French words from Old High German
5 French words with Old High German in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
attifer
It is inherited from Old French atifer, formed from Old French a- + tifer (“to adorn”). The simple verb is recorded from about 1170 and was used until the 16th century; it lives on in the dialects…
hutte
It is borrowed from Old High German hutta (“hut, cabin”), the source of a family of Germanic words such as English hut; Rey thinks it probably named temporary military buildings, and traces it to…
quille
1. The word for the skittle is borrowed from Old High German kegil (“peg, stake”), adapted to French. The TLFi gives the immediate source as borrowed from Middle High German kegel, already used of…
rifler
It is probably borrowed from Old High German riffilōn (“to tear by rubbing”). Wiktionary takes it from Proto-West Germanic *rīfilōn, through either Frankish or Old High German, and compares Old…
saisir
It is borrowed from Old High German *sazjan (“to set, establish”), according to the TLFi, the FEW and Bloch and Wartburg; the word is found about 700 in the Latin of the Germanic law codes as…