germanic *rēdaz (“advice…
Rathaus
It is inherited from Middle High German rāthūs, a compound from German Rat (“council”) + Haus (“house”). The first part, Middle High German rāt, Old High German rāt, is the verbal noun of raten and…
Raum
It is inherited from Middle High German rūm, inherited from Old High German rūm, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *rūm, inherited from Proto-Germanic *rūmą (“room, open space”). The noun is a…
rechnen
It is inherited from Middle High German rechenen, inherited from Old High German rehhanōn (“to order, prepare”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *rekanōn. The same West Germanic verb is Old…
recht
It is inherited from Middle High German reht, inherited from Old High German reht, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *reht (“right, straight”), inherited from Proto-Germanic *rehtaz (“right…
Recht
It is inherited from Middle High German reht, inherited from Old High German reht, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *reht, inherited from Proto-Germanic *rehtą (“right, privilege”), the neuter of…
rechts
It is the adverbial genitive of recht, from German recht + -s, formed as the opposite of links. The right side is the “correct” one, the right hand the skilful one, as against the left. The…
Rede
It is inherited from Middle High German rede, inherited from Old High German reda, inherited from Proto-Germanic *raþjǭ (“account, reckoning”). Old High German also has the forms redia and radia…
reden
It is inherited from Middle High German reden, inherited from Old High German redōn (also rediōn), derived from the noun Rede, whose Old High German form is reda. The same verb is Old Saxon reðiōn…
Regel
It is inherited from Middle High German regel(e), inherited from Old High German regula, borrowed from Medieval Latin regula (“monastic rule”), borrowed first as a word of monastic life. The source…
reichen
It is inherited from Middle High German reichen, inherited from Old High German reihhen (“to extend, reach”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *raikijan (“to reach”). A by-form Old High German…
Reihe
It is inherited from Middle High German rīhe (“row, line, narrow passage”), inherited from Old High German *rīha, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *rīhu. Beside it, with grammatical change of /h/…
rein
It is inherited from Middle High German reine, inherited from Old High German reini, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *hrainī, inherited from Proto-Germanic *hrainiz (“clean, pure”). The same…
Reise
It is inherited from Middle High German reise, inherited from Old High German reisa, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *raisu (“journey”). Kluge traces it to Proto-Germanic *raisō (“departure…
Rennen
It is inherited from Middle High German rennen (“running; tournament”), the verb rennen used as a noun. The verb goes back to Old High German rennen (“to make run or flow”), from Proto-Germanic…
retten
It is inherited from Middle High German retten, inherited from Old High German retten (also hretten), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *hraddjan (“to save, rescue”). The verb is found only in West…
richten
It is inherited from Middle High German rihten, inherited from Old High German rihten, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *rihtijan (“to straighten, set right”), inherited from Proto-Germanic…